Russian National Ballet Theatre in 'Romeo & Juliet'

The Center for the Arts, University at Buffalo, will present Russian National Ballet Theatre in "Romeo & Juliet" on Sunday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mainstage Theatre, located at the Center for the Arts, North Campus. This performance is sponsored by M&T Bank. There will be a pre-performance talk at 6:45pm.

"Romeo & Juliet" is a full-length ballet based on William Shakespeare's tragedy with music by Tchaikovski and Petipa's choreography restaged by Yuri Vetrov. The evening will open with a performance of "Chopiniana," which grew out of Chopin's "Seventh Waltz" and had its premiere in 1907. The favorite oeuvre of its creator Mikhail Fokine, this work has now become standard repertoire for many of the world's leading companies.

The Russian National Ballet Theatre was founded in Moscow during the transitional period of Perestroika in the late 1980s. The company, then titled the Soviet National Ballet, was founded by, and incorporated graduates from the great Russian choreographic schools. The principal dancers of the company came from the upper ranks of the great ballet companies and academies of Russia, and the companies of Riga, Kiev and even Warsaw. Today, the Russian National Ballet Theatre is its own institution, with more than 50 dancers of vast experience.

In 1994, the legendary Bolshoi principal dancer Elena Radchenko was selected by presidential decree to assume the first permanent artistic directorship of the company. Radchenko is the founder of the Russian National Ballet Theatre, and she has focused the company on upholding the grand national tradition of the major Russian ballet works and developing new talents throughout Russia, with a repertory of virtually all of the great full works.

Tickets for Russian National Ballet Theatre in "Romeo & Juliet" are $26.50 general admission and, for students (any school), $13. Tickets are available at the Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, including ticketmaster.com. To charge tickets, call 1-800-745-3000 (in Canada 1-416-870-8000). For more information, call 645-2787.