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YouTube to live stream Bolshoi’s Le Corsaire for Russians

Hundreds of cinemas all over the world will screen high-definition performance of the Bolshoi Theater’s ballet Le Corsaire on Sunday

MOSCOW, March 11 (Itar-Tass) — Hundreds of cinemas all over the world will screen high-definition performance of the Bolshoi Theater’s ballet Le Corsaire on Sunday.

For the first time Russians will be able to join a multi-thousand foreign audience through YouTube online channel. The Bolshoi Theater launched the project for Russian ballet lovers with the support of Google Russia and famous French companies Bel Air Media and Pathe.

“In fact we undertook this project 10 years ago,” said Anatoly Iksanov, the Bolshoi Theater’s director-general. “Then the famous French company Bel Air Media led by its producer Francois Duplat recorded several of our ballets to broadcast abroad. The next stage was live performance of the ballet Flames of Paris in France’s cinemas. This was in March of 2010. The pilot project proved a success. As a result the past two years saw live broadcasts of a huge number of our ballets all over the world from Brazil to Singapore and Australia. Over this time more than 2.2 million people saw the ballets.”

“Unfortunately, until now Russian viewers had no opportunity to join a multiple audience in cinemas that screen live performances of the Bolshoi Theater’s ballets,” Iksanov said. “Russian cinemas demonstrate no interest in the project. No cinema on the Russian territory takes part in live broadcasts.”

However, the Bolshoi Theater together with Google Russia managed to change the situation launching online free-of-charge ballet performances on YouTube.

“Such a performance is very convenient,” Google Russia director-general Vladimir Dolgov said. “Viewers should not get dressed in black ties and evening dresses. They even should not go out. What they need to find themselves inside the Bolshoi Theater is to turn on their computers.”

Le Corsaire telling a love story of pirate Conrad and young Greek slave girl Medora was first presented by ballet master Marius Petipa in the Paris Opera in 1856. Twelve years later in 1868 great choreographer brought his Le Corsaire to Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater. The ballet version that will be transmitted live on Sunday shows Petipa’s original choreography refreshed by modern masters Alexei Ratmansky and Yuri Burlaka.

After Le Corsaire ballet lovers all over the world will be able to see live in HD The Bright Stream on April 29, Raymonda on June 24, Lost Illusions on September 30 and The Pharaoh’s Daughter on November 25.