Sergei VikharevChoreographer• Honoured Artist of Russia (2002) • Recipient of the Russian Golden Mask theatre prize (2002, 2008) • Recipient of the BALTIKA prize (1999) • Prize-winner at international competitions (Varna, 1980, and Moscow, 1985) Graduated from the Leningrad Academic Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in 1980 (class of Vladilen Semyonov) and joined Leningrad’s Kirov Theatre of Opera and Ballet (now the Mariinsky Theatre). He was the first performer of roles in Oleg Vinogradov’s ballets The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin (Tsarevich Kajei), The Battleship Potemkin (Batman) and Pétrouchka(Pétrouchka). Also danced in the ballets La Sylphide (James), The Sleeping Beauty (Désiré), Chopiniana (the Youth), Giselle (Albrecht, Classical Duet), La Fille mal gardée (Colas), Symphony in C (III. Allegro vivace), Swan Lake (Neapolitan Dance, Friends of the Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio) and Napoli, or The Fisherman and His Bride (Gennaro, Grand pas variation) among others. Danced in ballets by Boris Eifman, Alexander Polubentsev and Vladimir Karelin. Appeared in performances with Alla Sigalova’s Independent Dance Company (The Queen of Spades, 1991; Cynics, 1996; and Yellow Tango, 1997). From 1987-88 he coached the Donetsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (now the Solovyanenko Theatre). Staged the ballet Leda and the Swan to music by Mahler (1995, Hermitage Theatre, St Petersburg) and the ballet scenes from Ponchielli’s opera La Gioconda (1997) at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa (Italy). From 1999-2006 he was Principal Ballet Master of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre where he staged productions of the following ballets: The Sleeping Beauty (1996, choreography by Marius Petipa, revised version by Konstantin Sergeyev), The Nutcracker (1998, versions by Lev Ivanov, Vasily Vainonen and his own), Bournonville’s Conservatoire, or Caprices of a Ballet Master (1998, after August Bournonville, revised version by Elsa Marianne von Rosen), Giselle (1999, choreography by Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, Marius Petipa), Coppélia (2001, revival of the Mariinsky Theatre’s 1894 production), Don Quixote (2003, after Alexander Gorsky and Fyodor Lopukhov), Michel Fokine’s ballets Chopiniana (2000), Polovtsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor (2000), Le Carnaval and Schéhérazade (2001) and dances in the opera Aida (2004, directed by Dmitry Chernyakov). At the Mariinsky Theatre he has staged reconstructions of ballets including: The Sleeping Beauty (1999, revival of Marius Petipa’s 1890 production), Pétrouchka (2000, revival of Michel Fokine’s production with designs by Alexandre Benois, revised by Leonid Leontiev), La Bayadère (2002, revival of Marius Petipa’s 1900 production), Le Réveil de Flore (2008, revival of Michel Fokine’s 1910 production with designs by Léon Bakst) and Le Carnaval (2008, revival of Michel Fokine’s production 1910 with designs by Léon Bakst) as well as dances in the opera A Life for the Tsar (2004, directed by Dmitry Chernyakov). Has staged Fokine’s ballets Chopiniana, Polovtsian Dances and Le Carnaval at the Kulyash Baiseitova National Opera and Ballet Theatre (Astana, 2006) and for the NBA Ballet (Tokyo, 2007). At the Bolshoi Theatre he has staged revivals of the Mariinsky Theatre’s 1894 production of Coppélia (choreography by Marius Petipa and Enrico Cecchetti, 2009). At the Teatro alla Scala in Milan he staged a production of Marius Petipa’s ballet Raymonda (2011). From 2007-2017 he was a ballet master and coach at the Mariinsky Theatre. Died at the age of fifty-five on 2 June 2017. | |