Mariinsky Theatre (St.Petersburg): Le Corsaire

[Lucinda]

Whilst we were in St.Petersburg in August I booked tickets to Le Corsaire at the Mariinsky Theatre. This was a performance by the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky theatre (Vladivostok) which was probably why there were still tickets available a couple of days beforehand. The tickets are quite expensive and the reduced rate on the website is only for Russians or people living in Russia. 
The performance was at the Mariinsky 1 theatre which dates from 1860 so you have to be a little careful where you buy a seat or you are in danger of not being able to see anything! The website has a good seating plan and also has an English language selection. It’s quite straightforward buying tickets although I was unable to download the PDF file but just took the booking receipt on my phone to the booking office to pick up the tickets. Ensure you only buy tickets from the official site https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/ there are a few spoof sites around.
I had never seen the ballet Le Corsaire before and was pleasantly surprised. As to be expected the sets and the costumes were impressive. I found it easy to follow the story line because the dancers beautifully mimed their parts. The dancing was fabulous although no one dancer stood out. The corps were very cohesive and of high standard. It was a lovely evening.
The only downside was that the theatre was extremely hot, no air conditioning. I imagine the new Mariinsky (Theatre II) is much cooler and as the old theatre is due to be renovated soon all future ballet productions will be performed there.
 

Edited September 7, 2018 by Lucinda

[Jan McNulty]

Lucinda - I'm loving your reports from Russia!  Thanks.

[Lucinda]

Thank you Jan, although we visited Moscow too the Bolshoi was closed for the annual vacation so we unfortunately didn't see any ballet there.