Polovitsian Dances

One-act ballet, excerpt from Act 2 of the opera Prince Igor

Set design for the original production based on sketches by Nicholas Roerich

The ballet was first staged in 1909. This version was first performed in Perm in 2009.

After being invited by Diaghilev to take over the young Ballets Russes company, Michel Fokine drew ideas for the creation of the repertoire from numerous sources. He turned Polovtsian Dances, a choreographic excerpt from Borodin’s opera Prince Igor, into a work in its own right. A major part in this production was played by the scenery designed by Orientalist Nicholas Roerich, who recreated the image of the wide steppe and the flickering colours of a Polovtsian camp. Polovtsian Dances caused a sensation at its Paris première in 1909, leaving an impression of the reconstructed authentic dances of the descendants of the Scythians.

The production is staged with the support of the Pearl of the Urals Foundation