We wish you a very good start of the year!
With frosts, snow and sun the cities and countryside look fabulous in winter! More and more guests come to see Russia in winter time. Please find the information on special programs we do as well as the anniversary of the world famous Swan lake.

Sincerely,
Helen Isaeva

Back to the USSR

We are happy to introduce our new product: a Journey back to the USSR (Soviet Union). It is a fun activity with legendary retro cars, actors in colourful costumes and musicians. Different activities are available: a family dinner in a soviet apartment, which looks like in the 1970, with a soviet style family, a cooking master class at Gastronom restaurant. Many other scenarios are available.

If you want something apart from usual itinerary we can arrange a transfer to a restaurant or theatre in a retro car.
All cars, used in these activites are authentic and completely renovated. Many of them were used in Russian cinematograpy.

The Soviet Era was built over the communist ideology. All people were supposed to have similar income, wear similar clothes and work hard. But young people in all countries want to laugh, dance and love. Even though the Soviet Union was isolated from the rest of the world, youg people tried to find out trends of foreign fashion, music and literature. You will have a unique chance to get back to that time and experience soviet lifestyle.

Swan Lake Ballet Celebrates 120th Anniversary in 2017

"Swan Lake", written by Peter Tchaikovsky, is a signature of Russian ballet. The official premiere took place in March 16, 1877 at the Bolshoi Thatre in Moscow. The scenario, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger (Václav Reisinger). Nowadays the ballet is presented in many different versions, but most ballet companies base their stagings both choreographically and musically on the 1895 revival of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, first staged for the Imperial Ballet on 15 January 1895, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.

Ballet did not exist in Russia until 1689. The Tsarist control and isolation of Russia from the West did not allow any influence from that part of the world. Only Peter the Great opened up to the West and created a new Russia which rivaled the society of the West with magnificent courts and palaces. Originally classical ballet entered Russia not as entertainment, but as a standard of physical comportment and perfect behaviour. The aim was not to entertain the masses of Russians, but to create a cultivated and exquisite Russian people. In 1738 a new ballet school was opened by Jean-Baptiste Lande. The school introduced the advanced study of ballet in Russia winning the patronage of elite families.

By the early 1900s the Russian ballet went beyond its borders and infiltrated Paris. It had become its own force and was distinctly Russian, while still being embraced by the Parisian society. The famous Ballets Russes was a ballet company established in 1909 by the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev. Diaghilev had already enjoyed success in Paris in 1908, when he presented a season of Russian art, music, and opera. He was invited back the following year to give a programme of Russian opera and ballet. Its' original members were from the Tsar's Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia where all its dancers were associated and trained. The company consisted of 13 members, all attaining a very high standard of dance. The company featured and premiered now-famous works by the great choreographers Marius Petipa, Michel Fokine, Bronislava Nijinska, Leonide Massine, Vaslav Nijinsky, and a young George Balanchine at the start of his career.

Ballet Itinerary

Especially for Ballet Lovers we designed a Ballet Tour programme which includes all the signature places in Moscow and St. Petersburg: backstage tour of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theatres, Galina Ulanova prima-ballerina apartment-museum, meeting with balerina.

Another highlight of the itinerary is a Private Kids' Ballet Performance at a centrally located venue in St. Petersburg with a glass of Champagne. The itinerary can be modified for a client's requirements. Russian Ballet is enwrapped by many myths and secrets and we offer you a chance to delve into this mysterious world.