2001 to Bring La Scala Ballet

The first West Coast appearance of Italy’s La Scala Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet’s Southern California premiere of Rudolf Nureyev’s last work as a choreographer will highlight the 2001 International Classic Dance season at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Also in the offing are the first OCPAC performances by the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg and the return to Costa Mesa of the National Ballet of Cuba, which will dance highlights from the career of its founder and director, star ballerina Alicia Alonso.

Although La Scala Ballet, the resident company of the famous Milan opera house, never has appeared here before, its two programs will feature dance divas familiar to OCPAC audiences. In one program, Alessandra Ferri, a Milan native, will dance Bizet’s “Carmen” and a sequence of repertory highlights still to be announced. In the other, French dancer Sylvie Guillem, a protege of Nureyev, will star in a new production of “Giselle” she conceived and choreographed herself.

The Paris Opera Ballet, which dates from the reign of Louis XIV, will present its lavish, three-act ballet “La Bayadere,” featuring choreography by Nureyev, the company’s director during the final years of his life. His last public appearance came at the Paris premiere of “La Bayadere” in October 1992--three months before his death.

The Eifman Ballet, founded in 1977, was seen as a renegade during the Soviet era and received no government subsidies. It will present founder-choreographer Boris Eifman’s two-act ballet “A Russian Hamlet: The Son of Catherine the Great,” based on the true story of Czar Paul I and featuring music of Beethoven and Mahler.

The National Ballet of Cuba was founded and is still directed by the 79-year-old Alonso, who rose to fame as a ballerina during the 1940s with American Ballet Theatre. It will offer two programs: “The Magic of Alonso” (featuring highlights from “Giselle,” “The Sleeping Beauty,” “Swan Lake” and other works Alonso has choreographed for the company) and her “Coppelia,” Leo Delibes’ 1870 opera based on a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann.

Subscriptions come in packages of two, three and four performances, priced from $51 to $250--up $11 from the current range of $40 to $239. Single tickets, $20 to $85 (compared with the current $12 to $85), go on sale about six weeks before each event.

The schedule:

Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, four performances of “A Russian Hamlet: The Son of Catherine the Great,” March 16-18.

Paris Opera Ballet, six performances of “La Bayadere,” May 8-13.

La Scala Ballet, three performances of “Carmen” and repertory highlights and four of “Giselle,” July 10-14, 2001.

National Ballet of Cuba, two performances of “The Magic of Alonso” and three of “Coppelia,” Oct. 18-21.

Information: (714) 556-2787, Ext. 240 or https://www.ocpac.org.