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Welcome to our 62nd Season
(2011-2012)

The sixth concert of the 2011-2012 Season is
Red Star
Red Army Chorus & Dance Ensemble
on Saturday, April 21, 2012:

entire entourage during a performance

The Red Star Red Army Chorus & Dance Ensemble returns to America in 2012 for its 20th Anniversary tour. Over the past 20 years, Red Star has performed in over 150 American cities with sterling sell-out performances in New York City, Chicago, St. Louis, Miami, and other metropolitan areas as well as many smaller cities and towns, too. They last appeared in Virginia, Minnesota, during their 1998 US tour.

With its formation in 1977, Red Star performed primarily for the Soviet Missile forces. In 1989, Red Star began to perform publicly at festivals around the Soviet Union,

eventually leading to extensive tours around the world. Red Star is regarded as the foremost ensemble of the Russian armed forces.

The touring ensemble features strong, clear singing by a chorus, dynamic, colorful dancing by a dance troupe, and all accompanied by an excellent small orchestra. Red Star offers a wonderful program which will delight all age groups.

At the moment the Red Star consists of a chorus, ballet and orchestra working together on a common repertoir. There are 90 members of the ensemble: 40 singers, 25 dancers and 20 musicians in the orchestra. The other 5 persons are the artistic director - main conductor, orchestra director, choral director, ballet director and costumier.

A Russian proverb says 'A fairy tale is a lie, but a song tells the truth.' Fairy tales have become rare in present-day Russia, but folk tunes still form an integral part of daily life. These songs tell of love and loss, of sadness and solace, of brave deeds and everyday problems. Humor and dance can be found here, as well as melancholic longing and heroic pathos. Some favorites that may be on the program include 'Regimental Polka,' 'Kalinka,' 'Volga Boat Song,' 'The Swallow,' 'The Brave Don Cossacks,' 'Wait For Your Soldier,' 'Ochi Chornye-Dark Eyes,' 'In The Sunny Meadow,' 'The Cliff,' and 'On The March.' All accompanied. 'Kalinka' beautifully captures the brash power and deep emotions of the Red Star Red Army Chorus.

Below, excerpts from performances of The Red Star Red Army Chorus & Dance Ensemble:

 

 
 

 

the dance ensemble

 

chorus and orchestra in front of their rehearsal hall

 

formal photo of singers and orchestra

 

Some press reviews of Red Star Russian Army & Dance Ensemble performances:

Shining Red Stars, Russian Army Chorus And Dancers Perform With Precision And Dash...The chorus is indisputably the star. Its ability to move from a long, barely audible hum to a huge, cascading sound within a phrase was remarkable.
- Margaret Putnam, Dallas Morning News

Crisp, Flawless, Red Star Is Without Peer. The dance group brought the crowd to their feet with whistles, yells and clapping along.
- Phyllis Wolf, Des Moines Register

Spectacular Dancing Really Made The Show. The Russian and Ukrainian Hopak dancers looked like multicolored, low-altitude fireworks as they kicked, leaped 20 feet in the air and spun so as to keep them constantly horizontal and airborne.
- Ken Hunt, Seattle Times

Russian Musicians, Dancers Dazzle The Crowd. The Incomparable Red Star, Red Army Chorus and Dance Ensemble lived up to its lofty billing in a brilliant show. A near-sellout crowd of about 2,200 warmly embraced this troupe of 120 musicians, dancers and singers in a two hour program ... male dance soloists drew gasps of amazement.
- Maureen Bogues, Lincoln Star

The Red Star Red Army Chorus And Dance Ensemble From Russia Is Polished And Highly Professional ... enthusiastically received at Avery Fisher Hall ... Patriotic fervor yields to artistic values in this smoothly concertized program. The choreographers have distilled the essence of the Moiseyev mold into numbers that are appealing in their imagery and bravura.
- Anna Kisselgoff, NY Times

 

Below, The Red Star Red Army Chorus & Dance Ensemble during a live performance in Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow:

You can also visit their website for much more information about them and their music.

The Red Star Red Army Chorus & Dance Ensemble has numerous performances available for viewing and listening on YouTube. Some highlights are:

 

This concert made possible through

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updated: March 23, 2011