Munich is a city with rich cultural traditions. Alongside several musical theatres, the Bavarian State Ballet is considered one of the most famous companies in Europe. The sophisticated Bavarian audience has the opportunity to enjoy performances of musicians, singers and ballet dancers from all over the world.

On February 12th, on the stage of the Munich Philharmonic Gasteig, where the Mariinsky Ballet performed two weeks earlier, the Arts Center “Saint-Michel” presented the Ballet “Carmen” choreographed by Mikhail Venshchikov. The main roles were performed by soloists of the Mikhailovsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg – Oksana Bondareva (Carmen) and Andrey Masloboev (Jose), and the soloist of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre, Moscow – Boris Zhurilov (Torero).

It is important to note that the performance, which was prepared for several months, was in danger of being cancelled at the last moment because Hurricane Ciara was raging during those February days in Europe.

The ballet soloists Andrey Masloboev and Oksana Bondareva were able to land at Munich airport only on the second attempt. During the first flight, the plane carrying the artists had to return to St. Petersburg after crossing half of the route from Europe.

The warm reception of the audience and benevolent reviews of critics became a worthy compensation for the artists for the ordeal once they safely landed!

Art Center “Saint-Michel” expresses gratitude to the project coordinator from Germany – Laura Tiffany Schmid.