Oceania - Ballet in St. Petersburg

[Druke I]

Oceania lists two different Ballet tours in St. Petersburg.

 

One is called "An Evening of Russian Ballet", and the other is "Evening of Russian Song and Dance".

 

Descriptions of the two are similar, pricing different.

 

Can anyone tell me the difference, so I can pass it on to wife and sis-in-law, who are trying to make up their collective minds (I'll pass on the dance!)

 

We'll be in St. Pete 9-3/4/5-05.

[mike35]

We just finished a Crystal Baltic cruise, where we booked on our own after doing quite a bit of research. An evening at the ballet can mean any of 3 venues; only the Mariinsky (formerly Kirov) is top artists; the others are generally of lesser quality. We went to an evening of dance, called "Feel Yourself Russian", and it was folk dancing, singing, and music - highly enjoyable, with vodka and caviar served at intermission.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mike

[Druke I]

My wife, impatient, called Oceania, and asked.

 

Apparently the printer put the wrong description on the Folk Dance Music tour, and the proofreaders, both at the printers and Oceania Cruises, did not catch the error.

 

My wife decided to go with the folkloric, which sounds like the Feel Yourself Russian described by mikebrill above. as she saw Kirov Ballet last time we were in St. Pete.

[mike35]

We thoroughly enjoyed "Feel Yourself Russian"! The cast is really into the production, and you could tell that they were having as much fun as the audience! Suggestion -- although they say "no pictures", everyone is flashing away. With that being said, I would suggest you sit in the back row (the seating is flat) - that way you can stand up and "shoot away" without disturbing anyone. I got some great video footage doing this. Also, if you like caviar, try to get to the intermission venue early, as it goes rather quickly. They also have other canapes, wine, orange juice, etc.

 

Mike

[Liat]

Who you get simply depends on who is in town. You would be very lucky to see the Kirov because it is one of the best in the world, and probably not easy for a cruise line to book a block of seats. When we were in St. Pettersberg on a Princess cruise in August 2003 we saw the Moscow State Ballet on tour in a full length presentation of Sleeping Beauty. This is a very good company, with solid dancing by a large, very professional group of dancers. It's not the Kirov, or the New York, or Royal Danish; but is equal to any regional US Company. You could probably get on the net and find out what is being played in St. Petersberg when you are there, and get your own tickets.