The General Satellite Corporation, Russia, and Mariinsky Theatre prepare the first ever premiere in 3D

The General Satellite Corporation organizes on April 15, 2010, the first ever live 3D broadcasting of a ballet performance. 3D live feed directly from the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky will be set up for viewers in Russia  and Europe to enjoy.

Gala concert program includes fragments from the most famous ballets staged at Mariinsky Theatre, performed by international celebrities like Uliana Lopatkina, Irma Nioradze, Victoria Tereshkina, Alina Somova, Igor Zelensky, Leonid Sarafanov, Vladimir Shklyarov, Anastasia and Denis Matvienko et al. Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre Valery Gergiev will open the concert.

The General Satellite Corporation is a technical partner of the Mariinsky Theatre and is responsible for the technical side of the broadcasting. The signal will be sent in an open format so that any viewer can watch the première, provided they have necessary 3D equipment. The performance starts on April 15 at 19:30. There will be grand evenings in Moscow and in Paris in Residence of the Russian Ambassador to France as part of Year of Russia in France and Year of France in Russia, where guests will enjoy 3D broadcasting of the gala concert at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theatre Valery Gergiev emphasized the importance of a possibility to cooperate with a Russian company in the area of practical application of a 3D broadcasting and of being able not to wait until the technology is offered by a foreign company: "When we offered the world of opera, world of ballet, world of classical music in HDTV format we had made a very significant, very important step forward. 3D is indeed worth looking at. A ballet performance is movement, it's color, it's costumes, it's beauty, it's plastique and we will be the first ballet company in the world to show it in a 3D format. We may take a punt on it if we feel it to be the thing of the future. We were lagging behind more advanced theatres of the world by light years during the 90-s, but there is no lag now. We are inferior to no one in every respect, so to speak, to no one. I don't say we are better, just equal, that's all."