The festival, marking the 10th anniversary of the Russian Choreography School, has taken place in Joinville in Brazil. This school is known all over South America, which is no surprise at all, because it was set up by the Russian ballet dancers from the world-famous Bolshoi Theatre, who work there as teachers. The Russian Choreography School in Brazil is supervised by the famous ballet dancer and choreographer Vladimir Vasiliyev:
"When the work was underway to establish the Russian choreography school in Brazil, we couldn't even imagine that it would be such a great success. Many of its school-leavers perform all over the world today. It is a wonderful school! And the city is very proud of it. The entire ballet, "Don Quixote", will be shown at the gala event too, continues Vladimir Vasiliyev. Staging "Don Quixote", as you know, is a hard job to do for theatres in general - thus, what the school has done is unique! And on the next day - again for the first time in history - "Giselle" will be presented to the audience in Brazil".
There're 260 students, studying at the Russian Choreography School in Brazil today - practically from all the Brazilian States and also from several Latin American countries. There're many children from poor families there - therefore, many of them study on a free-of-charge basis. And this is also kind of a tradition of the Russian ballet school: a young talent should be nurtured, irrespective of the financial potential of his (her) family. There're four former soloists of the Bolshoi Theatre among the teachers of the ballet school in Joinville. And among the school-leavers are not only the ballet dancers of the Brazilian troupes but also the dancers of the Washington and Boston ballet troupes, of the Vienna Opera and even of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre.
Thus, the Bolshoi Theatre school in Joinville is of great significance not only for the ballet art - it is regarded as a very important bearing link in a whole chain of cultural contacts, linking Russia with Latin America. Possibly, its role, as the President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who visited the Russian Choreography School, said, is even more significant: "It is very hard to overestimate what I saw in Joinville", the President said. "Children from poor neighbourhoods and from poor families are fighting for their future. This once again makes me believe that we can and must change the world for the better."
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