Sowetan

Royal Moscow Ballet performanc­e a real treat

Stunning dances and sublime music

- By Patience Bambalele

The Royal Moscow Ballet dazzled local audiences with breathtaki­ng movements during their performanc­e at the Linder Auditorium in Johannesbu­rg.

The group of talented ballerinas presented two performanc­es on Saturday as part of their world tour.

The company charmed local ballet enthusiast­s with Romeo and Juliet featuring a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsk­y, based on Shakespear­e’s tragic tale of star-crossed young lovers.

They also performed Carmina Burana, a work by Carl Heinrich Maria Orff which is based on 24 poems.

The company is touring South Africa and Botswana in celebratio­n of great Russian composers Sergei Rachmanino­v, Tchaikovsk­y and Aleksander Borodin.

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespear­e’s most popular works, valued for its romantic intensity. The two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, meet at a ball and fall passionate­ly in love despite their families’ long-standing feud. The story is told through a sequence of complicate­d, interwoven steps as they make their way into an imaginary ballroom.

The performanc­e was amazing despite the physically demanding gliding steps, hops, turns and leaps. The dancers exuded a joyful buoyancy as they went through a combinatio­n of movements with ballerinas in their beautiful costumes.

The story is compressed in the first scene and the second scene is more free-style movements accompanie­d by stunning music that takes you into the cinematic realm.

The second part was dedicated to Carmina Burana, and boy, did the ballerinas mesmerise with their choreograp­hy. The music left us enthralled.

The tour ends on Tuesday at Sand du Plessis Theatre, Bloemfonte­in.

 ??  ?? The Royal Moscow Ballet performs Carmina Burana.
The Royal Moscow Ballet performs Carmina Burana.
 ??  ?? Romeo and Juliet to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsk­y.
Romeo and Juliet to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsk­y.

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