Moscow Festival Ballet bringing ‘Sleeping Beauty’ to Hanover Theatre

In “Sleeping Beauty,” the fair princess and other members of her kingdom are in for 100 years of beauty sleep.

The ballet version of the age-old tale with music by Tchaikovsky and choreography by Marius Petipa premiered Jan.16, 1890, in the Marinski Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia. Just around 100 years later, give or take a month or two, the Moscow Festival Ballet was founded by former Bolshoi Ballet principal dancer Sergei Radchenko. On Tuesday, his ballet company will be coming to The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts with a fully staged production of … “Sleeping Beauty.”

It’s all just a coincidence of years and dates. Still, with the Moscow Festival Ballet, “Sleeping Beauty” finds itself in the creative care of people who aren’t in a slumber about the original brilliance of the work.

Elena Radchenko, who is in charge of the company’s current tour, likes upholding and safeguarding traditions.

“What makes the Russian ballet tradition so great and so popular throughout the world is that we preserve and offer the original intent of the creator of ballet and composer of ballet, which is eternally new and fresh,” Radchenko said during a brief interview by e-mail.

The founding of the Moscow Festival Ballet just after the collapse of the Berlin Wall was not a coincidence. The company was the first independent ballet company to be established in Russia since the Soviet Union had taken over control of everything, including the arts.

Both Elena Radchenko and her husband, Sergei, company’s artistic director, were dancers with the Bolshoi Ballet. Sergei Radchenko has said that his vision is of a company bringing together the highest classical elements of the Bolshoi and Kirov Ballet companies in an independent new company within the framework of Russian classic ballet.

Elena Radchenko said that ballet remains an art in Russia that calls out strongly to young people, and dancers are still willing to make the considerable sacrifices required for top-level performance and expression.

With those goals and the talent it has trained and nurtured — along with post-Soviet-era freedom — the company has toured the world to great acclaim. Its first U.S. tour was in 1997, and the Moscow Festival Ballet returned in 2001, 2004 and 2007. The company is now back on a 17-week swing. The touring production of “Sleeping Beauty” features lavish costumes, staging and dancing — elements that were a famous feature when the work debuted 120 years ago.

The response in the U.S. has been particularly gratifying, Radchenko indicated.

“The American audiences are terrific and among the greatest in the world. Our performances have been wonderfully attended,” she said.

The production is being presented by Music Worcester Inc. as part of the celebrations of the 150th Worcester Music Festival.