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Dance St. Louis presents St. Petersburg Ballet Theater at Touhill Performing Arts Center, February 22-23

ST. LOUIS--On February 22 and 23 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, Dance St. Louis brings St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre from the birthplace of Russian classical ballet in a three-part program of desire, peril and romance, featuring Ravel’s sensual Bolero, Chopin’s poetic Les Sylphides, and fantastical tales of the Arabian Nights in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherezade.

Acclaimed not only for impeccable technique but for vibrant enthusiasm and theatrical flair, St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre is officially ranked by the Russian government as the equal of the legendary Kirov and Bolshoi Ballets.

St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre tours throughout Russia and has visited more than 50 nations abroad, but this the first time the 52-year-old company has appeared in St. Louis.

“With St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre, we bring the treasures of old Mother Russia to St. Louis for your enjoyment,” said Michael Uthoff, artistic and executive director of Dance St. Louis.

Performances are at 8 p.m. on Friday, February 22 and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 23. Tickets are $30-$50/general public, $28-$48/students and seniors.

Tickets are available at the Dance St. Louis box office at 3547 Olive St., the Centene Center for Arts and Education in Grand Center.

They are also available by calling 314-534-6622 and via the Dance St. Louis website at dancestlouis.org. Handling charges apply to all phone, Internet and outlet sales.

St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre is sponsored by Centene Corporation.

Additional funding has been provided by Retirement Housing Development and Ozark Structures.

Michael Uthoff will host a free program, Speaking of Dance, with the artistic director and choreographer of St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre, Yuri Petukhov, in the Touhill’s Terrace Lobby at 7:15 p.m. prior to the Friday and Saturday 8 p.m. performances and at 1:15 p.m. prior to the Saturday 2 p.m. performance.

The St. Louis program opens with one of the cornerstones of the international ballet repertory, Les Sylphides, created in 1908 by the Russian choreographer Mikhail Fokine.

Les Sylphides evokes romance and mystery, as a poetic young man has a dreamlike encounter with forest sprites—the sylphs, portrayed by ballerinas in diaphanous long white tutus—in a moonlit glade.  Les Sylphides is set to orchestrated piano music of Frédéric Chopin.                

The program also includes Bolero and Scheherezade, two dramatic works by St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre’s artistic director, Yuri Petukhov.

In Scheherezade, tales of the Arabian Nights come to life on stage to the lush music of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Maurice Ravel’s famous Bolero provides the program’s sexy and spectacular finale.

Founded in 1966, St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre is one of the few ballet troupes in Russia that has been given the highest official status of “State and Academic Ballet” by the Russian government, an honor also held by the Kirov Ballet and Bolshoi Ballet (both established in the 18th century).

The company established by Professor Peter Gusev, who among his other accomplishments as a dancer, ballet master, and artistic director directed the Kirov Ballet from 1940 to 1950.

Yuri Petukhov has been artistic director since 2001. He holds the prestigious ranks of People's Artist of Russia and State Prize Laureate of Russia.

Exacting standards of ballet perfection have been the norm in the city of St. Petersburg since the middle of the 19th century.

It was then, under the leadership of master choreographer and ballet master Marius Petipa, that the Imperial Ballet of the tsar’s Maryinsky Theatre became the finest ballet company in the world.

The city of St. Petersburg was founded in 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great and was the capital city of the Russian Empire until the Russian Revolution in 1918, when Moscow became the capital of the new Communist state.

Renamed Leningrad by Stalin, St. Petersburg regained its original name in 1991.

Dance St. Louis has brought the world’s best dance to St. Louis audiences since 1966. As a not-for-profit dance presenting organization, Dance St. Louis’ mission is to provide the St. Louis region with the world’s best dance and to develop an appreciation of dance as an art form.

Dance St. Louis fulfills this mission through dance presentation, creation and education outreach.

Dance St. Louis is a funded member of the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, and receives support from the Regional Arts Commission, Missouri Arts Council, Mid-America Arts Alliance, National Endowment for the Arts, and other sources. American Airlines is the official airline.