Ruth Leon recommends… Le Corsaire – Mariinsky

Le Corsaire – Mariinsky
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This is the ballet all young male dancers aspire to perform because their role, unlike most classical ballets, is not limited to proudly displaying the ballerina, lifting her, and not dropping her from a great height but putting her down gently for her next pirouette or balance. In Le Corsaire, (The Pirate) all the fireworks belong to the men, especially in this version from Moscow’s Mariinsky Ballet starring Timor Askerov as Conrad, the pirate.

It was based on The Corsair by Lord Byron and choreographed originally by Balletmaster Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam, this production, Pyotr Gusev’s 1955 revival, features a star-studded roster of Mariinsky dancers including Kimin Kim (Ali), Alina Somova (Medora), Timur Askerov (Conrad), Nadezhda Batoeva (Gulnare) with Daria Ionova, Anastasia Nuikina, and Maria Khoreva as the three Odalisques.

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