Show One, “Poor Liza”: June 13
SHOW ONE PRESENTS POOR LIZA
LEADING RUSSIAN ACTRESS & BOLSHOI BALLET STAR
IN AWARD-WINNING RUSSIAN DANCE THEATRE WORK
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 AT JOHN BASSETT THEATRE
“Poor Liza is an original, stimulating, and powerful work of dance theatre.” – The Moscow Times
“Chulpan Khamatova, a most beautiful actress…danced amazingly fluently…. She is so multi-talented.” – Ballet Magazine, U.K.
In 2009, dance and theatre headlines were made when film star Juliette Binoche performed as a dancer with choreographer Akram Khan in his daring dance theatre creation, in-i. It was an international success.
Dance, acting and passion combine when Show One Productions brings Toronto another innovative dance theatre production featuring a celebrated actress and dancer. Poor Liza is an award-winning performance from Russia’s State Theatre of Nations. It unites a star of the Bolshoi Ballet and one of Russia’s greatest actresses in a contemporary take on a classic Russian story of love and betrayal.
Actress Chulpan Khamatova, Honored Artist of Russia, and Bolshoi Ballet principal dancer Andrei Merkuriev star in Poor Liza, one night only, Wednesday, June 13, 8 p.m. at the John Bassett Theatre, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 255 Front Street West.
Tickets, starting at $55, are available from www.showoneproductions.ca or by phone at 416-737-6785.
(The performance is entirely dance. There is no spoken dialogue.)
Poor Liza is a classic love story by Nikolay Karamzin (1766-1826) about seduction, betrayal and social conflict. This highly dramatic and absorbing work was choreographed by Alla Sigalova (www.en.allasigalova.ru), one of Russia’s leading choreographers in both dance and theatre, who created numerous works for her own independent dance company, as well as other dance and theatre companies in Russia and Europe. In 2008, she won the Golden Mask Award “for the fruitful synthesis of drama theatre and choreography.”
The score was specially created by Leonid Desyatnikov (www.leoniddesyatnikov.com). One of the best-known living Russian composers, Desyatnikov is particularly recognized in the west though his collaborations with Gidon Kremer, and for arranging the music of tango king Astor Piazzolla.
The production won two of that country’s Golden Mask National Theatre Awards (2010) – one for best modern dance production, and the other for Andrei Merkuriev for best male role in ballet.
NOBEL PRIZE NOMINATION: Chulpan Khamatova – who is famed in Russia for her films and TV series, and in Germany for such films as Goodbye Lenin! – is one of two Russian actresses being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Mikhail Gorbachev. In 2006, she and actress Dina Korzun co-founded the charity, The Gift of Life, to help children with life-threatening, but unaffordable medical needs.
More info about Poor Liza from the State Theatre of Nations is posted at http://www.theatreofnations.ru/en/performance/poor_liza. An English-language bio for Chulpan Khamatova is at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0451122/bio.
