RAMT

It was the opening night of the summer season of Ballet at the Russian Academic Youth Theatre located in Treatamnaya Ploschad (Square) right in the centre of Moscow next door to the Bolshoi Theatre (that you can see on the right).

The theatre is in the yellow mansion built in the 19th century and famous for having always been at the centre of Moscow's cultural life. It was frequented by Anna Kern and it is where the artistic coterie headed by Alexander Ostrovsky gathered for meetings. The stage has witnessed performances by Fedor Shalyapin and Leonid Sobinov and from 1924 to 1036 whilst it was home to Moscow Art Theatre II Mikhail Chekov was the director.

This shot shows the huge contrast of architecture in the city with pretty 19th century mansion houses standing cheek by jowl with immense grey utilitarian buildings.