Moscow Festival Ballet returns to Edmond

Edmond’s Armstrong Auditorium will once again host Moscow Festival Ballet as the company brings two traditional Russian ballets to the state.

The touring dancers, direct from Moscow, will present Cinderella on Monday at the auditorium, 14400-B S. Bryant Ave. They follow Tuesday with The Sleeping Beauty. Both performances begin at 7:30 p.m.

Ryan Malone, Armstrong Auditorium concert manager, said Russian companies have been coming through the venue since the 2010-11 season. A few years ago, Armstrong began offering two performance nights instead of just one. Malone said the event has become kind of an end-of-January franchise for the venue.

Armstrong has found these shows bring in capacity or near-sellout crowds.

“The demand for this is great — we’ve noticed that — and from our perspective, it’s artistically superior and commercially successful and family friendly, so it’s this wonderful trifecta in the performing arts,” Malone said.

Classic notes

The two performances scheduled for Moscow Festival Ballet are recognizable by many as big Disney names, yet both are steeped in tradition.

Cinderella was composed by Sergei Prokofiev in the 1940s. Music from the ballet is even featured in the score for 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Some original music from Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty was used in the 1959 animated film.

In the past, Armstrong has hosted other classic Russian ballets such as Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.

“That’s what they’ve been offering,” Malone said. “It’s a great fit for our venue and what we’re all about in terms of wholesome, family entertainment and great art.”

Malone added that this is the group’s only Oklahoma stop on its U.S. tour.

In addition to the upcoming ballet performances, Armstrong also welcomes Grammy-winning Mariachi los Camperos Feb. 4 and Queen Elizabeth’s own Band of the Royal Marines, along with the pipes, drums and highland dancers of the Scots Guards, Feb. 14.

The venue promises a close, intimate setting for guests. From the front of the stage to the back of the hall is a distance of just 75 feet. Malone said there truly is not a bad seat in the house.

“Even if you’ve seen something like this before, to be in the same room with it and being in such close proximity to such great visual performance art, I think it’s unrivaled compared to where you’d sit in a large venue anywhere else,” he said.

Call the box office at 285-1010 for information about ticket pricing.

Print headline: Russian classics, Moscow Festival Ballet returns to Armstrong Auditorium with traditional Russian offerings Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty.

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