The Nutcracker

International Festival Ballet Ensemble dances on artistic director Alex Bogutsky

Since summer 2022 St. Petersburg Festival Ballet a new name.

Shocked and affected by Russia's inhumane war of aggression against Ukraine, the renowned ballet company changes its name and henceforth calls itself "International Festival Ballet".

With this change, the artists express their crystal-clear attitude. The Festival Ballet is an international ballet that thinks beyond all national borders and stands for global understanding and togetherness in the poetry of art, music and dance. Since the beginning of the war, the artists have expressed their stance against Russian aggression through multiple protest actions before their performances. This is why they are now also under threat from Russia. The ensemble, which also includes a large number of Ukrainian artists, sees itself all the more naturally as a Ballet of peace and the cohesion of all people.

The "International Festival Ballet" is a high-calibre ensemble that impresses the world with its rigorous classical elegance, the fresh breath of the twenty-first century and a perfect dance performance. The company consists of 42 dancers. All dancers are graduates of the best Russian ballet schools such as the Vaganova Academy of St Petersburg, the Kiev State Choreographic Academy, the Moscow Academy of Choreography, the Ufa Ballet School and the Perm Ballet Academy. The ensemble has also worked with the best ballet theatres and won numerous prizes and awards at international ballet festivals and competitions. The 42 dancers of the "International Festival Ballet" make up one of the most beautiful and strongest ballet companies and also one of the most renowned in the world.