For many years now we have been able to see in Athens from the National Opera Ballet a classical production such as Minkus’ Don Quixote, which premiered last Saturday. In December 2016, Giselle, one of the most famous ballets of Romanticism, was presented at the Olympia Theater shortly before ELS moved to SNFCC.

Since then, in the Stavros Niarchos Hall, we have seen Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake in 2019, and last year Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, also choreographed by Konstantinos Rigos. Although these are works of the classical repertoire, the LES ballet director offered his own reading, which mixed elements of classical, neoclassical and modern dance, adapted to the bodies and techniques of the LES ballet dancers, as he himself mentioned.

But this year, Christmas in “Lyriky” – traditionally, such a show is held closer to the holidays – is an extraordinary spectacle. After a series of cancellations that began in 2020 and continued through the years of the pandemic, Don Quixote proves that a classical ballet remains charming even when it follows a choreography first staged in 1869. One of the indicators of success, of course, is the creative scenery. , perfect lighting and well thought out costumes by Mary Katrantzou. However, the most important component of it is the dance itself.

The question of the technical capabilities of the ELS ballet and its ability to respond to the challenges of classical dance remains open.

Brazilian dancer and choreographer Thiago Bordin choreographed Marius Petipa’s original choreography, one of the most difficult in the classical repertoire. He himself came to Athens with a lot of ideas and a willingness to give the work a bit of a modern air, without deviating, however, from the high technical requirements of Petipa. To succeed, he collaborated with two dancers he knew from the beginning. Georgian Maya Makatelli as Kitri and especially Russian Daniil Simskin as Basilio, the star of the world classical ballet scene. They are both in their prime, so at around 30 years of age, they have the experience and physical fitness to take the real test of this choreography while maintaining their elegance and impeccable technique.

Of course, the coexistence on stage of guest dancers with the dancers of ELS Ballet – joint rehearsals, competition – benefited the latter, and in the end the ensemble worked very well, and we saw interesting interpretations in the secondary parts. .

However, the question of the technical capabilities of the LES Ballet and its ability to respond to the challenges of classical dance remains and perpetuates. While the retirement age limit for Paris Opera ballet dancers remains at 42 years old, while in Italy the retirement age limit was recently lowered from 55 to 46 years old, in Greece the law of 2015 (p. 4336/2015, basic and transitional provisions), the age limit for dancers, regardless of the date of insurance, has increased dramatically. In particular, dancers who were insured before January 1, 1993 have a retirement age limit of 55 to 67, while those who were insured later must remain in ballet until age 67.

The decision to exempt the group of about 60 people who make up our national ballet from this particular law is made by the Department of Labor. However, the efforts have not yet borne fruit, dooming the ballet to gradual aging.