Vladimir Bourmeister – Landgraf on Dance

“Swan Lake”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
September 7 and 8, 2026 (Historic Stage)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

The Bolshoi Ballet is legendary for its Swan Lake. The first performance took place in 1877, almost one hundred and fifty years ago. This September, the swans danced for the 1,868th time, which translates to roughly thirteen Swan Lakes per year. Since 2001, the company has performed Yuri Grigorovich’s version, which includes scenes by Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, and Alexander Gorsky.

Grigorovich’s Swan Lake is grand. Its concepts and ideals represent the highest achievements of humanity and culture—dignity, decorum, grace, love, and unmatched beauty—and it shows how easily human nature can be led awry. Compared to Vladimir Bourmeister’s Swan Lake at the Stanislavsky Theatre, a ballet that reveals the protagonists’ inner life like none I’ve seen so far, Grigorovich portrays them as emblematic figures in an allegory, the sad ending of which Tchaikovsky’s prologue forebodes. Continue reading “Legendary”

“The Snow Maiden”
Ballet of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Moscow, Russia
February 21, 2026 (matinee)

The legend of a girl made of snow who falls in love with a human but cannot survive the warmth of spring has its roots in Slavic mythology. The fairy tale entered the stage in 1873 when, due to the renovation of Moscow’s Maly Theatre, all three Imperial companies—drama, opera, and ballet—were accommodated by the Bolshoi Theatre. To seize the occasion, the management decided to unite them in a single fairy tale production. The Russian author Alexander Ostrovsky was commissioned for the libretto and Pyotr Tchaikovsky a composition. A few months later, Nikolay Rubinstein conducted the premiere. This marked the stage birth of The Snow Maiden. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1880/81 opera version is also based on Ostrovsky’s libretto. Continue reading “Restorative”