Arrow 2013 04-19-5

1. A Partnership with Southeast Missouri State University and Rust Communications • To advertise, call 573-388-2741
SWAN LAKE WILL BE PERFORMED AT 7:30 P.M. FRIDAY AT THE DONALD C. BEDELL PERFORMANCE HALL
SWAN Lake last in touring series season
Â5 ARROW • week of April 24 - 30, 2013
ENTERTAIN
SENIOR SHOWCASE
The 2013 Senior Showcase will be at 7:30 p.m.
May 4 and at 2 p.m. May 5 at the Wendy Kurka
Rust Flexible Theatre.+​
TheRussianNationalBalletTheatrewillperformatSoutheastforthethirdtimeonFriday.Submittedphoto
RussianNationalBalletTheatrereturnstoperformSwanLake
ANDREA GILS
COPY EDITOR
The Russian National BalletTheatre will
dance at Southeast Missouri State University
for the third time since 2009 and will perform
Swan Lake, one of the world’s most popular
ballets.
Swan Lake tells the story of a princess,
Odette, who is turned into a swan by an evil
sorcerer’s curse and shares a love story with
Prince Siegfried, who helps Odette lift the
curse.
Bob Cerchio, the assistant director of the
Earl and Margie Holland School ofVisual and
Performing Arts, said he always tries to bring
in full-length classic Russian ballets perfor-
med by a classic Russian company.
“You really can’t get better than that,” Cer-
chio said.
Cerchio said Russian dancers are true to
the old-style Russian classical ballet.
Alexander Daev, associate artistic director
and ballet master, has toured with the Russian
National BalletTheatre for 12 years. Daev is in
charge of keeping the performances“fresh”
and making sure they are always held to the
highest standard.
Daev said the company is dancing a per-
formance that has been handed down to
them through their mentors and teachers for
generations.
“The Russian School of Ballet is the‘gold
standard’ for ballet training all over the
world,” Daev said in an email.
Daev said that Swan Lake combines many
elements that are conceived by artists who are
the greatest in their fields.
“The music byTchaikovsky is magnificent,”
Daev said.“The choreography by Lev Iva-
nov and Marius Petipas is exquisite. Our sets,
lighting and costumes are all beautiful and
traditional. All of these things combined take
the audience to another place.”
Cerchio said it is a breathtaking experience.
The Russian National BalletTheatre is
represented by Columbia Artists Manage-
ment, one of the top three agencies in the
world as far as representing excellent artists,
Cerchio said.
Rachel Hunsell, Southeast senior and
dance minor, said bringing companies like
the Russian National BalletTheatre, guest
artists and choreographers and compa-
nies from NewYork, Chicago and Los Ange-
les helps students create more connections
when they meet the guests. Students unfor-
tunately will not be able to meet the Russian
National BalletTheatre dancers because they
will be on a tight schedule.
The Earl and Margie Holland School of
Visual and Performing Arts had the support of
the Bank of Missouri to bring the company.
Cerchio said any touring show can cost
from $12,000 to $35,000 depending on the
company, expenses and whether the com-
pany is fully booked or not, among other fac-
tors.The payment is done by the end of the
performance, and if sales are not enough to
cover the costs, the Board of Regents agrees to
fund the losses, Cerchio said.
Cerchio said he brings some shows that he
already knows they can’t break even on, like
the St. Louis Symphony that he plans to bring
next year. If Cerchio wanted to break even
with the St. Louis Symphony, he said the River
Campus would have to charge $100 for tic-
kets, which it will not do because then ticket
sales would be affected.
“Our ticket prices are where they should be,
but there are a lot of people that think prices
are too high,” Cerchio said.
Cerchio said it would be impossible to
bring companies like the Russian National
BalletTheatre if the River Campus box office
did not charge $34 to $40.
Cerchio said people are seeing the same
show they would see in Los Angeles or New
York City and are saving a significant amount
of expenses by reducing traveling costs.
Cerchio has been booking touring agen-
cies for 35 years, and he said his experience
and expertise has shown him what works and
what does not.
“I try to end up by the end of the year with
everything working out, the right amount
of audience, right performance for the right
price,” Cerchio said.“It’s a bit of an art itself.”
Any profits made in shows go to the River
Campus account, where the River Campus
box office will get funds to cover other shows’
losses. Cerchio said he usually breaks even,
and if there is any profit, it is not that much.
Students need to see Swan Lake and per-
forming arts because it is part of life, Cerchio
said.
“The arts represent the pinnacle of a cul-
ture,” Cerchio said.“It represents moving
beyond merely sustaining our society to ele-
vating it.”
Hunsell said that one off the first things
dancers read is Swan Lake.
“It’s an iconic ballet, so it’s really awesome
to bring something like this to SEMO,” Hun-
sell said.
Cerchio said people do not need to know a
lot about ballet to enjoy Swan Lake.
“You hopefully will walk out feeling like a
better person, or being a better person,” Cer-
chio said.
For those who wish to pursue ballet dan-
cing as a career, Daev said that ballet requires
total commitment and hard work.
“If you love it, it’s a wonderful life,” Daev
said.
Cerchio said sales have been normal so far
and thinks sales will go well.
“I hope people understand how special it is
to have those companies in Cape Girardeau,”
Cerchio said.“Some people go through all
their lives and do not see what kind of art we
present here.”
Cerchio said a common reason people do
not see performances is because they are too
far away.
“This is right here, in your backyard, and
we hope people appreciate it and take advan-
tage of it,” Cerchio said.
The Russian National BalletTheatre will
perform Swan Lake at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the
Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall. General
audience tickets range from $34 to $40, while
students get a 50 percent discount when they
present their Southeast ID.Tickets are availa-
ble at the River Campus. For more informa-
tion, visit rivercampusevents.com.