Kirov Ballet Plans San Diego Visit : Dance: July appearance will be the first locally by the prestigious Russian troupe.

In a move that represents a major step for the San Diego Foundation for the Performing Arts as well as the local dance community, the foundation has arranged for the first-ever local performance by Russia’s prestigious Kirov Ballet.

As part of an 11-week, 13-city tour of North America, the Kirov company will perform “La Bayadere” at the Civic Theater July 10-12. The group is also scheduled to perform at the Orange County Performing Arts Center from May 19-24.

Bringing the 125-member dance company and accompanying 65-piece orchestra to San Diego is the most ambitious undertaking ever attempted by the Foundation for the Performing Arts, according to Executive Director Fred Colby. The Kirov will be a logistic nightmare, requiring accommodations and food for the whole company. For most touring groups, the foundation provides a local orchestra.

“We would not have done this a year ago,” Colby said. “But we feel more comfortable about our ability to present it and the city’s ability to support it.”

Colby said the foundation has been negotiating with Kirov representatives for months, but it was the combination of an open week in the company’s schedule and the group’s willingness to reach a compromise on the number of dates and appearance fees that made it work. The Kirov usually performs a minimum of a full week in a city, Colby said.

The foundation worried that San Diego would be unable to support a week of performances, Colby said, and preferred a shorter schedule that would almost certainly draw full houses.

Colby said the foundation will be looking for sponsors to underwrite about $50,000 in expenses.

“Usually we anticipate costs of about $100,000,” for a major touring act, Colby said. “But because we were able to keep (the Kirov performances) down to half a week, we were able to keep costs down.”

Kirov, Russia’s oldest ballet company, is widely regarded as the birthplace of ballet. It has produced such international stars as Rudlolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The St. Petersburg-based Kirov is considered more artistic and regal than its more athletic and dark counterpart, the Bolshoi.

The Kirov shows will mark the first time “La Bayadere” will be performed in its entirety in San Diego, Colby said. Portions of the four-act play, a love story set in a Hindu temple, are often performed, but the scope and length of the production have made it one of ballet’s rarely performed classics.

Such up-and-coming stars as Altynai Asylmuratova, Aleksandr Gulyaev, Igor Zelensky and Andris Liepa are among the group’s featured performers.

The Kirov tour opens in Vancouver on May 14. In addition to “La Bayadere,” the group will be performing new versions of “Swan Lake” and “Romeo and Juliet” in other cities.

Ticket prices for the San Diego performances have been priced at $25 to $60. Colby said that foundation current season ticket holders will have first choice on seats. Individual tickets are expected to go on sale June 1.