Bolshoi’s Encore of The Lady of Camellias at Orcas Center

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

— from Susannah Weaver for Orcas Center —

Bolshoi Ballet presents John Neumeier’s ballet The Lady of Camellias. Bolshoi’s director Sergei Filin’s has just acquired the ballet as part of a drive to bring in western classics. Bolshoi sustains the effort over Lady’s three-hour Chopin smorgasbord and Neumeier made full use of its resources during his ballet’s short run. We at Orcas Center have the opportunity to see this rich and brilliant production streaming from Moscow on Sunday, February 4, 1:00 pm.

The Bolshoi’s company showed The Lady of Camellias to be an ensemble effort. The focus may be on courtesan Marguerite Gautier and her youthful conquest, Armand Duval, but Neumeier weaves in a wealth of other characters. The story depicts a theatre performance of ‘Manon Lescaut,’ the young and naive Armand is utterly captivated after meeting the ravishing and most desirable courtesan Marguerite Gautier. Their encounter gives birth to a passionate yet doomed love. Alexandre Dumas’ novel comes to life on the Bolshoi stage, with prima Svetlana Zakharova as the ailing Marguerite seeking love and redemption from her life as a courtesan. The Bolshoi brings choreographer John Neumeier’s work of rare beauty and tragic depth to new emotional heights, accompanied by Chopin’s romantic piano score. The Financial Times says, “Neumeier’s large body of work often functions more as contemplative theatre than dance: the steps matter less than the dancers’ ability to revel in moments of stillness and to mine simple motifs for dramatic impact.”

“The Bolshoi prima’s performances have long been primarily an aesthetic rather than an emotional experience, but Lady of the Camellias seems to have struck a new chord in her. Neumeier’s decision to pair her with a principal from his Hamburg Ballet was a shrewd one: ardent almost to a fault, puppyish in his adoration, Ukraine-born Edvin Revazov was a disarming match for Zakharova’s disenchanted Marguerite. Newly vulnerable, the picture of mature abandon, Zakharova joined him in tender conversation. A belated awakening – and further proof that Neumeier’s ballet has found a good home here.” You won’t want to miss the encore of Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema’s Lady of Camellias.

Tickets for The Bolshoi’s Ballet in Cinema The Lady of Camellias 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.