The Bolshoi and Teatro alla Scala superstar SVETLANA ZAKHAROVA has announced additional date for shows MODANSE at the Dubai Opera

Internationally renowned ballerina Svetlana Zakharova – the Bolshoi’s prima and the first and only Russian Etoile at Teatro alla Scala – has announced an additional performance date at Dubai Opera due to high demand for tickets.

It comes after the star announced last month that she would perform in Dubai with Stars of the Bolshoi this January and shared the details for the historical first ever world’s ballet superstar performance in the UAE.  The original date at the Dubai Opera announced was Friday, January 27^th, 2023.

Now, Zakharova is doing an additional show the following day, Saturday, January 28^th.

Speaking about her upcoming Dubai performances, Svetlana said: “I am very excited to be performing at the Dubai Opera for the first time and really look forward to meeting my fans in the United Arab Emirates. These are going to be amazing shows.”

Tickets for the additional Saturday’s show by Svetlana Zakharova and Stars of the Bolshoi starting from AED 349, on sale now at dubaiopera.com and platinumlist.net, +971 508702674.

A towering figure in the 21st century ballet, Zakharova comes to the Dubai Opera in January with MODANSE, a thrilling double bill that brings together the world of fashion and the art of the dance. It was produced by MuzArts specifically for Svetlana Zakharova who will be joined onstage by a star-studded cast of dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet including Mikhail Lobukhin, Denis Savin, Artemy Belyakov, Anastasia Stashkevich, Elizaveta Kokoreva and also by a modern dance star Ildar Gainutdinov.

The night will open with a ballet Come Un Respiro (Like a Breath) set to the 18^th century Baroque music by George Frideric Handel. Incidentally, the Baroque period is present not only in the music, but also in the intricate choreography by a famous Italian choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti and the fanciful costumes designed by a Portuguese artist Helena de Medeiros exclusively for this ballet.

The second part of the performance will feature a tribute to Gabrielle Chanel, the legendary couturier and the founder of The House of CHANEL.  The ballet Gabrielle Chanel created by a renowned Russian choreographer Yury Possokhov narrates Chanel’s journey from an obscure provincial singer to the head of one of the world’s most influential Fashion Houses – a journey that has forever overturned the world of the 20^th century fashion.  CHANEL's Fashion studio under the impetus of Virginie Viard's Artistic Direction has designed more than 80 costumes specifically for Gabrielle Chanel ballet.

Svetlana Zakharova on her role as the great Coco Chanel:

“The first transformation took place before the photo session when I had my makeup and hair done like hers and I put on her costume and saw ‘Chanel’ in the mirror.  I had already done a lot of research, reading biographies, watching films about Chanel’s life, even visited her apartment in Paris where her collections of jewellery, costumes, shoes and perfumes are kept.  Chanel loved Russian ballet, Russian people and she adored Russian fashion models.  Those aristocratic women, who had to leave Russia, worked for her and created incredibly beautiful things.  My task now is to inhabit her character and to dance her image with all her emotions and experiences as I feel it.” 

Composer Ilya Demutsky:

“As soon as I learned that the ballet was being created for Svetlana Zakharova and was going to be choreographed by Yury Possokhov, I immediately agreed to a proposal by MuzArts.  I have worked with Yury Possokhov before – on ballets ‘A Hero of Our Time’ and ‘Nureyev’, and Svetlana brilliantly implemented my musical score on stage, but those were different images and absolutely different intonations.  This time we were united by the story of life and creative work of the magnificent Gabrielle Chanel.

During our work on this performance, I was present at rehearsals and saw the way Svetlana and Yury worked – their persistent search and all-consuming labour, which then gradually transformed into the very essence of naturalness when choreography is literally absorbed into the body.  And then comes the moment when I “hear” my music through my eyes, I no longer need the orchestra because I can literally see my music.

In the music, which I wrote for this performance I insist on sensuality, the unique quality without which a Woman cannot create – exactly this way, with a capital “W”, and the great Mademoiselle Coco was and remains in history precisely such a Woman.  My music, slightly flavoured with a French aroma, has room for both light-heartedness and tragedy, brief fascination and deep feelings.  The music turned out to be intense, multifaceted, quite tricky to perform, absorbing and sporadically brilliant. Just like the whole life of Coco Chanel.”

Libretto writer and director Alexey Frandetti:

“I love to step out of my comfort zone and throw myself into something absolutely new and unknown.  The proposal made by MuzArts Production Company to create not just a performance, but a ballet about the legendary character that has rocked the world of fashion looked like total insanity and a challenge to myself.  I doubted whether her story could be danced at all, let alone fit it into one act.  My doubts melted when I started my first rehearsal with Svetlana and felt the magic she radiates when she dances.  Not so much dances as lives, breathes with her heroine and conveys it to the public.”

General producer of MuzArts Yury Baranov:

“Svetlana Zakharova is a great dancer of the 21^st century, her talent multiplied by never-ending labour and never-ending search of herself in art inspires admiration and respect.  For such a dancer you want to invent something unconventional, new and surround her with talented people so that together they achieve incredible heights.  At MuzArts we’re passionate about presenting world-class ballet to audiences all over the world and we are absolutely delighted to be presenting this very exciting double bill in Dubai this January for the very first time.  The programme, which we named MODANSE, was created specifically for the world’s greatest ballet star Svetlana Zakharova and also features many of the world’s top ballet performers - a superb company of dancers and they all look forward to performing at the Dubai Opera.”