Lucia Lacarra: a superstar of the world ballet for the first time in Almaty!
The International Ballet Globe Festival and Almaty Theatre present
On 1 and 2 November, Almaty will host a long-awaited cultural event. For the first time, Kazakhstan’s cultural capital welcomes Spanish ballet superstar Lucia Lacarra - recipient of the «Ballet Oscar» Benois de la Danse, the Nijinsky Prize, and the title of Dancer of the Decade.
Her partner and choreographer, Matthew Golding, former Principal of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, will perform alongside her, joined by 12 dancers of the Lucia Lacarra Ballet company.
«Lost Letters» is a ballet inspired by a true story. During the hardships of war, an English soldier, Frank Bracey, wrote a letter to his wife. Calling her «the best girl on earth», he thanked her for every line of her letters, for the love that warmed his heart. Yet, beneath his gratitude lay the shadow of farewell - he knew he might never return home.
In his final letter, he asked for the impossible: that she find the strength to go on, to be happy, and one day, to love again. «Keep our love in your heart, but do not lock yourself away in loneliness,» he wrote. But what if the letter had never reached its destination? This question became the essence of Lost Letters - a choreographic memory of millions of trembling farewells written in ink, of words that bound hearts together and became their last message.
On stage, the story unfolds: of a woman waiting and believing, and a man departing with only one thought - to protect her heart from despair. Music and movement turn the ballet into a living diary: longing, hope, loss, and tender remembrance follow one another like tear-stained pages.
Lucia Lacarra - born in Zumaia, Spain, has graced the stages of San Francisco, Munich, Dortmund, and Marseille. Her artistry has been honoured with the highest awards: Benois de la Danse, the Nijinsky Prize, the National Award of Spain. At the Kremlin, she was named Dancer of the Decade. Every role she embodies is more than dance - it is a confession. In Lost Letters, her movement becomes the embodiment of a woman’s soul - strong yet fragile.
Matthew Golding, born in Canada, trained at the Royal Ballet School in London, was a Principal at Dutch National Ballet and a Lead Principal at the Royal Ballet. He has performed at the Mariinsky Theatre, English National Ballet, and the National Ballet of Canada. Winner of the Dutch Zwaan Award and nominee for Benois de la Danse, today he creates his own productions, transforming stories into poetic stage works. With Lost Letters, he turns a soldier’s letter into a choreographic poem about love, waiting, and farewell.
The Lucia Lacarra Ballet ensemble of 12 dancers weaves together personal stories into a collective artistic statement, making the stage pulse with memory and emotion.
Lost Letters is a ballet that speaks intimately to every spectator. It makes us recall those we have loved and lost. It returns us to what matters most: memory, faithfulness, and the belief that even lost letters can still find their way to the heart.
