FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2006

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - Vladimir Vasiliev's ballet, Les Promenades, will make its U.S. premiere for Metropolitan Classical Ballet's Spring Repertory program to be presented at the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth on April 24th at 8:00 p.m. Mr. Vasiliev, who will be in attendance at the performance, was appointed General and Artistic Director of the Bolshoi Theatre in March of 1995 by a decree of the First President of Russia Boris Yeltsin. He maintained that position for five years.

Mr. Vasiliev joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 1958 and soon became a premier dancer who made enormous contributions to the development of classical male dance; he came to embody the strong new Bolshoi male. Numerous roles were created for him, and he performed throughout the world, usually partnering his wife, Bolshoi prima ballerina Ekaterina Maximova. Since 1970, he has

staged and choreographed for the Bolshoi and other theatres in the Soviet Union, and he has choreographed, directed and danced in numerous film projects. During the time he was General and Artistic Director of the Bolshoi, he introduced a repertoire of many new opera and ballet productions. The works included those by John Cranko, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Pierre Lacotte, Boris Eifman and others, as well as several of Vasiliev's own. Mr. Vasiliev is the President of the Galina Ulanova Foundation and in summer 2001, he headed the jury board of First International Ballet Competition in Rome. Over the years Mr. Vasiliev has been the recipient of numerous prizes, orders and awards such as the U.S.S.R. State Prize, Russian State Prize, Russian State Order "For Merits" and State Order "For Merits" of France, UNESCO Pablo Picasso Medal and Lithuanian State Order.

Les Promenades, set to music by Jean-Philippe Rameau, is a part of These Charming Sounds, a program of one-act ballets choreographed and produced by Vasiliev for the Bolshoi in 1978. It premiered on Soviet television in 1981. The ballets were intended to be an alternative to the heavy epic works that had been the hallmark of the Bolshoi for decades; the fantasy ballets were lighter, simpler and merrier, and enjoyed huge success with audience and dancers alike. Metropolitan Classical Ballet's performance will be accompanied by celebrated musicians: Bolshoi pianist Alexei Melentiev, violinist Eric Grossman and cellist Eugene Osadchy.

The Spring Repertory program also includes the return of two favorites, Paul Mejia's Brahms Waltzes, and Eddy Toussaint's Bonjour Brel.

Brahms Waltzes, a series of sensitive and elegant waltzes, set to German composer Johannes Brahms' Opus 39, premiered in September of 1988. It was first presented by Metropolitan Classical Ballet in September of 1999. The piano soloist will be Alexei Melentiev from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Bonjour Brel, an extended pas de deux set to five songs by the French songwriter Jacques Brel, was first presented in Montreal, Canada in 1998. In the summer of 2002, the ballet was chosen to be part of the program for the opening gala of the new Opera House in Moscow. Highly acclaimed by Moscow critics, the work was performed by Metropolitan Classical Ballet's Olga Pavlova and Alexander Vetrov. The company premiered it the following season, in February of 2003.

Tickets range in price from $10 - $30 and are available through the Bass Hall Box Office at (817) 212-4280, toll free at (877) 212-4280, or online at www.basshall.com. Season, group, and individual tickets may be purchased by calling Metropolitan Classical Ballet at (817) 275-0598 or (817) 465-4644 and in person at 500 West Abram Street in Arlington, Texas.

Season sponsors include American Airlines, WRR Classical 101, and the law firm of Hill Gilstrap.

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Media Note: Further information and photo of Vladimir Vasiliev may be obtained by contacting Judy Puder at (817) 465-4644.