Dmitri Shostakovich’s ballet The Bright Stream is a special production for the Mikhailovsky Theatre. It’s associated with both the troupe’s first significant success, under the direction of Fyodor Lopukhov, and the sensational story of its removal from the playbill following the publication of an article entitled Ballet Farce.

Libretto by Fyodor Lopukhov and Adrian Piotrovsky

In honour of the ballet troupe’s 90th anniversary, the Theatre returned this legendary title to its repertoire. However, audiences can anticipate an entirely new ballet.

Choreographer Alexander Omar has altered the plot to make it more lyrical. In the finale, after a series of amusing adventures, all the main characters find their happiness. And yet, this new production of The Bright Stream retains all the essential elements: colourful characters, plot twists, and a comic story with disguises. The breathtaking choreography elegantly complements Shostakovich’s youthful, fresh, and exceptionally beautiful music.

The ballet aimed to satisfy the interests and ideas of the new government and implement its slogans, in particular, the slogan about erasing the line between the art of professionals and amateur performances. The action takes place on the collective farm "The Bright Stream" located in the North Caucasus, where collective farmers, amidst an abundance of growing fields, merrily completing their simple agricultural work, dance and perform on stage with professional artists. Such a direct illustration of the Soviet slogan could be regarded as a sharp satirical pamphlet.

Alexei Ratmansky, currently an artist in residence at the American Ballet Theatre and the former director of the Bolshoi Ballet, first came across the full score of the ballet in a recording made by Gennady Rozhdestvensky in Stockholm in 1995. Unable to restore the original choreography of the ballet, which was never notated, Ratmansky wrote his own choreography and staged the new version of The Limpid Stream with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow in 2003.

In July 2005 the Bolshoi performed The Bright Stream at the Met, and in August 2006, at the Royal Opera House, London. The Bolshoi is performing it in Moscow during late October 2017.

In January 2011, American Ballet Theatre performed The Bright Stream in Ratmansky's choreography, at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C..