From 15 to 25 April the Mariinsky Theatre will be running its 10th International Ballet Festival – one of the biggest events of the world’s ballet season drawing balletomanes from all over the world to St Petersburg. As usual the festival opens with a premiere. This year it is Rodion Shchedrin’s ballet “Anna Karenina”, a European ballet hit featuring Diana Vishneva and Ulyana Lopatkina, who perform the leading role. Other premieres include “Carmen Suite” by Schedrin-Bizet performed by Ulyana Lopatkina, and three one-act ballets staged especially for Mariinsky leading soloists by young contemporary choreographers Edwaard Liang, Emil Faski and Yuri Smekalov. The festival highlights also include duets of Mariinsky’s soloists and stars of the world’s greatest ballet companies featuring performances from Mariinsky’s best repertoire: “Romeo and Juliet”, "La Bayadere”, “Giselle”, “Apollo”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “Swan Lake”. The festival will close with a gala concert featuring soloists of the Mariinsky Ballet Company and guest soloists including David Hallberg, Daniil Simkin  Alina Cojocaru and other international ballet stars.