The Nutcracker with the Russian State Ballet

Our dancers had an incredible experience collaborating with the Russian State Ballet to stage a unique production of "The Nutcracker"!

The project was part of "BALLET WITHOUT BORDERS" which was conceived by Vitaly Mironov of the Moscow Caledonian Society. He hopes to bring together dancers and audiences from all backgrounds in a celebration of ballet. The project staged 4 unique performances across Scotland, including with West Lothian mainstream schools.

Rehearsals and performance

The project began in September with a masterclass from Maestro Vitaly Akhundov, the choreographer. The Maestro spoke no English so teacher Amanda and the students had learned a few words of Russian for the rehearsal! Take a look at photos from our masterclass!

The group of 33 dancers aged 10-17 rehearsed the corps de ballet roles with CSBS teacher Amanda, including party children, toy soldiers, rats, snowflakes and 'Waltz of the Flowers', as well as some of the solo routines! It was hard work and the 5 rehearsals were very intensive, but the result was a sparkling production staged at the Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline to an audience of almost 400 people. 

You can view photos from our Costume Call rehearsal or photos from our rehearsal with the Russian dancers on our CSBS Facebook page:

For the performance, they danced alongside 5 principals from the Russian State Ballet:

• Nina Koloskova as Marie
• Alexey Zuev as the Nutcracker 
• Georgy Sorokin as Drosselmeyer / Spanish and French dancer
• Masami Chino as Columbine / Chinese dancer
• Elizaveta Mironova as Mouse Queen / Russian dancer

Also performing solo and small group roles were dancers from CSBS. Many congratulations to:

• ARABIAN - Serena McCall (soloist)
• FRENCH - Lucy Hutton (Pas de deux)
• SPANISH - Sarah Leslie, Sophie Nather
• CHINESE - Ailish Ogilvie, Iana Phillips
• RUSSIAN - Lucy Anderson, Laura Stirling, Zoe Young

You can view photos from the dress rehearsal and photos from the wings during the performance on our CSBS Facebook page. Please go and have a look through!

Invited guests and reception

We welcomed a number of invited guests to the performance including Yvonne Gray (Chairperson RAD Scotland), Mrs Clark (Principal, Central Scotland Ballet School), a number of local councillors, representatives from local councils and other organisations, and of course our own staff and their guests. After the performance, they enjoyed a reception with entertainment from Russian soprano Anastasia Kovaleva.

Thanks and congratulations

Many congratulations to all the dancers involved in the performance. It was outstanding! Special thanks to everyone who supported it in some way, especially CSBS teacher Amanda who managed the entire project including rehearsals, costumes, posters and programmes, and photographs too! Due to the costs involved in the project, it was partly funded by CSBS fundraising, so thank you also to everyone who has supported our fundraising over the past year!