Our company is performing at the renowned Bolshoi theatre in Moscow on 28 and 29 November! Our dancers are going to present Nussknacker und Mausekönig, the much acclaimed production by Christian Spuck, at the Dance Inversion Festival!
With our tour diary, we invite everyone at home to accompany us on our tour to the ballet metropolis! Find daily updates and insights here, on Facebook and Instagram!
See you! до ско́рого!
Today’s the big day! We’re travelling to Moscow for our guest performances at the Bolshoi! At Terminal 2, you can already see a cluster of thick winter coats from far away. Checking-in over 60 people incl. luggage seems to be no problem for the check-in counter – everything’s going smooth and relaxed. Now, we’re waiting at gate D34 for our flight and hope that our luggage also makes it to Moscow!
здравствуй Россия! Hello Moscow!
Bolshoi, we’re coming for you! After a three hours flight, we safely arrived in Moscow! Next to minor turbulences, we even got to witness a beautiful sunset in the sky. Let’s see if our baggage has arrived as well...
A long day is coming to an end! After the flight, the passport control prevented us a bit longer than desired from the Russian cold. We were queuing for a bit more than an hour until everyone got through. Fortunately, our baggage arrived there long before we did, so we could rush to our busses right away which took us to our hotel.
Once we arrived there, everyone took out their cellphones. The gorgeous Bolshoi Theatre is located right next to our hotel and looks marvellous! While some people went already to their rooms or to discover the city, our dressers and make-up artists went straight to the theatre to have a look at the facilities and to prepare for tomorrow. One dresser is already asking for a bottle of vodka. What seems like a joke at first, was meant seriously - Vodka is needed to keep the costumes fresh and clean! Good thing, we’re in Russia!
On stage we do not only hear conversations in Russian, but also in familiar Swiss German. Our colleagues from the technical department already a few days earlier to set up the whole stage and lighting.
Now, we are extremely excited for tomorrow and say Спокойной ночи! Goodnight!
Well rested? Not quite, we still feel the fatigue from yesterday’s journey! In addition to that, our day starts earlier than usual. Due to the time difference, 8am in Moscow would 6am in Zurich. However, the excitement (and also the spectacular breakfast buffet at our hotel) makes up for it. Around 9am, the first dancers arrive at the theatre. Their day begins in the make-up room, followed by the daily class and the stage rehearsal on the new stage of the Bolshoi. What’s special about the stage is its floor: it’s crooked! In order to be fully prepared, a crooked floor was already laid in our ballet studio back home. Now, let’s see how it goes in the stage call – we’re wishing a big Toi, Toi, Toi!
Through with the stage call! And after a few corrections, we’re ready fort he first performance of Nussknacker und Mausekönig tonight! We’re curious to see how it will be received by the Russian audience! After the rehearsal, Irina Chernomurova, director of the Dance Inversion festival joined the dancer backstage to wish them all the best for tonight’s performance. With these kind words in mind we go outside again, where the snow has covered the streets completely.
What a night! The premiere at the Bolshoi theatre is already over and the audience was thrilled! Swiss ambassador Yves Rossier, who has been stationed in Moscow in the beginning of this year and visited a number of opera and ballet performances ever since, said that he never witnessed an audience calling a company back five times!
In order to celebrate the first performance, ACS Reisen, which organized a tour accompanying our guest performances, held a reception at the foyer of the New Stage of the Bolshoi theatre. There we had the honor to not only welcome the tour group, but also Irina Chernomurova, director of the Dance Inversion Festival, Swiss ambassador Yves Rossier and Vladimir Urin, the director of the Bolshoi theatre himself!
After a few speeches, we enjoyed exquisite delicacies of the rich buffet and let the evening slowly coming to an end... A big thank you to ACS Reisen for the lovely reception! And now, it’s about time to say „До завтра! See you tomorrow!“
On our free morning, we seize the opportunity to discover the city. Not even minus temperatures can prevent us from doing so!
Michail Logvinov, the official photographer of the Dance Inversion Festival, took some of us on a tour to the famous landmarks of Moscow, such as the historic Red Square, the famous St. Basil’s Cathedral and the GUM, Russia’s biggest department store, which is over 100 years old. As a photographer for the Bolshoi Theatre, he was also able to grant us access to the old Bolshoi theatre and even gave us a little, but unbelievably impressive tour around!
After a half-day off, we start again with a short class at 4.30pm. Before the first visitors take their seats, Christian Spuck gives the final corrections to the dancers on stage. The general atmosphere is more relaxed than last night. Whether this is because of the half-day off or because we are already familiar with the facilities, one thing’s for sure: Today’s audience was thrilled as well! Our dancers were frenetically cheered and celebrated!
And that’s a wrap on our final performance at the Bolshoi theater! At this point, a big спасибо / thank you goes to the Dance Inversion Festival and the Bolshoi theater for having us! We will go back home enriched with incredible experiences and unforgettable impressions!
While our company is enjoying the end of their performance, it gets busy again backstage. Once the curtain has fallen, the deconstruction of the set begins which will take at least until tomorrow morning. Because it is not only us, but also the whole set, all props and costumes, that are heading home tomorrow.
Despite the short night, only a few people took a pass on the rich breakfast buffet at the hotel. Nourished and all wrapped up, we are off to enjoy everything the Russian capital has to offer one last time.
Only a few minutes by foot later, we’re at the red square, which is surrounded by the St. Basil’s cathedral, Lenin’s Mausoleum and the GUM, the old department store. Christmas spirit is everywhere, encouraging us to hunt for souvenirs and presents.
And it’s working, with Russian dolls and presents in our bags, we meet everyone at 3pm back at the hotel, where two busses are already waiting for us. If it wasn’t clear before, it is clear now, that the night was quite short. As soon as the bus departed, most people fall asleep.
At the airport, they take security controls very serious, which is why we pass quite a few oft hem. Now, we’re finally at the gate waiting for boarding!
After three and a half hours, we are finally back on firm ground. We’re very relieved, as the bad weather conditions in some areas had shaken up the airplane quite a bit!
Back at the Zurich Airport, everything is going so smooth an fast, the turbulences are already forgotten. At the baggage claim we got a very nice surprise: Our dancer Alba Sempere Torres, who didn’t join us due to her pregnancy, arrived at the same time from her hometown Barcelona!
Soon everyone is vanishing back home in different directions. The next performance is already due tomorrow evening: in our triple bill «Gods and Dogs», our dancers will be seen in first-class choreographies! We are very excited to perform for our Zurich audience again! On that note: „Guet Nacht und bis morn!“