Glushko’s Academy ballet concert set this weekend

Artjom Maksakov and Olga Malinovskaya perform. (Contributed photo)

Glushko’s Academy, together with the Performing Arts Society, will be hosting the “International Ballet of the Stars 2014” this Saturday and Sunday, April 5 and 6, at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center.
Speaking at yesterday’s weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Saipan at the Hyatt Regency Saipan, Anna Glushko, creative director and choreographer of Glushko’s Academy, said the concert will be held at the Susupe venue from 6:30pm to 9pm on both days.

Tickets will cost $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 3 to 12 years old.

The ballet concert is titled “Pacquita & Concert,” based on Pacquita, a ballet in two acts staged first on Russia in 1847 for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg.

This weekend’s performance will feature Olga Malinovskaya, who studied at the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet Academy for eight years and is currently a member of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet as a member of the Corps de Ballet. She will be joined by Artjom Maksakov, who previously danced with the Het National Ballet and Boston Ballet before joining Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet as a soloist for the 2013/14 season. There will also be two modern ballet performers from Tokyo and a cast of local ballet students.

“It’s an amazingly unique opportunity for the Saipan audience to witness the performance of ballet stars who are also on the list of the 100 best ballet dancers of the world,” Glushko said.

Performing Arts Society president Dr. Gene Eagle-Oden told Rotary Club members that they need financial support and help.

“Your contribution to the Performing Arts Society will be acknowledged widely, in print and praise…your generosity will help tremendously toward bringing what would otherwise be unachievable,” he said.

“We are your friends with a mutual interest—to make Saipan is a better place to live and grow up by being introduced and aware of culture, the broader world around us, and the contribution society can add to the lives of our children and families,” Eagle-Oden added.

Since 2002, Glushko’s Academy has produced an annual ballet production for Saipan that includes performances by world-class ballet stars, all choreographed together with the island’s 45 local ballet students.

The annual production provides the only opportunity for residents of the CNMI to experience ballet in person for themselves and possibly in their lifetime.

The Performing Arts Society is a non-profit organization that was only organized in 2013. It has taken the initiative to further develop and support the struggling performing arts on Saipan.