The Mariinsky Ballet is bringing Le Corsaire to Shanghai — one of those big, classic ballets packed with pirates, shipwrecks, and over-the-top drama. Expect everything from exotic marketplace dances to dazzling solos, complete with the virtuoso technique Mariinsky dancers are known for. It’s not every day that one of the world’s most historic ballet companies takes the stage here.

About the Ballet

Le Corsaire is a swashbuckling ballet packed with pirates, shipwrecks, romance, and betrayal. First staged in Paris in 1856 and refined in St. Petersburg by Marius Petipa, it’s famous for its spectacular solos, duets, and bravura group dances. Expect exotic flair, lavish costumes, and jaw-dropping technique — including 32 fouettés and soaring leaps that always bring the house down.

About the Mariinsky Ballet

With over 250 years of history, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world’s most prestigious companies, the birthplace of classics like Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker. Its stage has launched legends from Pavlova and Nijinsky to Nureyev and Baryshnikov, and today it continues to set the standard for classical ballet worldwide.

Credits

• Music by Adolphe Adam, Cesare Pugni, Léo Delibes, Riccardo Drigo, Pyotr Oldenburgsky
• Libretto by Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Joseph Mazilier, edited by Yuri Slonimsky and Pyotr Gusev
• Choreography by Marius Petipa and Pyotr Gusev
• Production by Pyotr Gusev (1987) after the choreography of Marius Petipa
• Set design by Teymuraz Murvanidze
• Assistant designer: Mikhail Shishliannikov
• Costume design by Galina Solovyova
• Lighting design by Vladimir Lukasevich
• Performed by The Mariinsky Ballet
• Orchestra: The Mariinsky Orchestra

Premiere History

• Original choreography by Marius Petipa: January 24, 1863, Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg
• Version by Pyotr Gusev: April 29, 1987, Kirov Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Mariinsky), Leningrad