With most international borders open at last, dance companies are once again on the move. One of those soon to visit Australia is the Royal Czech Ballet (RCB), which will be a chance to see some of Europe's top professional dancers performing in that masterpiece of the classical repertoire - Swan Lake.
The founder and director of the RCB is Andrey Scharaev. He was also a founder of the St Petersburg Classical Ballet company that toured Australia in 2016. Scharaev is Moldovan but spent a good deal of his performing career at the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc in the Czech Republic.
The RCB, which he established in 2008, tours mostly through Europe but also the US and Canada, performing a repertoire of the classics or gala programs. The dancers come from all over Europe, with a large number from Scharaev's homeland - “because I'm born here and have many friends here", he explained via Zoom from Moldova. “Usually I would have many dancers from Ukraine and Russia too, but as you know it is a very difficult situation.”
One of the main stars in the ensemble, who will perform the dual Odette/Odile role, will be Moldovan-born Cristina Terentiev, who was a principal dancer with the National Opera and Ballet of Moldova and the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada. She has won many awards, including the 2007 Grand Prix at the International Competition of Ballet Artists in Vienna, Austria, and the gold medal at the 23rd International Classic Ballet Contest of Varna (2008).
Another big star is Ukrainian-born, Bolshoi-trained Elizaveta Savina, who has visited Melbourne before with the Ballet of St Peterburg.
Overall there are 32 dancers, performing a two-act version of Swan Lake, which Scharaev promises will be “absolutely traditional”. “I'm a conservative man and in classical ballet I think genius people did it before and I don't think I can improve it. For me is absolutely great [as it is].”
Czech is a republic, so why has he dubbed the company “Royal”? I ask. Scharaev laughs. “Big ambitions! Why not? It was free and I ask in the institutions if I can use, they confirmed I can use this name. We couldn't use Czech National because there is already one in Prague.” He adds that there was a Czech royalty in the past.
The company will assemble in Madrid in Spain to rehearse before flying to Australia, where the dancers will start their tour at the Theatre Royal in Hobart on September 2 before traversing the land, performing 37 performances in 22 venues over two months, before moving on to New Zealand.
In the press release for the tour, Scharaev stated: “In this difficult time for everyone, when there is a conflict in Ukraine, we want to bring good through our art. We have an international company with dancers from different European countries, including Ukraine. The theatre is something that has always united people and always will do.”
We have one double pass each to the Royal Czech Ballet performances in Sydney and Melbourne. All you have to do is go in the draw here!
For tour dates, go here.