Press releases

MINSK, 9 January (BelTA) - The Bolshoi Theater of Belarus will bring the national ballet “Vitaut” to Vilnius (Siemens Arena, 28 January), BelTA learned from the theater.

Based on a play by Aleksei Dudarev, Vitautwas premiered in the Bolshoi Theater in 2013 and immediately became a distinctive hallmark of the Belarusian ballet.

According to the reviews of theater critics, “the production captivates you by its meaningful imagery, unusual artistic solutions, choreographic ingenuity, emotional fullness and expression”. The level of the Belarusian ballet company is praised as very high.

But most importantly, the ballet is loved by the audience. “You always want your production to touch the human soul, make people go through some emotions and think,” Vitaut choreographer, People's Artist of Belarus Yuri Troyan noted.

The cast will feature Anton Kravchenko (Vitaut), Irina Yeromkina (Anna), Aleksandra Chizhik (Jadwiga), Yegor Azarkevich (Jogaila), Dmitry Shemet (Keistut), Olga Gaiko (Biruta), Takatoshi Machiyama (Black Man).

Vitaut is the second national project created in the Bolshoi Theater (the first one was the opera Sedaya Legenda; libretto by Vladimir Korotkevich, music by Dmitry Smolsky). The idea of the ballet was nurtured over several years. The libretto is based on the play by Aleksei Dudarev “Duke Vitaut” and was the result of collaboration of several people: Honored Art Worker of Belarus, winner of the State Prize of the USSR Aleksei Dudarev; First Deputy General Director of the Bolshoi Theater, Honored Art Worker of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Rylatko, and artistic director of ballet, People's Artist of Belarus Yuri Troyan. The music is by Vyacheslav Kuznetsov. In 2015 the ballet company of the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater was honored with the award of the President of Belarus “For Spiritual Revival”.