BALLET GALA

Artistic director Toomas Edur 

Anna Laudere and Edvin Revazov, Hamburg Ballet
Rebecca King and Ben Kuefler, Finnish National Ballet
Alena Shkatula, Andrea Fabbri and Jevgeni Grib, Estonian National Ballet
Natalya Ogneva and Artem Khoroshilov, Grand Moscow Classical Ballet Of N.Kasatkina and V.Vasilyov
Haruka Sassa and Dawid Kupinski, The Royal Swedish Ballet

Orchestra of The Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow

The graceful physical cognition of a dancer that fascinates the audience won't be born out of the dancer himself or herself only. At least half of the dancer's inspiration originates from music that in turn mediates the conductor's fragile sense of sound. Ballet was Eri Klas's great passion and throughout the times he conducted ballet performances all around the world.

Four cities –  Moscow, Helsinki, Hamburg and of course his home town Tallinn – have played a special part in Klas's conductor's career. Besides the classical works (such as Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, performed in Moscow and Minkus's Die Bajadere, peformed in Helsinki, to name just a few) Eri Klas could also magnificently conduct the contemporary music performances that were accompanied by tremendous success (for example during his so-called Hamburg era when collaborating with the great master of European modern ballet John Neumeier in Hamburg State Opera where the ballet Peer Gynt by Alfred Schnittke was staged and performed). Neumeier's (born in USA) special talent includes ballets adapted to world classic literature pieces – ballets that are avant garde yet including strictly classical ballet techniques. All these four cities connected to Eri Klas's musical career are represented at this year's Birgitta festival. The festival will host the excellent Orchestra of The Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow and gracious dance artists all over Europe. The special spectacle will be presented to Estonian audience by dance artists Anna Laudere and Edvin Revazon who will mediate choreography by John Neumeier.