The Hermitage Ballet, that performed in the United States for the first time last year, is coming back! After wowing audiences in five states with its superb Gala Concert, awarding eight scholarships to ballet teachers and dancers to study ballet in Russia and offering free master classes to hundreds of American students the ballet is coming for another Southeastern tour!
I was lucky enough to serve as the American Impresario for that tour. Perhaps I have a unique perspective of Russian Fine Arts as I am the only American graduate of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. I am so proud to announce the ballet will be returning as the Russian Seasons Ballet Company in honor of Sergey Dhialiev, the greatest impresario in all of Russian ballet history. I am a retired fild grade Army officer and feel as if I have accomplished many things in my life, but I consider my time spent with the ballet management team and dancers, as the most rewarding of my life.
The ballet team that was assembeled for the 2008 tour consisted of our own Corps de Ballet and a mix of superb soloists from the famed Mariinski, the Mussourgsky, and the Bolshoi Theaters. The sheer artistery and talent of these dancers had to be seen to be appreciated. The new web site at offers glimpses of the performance and a chance to experience the best the ballet world has to offer.
The splendid personalities of these rising stars added to the enjoyment of the association I had with the troupe. I have never met such modest people as individuals or as a group in my life. The watch word of the performers could be summed up simply as professional! The names Irina Perren, Tatiana Tkachenko, Elena Kotsubira, Murat Shemiunov, Anastasia Kolegova, Margarita Demjanok, Sergey Popov, Mikhail Venshchikov, Alexi Avechkin, and Dimitri Zavalishin are such rising stars in Russian Ballet that I had to describe them as perhaps the strongest contingent of Russian dancers to perform in any single ballet performance in the history of Russians coming to America. I feel as if I were truly blessed to have met them and to have introduced them on American stages.
The other amazing group was the Russian leadership of Ludmila Bragina and Lev Brushkin. Two Russians who riaked everything on a ballet tour that did not return very much of the money they spent to bring the Americans this outstanding performance. The Hermitage Gala Concert differs from most in that it also included a Corps de Ballet to enhance viewer pleasure. The artistic director, Victor Korolkov, is a talented individual who did everything in his power to make the ballet enjoyable for all concerned.
If we can find the money we are bringing the ballet back in February, 2009. If there are any balletomanes out there that would like to help, please go to our web site and becvome a sponsor. No amount of money is too small.
by Michael E. Donnelly, Ph. D.
Impresario for the Russian Seasons Ballet
