Moscow Ballet Features Ballets From 1994

“This acclaimed version of the perennial ballet [the Nutcracker] includes some special touches… when two dancers become one as The Dove of Peace, a “bird” with a 20-foot wingspan, in a prayer for World Peace.” Chicago Tribune, Chicago, 2013

The “Dove of Peace,” which replaces the traditional Sugar Plum Fairy role, was inspired by Bolshoi Ballet Principal danseur  Stanislov Vlasov, who was choreographer/balletmaster of Moscow Ballet’s inaugural 1993 Great Russian Nutcracker, and partner Lilia Sabitova, Honored as People’s Artist of Russia, when they performed their soaring choreography at Carnegie Hall and more venues around the world. Moscow Ballet’s “Dove of Peace” leads heroine Masha and her Nutcracker Prince into the Land of Peace and Harmony (traditionally known as the Land of Sweets).  The 2 person Dove of Peace premiered in 2012 on the 20^th Anniversary Tour of the Great Russian Nutcracker and was created by Moscow Ballet’s acclaimed Sergey Chumakov and Elena Petrichenko . 

“Moscow Ballet’s exclusive Dove of Peace, Elena Petrichenko and Sergey Chumakov, showcases the couple’s immense technical skills, athleticism, strength, and grace in a breathtaking way. Petrichenko and Chumakov’s chemistry and passion is hypnotizing,” Natasha Ashley, Broadway World, NYC, 2017.

Moscow Ballet dancers also participate in International Day of Peace celebrations in September of each year. The Audition Directors/Ballerinas, who tour the country in the fall auditioning local ballet students for children’s roles in Moscow Ballet’s Dance with Us program, perform the signature Dove of Peace choreographyfor the public in cities including El Paso, Asheville, Redding, Longview, and Edmonton and Brandon, in Canada.

“Masha, the heroine we know as Clara, dreams not of wondrous sweets but instead visits the Land of Peace and Harmony.  The twist works to expose more of her burgeoning maturity, making the journey not a childish dream but an honorable quest,”Dana Gavin Frank, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, 2003.

 In 1993, Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker premiered in North America, the first of the annual tours performing in cities large and small across the continent.  Choreographed by Bolshoi soloist Stanislav Vlasov, the production featured the “Land of Peace and Harmony,” traditionally called the Land of Sweets, and the “Dove of Peace.” The Dove of Peace and the Land of Peace and Harmony is exclusive to Moscow Ballet and seen in each performance of Great Russian Nutcracker.  It was first performed by a single ballerina. In 2012, Moscow Ballet Principal Dancers Sergei Chumakov and Elena Petrichenko premiered the 2 person Dove of Peace with a 20 foot wing span! The Moscow Ballet dancers themselves are not strangers to violence. In 2013 Soloist Olga Aru was in Tahrir Square in Egypt during the Arab Spring uprising, avoiding bullets coming in studio windows, and was soon evacuated. In 2014 Principal Ballerina Olga Kifyak was present at Ukraine’s Maidan Square advocating for peace with a White Rose of Peace. Hailing from all corners of the former Soviet Union, Moscow Ballet artists dance from NYC to LA, and from Miami to Calgary for world peace, as they have done since Talmi Entertainment first brought Russian dancers Alexander Godunov and Valentina Kazlova to North America in the 1980’s.

“The Great Russian Nutcracker…Breath-taking scene of two principal dancers entwined together as a Dove of Peace, with a gorgeous, pair of white wings…Sheer magic… poetic beauty” Harold Duckett, Tennessee Today, Knoxville, 2017.

 “Moscow Ballet’s [Great Russian] Nutcracker brims with tradition, grace, and delight…the [Troika] sleigh…was conveyed to the Land of Peace and Harmony by “Ded Moroz,” Russia’s Father Christmas, and Snow Maiden “Snegurochka.” Perry Tannenbaum, Broadway World, Charlotte, 2015.

“Anna Radik and Sergey Dotsenko were the most sculpturesque of the couples as the Dove of Peace, each one of the silvery dancers bearing one of the bird’s luxuriant 10-foot-wide white wings,” Perry Tannenbaum, Broadway World, Charlotte, 2015.

 “Using music that is usually wasted, [the choreographer] created a sweet Dove of Peace duet at the beginning of Act 2 in which each [dancer is] outfitted with one enormous wing… linked up gymnastically for artful avian imagery…. the result is disarmingly poetic.” Lewis Segal, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 2013.