Horses dance in Russian ballet

“Don Quixote” is on the ballet programme of the annual Easter Festival now underway in Moscow. It is difficult to imagine “Don Quixote” without horses, and, to the viewers surprise, very unusual “prima ballerinas” appea

Two horses, called Ugolyok and Yasha, are frequent guests at the knight tournaments as well as all kinds of theatre performances. The dancers were getting accustomed to their new partners before the curtains rose.

The St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre company has presented the performance to the Moscow audiences. The main parts are performed by young talented dancers.

This version of the ballet was first staged in 1900 by choreographer Aleksandr Gorsky at the Bolshoi Theatre. Great choreographer Marius Petipa took part in creating the avant-garde staging.

At that time it caused a flurry of critical remarks especially from the conservative Mariinsky Theatre company. However, time showed this version to be the most popular and even the Mariinsky company included it in its repertoire.