The Tchaikovsky Ballet Theatre
Artists
George ISAAKYAN
General Director of the Theatre
George Isaakyan is a native of Yerevan (Armenian Republic), he studied at the Moscow State Institute of Theatre Arts, the department of music theatre, which he graduated from in 1991.
After a brief period with the Yerevan State Conservatoire, he joined the Perm State Theatre of Opera and Ballet as an Opera Director in 1991, a position he held till 1996, when he was appointed Artistic Director.
Mr. Isaakyan assumed artistic directorship of the Perm opera and ballet theatre in 2001. He has distinguished himself as a highly efficient artistic leader and an imaginative creator of a great variety of productions (more than 40) which highlight the repertory not only at his native company in Perm, where he directed his renowned productions of Donizetti's Don Pasquale (winner of two National Golden Masque Awards in 1996), in 2001 it was presented in the Riga Opera House, P. Thaikovsky's Pigue Dame, which was awarded the Golden Masque for scenography in 1997 and was invited on tour in Germany and Switzerland in 2001–2003; G. Verdi's Rigoletto (1997), B. Britten's Noye's Fludde (1999), P. Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana (2000), and among the latest J. Massenet's Cleopatre (first performed in Russia) and others. His career has taken him to major opera houses all over Russia, including the Mariinsky in St. Petersburg where he directed A. Borodin's Prince Igor for the Kirov Opera Festival and which was presented at Metropolitan Opera (the USA) in the spring of 1998, and the Moscow Helicon-opera with a world premiere of A. Skryabin's Keistutes et Birute, the former Soviet Union with La Bohéme in Minsk, Belarus, and Die Fliedermaus by J. Strauss in the Latvian National Opera in Riga, Latvia.
George Isaakyan was invited to stage his productions in a number of opera houses overseas: Madama Butterfly in Opera Ireland, Dublin, Don Carlo in Sakai-city Opera, Osaka, Japan and others.
He is the author of numerous important cultural projects the most recent the renowned Diaghilev Festival and the bearer of a lot of national and international prizes and awards among which is the highest in Russian culture State Premium of the Russian Federation received by him for his grand project Pushkin in Opera.
As a director of vast scope, Mr. Isaakyan is keen on and inspired by the original works rarely performed both in Russia and abroad. His recent creation feature a brand new production of “Lolita” based on V. Nabokov's novel to the music by the contemporary composer Rodion Schedrin.
ALEKSEY MIROSHNICHENKO
Artistic Director of the Ballet
Aleksey Miroshnichenko trained at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and joined the Mariinsky Theatre in 1992. He gained his dance experience there and went on to study at the choreography department of the Vaganova Academy under professors Igor Belskiy and George Aleksidze, from where he graduated in 2002. He choreographed his first one-act ballet Child's Album to music by Tchaikovsky for the ARB students in 1997.
Mr. Miroshnichenko found his true vocation as a choreographer at the Mariinsky Theatre where he staged his debut work of Stravinsky's Les Noces (1997). Since assuming his post of resident choreographer with this renowned company, he has created many ballets there, including Adagio to music by I.Bach, Pavana (Fore), Helios-Fighter (Einsturzende Neubauter by C.Debussy), Nanou (Aphextwin), Get What You Gave (Plaid), Fugata (A.Piazzolla) and others.
His choreographic miniatures The Hermits to music by K.Orf won him the Fyodor Lopukhov Award. He also staged dances for such operas as Wagner's Parsifal, Prokofiev's Betrothal in Monastery and Bellini's Sonnambula, and was Associate Director and choreographer for Wagner's Lohengrin and Pergolezi's La Serva Pardona. His more recent works for the Mariinsky Theatre feature Towards “Swan” (2006), The Ring (to music by 2H Company), which he then staged for the Perm Ballet (2009), and Like an Old Organ-Grinder... to music by Leonid Desyatnikov (both 2007).
His works for other companies include a program of one-act ballets Roads To Love (Weil-Cosma-Poulenk) and User to music by Mozart for the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre (2002), one-act ballet Hungarian Dances to music by Brahms for the Bolshoi (in the framework of Contemporary Choreography Workshop, 2004), and choreography of Valery Fokin's Marriage at the Aleksandrinsky Theatre in St-Petersburg (2008).
In 2004 Mr. Miroshnichenko was appointed ballet master toWilliam Forsythe's productions at the Mariinsky Theatre. In 2005 he was invited to the New York Choreographic Institute to take part in the spring and autumn sessions where he staged Stravinsky's Songs for the students of the School of American Ballet and Towards “Swan” for the soloists and corps de ballet of the New York City Ballet. In 2006 he took part in the project Uncontainable at the Royal Ballet of Flanders.
He also created dances for the music film Music Gone from Russia and choreographed Pavel Sanaev's film Zero Kilometre. He taught at the choreography department of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet (2003-2008).
In 2009 Aleksey Miroshnichenko accepted an invitation to join the Tchaikovsky Perm State Opera and Ballet Theatre as its Chief Ballet Master.
YAROSLAVA ARAPTANOVA
Principal Dancer
Yaroslava Araptanova, a native of Perm, trained at the Perm Ballet School and joined the Perm company in 2001 as a soloist. She has danced a variety of roles including pas de troir in The Swan Lake, Princess Florina and various fairies in The Sleeping Beauty, Solveig in Ben Stevenson's Peer Gynt and others.
She achieved her present rank of principal with the performance of Margarita in Master and Margarita, Maria in The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, Masha in The Nutcracker and Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. She has also portrayed the leading roles in G. Balanchine's Serenade and La Sonnambula and received praise for her lyrical interpretations of them.
At the 2004 Arabesque competition the young Perm ballerina won George Zoritch's Award for the purity of performance of classical ballet.
NATALIA MOISEEVA-POLESHCHUK
Principal Dancer
A graduate of the Perm Ballet School, she has danced on the stage of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre since 1988. Her good looks, fine technical skills of the classical dancer and acquiring of musical and dramatic means of contemporary choreography have enabled the young ballerina to take on the solo roles in THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, SWAN LAKE, ROMEO AND JULIETT, GISELLE, ANYUTA, DON QUIXOTE and LA SYLPHIDE.
Moiseeva's works with which she is perhaps most closely associated are THE CAVALRY'S HALT, THE SLEEPING BEAUTY and THE NUTCRACKER, where she is dancing the principle roles.
The second prize won at the competition of young ballet dancers of Russia ARABESK-90 confirmed the promising dancers' talent. The duet Natalia Moiseeva – Vitally Poleschuk won a special Ekaterina Maksimova – Vasiliev Award “The Best Duet” at the competition ARABESK-92. Another competition, held in Nagoya, Japan, 1993, won her a silver medal. In 1998 she received a distinguished title HONORED ARTIST OF RUSSIA.
ROBERT GABDULLIN
Principal Dancer
Robert Gabdullin was born in 1983 in Sverdlovsk. In 2000 he finished his studies at the School of Ballet of the municipal Ballet Theatre “Nutcracker” in Ekaterinburg and joined the Theatre of Opera and Ballet there. The young promising dancer was almost immediately promoted to principal, and has performed the leading roles in La Sylphide, The Nutcracker, The Swan Lake, Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty. In April 2006 he took part in the Perm ballet competition “Arabesque” and received a special Perm Theatre Award. Robert Gabdullin dances with the Perm Ballet as a guest artist.
SERGEY MERSHIN
Principal Dancer
Sergey Mershin has been with the Company since 2000, the year of his graduation from Perm Ballet School.
This young promising soloist was very shortly promoted to principal, and currently dances the leading roles in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, Cinderella, The Kingdom of the Shades, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty and others.
Recently added to his repertoire of classical works is George Balanchine's Donizetti-Variations which won him both the critics and audiences acclaim.
Sergey Mershin twice won the third prize at the Perm competition of ballet dances of Russia “Arabesque” in 2002 and 2004.
