St. Petersburg, Russia nonconformist art pioneer and willful expatriate Mikhail Chemiakin is know for his surreal grotesque creative style, his paintings often featuring vibrant, fantastical beings. Several years ago, Chemiakin was approached by Kirov Ballet to bring a fresh new feel to a tired holiday staple, The Nutcracker, using his paintings as inspiration. The production debuted in 2001 in the very theater that the original premiered more than a century before, the story slightly altered, the characters more freakish than whimsical in their eye-catching, avant-garde costumes, and the brilliant sets spectacular in size and scope. In 2007, Mariinsky Ballet and students of the Academy of Russian Ballet performed Chemiakin’s Nutcracker, a production that was filmed for worldwide release. Beach Theatre presents a high-def screening of the production this Saturday. Sun., Dec. 21, 315 Corey Ave., St. Pete Beach, $15, 727-360-6697.
This article appears in Dec 10-16, 2008.