Russian National Ballet Returns To Harris Center

Two distinct programs mark the 2019 return of the Russian National Ballet to Folsom. On Wednesday, the company of 50 exquisite dancers will twice perform Cinderella, a full-length ballet in two acts, with music by Prokofiev. On Thursday, the company performs a Gala Program, with excerpts from the world's greatest ballets and music by Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens, Prokofiev, and more.

Under the artistic direction of Elena Radchenko, a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, RNB was founded during Perestroika, when many principal dancers from the great ballet companies formed this group to tour the world and uphold the grand tradition of the major Russian ballet works. The Harris Center is proud to welcome them back to Stage One.

Russian National Ballet will stage three performances of dance at the Harris Center on Wednesday, February 6, 2019, at 2 and 7 pm (Cinderella program) and Thursday, February 7 at 7:30 pm (Gala Program). Tickets are $38-$58; Premium $68; 50% Discount for Children & Students with ID. Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from 12 noon to 6 pm, Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time. Parking is included in the price of the ticket. Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.

The Russian National Ballet was founded in Moscow during the transitional period of Perestroika in the late 1980s, when many of the great dancers and choreographers of the Soviet Union's ballet institutions were exercising their new-found creative freedom by starting new, vibrant companies. These were dedicated not only to the timeless tradition of classical Russian Ballet but to invigorate this tradition as the Russians began to accept new developments in the dance from around the world.

The company, then titled the Soviet National Ballet, was founded by and incorporated graduates from the great Russian choreographic schools of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Perm. The principal dancers of the company came from the upper ranks of the great ballet companies and academies of Russia, and the companies of Riga, Kiev and even Warsaw. Today, the Russian National Ballet is its own institution, with over 50 dancers of singular instruction and vast experience, many of whom have been with the company since its inception.

The legendary Bolshoi principal dancer Elena Radchenko was selected by Presidential

decree to assume the first permanent artistic directorship of the company. Ms. Radchenko is the founder of the Russian National Ballet, and she has focused the Company on upholding the grand national tradition of the major Russian ballet works and developing new talents throughout Russia. Their repertory includes virtually all of the great full works of Petipa: Don Quixote, La Bayadere, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Raymonda, Paquita, Coppelia and La Sylphide, as well as productions of, among others, The Nutcracker, Sylvia, and La Fille Mal Gardee.

The Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College brings the community together to share in cultural experiences featuring the work of artists from throughout the region and around the world. Built and operated by the Los Rios Community College District, the $50 million, state-of-the-art regional performing arts center boasts three intimate venues with outstanding acoustics, an art gallery, a recording studio, elegant teaching spaces, plenty of safe parking and all the other amenities of a world-class performing arts venue. Each year the Center hosts over 400 events attracting more than 150,000 annually.

Tickets are available online at www.HarrisCenter.net or from Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from noon to 6 pm, Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time.