Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara and Sibiu will be part of the tour in Romania of the Russian State Ice Ballet Ensemble from Saint Petersburg in January 2013.

The Russian ice ballet troupe will perform Romeo and Juliet at Sala Palatului in Bucharest on January 19. The ice ballet will be in Cluj on January 17, to perform Swan Lake at the National Theater, while The Nutcracker will be presented on January 15th at Olympia Hall in Timisoara and on January 18, at Transylvania Hall in Sibiu.

The State Ensemble of Ballet on Ice in St. Petersburg was founded in 1967 by choreographer Konstantin Boiarski, combining for the first time in the world classical ballet with figure skating. The only ensemble of ballet on ice with rights for this name is currently led by artistic director Konstantin Rassadin, a hugely respected Russian artist, a former lead of the Mariinsky Ballet and a  pupil of Rudolf Nuriev.

As a dancer, Rassadin danced with names like Natalia Makarova and Mihail Barîşnikov. The musical director and one of the founders is Leo Korkin ballet conductor who led the symphony orchestra of the Academy of St. Petersburg.

Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com