Les SAISONS RUSSES du XX1e SIECLE
RETURNS to the LONDON COLISEUM - JULY 16-20

Andris Liepa, former Bolshoi Ballet star turned ballet entrepreneur, is to return to the London Coliseum with his company Les Saisons Russes du XX1e Siecle from July 16 to July 20 2013. The company will perform three programmes – a total of six ballets – which will include the London premiere of “Cléopâtre – Ida Rubinstein”, choreographed by Patrick de Bana plus five of Mikhail Fokine’s greatest works: “Le Spectre de la Rose”, “Scheherazade”, “Chopiniana”, “Polovetsian Dances” and “The Firebird”.

THE PROGRAMMES

Programme 1: Cleopatra/Ida Rubinstein, Le Spectre de la Rose, The Firebird
Tuesday July 16 at 7.30pm and Wednesday July 17th at 7.30pm

Programme 2: Cleopatra/Ida Rubinstein, Scheherazade
Thursday July 18 at 7.30pm and Friday July 19 at 7.30pm

Programme 3: Cleopatra/Ida Rubinstein, Chopiniana, Polovetsian Dances
Saturday July 20 at 2.30pm and 7.30pm

In addition, there will be a special matinee on Wednesday July 17 at 2.00pm (Chopiniana & The Firebird only)

“Cléopâtre – Ida Rubinstein” is choreographer Patrick de Bana’s tribute to the enigmatic actress/dancer Ida Rubinstein (1885-1960) and star of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes who danced in the title role during the company’s Paris season of 1909. Rubinstein danced with the company for two years and left in 1911 to form her own company. Adored for her luminous stage presence as much as her dancing, Ida quickly became a popular Belle Epoque figure in the arts world as well as a generous benefactor. Details of her personal life have remained sketchy through the decades and de Bana draws on history and urban myth to create the mysterious, glamorous world of Ida as she rehearses and performs what was to become her greatest role.

The ballet recounts the story of the creation of Cléopâtre by Fokine in 1909; De Bana has chosen music by the great composers who collaborated regularly with the Ballets Russes such as Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, Faure and Ravel; in addition he has employed the music of Omar Faruk Tekbilek, the renowned Turkish flautist and one of the world’s foremost exponents of Middle Eastern music whose compositions give de Bana’s ballet a beautiful, mysterious extra dimension. The London premiere will feature Ilze Liepa, sister of Andris, in the title role.

Tickets: http://www.eno.org or 020 7845 9300
Ticket prices: £15-75