Kirov 1987
In 1986 I was assistant to John Cripton of Great World Artists who co-produced the 1st North American tour in 22 years of the famed Kirov Ballet of Leningrad (now known as the Mariinsky Ballet of St Petersburg). It was a huge company, 210 people, and I traveled with them as the Assistant Company Manager to 7 cities, beginning in Vancouver at Expo'86 and continuing to LA, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Montreal and Ottawa. At the time, Russia was still the USSR. Thus, amongst the dancers, directors, orchestra, designers, costumers, shoe specialists, physios and technical people (all operating through translaters), we had KGB who watched everything (and everyone) carefully, and in the USA we had CIA, FBI and State Dept. hovering everywhere. We could identify them as they had ear - pieces and talked into their lapels, and were not at all subtle. It was not uncommon to come back to our hotel rooms and find the face plates loose or off our phones - but whether KGB or CIA, we were never sure. It was an extraordinary tour, and so successful that in 1987 we brought back a 47-person touring ensemble. Again I was a company manager, travelling to Glassboro, NJ, Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver.
Kirov 1986
Poster for the 1986 tour, signed by some of the company members. On the right side you will see a sketch in silver done by the set designer, Teimuraz Murvanidze. He, like the other company members, spelled my name as Pegi.
Murvanidze Design
Set designer Teimuraz Murvanidze painted this costume design for me as a thank you for my having tracked down art supplies for him.
Vinogradov Inscription
You will see in the painting below that there is an inscription on the lower right. Here is a close-up of that inscription from choreographer and director Oleg Vinogradov.
Vinogradov Design
Good art supplies were is short supply in the USSR. As a thank you for obtaining proper paper and paint (in this case oil pastels) for him, Artistic Director Oleg Vinogradov painted this design for me. He has inscribed it in gold in the lower right, in Russian.