'Nutcracker' By Bolshoi Ballet On San Mateo Big Screen Sunday

REDWOOD CITY, CA — The art of elegance comes to life on the big screen this Sunday when movie goers may view the world renowned Bolshoi Ballet for the last 2018 airing of composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky's family fairy tale, "The Nutcracker."

The Christmas classic is playing in more than 350 theaters in the United States and Canada -- more than 50 in California alone. Tickets are on sale now at all participating cinemas and at www.BolshoiBalletinCinema.com. Locally, you can find it showing at:

• SAN MATEO DOWNTOWN: 320 EAST 2ND AVENUE, SAN MATEO
• CENTURY 20 DOWNTOWN REDWOOD CITY WITH XD: 825 MIDDLEFIELD RD, REDWOOD CITY
• DALY CITY 20 WITH XD 1901 JUNIPERO SERRA BLVD, DALY CITY

The classic ballet masterpiece was commissioned in 1891 and premiered a year later a week before Christmas. Since arriving in the United States in 1940s, this ballet has become the most popular ballets performed around the holidays.

The hallmark story focuses on a young girl's Christmas Eve and her awakening to adulthood.
Choreographed by ballet master Yuri Grigorovich, this beautiful production features the heroine Marie on the verge of adulthood, encountering love for the first time in the prince of her dreams. The ballet is full of romanticism and philosophical reflections of ideal love, inviting audiences of all ages on a magical journey through a world of enchantment. Common to the magical mystery of romantic love for the first time, dancing snowflakes and dolls come to life, accompanied by Tchaikovsky's beloved score.

This rendition of "Nutcracker" stars the First Soloist Margarita Shrainer as Marie and the Principal Dancer Semyon Chudin as the Nutcracker-Prince.

"This will be the first time in four years that the Bolshoi is doing a live broadcast of "The Nutcracker." The last time was in 2014. The rarity lies in that the Bolshoi hardly travels to the U.S., so this is a fantastic opportunity to see one of the world's most revered ballet companies," spokeswoman Dianna Mesion told Patch. Mesion works for BY Experience, the North American distributor of the Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema series. "Every year we are continuing to see the growing impact of these performances in cinemas, with audiences of all ages attending," she added.

The Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, one of the greatest music and dance stages in the world, was founded in 1776. To this day, it remains a fixture of Russian culture. With more than 250 dancers, the Bolshoi Ballet is one of the largest and most celebrated ballet companies in the world.

— By Sue Wood, Patch Staff, Image courtesy of BY Experience