New Year’s Ball at the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus

The much anticipated 11th edition of the New Year’s Ball was held in the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet theater on the night of 13 January when Belarus traditionally celebrates the Old New Year. More than 1,000 guests attended the festive event. The ball also attracted glitz and glamor lovers from the United States, France, Japan, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Cinema became the main theme of this year’s ball since the directors of Belarus’ major theater dedicated the event to the world masterpieces and Hollywood films. The evening’s hosts were actors disguised as the legendary Charlie Chaplin and Mariinsky Theater prima Anna Pavlova, the renowned poet Sergei Yesenin and his sweetheart, the famous dancer Isadora Duncan. On the red carpet you could also meet the gorgeous Marilyn Monroe and the perky Santa Claus. The spacious lobby, the balconies and the staircases, the chamber halls and obviously the main stage – the whole Bolshoi Theater became the entertainment venue for the guests of the festive evening.

The event opened with the First Ball: 156 couples that had been rehearsing their performance at the Bolshoi Theater every week since October showcased their dancing skills in the mazurka, the polonaise, the contredanse and the sophisticated waltz.

The evening featured movie soundtracks and opera classics quizzes, fortunetelling and forecasts for 2020, the mafia game and the rented casino, even some Hollywood elegance master classes! Art buffs could enjoy the classical music concert performed by the Vivat quartet and the show staged by the children’s musical theater studio.

A concert on the main stage one hour before the midnight featured iconic opera classics, international hits and jazz tunes. It was followed by the Chaplin ball, the Welcome to AMADIS BRASS music and dancing program and the Free Mic karaoke. The ball traditionally continued until the early morning and gave all its participants an epic start to 2020.