Friday, April 12, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
The Bolshoi Ballet Ensemble, one of the world's oldest ballet companies, will perform at 8 p.m. April 23 at Artemus Ham Hall.
The program, a concert in the Charles Vanda Master Series, will include a suite from "Don Quixote," as well as Act 2 of "Swan Lake." The ballet "Don Quixote" was created by Marius Petipa for the Moscow Ballet in 1869.
Among the premiere ballerinas who have performed in the company are Marina Semyonova and Galina Ulanova.
The Bolshoi Ballet Ensemble, under the direction of Vatcheslav Gordeev, artistic director, presents a company of 50 of the stars from the Bolshoi Ballet, which takes its name from the home theater -- the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre.
In Russian, the world "bolshoi" means big. And the group is big in many ways; it can call upon about 250 dancers for its season of performances. And the legend continues: Celebrated dancers of past generations teach fledging dancers at a school associated with the theater.
There has been a ballet company in Moscow for more than 200 years. An Italian ballet master, Filippo Beccari, formerly a dancer in the St. Petersburg court theaters, was retained to train children from the Moscow Orphanage in 1773, starting with 62 students. A total of 24 of these children passed muster and made their debut in 1776.
Thus began the Moscow Ballet. Two decades later, the ballet company was housed in the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre. In 1856, the company moved into its present theater, the Bolshoi Theatre.
The Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra, which traces its history back to and beyond Tchaikovsky, performed a Charles Vanda Master Series concert last October at Artemus Ham Hall.
KNPR 89.5-FM is a sponsor of this event.
Tickets are $20, $25, $32.50, $40 and $50 and are available at the Performing Arts Center box office, 895-3801. UNLV and group discounts are available at the Performing Arts Center box office only. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
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