Russia’s Renowned Bolshoi Ballet Arrives in North Carolina for Exclusive Performances at Carolina Performing Arts

Carolina Performing Arts, Chapel Hill community on the map as arts hub of the Southeast

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., June 2 /PRNewswire/ — Carolina Performing Arts, founded in 2005 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, welcomes the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet to Memorial Hall June 10-14. The Bolshoi Ballet will perform Don Quixote and Swan Lake; neither ballet will be performed anywhere else on the tour. The Bolshoi Ballet has not toured in the United States since 2007 and Chapel Hill, N.C. is one of only three scheduled stops. The Bolshoi has never performed in the Southeast.

Bolshoi Ballet principal dancers Maria Alexandrova, Andrei Uvarov and Alexander Volchkov will headline the four exclusive performances. Conductor Pavel Sorokin of the Bolshoi Ballet will lead the North Carolina Symphony as it accompanies the Bolshoi.

The Bolshoi’s performance engagement at Memorial Hall is an elite honor for Carolina Performing Arts (CPA). Given the exclusivity of the Bolshoi’s 2009 U.S. Tour, the Bolshoi’s selection of CPA is an acknowledgement of the quality and professionalism of the arts program at UNC-Chapel Hill. Since 2005, CPA has attracted the world’s most prestigious artists and transformed the small university-town, known primarily for its sports legends, into one of the premier arts and cultural venues in the Southeast. In its first four seasons, CPA presented 144 artists from 30 countries, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Yo-Yo Ma, Caetano Veloso, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Youssou N’Dour, The New York Philharmonic and Ornette Coleman.

“A company like the Bolshoi is singular and unparalleled,” said Emil Kang, executive director for the arts at UNC-Chapel Hill and executive director of Carolina Performing Arts. “In December 2007, CPA Board Chair Tom Kearns and I traveled to Moscow to meet with the company’s officials and Carolina Performing Arts began a journey that culminates with these four special performances in Chapel Hill.”

“To say we are thrilled to finally have the company here is an understatement,” said Kang. “These performances represent a coup for both Carolina Performing Arts and the state of North Carolina.”

The world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet was founded in 1776 and is among the oldest ballet companies in the world. Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, which will be performed in Memorial Hall, was originally created for the Bolshoi Ballet. In the past two years, the Bolshoi has toured outside of Russia only three times to perform in London, Paris and Amsterdam. In addition to the performances in Chapel Hill, the Bolshoi Ballet will perform in Berkeley, Cali. and Washington, D.C. before returning to Russia.

The Bolshoi Ballet’s performance schedule at Memorial Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill follows:

Don Quixote – Wednesday, June 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Swan Lake – Saturday, June 13 at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 14 at 2 p.m.

A limited amount of tickets are still available for the performances. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit Carolina Performing Arts.

Before the Saturday, June 13 performance of Swan Lake, CPA will host An Evening with the Bolshoi Ballet. The black-tie event will raise funds to support the presentation of the Bolshoi Ballet at Memorial Hall. For more information or to purchase tickets to An Evening with the Bolshoi Ballet, please contact Melchee Johnson at 919-843-1869 or e-mail bolshoigala@unc.edu.

About Carolina Performing Arts

Carolina Performing Arts (CPA) is a multi-disciplinary performing arts presenting series managed by the Office of the Executive Director for the Arts of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Founded in 2005 by Emil Kang, executive director, CPA’s first season was launched in conjunction with the reopening of Memorial Hall. In its first four seasons, CPA has presented 144 artists from 30 countries, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Yo-Yo Ma, Caetano Veloso, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Youssou N’Dour, The New York Philharmonic and Ornette Coleman.

Carolina Performing Arts subscriptions and tickets can be purchased online at www.carolinaperformingarts.org, by phone through the Memorial Hall Box Office at 919-843-3333 or by mail to the Memorial Hall Box Office, Campus Box 3276, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C., 27599-3276. The box office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.

Web site: www.carolinaperformingarts.org

Photos: For photos, contact Harry Kaplowitz at 919-843-3119, hkaplowitz@unc.edu.

Note: For a complete list of artists and performances for the 2009/2010 season, visit http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2346/66/

Carolina Performing Arts contact: Harry Kaplowitz, 919-843-3119, hkaplowitz@unc.edu

SOURCE Carolina Performing Arts