Nussknacker - International Festival Ballet & Festival Orchestra

In the organizer's words:

The Nutcracker just in time for Christmas
Fairytale Russian ballet art for young and old. A consummate work of art with live orchestral accompaniment

The ballet "The Nutcracker" is based on Alexandre Dumas' version of the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E.T.A. Hoffmann. Tchaikovsky's musical version premiered in St. Petersburg on December 18, 1892 under the choreography of Lev Ivanov and delighted children and adults alike.

The art of classical ballet has often been highly praised by critics all over the world. But as the saying goes: "Better seen once than heard a hundred times". Experience the beautiful ballet "The Nutcracker" with the International Festival Ballet and Festival Orchestra.

Marie takes center stage. She receives a nutcracker as a present from her godfather Drosselmeyer on Christmas Eve. As she goes to sleep, she dreams of a battle between the toy soldiers led by the Nutcracker and the army of the Mouse King. With her help, the Nutcracker is victorious and is then transformed into a prince. The prince travels with Marie to the realm of sweets. The journey takes them through the fir forest to Zuckerburg Castle, where the resident sugar fairy throws a party in honor of her guests. In addition, the magnificent set design by the brilliant theater designer Vjatscheslav Okunev, who has worked for the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and La Scala in Milan, beautiful costumes and the boundless elegance and carefree lightness of the International Festival Ballet ensemble ensure a dreamy and fairytale-like version of a classical ballet that continues to fascinate even after more than 100 years.

Artistic Director Elena Antsupova

International Festival Ballet was founded in 2009 to represent the best traditions and spirit of classical ballet.

International Festival Ballet is an international ballet that thinks beyond national borders, unites dancers from more than 20 different nations and stands for understanding and co-existence in the poetry of art, music and dance. Artistically, the ballet represents the Russian school of classical ballet in its purest form. Strict elegance combined with modern and 21st century influences, in other words a dance performance in a class of its own - and all this in conjunction with magnificent costumes and splendid stage sets.

Classical ballet has a long tradition in Eastern Europe, which is still cultivated today. The renowned ballet schools are known for their high standards and rigor, and the students for their motivation, ambition and enormous talent. The 42 dancers of the International Festival Ballet have also gone through this tough school, be it the Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg, the Moscow Choreography Academy, the ballet school in Ufa or the ballet academy in Perm in Russia, Kiev or Kharkiv ballet schools in the Ukraine or even Italian La Scala or French Grand Opera. They have all worked at the most important ballet theaters in Europe and have won numerous prizes at international ballet festivals and competitions. Together, they have become one of the most aesthetically and technically successful ballet companies not only in Europe but, as part of the International Festival Ballet, also worldwide. In addition to an absolutely precise dance technique, this ballet is characterized at a high level by a harmonious and coherent overall picture and elegant lightness. The International Festival Ballet shines with a perfect dance performance that takes the audience's breath away.


FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
Artistic Director & Conductor Normunds Vaicis

The Festival Orchestra was founded by talented musicians from Moldova, Ukraine and Latvia. The artistic director and main conductor is the renowned conductor Maestro Normunds Vaicis. The orchestra's repertoire includes works by Ravel, Debussy, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Massenet, Faure and Albegis, Gounod and many others. The music to classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote and many others is at the heart of the repertoire. The orchestra has worked with renowned ballet ensembles from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The Festival Orchestra has performed with great success in France, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and other European countries and has established itself as one of the best ballet orchestras in Europe despite its relatively small size. In the near future they will be performing the classical ballet seasons for the famous International Festival Ballet Company in Scandinavia, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany and Austria.