Summer ballet seasons

July-august, RAMT theater, Moscow
Summer Ballet Seasons is a unique marathon of classic ballet performed in the heart of Moscow. Every day for two months each summer, the Russian Academic Youth Theater hosts productions of masterpieces of world ballet, including three
works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, along with Giselle by Adolphe Adan, Don Quixote by Ludwig Minkus, Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella by Sergei Prokofiev and others.

This concentration of world masterpieces is a high point of the city's summer cultural life. Leading companies with repertoires rooted in the classics take part in Summer Ballet Seasons.

"When we first suggested that people go to ballet in the city instead of going on vacation in the summer back in 2001, we were thinking mainly of foreign tourists. Now we can say that our international festival has become an important element of Moscow cultural life," says Alla Nemodruk, founder and artistic director of the project.

It is true that during these years the festival has won a lot of fans among theater lovers and visitors from around Russia. Over half a million people have attended the Summer Ballet Seasons over the course of 17 years! The festival is a chance for the general public to discover the art of ballet, while connoisseurs can compare different choreographies, as most famous ballets are usually staged by several companies.

Moscow companies, which are well known abroad but without their own platforms in Moscow, were the first participants of the Summer Ballet Seasons, including the Classical Choreography Ballet Theater under Elik Melikov, the Russian National Ballet Theater under Vladimir Moiseyev and Yevgeny Amosov, and the Smirnov Ballet Theater under Viktor Smirnov-Golovanov and Lyudmila Nerubashchenko. Some of these groups continue to take part in the Summer Ballet Seasons 17 years later.

Inviting foreign ballet dancers was the next stage of development, which extended the repertoire of the festival. It resulted in performances by the Milan Ballet (Balletto di Milano) under Carlo Pesta and the Kiev Modern-Ballet under Radu Poklitaru, Compagnia Nazionale (Italy) under Raffaele Paganini . Young soloists
of the Grand Opéra, Paris, have been taking part in the project every year since 2014.

The fairytale ballet The Nutcracker by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, staged by the Russian Academic Youth Theater on December 31 and January 1, has become a New Year tradition in Moscow.

Today, part of the agency's mission is to preserve the magnificent traditions of Russian ballet, which is an essential part of Russia's cultural heritage. This is why the agency sees its mission not simply as helping the public discover Moscow-based and foreign companies, but also inviting Russian regional groups that are often unfairly overlooked by Moscow audiences. Another important goal is to educate diverse audiences about the art of classical ballet. The organizers of the Seasons are constantly looking for new professional companies and amazing performances that promote continuity in the art of dance.

All performances are accompanied by the orchestra of the Summer Ballet Seasons, established in 2001, at the very beginning of project. The orchestra has gained extensive experience performing the ballet repertoire.