2PM & 7PM - Petrushka

The Olney Ballet Theatre is proud to bring the classic and historical ballet Petrushka to local audiences. It is the story of a Russian puppet, Petrushka, who is made of straw and sawdust, but who comes to life and falls in love with the Ballerina Doll. Created in 1911 by Michel Fokine and Igor Stravinsky, Petrushka is generally acknowledged as the most perfect of all impresario Serge Diaghilev's famed Ballets Russes creations. Carolina Ballet Theatre's Artistic Director Hernon Justo choreographs this delightful version, based on the original Fokine choreography.

Also on the program is world-renowned choreographer Choo San Goh's Octet Plus Four, set to Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3. Originally choreographed by Goh for the Dutch Ballet in 1975, Octet Plus Four is staged now by OBT Artistic Director Patricia Berrend for OBT’s most advanced dancers. They will be partnered by Alvaro Palau, former dancer with the Washington Ballet and currently with Dana Tai Soon Burgess Company, and Peter Base, Matthew Harvey, and Martín Justo, all currently dancing with Carolina Ballet Theatre in Greenville, South Carolina.

Additionally, the program will feature the Four Seasons Dancers, a local dance group now in its ninth successful year. Their repertoire features an exciting variety of dance styles including Broadway show numbers, Irish dance, Tango and Pasodoble, Samba, Gypsy dance, Indian, and Ukrainian and Russian dances. All dances are original choreography and performed in spectacular costumes.

Petrushka -music by Igor Stravinsky, choreography by Hernon Justo, Artistic Director of Carolina Ballet Theatre, after Michel Fokine