Armstrong Auditorium - News
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EDMOND—Audiences thrilled to the dramatic sights and sounds of the most revered of classical ballets January 25 when the Russian National Ballet Theatre performed Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" at Armstrong Auditorium.

The standing-room-only capacity crowd arrived early in rapt anticipation of the Theatre's debut performance in Oklahoma. Demand for tickets was so fierce the event itself sold out in August before the auditorium was finished. A long line formed in the Grand Lobby in the hopes a last minute cancellation would open a seat. 

In the first weeks of their four-and-a-half-month tour across North America, the ballet corps was in top form in every way. Earlier in the day, the dancers—under strict dietary and conditioning orders—appeared on stage from their dressing rooms below at precisely 4:15 p.m. for the warm-up. A rehearsal pianist and dancing coach took them through the hour-long process in a relaxing and poised manner. Intense scene rehearsals followed, with multiple takes until the artistic director was satisfied every one was in perfect unison. Tilt your head a little further to the left. Arch the back slightly more. The eyes should focus upstage left. The breathtaking results that evening bore evidence of the Russian-schooled artistic eye—the audience sighed repeatedly with delight.

The Russian National Ballet Theatre was founded in Moscow during the transitional period of Perestroika in the late 1980s, when many of the great dancers and choreographers of the Soviet Union's ballet institutions were exercising their new-found creative freedom. The company, then titled the Soviet National Ballet, was founded by and incorporated graduates from the great Russian choreographic schools of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Perm. The principal dancers of the company came from the upper ranks of the great ballet companies and academies of Russia, and the companies of Riga, Kiev and even Warsaw. Today, the Russian National Ballet Theatre is its own institution, with over 50 dancers of singular instruction and vast experience, many of whom have been with the company since its inception.

Adding to the authenticity of the production, several of the sets and costumes were from the Bolshoi Theater in the Soviet era. According to technical director David Cauley, "Sets like these are a lost art." He added, "These are priceless." Cauley carefully and methodically directed Armstrong's stage crew in the precise manner of folding and storing the 50-year-old drops for their journey to the next production.

Given the demand for tickets and the smashing success of the performance, expect to see ballet on the season lineup in years to come. According to concert manager Ryan Malone, "The Russians will be back!"

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