Press releases

Every year the Johvi Concert Hall invites some famous theater or famous ballet company as the main guest of the festival. Among the invitees were artists of the Mariinsky Theater, the Moscow State Academic Theater of Classical Ballet of Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilev, the Berlin State Ballet, the English National Ballet, the Saint Petersburg State Theater of Classical Ballet, the Latvian National Opera and Ballet Theater, the ballet company of the Czech National Theater, the Mikhailovsky Theater from Saint Petersburg, Teatro di Milano, and also guests from the Scandinavian countries.

This year the ballet company of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus is the main guest of the festival. The Belarusian ballet will present Ludwig Minkus’ Don Quixote on 6 May. On 7 May the Ballet Evening will include Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and a gala concert featuring Estonian artists from the National Opera of Estonia and Theater Vanemuine from Tartu.

Performing in Estonia will be People’s Artist of Belarus Igor Artamonov, honored artists of the Republic of Belarus Marina Vezhnovets, Yuri Kovalev, Anton Kravchenko, Oleg Yeromkin, and also the leading dancers Anna Fokina, Alexandra Chizhik, Ludmila Khitrova, Ivan Savenkov, Takatoshi Machiyama, Yekaterina Oleinik, Denis Klimuk and others.

The Johvi Ballet Festival is the only ballet festival in Estonia. Over the years of its existence the city of Johvi has been unofficially named the ballet capital of Estonia. Every year the festival gathers more than 2,000 spectators. The region is home to representatives of more than 40 various nationalities, including many Belarusians.