Ballet coming to Show Me Center

The Moscow Ballet will perform in November at the Show Me Center.

The troupe will present "The Great Russian Nutcracker," a slightly different version of the famed ballet than American audiences are accustomed to. This "Nutcracker" ends up in the Land of Peace and Harmony instead of the Land of the Sweets and is performed with a prayer for peace.

"We're excited about it," David Ross, director of the Show Me Center, said of scheduling the performance. "'Nutcracker' is a theme we all understand, and having it done by the Moscow Ballet is an added bonus."

Local children will have an opportunity to audition to be in the production at some point before the Nov. 18 show. "It's going to be a big deal," Ross said. "We'll talk to the dance studios and those interested in participating."

Ticket prices and a date when tickets will go on sale have not yet been established.

The performance at the Show Me Center will be one of 70 the company will give in the United States this year.

The 50 dancers range in age from 19 to 30 and began their training at ages 8 to 12. All are graduates of the Moscow Choreographic Institute and the Vaganova Academy of St. Petersburg.

"We should see some good dancing," said Dr. Marc Strauss, an associate professor of dance at Southeast.

The ballet company's repertory includes other classics such as "Swan Lake," "Romeo and Juliet" and "Don Quixote." The company features Valeri Lantratov, a guest artist of the Bolshoi, Stanislavski and Kremlin theaters, along with Lana Kazantseva, three-time winner of the International Contest of Ballet Dancers.

More than a dozen members of the company have won international dance competitions.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182

Want to go?

WHO: Moscow Ballet

WHAT: "The Great Russian Nutcracker"

WHEN: Monday, Nov. 18

WHERE: Show Me Center

COST: TBA