Moscow Festival Ballet to Perform Swan Lake as Part of M&T Bank Dance Series at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present The Moscow Festival Ballet in Swan Lake on March 23 at 8 p.m. in the Mainstage Theatre, Center for the Arts, North Campus. The performance is sponsored by M&T Bank. There will be a pre-performance talk at 7 p.m.

The Moscow Festival Ballet was founded in 1989 when legendary principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet, Sergei Radchenko, sought to realize his vision of a company that would bring together the highest classical elements of the great Bolshoi and Kirov Ballet companies in an independent new company within the framework of Russian classic ballet.

The Moscow Festival Ballet has completed numerous tours of Europe, and has performed with great success in Turkey, Greece, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong. The company's current tour marks its fifth visit to the U.S. Under the direction of Radchenko, the company continues to expand its repertoire. In addition to commissioning new works from within Russia and abroad, the company specializes in full-length ballets.

Swan Lake, a full-length ballet in four acts, is one of dance's most popular and enduring works. It features a musical score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikowski and choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. The ballet premiered on March 4, 1877 in Moscow.

Tickets for Moscow Festival Ballet in Swan Lake are $26.50 general admission and $13 for students (any school). Tickets are available at the Center for the Arts Box Office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and at all Ticketmaster locations, including ticketmaster.com. To charge tickets call 1-800-745-3000; in Canada, call 416-870-8000. For group sales, call 716-645-6771. For more information call 716-645-2787. Students (of any school) must present valid student ID at the Center for the Arts Box Office to receive discount.