A classical ballet sampler

Tutus and pointe shoes are de rigueur at Kirkland's International Ballet Theatre, a five-year-old company dedicated to preserving classical repertoire. Black-and-white tutus were even worn during a recent rehearsal for "An Evening of Russian Ballet," which opens at Bellevue's Meydenbauer Center Theatre tonight.

Vera Altunina, International Ballet Theatre's founder and artistic director, staged the selections that make up the program: "Les Sylphides," Act II of "Swan Lake" and Act III of "Sleeping Beauty."

Set to Chopin, Michel Fokine's romantic "Les Sylphides" is a one-act ballet where the sylphs, magical creatures of the air, dance under the moonlight.

Then, for "Swan Lake," Altunina said she wanted to showcase "the black swan pas de deux with all the character dancers from around the world."

Dance preview


"An Evening of Russian Ballet," International Ballet Theatre, 7 tonight, 2 and

7 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, Meydenbauer Center Theatre, 11100 N.E. Sixth St., Bellevue; $35 for adults, $25 students and seniors, $15 children 12 and under

(425-284-0444, 206-325-6500 or www.ticketwindowonline.com;

information, 425-822-7694 or www.interballettheatre.org).

Presenting "Aurora's Wedding," the final act of "Sleeping Beauty," allows the International Ballet Theatre to accomplish another part of its mission — to educate the younger generation about the beauty of classical ballet.

Since watching "Sleeping Beauty" in its entirety would require about three hours, "Aurora's Wedding" is the perfect length to give a sense of what ballet is all about, Altunina said. This dance also introduces "all the fairy-tale characters. And it's so enchanting for little children to see that."

But it's not just the audience that gets a lesson on classical Russian ballet. Altunina teaches the company, made up of about 40 dancers, the style in which each piece was meant to be performed.

After the principals rehearsed a passage from "Sleeping Beauty," Altunina gave directions on the mindset one needs to portray Princess Aurora. "She's sweet, Baroque, Louis XIV," Altunina emphasized.

But this artistic director also knows that thinking about performance is just the first step, so to the ballerinas she calls out, "All right. Let's dance!"

Judy Chia Hui Hsu: 206-464-3315 or jhsu@seattletimes.com