Bolshoi to Add ‘Giselle’ for S.D. Audiences : Dance: Members of the 214-year-old troupe will be visiting San Diego for the first time since the 1960s, bringing two full-length ballets that date back to the 19th Century.

The dancers in the Bolshoi Ballet may be feeling the pinch of the political and social unrest going on back home in the Soviet Union. But the San Diego performances--the first since the 1960s--of the 214-year-old bastion of classical dance will conjure the make-believe world of ballet, abundant with fairy-tale fervor, ghostly otherworldliness and elaborate spectacle.

During their run at the Civic Theatre beginning Tuesday, the Moscow-based company will perform two full-length ballets that date back to the 19th Century--the golden age of Russian ballet.

“Swan Lake,” which completes its run at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium on Sunday, will inaugurate the Bolshoi’s San Diego visit, and will be performed three times Tuesday through Thursday. Friday through Sunday, the company will perform the only four California stagings of “Giselle.”

The version of “Giselle” in preparation for the Civic Theatre this weekend bears the personal stamp of Yuri Grigorovich, artistic director and chief choreographer of the Bolshoi since 1964.

However, Grigorovich claims little credit for the old chestnut’s new look. He considers the changes to be a unifying factor, linking the classic to its finest Russian roots.

“My main goal was to go back to the original--forward to (Marius) Petipa,” the gregarious Grigorovich joked during an interview in Los Angeles.

“I put more of the dancing on pointe,” he said, referring to all the peasant dancing in Act I, “because in my opinion, that gives it more stylistic unity” with the pointe work of the otherworldly Wilis in Act II. “I also changed some mime scenes, adding more choreography,” he said.

Victoria Charlton, co-chairwoman of Entertainment Corp. U.S.A., which represents the Bolshoi in the United States, described Grigorovich’s emphasis on stronger dance values as a major innovation that separates the Bolshoi’s production from other contemporary “Giselle’s,” including the recent staging of “Giselle” performed by the Australian Ballet in Orange County.

“We don’t hang around,” Charlton stressed. “There’s a lot more dance in this ‘Giselle.’ We go straight into the dance, and even the minor roles are played by Bolshoi soloists. We have to, with all those top-notch dancers in the company. Western ballet companies can’t afford that.”

The ballerina role in “Giselle,” with its formidable dramatic and technical challenges, is the most coveted in the classic repertory, and the dancers slated to perform the role in San Diego are among the Bolshoi’s most celebrated.

Nina Semizorova, a protege of the famous Galina Ulanova and a Bolshoi ballerina since 1978, is one of the stars tagged for the San Diego staging. Semizorova will dance the title role on opening night with Alexander Vetrov as Albrecht, and again during the Bolshoi’s final San Diego performance with her danseur husband Mark Peretokin.

Semizorova and Peretokin were in San Diego earlier this summer to talk about their upcoming appearance.

“I will dance both ballets here,” Semizorova said of “Giselle” and “Swan Lake,” speaking through an interpreter as she savored a dish of fresh raspberries and cream at the Westgate Hotel--an uncommon luxury in the Soviet Union, she pointed out.

” “Giselle” is brilliant, and I love it very much, but it is very complicated.

“Grigorovich’s version of ‘Giselle’ has new choreography and much more pointe work,” she said.

“We have new sets and costumes, which are only 3 years old. They are all historically accurate, but they’re new.”

“They were made for Paris,” Charlton added. “And they’re very lavish. But the most important thing is the change in the company. You no longer have to keep the dancers for 20 years--whether they’re good or not. Now, they’re much younger on the average.”

“Of course, there is change,” Grigorovich said . “Thank God, they have changed since 1966. But we need more changes if we are to survive. And we still need a contract system (to increase the salaries) of the dancers.”

“There’s been tremendous upheaval,” Charlton acknowledged. “Yuri is not going to be told what to do any more. He’s standing up for his rights. He weeded out a lot of the dead wood,” she said, referring to the older and less technically secure dancers who are gone from the company. “And it’s now more financially feasible for the dancers to go do guest appearances with other countries than to leave the Bolshoi.”

The threat of defections and financial shortfalls still hovers over the Bolshoi, however; only recently the Bolshoi’s Irek Mukhamedov defected to join England’s Royal Ballet. But Semizorova agrees that perestroika has increased the possibilities for Soviet dancers.

“You can go abroad to study now,” Semizorova said. “You can learn modern techniques. You can even start your own company. Some of the smaller ballet companies are self-supporting, but it’s difficult to (fund them). I’m free to leave the Bolshoi and I’d like to have my own ballet company some day, but it isn’t easy to walk away from the Bolshoi.”

Teranda Gedeminas, who will dance Hilarion in two of the upcoming performances of “Giselle,” has the same emotional attachment to the Bolshoi.

“We have interesting male roles in particular,” he said. “And even if the living conditions are bad, it’s still the Bolshoi--and you’re working with the best dancers in the country.”

However, Gedeminas, who was interviewed backstage at the Shrine Auditorium, was quick to add, “I’m a little skeptical of the situation (in the Soviet Union). It changes too often, and I think some people will still be leaving, because they have no confidence in the future.”

Gedeminas, more than any of his peers, perhaps, is looking forward to the visit to San Diego, since he has studied--and performed--with one of San Diego’s leading ambassadors of modern dance.

“When Betzi Roe was in Moscow, I worked with her, and danced in a concert with her,” he said.

Although Grigorovich has the staunch support of most of his dancers and a proven ability to survive, he is concerned about the Bolshoi’s future.

“You’re a rich country,” he said. “We’re not at all rich now.”