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Will the real St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre please plié?

When UAPresents hosted a sold-out performance of the classic "Giselle" Saturday at Centennial Hall, some audience members were shocked that the troupe they saw wasn't the world-class dancers they expected.

"In three minutes I knew there was something wrong," said Linda Walker, artistic director for Tucson Regional Ballet. "I was sitting next to my co-director and she nudged me and said 'Who is this?' They were dancers who were trained, but they were were not the St. Petersburg Ballet company. It was obvious."

The confusion stems from the name the Russian touring group uses while in Western Europe, Japan, and North and South America. The official name of the troupe that performed at the UA Saturday is the St. Petersburg State Academic Ballet Theatre.

Walker said it appears that UAPresents may have been duped and worries that the integrity of the university's arts presenter could be at stake.

"The U of A artists series is prestigious and you trust what they say," she said. "I just feel inside that they are as much surprised as I am."

The confusion extended to the Arizona Daily Star, which previewed the ballet on Friday and reported on the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre. The story misstated several facts, including that renowned ballerina Irina Kolesnikova would be the featured dancer.

The famed St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre itself received so many letters before the tour that it sought to clear the air for ballet fans, publishing a statement on Dec. 1 that the troupe was definitely not touring the United States. "We have no idea why they are presenting themselves in America as the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre," the group wrote.

"To me, those were excellent student dancers, apprentice-level dancers at some professional companies, but gosh there are dancers at the University of Arizona who are more accomplished than those dancers," Walker said. "They were not St. Petersburg Ballet dancers, you could tell that."

Libby Howell said she was disappointed that the dancers weren't as talented as she expected but still enjoyed seeing "Giselle" performed live for the first time.

"I for one would not ask for a refund or a replacement ticket because I do think there were aspects of the performance that were worthwhile," she said. "It wasn't the quality I was expecting, but it was a good production. Not excellent, but good."

UAPresents Executive Director Natalie Bohnet said the agency that booked the show, Columbia Artists Management Inc. of New York, presented the group as St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre and that UAPresents didn't think any more about it. The agent, Andrew S. Grossman, was traveling and could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

"It's an agent we've worked with for many, many years and one of the most reputable in the business," Bohnet said. "We're apologetic that some in our audience had a bad experience with this particular performance."

UAPresents will credit people not satisfied with the performance with tickets to another performance, just as it would do with any complaints, Bohnet said. The staff received about 10 complaints from an audience of 2,500.

"Out of all our things we've had this year, I wouldn't put it as the prime example of what we do here," Bohnet said. "I think the dancers were a little young and inexperienced."

Still, Bohnet said she didn't think UAPresents was fooled, noting that several other quality arts presenters across the country have hosted the ballet troupe and that the current tour has received numerous positive reviews.