Ballets

The Paris Opera on March 11 appointed 23-year old dancer Guillaume Diop to its Etoile category, the first time a black person has received the ballet's coveted top rank.

The Classical Ballet of Eastern Europe is bringing Sergei Prokofiev's all-time classic "Cinderella" to the stage of the Christmas Theater (ct.gr), for three shows in March (at 7 p.m. on Saturday and at 12 noon and 7 p.m. on Sunday). The family-friendly production is based on the choreography by Rostislav Zakharov, adapted by Sergey Bobrov.

Giselle, sometimes referred to as the Queen of Romantic Ballet, will premiere at Ljubljana's Cankarjev Dom on 12 January in a co-production with the national opera and ballet company that has been choreographed by Jose Carlos Martinez, the new director of ballet at the Paris Opera.

It premieres on August

A Russian ballerina from the world-renowned Mariinsky Theatre dressed in full costume performs scenes from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake… not on stage though, but on the frozen Gulf of Finland.

This is Ilmira Bagrautinova's way of objecting against the construction of a port in Batareinaya Bay, a popular beach about 100 km west of St Petersburg, Russia's second largest city.

Akram Khan's critically acclaimed production of "Giselle" for the English National Ballet, is coming to computer screens in Greece from the Christmas Theater on February 19-22. In this modern version of the romantic 19th century ballet, the acclaimed choreographer injects this tale of love, betrayal and redemption with elements of kathak, a traditional South Asian dance form.

Ticket services firm Viva.gr is showing Tchaikovsky's all-time classic "Swan Lake" in a high-definition recording by the Russian Ballet Theater that was performed at the Piraeus Municipal Theater last year, starring Mizinova Liudmila, Odinokova Natalia and Tkachenko Maxim. The video can be viewed at any time through December 31 and the fee is 10 euros.

Russia's renowned Bolshoi Ballet Academy is in Athens together with top soloists from the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra to present Tchaikovsky's world-renowned Christmas ballet, "The Nutcracker." Performances take place from December 23 to 29 at the Galatsi Olympic Hall. The ballet is based on E.T.A Hoffmann's tale "The Nutcracker and The Mouse King," first published in 1816.

The Ankara State Opera and Ballet (ADOB) will greet art lovers with the "Swan Lake" ballet, which was composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875 and staged for the first time at the Bolshoi Stage in 1877.

The Greek Festival presents a modern take on the classic romantic ballet "Giselle" by Costas Tsioukas, who transposes this tale of doomed love to the present and sets it in Southern Europe instead of Germany, while remaining faithful to the original structure.