St Petersburg Ballet Company’s Prima Ballerina Irina Kolesnikov invites Instagrammers along to capture exclusive behind-the-scenes content and see her dress rehearsal for the world premiere of her new ballet. 

In a world first and London Coliseum first, the ballet dancer is shunning traditional photographers and giving social media users an exclusive first glimpse of Her Name Was Carmen, which will have its world premiere at the venue in three days time.

Irina explains: “This is a very contemporary production, exploring a present-day issue – the global refugee crisis – so we want to communicate with a contemporary audience, and Instagram is the natural language in which to do that.  Ballet is the only ‘high art’ to have found a niche among the predominantly young Instagram audience – naturally as it’s such a visually stunning medium – and what we’re doing next week is our way of acknowledging the support of Instagrammers for the art form.”

The open photo call is taking place tonight (22nd August) at 7pm in the front row of the stalls of the iconic venue.

Her Name Was Carmen is a new take on a classic and a new full length ballet in two acts brought to life by 50 dancers from the critically acclaimed St Petersburg Ballet Theatre.

Fiery, rich and beautiful, Carmen is a deadly cocktail of passion and tragedy. After her family is brutally murdered, Carmen finds shelter in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Europe… here she becomes entangled in a love triangle with tragic consequences.

Her Name Was Carmen will have its world premiere at the London Coliseum on the 25th August, performing until the 28th August. To book tickets visit: Discount Theatre.com,Ticketmaster.co.uk, Love Theatre.com, Theatre People.com and UK Tickets.co.uk.