Blistering Bolshoi Ballet Streams at Orcas Center

Sunday, March 4, 1 p.m., Orcas Center

— from Susannah Weaver for Orcas Center —

Bolshoi Ballet presents the captivating revival of Vasily Vainonen’s The Flames of Paris. Alexei Ratmansky’s old-new ballet about the French Revolution skillfully combines emotion and politics. We at Orcas Center have the opportunity to see this rich and brilliant production streaming from Moscow on Sunday, March 4, 1 p.m.

The Flames of Paris is an early example of that all-pervading official art that was to educate and indoctrinate the populace. The production is Ratmansky’s reworking of a Soviet classic from the 1930s.  Boris Asafiev’s score is based on late-18th-century French music with choreography by Vainonen. Set during the French revolution, the plot is a farrago of noble peasants, gallant revolutionaries and wicked aristocrats.  While maintaining the original ballet’s celebration of the people’s triumph, its naivety is countered by Ratmansky’s introduction of a tragic love story between courageous peasant boy Jerome and innocent, ill-fated aristocrat Adeline – a somber reminder that revolutions have victims as well as victors. Jeanne and her brother Jérôme leave Marseille for Paris in support the revolutionary effort that is taking over the capital. While fighting for freedom, they both encounter love along the way.

The Financial Times raves about the company: “Leading these curious revels, Ekaterina Krysanova is life-and-art-enhancing. As the heroine Jeanne, she soars through her dances, producing astonishing feats of bravura and playing with a lovely sincerity. As Philippe, the Marseillais hero, Igor Tsvirko cuts a tremendous figure, every roaring, soaring step fuelled with testosterone, the dance proud, exhilarating.”

Alexei Ratmansky’s choreography depicts the Bolshoi’s overflowing energy, fiery passion and dominating power of their dancing. The ballet is packed with spectacular dancing, from folk dance to pure classicism and offers the panache and flamboyance, which are the Bolshoi’s trademarks. You won’t want to miss Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema’s The Flames of Paris broadcast live from Moscow!

Tickets for The Bolshoi’s Ballet in Cinema The Flames of Paris are $20, $15 for students, $2 off for Orcas Center members, and may be purchased at www.orcascenter.org or by calling 376-2281 ext. 1 or visiting the Orcas Center Box Office open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12:00 – 3:00 pm. $5 subsidized tickets are available at the Box Office. For more information about Orcas Center’s 2017-2018 season visit www.orcascenter.org.