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The classics live on with us: this two-part production from the Hungarian National Ballet features one work from Harald Lander and another by George Balanchine, with the latter piece making its first appearance in Hungary.


Although Tchaikovsky never intended his four orchestral suites to be used as ballet pieces, George Balanchine felt that they immediately suggest the idea of dance. The choreography Theme & Variations, now considered a classic, evokes the golden age of Russian ballet and celebrates its memory. The work, set in a ballroom, features solo and corps de ballet dances performed by a male and a female principal and the corps. True to its title, they faithfully follow all 12 variations explored in a single movement of one of Tchaikovsky’s suites.  

Theme & Variations – ballet in one act (Hungarian premiere)

Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust

Main female soloist: Lea Földi / Elizaveta Cheprasova / Aliya Tanykpayeva
Main male soloist: Gergely Leblanc / Zoltán Oláh / Gergő Ármin Balázsi

Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Set designer: István Rózsa
Costume designer: Nóra Rományi
Lighting designer: Tamás Solymosi
Répétiteur: John Clifford
Company répétiteur: Mária Aradi / Imre Dózsa / Tamás Solymosi / Marianna Venekei

Études is one of choreographer Harald Lander’s most outstanding creations, one that he crafted for the Danish Royal Ballet in 1948. Études depicts the everyday work of ballet dancers in its full reality and grandeur: the beauty and aesthetics of classical ballet and the joy and thrill of Dance

Études – classical ballet in one act

Choreography by Harald Lander

Ballerina: Minjung Kim / Karina Sarkissova / Alexandra Kozmér
First soloist: András József Rónai / Gergő Ármin Balázsi / Ievgen Lagunov
Second soloist: Dmitry Timofeev / Gergely Leblanc / Zoltán Oláh

Composer: Carl Czerny
Artistic consultant: Lise Lander
Coach: Johnny Eliasen
Ballet masters: Ildikó Pongor / Angéla Kövessy

Venue: Müpa Festival Theatre, Budapest
Premiere: 15 November 2017
Further dates: 16, 17, 25, 26 November 2017