The Acadia Performing Arts Series is pleased to present Ballet Jörgen Canada’s original, full-length production of Anastasia. Ballet Jörgen Canada, recently recognized by the National Arts Centre for its distinguished contribution to touring, is bringing the production to fourteen communities across Canada.
Anastasia is an historical drama told through the vibrant choreography of the award-winning BJC Artistic Director, Bengt Jörgen. Hailed by The Globe and Mail’s Paula Citron as “…lyrical, attractive and accessible…a crowd pleaser…a what’s-not-to-like ballet performed by a company that brings high professional standards to its craft,†Anastasia is the mystical story of the seventeen-year-old Russian Grand Duchess as she grows from a playful tomboy to a poised young woman, against the backdrop of Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution. This lavish production takes place over the four fateful years that transformed the Russian Empire and ultimately the world.
“The mystique that still surrounds the fate of the Russian Romanov Grand Duchess Anastasia more than 90 years after her disappearance in July, 1918, is a fascinating story to explore. The fact that her family was closely associated with the evolution of ballet as an art form through their personal patronage of the Imperial Ballet adds particular poignancy to telling this story through the medium of ballet,†explains Bengt Jörgen.
An original, full-sized symphony score was commissioned from the Russian-Canadian composer Ivan Barbotin, who also created the scores for Ballet Jörgen Canada’s The Emperor’s New Clothes and The Velveteen Rabbit, with choreography by Bengt Jörgen. Award-winning Canadian designers Sue LePage and Bonnie Beecher made their Ballet Jörgen Canada debut with the original production. Bonnie Beecher’s lights illuminate the costumes and sets by Sue LePage that are reminiscent of the Russian Empire at the turn of the 20th century.
Anastasia is on stage Saturday, April 7 at 2 pm at the Festival Theatre on the Acadia University campus in Wolfville. Tickets are $32 ($22 students) and are available at the Acadia Box Office or by calling 1-800-542-8425 or 542-5500.
Associated with Ballet Jörgen’s visit to the Valley is a full program of workshops on April 6. For more information about these educational opportunities, go to go.acadiau.ca/APA_BJW/info.htm        Â
Contact: Peter 585-1282 / peter.smith@acadiau.ca
