Azerbaijan's ballet star to perform in Russia

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theater will host P. Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" ballet on September 27.

The ballet will be presented in the choreographic adaptation of Azerbaijan's ballet star Eldar Aliyev.

The event will be dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Marius Petipa, one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history.

Notabky, Eldar Aliyev's work was first performed in Primorye on January 23, 2015.

Eldar Aliev studied at Baku Choreographic School from 1966 to 1975. He has earned an international reputation as a dancer, choreographer and artistic director.

The ballet star performed in over 40 countries, dancing at some of the world's most famous theaters, including Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, MET, the Kennedy Center, La Scala, Sydney Opera House to name but a few, his performing career also included guest star performances with the Bolshoi Ballet and The Australian Ballet.

His engagements include guest teaching at the Hungarian National Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Ballet of Spain, the Universal Ballet of Korea, Hong Kong Ballet, The National Ballet of China, Beijing Dance Academy, Shanghai Dance Academy, Guangzhou Ballet, Guest Speaker at the Ballet Talks series at Harvard University, Visiting Artistic Advisor for Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Master at Boston Ballet and his role as Interim Dean at the Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education.

Previously, as Artistic Director of Ballet Internationale—Indianapolis, Eldar Aliev transformed Indiana`s only professional ballet company into a world-class ensemble, performing to enthusiastic audiences in Beijing, Los Angeles, New York, Taipei, Montreal and other cities around the U.S. and abroad.

In addition to his original choreographic work, Eldar Aliev has staged an extensive list of classical ballets to the delight of both audiences and critics. These include The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, etc.

He is a frequent adjudicator of international ballet competitions and has served as a jurist for two inaugural ballet competitions, the 2002 International Ballet Competition in Prague and the 2004 Seoul International Dance Competition.

The "Swan Lake" is a romantic ballet in four acts. The story of the ballet is based on a German fairy tale. It is about a prince named Siegfried. He falls in love with the Swan princess, Odette. She is a swan by day, but a young woman at night. She is under a magic spell that can only be broken by a man who will make a promise to love her for all time. Siegfried makes the promise. He is tricked though by the magician who cast the spell. The ballet ends with the deaths of Siegfried and Odette.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is widely considered the most popular Russian composer in history. The works by great Russian composer are characterized by open-hearted melodies, impressive harmonies, which evoke a profound emotional response. His oeuvre includes 7 symphonies, 11 operas, 3 ballets, 5 suites, 3 piano concertos, a violin concerto, 11, 4 cantatas, 20 choral works, 3 string quartets, a string sextet, and more than 100 songs and piano pieces.