Following sell-out performances of Sleeping Beauty in 2015, the Moscow Ballet will make a triumphant return to Australian stages this March.
This time, the world-renowned ballet company – quite possibly the best in the world – will be bringing the spellbinding Classical romance Swan Lake, and it will hit Mandurah Performing Arts Centre on March 30.
The Moscow Ballet is regarded world-wide as the top tier of classical ballet, and when it comes to specific performances, it doesn’t get much better than Swan Lake itself: it has influenced more than 100 years of ballet since its inception.
The fact that one of the world’s oldest and greatest ballet companies is bringing one of the world’s greatest ballet performances to Mandurah – a fair is really then testament to the industrious nature of the company.
This show, much like Sleeping Beauty, will be brought to Australia by La Classique, the Moscow Ballet arm specifically set up in 1990 to bring traditional Russian ballet to audiences around the world.
Being a world-hopping company, La Classique is built of talent form all over the world, although traditionally Russian and Baltic regions served as its centre.
Anastasia Chumakova is one of the principal dancers of the company. She has played multiple characters in a slew of world-class shows, and is as excited as all of the other members to, at the least, explore a country practically on the other side of the world.
“It is my first time in Australia, so it’s very exciting,” she said.
“I’ve never been to Australia, but I’ve always wanted to. It’s one of the things I love: exploring other countries. I hope I’m able to learn something new about every place I visit.”
Chumakova originally studied at the famed Perm Ballet School, where she graduated with a distinction in 1998.
She then joined the Tchelyabinsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre, before performing at the Cairo Opera and Ballet Theatre.
She eventually found herself with Moscow Ballet’s La Classique after cutting her teeth at many presitgious dance schools.
“I’ve actually performed this show in many countries,” she said.
“I’ve done it many, many times.”
Ms Chumakova said Swan Lake was renowned as one of the greatest ballets of all time due to the technical difficulty of the performance, and the sheer amount of time it takes to learn.
“It’s very important to have a lot of technique and be very patient,” she said.
“It’s very difficult, it takes a lot of time to learn. But this is why it’s the best.”