"Russian State Ballet and Opera House"?

[alison]

Does anyone know anything about the apparently "world famous" "Russian State Ballet and Opera House of Komi", which is appearing at the Fairfield in Croydon next month dancing, guess what, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake? Apparently Komi is a Russian republic and has a capital which I've never heard of, which doesn't sound like a promising start. We are promised a "philharmonic orchestra": I can't quite remember the difference between philharmonic and symphony, but think philharmonic ranks slightly below symphony?

http://www.fairfield.co.uk/showInfo.php?showid=21511

[Amelia]

Right, the capital of the Komi Republic is Syktyvkar.

The musical theatre was established there in 1957 and it is called now the State Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Komi Republic.

I have not seen this company dancing and tried to find out about in on the Russian sites.

Boris Myagkov, a former dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet in 1962-1981, used to be the Artistic Director of the ballet company there from 1984 to 1990. After a long interval he returned there recently to regain his old position. In his interview he said that the company is rehearsing for the tour of Britain at the moment.

The theatre’s website shows photographs from its several ballet productions:

 

http://www.komiopera.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=75

 

A click on the first photo opens a gallery of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ photos.

Their Odette is shown in the third line.