Russian Ballet Theatre presents 'Swan Lake' in Escondido and San Diego, Sept. 19-20

SAN DIEGO – The Russian Ballet Theatre brings a new production of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" to Escondido and San Diego, Sept. 19-20. Tickets for the performances are on sale now and available online at http://www.RussianBalletTheatre.com.

The performance schedule for "Swan Lake" is as follows: Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido and Friday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Jacobs Music Center's Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego.

"Swan Lake," which has mesmerized audiences for over a century, is based on a German fairy tale. Tchaikovsky's score tells the tragic love story of Prince Siegfried and swan Princess Odette, who is cursed to be a swan by day but a young woman at night. The Russian Ballet Theatre's new production will captivate audiences with time-honored Russian traditions while adding new choreography, hand painted sets, radiant hand sewn costumes, artistic hair designs and special effects makeup.

The Russian Ballet Theatre has pulled together an outstanding company of dancers for the 2019 tour of "Swan Lake." The company features Olga Kifyak as "Odette," Evgeny Svetlitsa as "Prince Siegfried," Mikhail Ovcharov as the "Jester" and Vasili Bogdan as "Rothbart."

The Russian Ballet Theatre's production of "Swan Lake" is choreographed by Nadezhda Kalinina with Sergey Novikov serving as production designer and Irina Strukova as special effects makeup designer.

Nadezhda Kalinina has choreographed more than 60 performances and miniatures for various theatrical and concert programs with her ballets at Mariinsky Theater. She is the chief choreographer of the Omsk State Musical Theater, winner of the eight International Theatre Forum's Golden Knight for "The Overcoat" in 2010, recipient of the Silver Award at the first Federal Festival Theatrical Olympus for "The Overcoat" in 2011 and winner of the fourth Russian festival Volga Theater Seasons in the nomination of "Best Choreography" for "The Idiot" in 2018.

Sergey Novikov has worked on over 70 productions theatrical productions in Russia including at the Mariinsky Theater and throughout Europe. Novikov is referred to as, "a young, advanced artist" with scenery and costumes that "surprise and delight." He is the recipient of the "Golden Sofit," St. Petersburg's most prestigious theater prize in the nomination of "Best work by a Designer" for his set designs for the production "Andrei Ivanovich Comes Home," as well as the recipient of the Governor of the Omsk Region's prize for "Merit in the Development of Culture and the Arts."

Irina Strukova graduated from the Academy of Architecture and Design in her native city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, and started by designing and curating large-scale fashion and entertainment events. In Moscow, she began to focus on film and TV drama makeup and soon became the head of the makeup department in one of the best-known film and TV companies in Russia. Strukova is the recipient of various international awards in art and makeup, including the Grand Prix in the World International Makeup Championship in Dusseldorf, Germany. Her credits include such projects as "Book of Legends: Mysterious Forest" in 2012, "Zhat" in 2015, "Marco Polo" on Netflix in 2014-2016 and most recently, "Crazy Rich Asians" in 2018.

The Russian Ballet Theatre will donate a portion of ticket sales from its 2019 tour to local public schools through a collaboration with the Plus1 initiative. The ballet is partnering with http://www.DonorsChoose.org, an online platform where organizations can choose the school they're donating to, and $1 per ticket sold will go local teachers in or around each city of the tour. For more information, visit http://www.DonorsChoose.org.

For tickets or more information, visit http://www.RussianBalletTheatre.com.

Russian Ballet Theatre is passionate about producing shows that adorn Russian Ballet traditions in dance, sets and costume making. The new production of "Swan Lake," is choreographed by Nadezhda Kalinina of Mariinsky Theatre, Teatro Lirico and Omsk State Music Theatre who retouched the oldest St. Petersburg version of the ballet.

Hand-painted sets and over 150 hand-sewn costumes were created by young, accomplished designer Sergei Novikov of Mariinksy Theatre, Omsk State Music Theatre and St. Petersburg State Music Hall in the tradition of the great masters. Special effects makeup by award-winning Irina Strukova of "Crazy Rich Asians" will make ballet devotees feel as though they have seen "Swan Lake" for the first time.

Submitted by Russian Ballet Theatre.