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The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned
classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions), its ...
company based at the
Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...
in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest
ballet companies A ballet company is a type of dance troupe which performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round ba ...
. In the early 20th century, it came to international prominence as Moscow became the capital of
Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
. The Bolshoi has been recognised as one of the foremost ballet companies in the world. It has a branch at the Bolshoi Ballet Theater School in
Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina, in the Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitiba and Porto Alegre. Joinville is also a ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.


History

The earliest iteration of the Bolshoi Ballet can be found in the creation of a dance school for a Moscow orphanage in 1773. In 1776, dancers from the school were employed by Prince Pyotr Vasilyevich Urusov and English theatrical entrepreneur
Michael Maddox Michael Maddox (1747–1822; Russian: Михаил Егорович Маддокс, ''Mikhail Yegorovich Maddox'', also spelled '' Medoks'', ''Maddocks'', ''Mattocks'') was an English entrepreneur and theatre manager active in Imperial Russia. ...
to form part of their new theatre company. Originally performing in privately owned venues, they later acquired the Petrovsky Theatre, which, as a result of fires and erratic redevelopment, would later be rebuilt as today's Bolshoi Theatre. While some guest dancers come and go from other prestigious ballet companies, such as Mariinsky and
American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...
, most company dancers are graduates of the academy. In 1989
Michael Shannon
was the first American ballet dancer to graduate from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and join the Bolshoi Ballet company. Despite staging many famous ballets, it struggled to compete with the reputation of the Imperial Russian Ballet, today's Mariinsky Ballet of
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. It was not until the appointment of
Alexander Gorsky Alexander Gorsky (August 6, 1871 – 1924), a Russian ballet choreographer and a contemporary of Marius Petipa, is known for restaging Petipa's classical ballets such as ''Swan Lake'', ''Don Quixote'', and ''The Nutcracker''. Gorsky “sought grea ...
as Ballet Master in 1900 that the company began to develop its own unique identity, with acclaimed productions of new or restaged ballets including ''
Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...
'' (1900), ''
Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis- ...
'' (1901), ''
Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...
'' (1901), ''
La fille mal gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
'' (1903), ''
Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...
'' (1911), '' Le Corsaire'' (1912) and ''
La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was staged especiall ...
'' (1917). The Soviet leadership's preference for uncomplicated moral themes in the arts was demonstrated in
Yuri Grigorovich Yury Nikolayevich Grigorovich (russian: Ю́рий Никола́евич Григоро́вич; born 2 January 1927 in Leningrad) is a Soviet and Russian dancer and choreographer1964
Grigorovich held his position until 1995, at which point a series of directors, including Boris Akimov,
Alexei Ratmansky Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky (russian: Алексей Осипович Ратманский, born August 27, 1968) is a Russian-American choreographer and former ballet dancer. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Bolshoi Ballet. He left Rus ...
, Yuri Burlaka and
Sergei Filin Sergei Yurevitch Filin (russian: Серге́й Ю́рьевич Фи́лин; born 27 October 1970) is a Russian ballet dancer and the former artistic director of the Bolshoi Theater from 2011 through 2016. He is currently the Director of the ...
, brought more modern dance performance ideas to the company.


Repertoire

* ''A Hero of Our Time'', Yuri Possokhov * ''A Legend of Love'',
Yuri Grigorovich Yury Nikolayevich Grigorovich (russian: Ю́рий Никола́евич Григоро́вич; born 2 January 1927 in Leningrad) is a Soviet and Russian dancer and choreographerJohn Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He has been the director and chief choreographer of Hamburg Ballet since 1973. Five years later he founded the Hamburg Ballet School, which also in ...
* ''Anyuta'', Vladimir Vasiliev * ''
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
'',
George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
* '' Carmen Suite'',
Alberto Alonso Alberto Julio Rayneri Alonso (22 May 1917 – 31 December 2007) was a Cuban dancer and choreographer, the brother of Fernando Alonso and brother-in-law of Alicia Alonso (née Martinez). He was influential in the development of the Cuban sty ...
* ''
Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis- ...
'',
Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (russian: Мариус Иванович Петипа), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818), was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters an ...
and
Enrico Cecchetti Enrico Cecchetti (; 21 June 1850 – 13 November 1928) was an Italian ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. The son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche, he was born in the costuming room of the ''Teatro Tordinona'' in ...
; Revived by
Sergei Vikharev Sergei Vikharev (Russian: Сергей Геннадьевич Вихарев) (15 February 1962 – 2 June 2017) was a Russian ballet dancer, choreographer and historian. Biography Sergei Vikharev was born in Saint Petersburg and trained at the ...
* ''
Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...
'', Marius Petipa and
Alexander Gorsky Alexander Gorsky (August 6, 1871 – 1924), a Russian ballet choreographer and a contemporary of Marius Petipa, is known for restaging Petipa's classical ballets such as ''Swan Lake'', ''Don Quixote'', and ''The Nutcracker''. Gorsky “sought grea ...
; Revived by Alexei Fadeyechev * '' Études'',
Harald Lander Harald Alfred Bernhardt Stevnsborg Lander (25 February 1905 – 14 September 1971) was a Danish dancer, choreographer and artistic director of the Royal Danish Ballet. Lander was born in Copenhagen. He started as a dancer, studying under ballet ...
* ''Forgotten Land'' * ''Frank Bridge Variations'',
Hans van Manen Hans Arthur Gerard van Manen (; born 11 July 1932) is a Dutch ballet dancer, choreographer and photographer. He studied under Sonia Gaskell and Françoise Adret. Van Manen wrote many ballets. He worked for the Dutch National Ballet from 1973 ...
* ''
Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...
'',
Jean Coralli Jean Coralli (15 January 1779 – 1 May 1854) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer, best known for collaborating with Jules Perrot in creating ''Giselle'' (1841), the quintessential Romantic ballet of the nineteenth century. Early life ...
and
Jules Perrot Jules-Joseph Perrot (18 August 1810 – 29 August 1892) was a dancer and choreographer who later became Ballet Master of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. He created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century including ...
; Version of Yuri Grigorovich * ''Ivan the Terrible'', Yuri Grigorovich * ''
Jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...
'', George Balanchine * ''
La Bayadere LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
'', Marius Petipa; Version of Yuri Grigorovich * '' La Fille du pharaon'',
Pierre Lacotte Pierre Lacotte (born 4 April 1932) is a French ballet dancer and choreographer who specialised in the reconstruction of lost choreographies of romantic ballets. His mother was an affirmed musician and he manifested very early his interest for da ...
* ''
La Fille mal gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
'',
Alexander Gorsky Alexander Gorsky (August 6, 1871 – 1924), a Russian ballet choreographer and a contemporary of Marius Petipa, is known for restaging Petipa's classical ballets such as ''Swan Lake'', ''Don Quixote'', and ''The Nutcracker''. Gorsky “sought grea ...
; Version of Yuri Grigorovich * ''
La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' ( en, The Sylph; da, Sylfiden) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. ...
'', August Bournonville; Version of
Johan Kobborg Johan Kobborg (born 5 June 1972) is a Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, director and visual artist. He is most noted as a ballet dancer, having been a principal dancer with both the Royal Danish Ballet and the Royal Ballet in London, as well ...
* ''
Lady of the Camellias The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...
(La Dame aux camelias)'',
John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He has been the director and chief choreographer of Hamburg Ballet since 1973. Five years later he founded the Hamburg Ballet School, which also in ...
* '' Le Corsaire'', Marius Petipa; Version of
Alexei Ratmansky Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky (russian: Алексей Осипович Ратманский, born August 27, 1968) is a Russian-American choreographer and former ballet dancer. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Bolshoi Ballet. He left Rus ...
and Yuri Burlaka * ''Nureyev'' * ''
The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...
'', Yuri Grigorovich * ''Ondine'', Vyacheslav Samodurov * '' Onegin,
John Cranko John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet. Life and career Early life Cranko was born in Rustenburg in the former province of Tran ...
* ''
Raymonda ''Raymonda'' (russian: Раймонда) is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa to music by Alexander Glazunov, his Opus 57. It was first presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsk ...
', Marius Petipa; Version of Yuri Grigorovich * ''
Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'', Yuri Grigorovich * ''Romeo and Juliet'', Alexei Ratmansky * ''
Russian Seasons ''Russian Seasons'' is a ballet choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky to Leonid Desyatnikov's music of the same name, with costumes designed by Galina Solovyeva. The ballet premiered on June 8, 2006 at the New York State Theater, performed by the N ...
'', Alexei Ratmansky * ''Short Time Together'', Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon * ''
Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisin ...
, Yuri Grigorovich * ''
Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...
', Marius Petipa; Version of Yuri Grigorovich * ''Symphony of Psalms'',
Jiri Kylian Jiri ( ne, जिरी) is a municipality in Dolakha District in the Bagmati Province of central Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 13,638 people.. Jiri, which lies about 190 kilometers from Kathmandu, is the m ...
* ''
The Bright Stream ''The Limpid Stream'' (russian: Светлый ручей, also translated as ''The Bright Stream'') is a ballet in 3 acts, 4 scenes, composed by Dmitri Shostakovich on the libretto by Adrian Piotrovsky and Fyodor Lopukhov, with choreography by ...
, Alexei Ratmansky * '' The Cage',
Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...
* '' The Flames of Paris'', Vasily Vainonen, Version of Alexei Ratmansky * '' The Golden Age'', Yuri Grigorovich * '' The Sleeping Beauty'', Marius Petipa; Version of Yuri Grigorovich * ''Taming of the Shrew'',
Jean-Christophe Maillot Jean-Christophe Maillot (born 1960) is a French dancer and choreographer born in Tours. Early life and education He studied at the dance conservatory in Tours before enrolling at the École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower, ...


Notable staff


Dancers

*
Galina Ulanova Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova (russian: Галина Сергеевна Уланова, ; 21 March 1998) was a Russian ballet dancer. She is frequently cited as being one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. Biography Ulanova was born ...
*
Marina Semyonova Marina Timofeyevna Semyonova (russian: Марина Тимофеевна Семёнова, – 9 June 2010) was the first Soviet-trained prima ballerina. She was born in Saint-Petersburg. She was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1975. ...
* Olga Lepeshinskaya *
Mikhail Mordkin __NOTOC__ Mikhail Mordkin (russian: Михаил Михайлович Мордкин; December 9, 1880, Moscow, Russian Empire - July 15, 1944, New York) graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet School in 1899, and in the same year was appointed ballet ...
*
Vasily Tikhomirov Vasiliy Dmitriyevich Tikhomirov (1876–1956) was a dancer (from 1895) and a choreographer (from 1913) with the Bolshoi Ballet of Moscow, Russia. His most distinguished production was '' The Red Poppy'' (1927), with his wife Yekaterina Geltzer ...
* Yekaterina Geltzer * Asaf Messerer *
Maya Plisetskaya Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (russian: link=no, Майя Михайловна Плисецкая; 20 November 1925 – 2 May 2015) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet director, and actress. In post-Soviet times, she he ...
*
Pyotr Gusev Pyotr Andreyevich Gusev (russian: Пётр Андреевич Гусев) was a ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. He was born on 29 December, 1904 in St. Petersburg. He studied at the St. Petersburg School of Choreography under . He was a ...
*
Aleksey Yermolayev Aleksey Nikolayevich Yermolayev (Russian: Алексе́й Никола́евич Ермола́ев; 12 December 1975) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher. He played an important role in the development of Russian ba ...
*
Nikolai Fadeyechev Nikolai Borisovich Fadeyechev (russian: Николай Борисович Фадеечев, 27 January 1933 – 23 June 2020) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer and teacher. He was awarded People's Artist of the USSR in 1976. Biography Fad ...
*
Maris Liepa Maris may refer to: Personal names *Māris (name), a Latvian masculine given name, including a list of people with the name *Maris (given name), including a list of people and mythical or fictional characters *Maris (surname), including a list of ...
*
Ekaterina Maximova Ekaterina Sergeevna Maximova (russian: Екатерина Сергеевна Максимова; 1 February 1939 – 28 April 2009) was a Soviet and Russian ballerina of the second part of the 20th century who was internationally recognised. Sh ...
* Vladimir Vasiliev *
Natalia Bessmertnova Natalia Igorevna Bessmertnova (Russian: Наталья Игоревна Бессмертнова; – ) was a Soviet prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet and a People's Artist of the USSR (1976). Life Natalia Bessmertnova was born in Moscow ...
* Ludmila Semenyaka * Nadezhda Pavlova * Joy Womack *
Svetlana Adyrkhaeva Svetlana Dzantemirovna Adyrkhaeva (born May 12, 1938) (russian: Светлана Дзантемировна Адырхаева) is an Ossetian and Soviet ballerina. People's Artist of the USSR (1984). Biography Adyrkhaeva was born on May 12, 1938 ...
* * Nina Timofeeva * *
Irek Mukhamedov Irek Dzhavdatovich Mukhamedov OBE (russian: Ирек Джавдатович Мухамедов: tt-Cyrl, Ирек Җәүдәт улы Мөхәммәтев; born 8 March 1960), is a Soviet-born British ballet dancer of Tatar origin who has danced ...
*
Alexander Godunov Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
* *
Nina Ananiashvili Nina Ananiashvili (born: ''Nino Ananiashvili'', ka, ნინო ანანიაშვილი; born March 19, 1963) is a Georgian ballerina and artistic director of the State Ballet of Georgia. She has been described by the '' Daily Teleg ...
* Dmitry Belogolovtsev *
Natalia Osipova Natalia Petrovna Osipova (russian: Наталья Петровна Осипова; born 18 May 1986) is a Russian ballerina, currently a principal ballerina with The Royal Ballet in London. Early life and training Born in Moscow, Osipova began ...
* Svetlana Lunkina * Dmitry Gudanov *
Anna Antonicheva Anna Antonicheva (russian: Анна Анатольевна Антоничева) is a ballerina and People's Artist of Russia, who was a principal dancer of Bolshoi Ballet. Biography Antonicheva was born in 1973 in Baku, Azerbaijan, and was a grad ...


Directors

*
Alexander Gorsky Alexander Gorsky (August 6, 1871 – 1924), a Russian ballet choreographer and a contemporary of Marius Petipa, is known for restaging Petipa's classical ballets such as ''Swan Lake'', ''Don Quixote'', and ''The Nutcracker''. Gorsky “sought grea ...
*
Vasily Tikhomirov Vasiliy Dmitriyevich Tikhomirov (1876–1956) was a dancer (from 1895) and a choreographer (from 1913) with the Bolshoi Ballet of Moscow, Russia. His most distinguished production was '' The Red Poppy'' (1927), with his wife Yekaterina Geltzer ...
* Vladimir Urin


Conductors

* *
Yuri Fayer Yuri Fyodorovich Fayer (also seen as Faier) (3 August 1971), was a Soviet conductor specializing in ballet. He was the chief ballet conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre from 1923 to 1963. Fayer's range extended from the classical repertoire (he conduc ...
*Algis Shuraitis


Choreographers

*
Rostislav Zakharov Rostislav Vladimirovich Zakharov (russian: Ростислав Владимирович Захаров; September 7, 1907 – January 15, 1984) was a Soviet and Russian choreographer, ballet dancer and opera director. He was a professor at the Russia ...
*
Leonid Lavrovsky Leonid Mikhailovich Lavrovsky (1905–1967) was a Russian ballet choreographer, most famous for choreographing the first full version of Sergei Prokofiev's ''Romeo and Juliet''. Early life Lavrovsky was born in 1905 in St. Petersburg, the son ...
*
Fyodor Lopukhov Fyodor Vasilievich Lopukhov (Occasionally Fedor, Russian: Фёдор Васи́льевич Лопухо́в; 20 October 1886, Saint Petersburg – 28 January 1973, Leningrad) was a choreographer in Soviet Russia. Training and dance career Lopuk ...
*
Yury Grigorovich Yury Nikolayevich Grigorovich (russian: Ю́рий Никола́евич Григоро́вич; born 2 January 1927 in Leningrad) is a Soviet and Russian dancer and choreographerDimitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...
*
Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenian ...


Company structure

Today the Bolshoi Ballet remains one of the world's foremost ballet companies, in addition to being one of the largest, with approximately 220 dancers. The word "bolshoi" means "big" or "grand" in Russian. The company operates on a hierarchical system, similar to those used by other leading European ballet companies, with senior dancers ranked as principals, and descending in order of importance through lead soloist, first soloist, soloist and finally, corps de ballet. Due to its size, the company operates two troupes of corps de ballet. In 2000, the Bolshoi Ballet opened its first Ballet Academy outside Russia, in
Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina, in the Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitiba and Porto Alegre. Joinville is also a ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.


Performance style

The performance style of the Bolshoi Ballet is typically identified as being colourful and bold, combining technique and athleticism with expressiveness and dramatic intensity. This style is commonly attributed to
Alexander Gorsky Alexander Gorsky (August 6, 1871 – 1924), a Russian ballet choreographer and a contemporary of Marius Petipa, is known for restaging Petipa's classical ballets such as ''Swan Lake'', ''Don Quixote'', and ''The Nutcracker''. Gorsky “sought grea ...
. Historically there has been a fierce rivalry with the St. Petersburg Heritage Ballet Company, the Mariinsky. Both have developed very different performing styles: the Bolshoi has a more colourful and bold approach, whereas the Mariinsky is associated with more pure and refined classicism.


Dancers


Principal dancers

Source: Female * Maria Alexandrova (working under contract) * Maria Allash (working under contract) * Nina Kaptsova (working under contract) *Alena Kovaleva *
Ekaterina Krysanova Ekaterina Valerievna Krysanova (russian: Екатерина Валерьевна Крысанова) is a Russian principal dancer of Bolshoi Ballet. Biography Krysanova was born in Moscow, Russia in 1985. Her mother took her to ballet lessons ...
* Anna Nikulina *
Evgenia Obraztsova Evgenia Viktorovna Obraztsova (russian: Евге́ния Ви́кторовна Образцо́ва; born 18 January 1984) is a Russian ballerina. She is a prima ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, and with the Mariinsky Ballet. Early ...
* Yekaterina Shipulina (working under contract) * Anastasia Stashkevich *Yulia Stepanova * Svetlana Zakharova Male * *Semyon Chudin *Egor Gerashchenko * Vladislav Lantratov * Mikhail Lobukhin * Vyacheslav Lopatin *
Artem Ovcharenko Artem Vyacheslavovich Ovcharenko (russian: Артём Вячеславович Овчаренко; born 31 December 1986) is a Russian classical ballet dancer. He is a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and a guest artist with the Hambu ...
* * *
Ruslan Skvortsov Ruslan Vasilyevich Skvortsov (russian: Руслан Васильевич Скворцов; born 31 January 1980) is a Russian principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet. Biography Ruslan Skvortsov was born in Yelets, Lipetsk Oblast, where he receiv ...
(working under contract) *Alexander Volchkov (working under contract)


Leading soloists

Female *Anastasia Goryacheva * Kristina Kretova *Olga Marchenkova *Eleonora Sevenard *Maria Vinogradova Male


First soloists

Female *Daria Khokhlova *Elizaveta Kokoreva *Anastasia Meskova *Eva Sergeyenkova *Margarita Shrayner *Anna Tikhomirova Male *Vitaly Biktimirov *Alexander Vodopetov *Denis Zakharov


Soloists

Female *Anastasia Chapkina *Anastasia Denisova *Yulia Grebenshchikova *Kristina Karasyova *Olga Kishnyova * *Elizaveta Kruteleva *Yulia Skvortsova * *Anastasia Vinokur *Angelina Vlashnets *Viktoria Yakusheva *Ksenia Zhiganshina Male *Karim Abdullin *Klim Efimov *Alexander Fadeyechev *Georgy Gusev *Egor Khromushin *Anton Savichev *Alexander Smoliyaninov


Corps de ballet

The Bolshoi Ballet operates two troupes of corps de ballet, with approximately 169 dancers in total.


Controversies

In 2013, ballerina Anastasia Volochkova claimed that female dancers were forced to sleep with wealthy patrons, saying: "It mainly happened with the corps du icballet but also with the soloists. ..I repeatedly received such propositions to share the beds of oligarchs." American dancer Joy Womack echoed this concern when she left the company after being told that, to secure solo roles, she must either pay $10,000 or "start a relationship with a sponsor." In January 2013, a
sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...
attack on art director
Sergei Filin Sergei Yurevitch Filin (russian: Серге́й Ю́рьевич Фи́лин; born 27 October 1970) is a Russian ballet dancer and the former artistic director of the Bolshoi Theater from 2011 through 2016. He is currently the Director of the ...
once again steeped the company in scandal. Bolshoi dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko was convicted of organizing the attack and was sentenced to six years in prison. Reasons for the attack include corruption within the company. In 2014, 25-year-old ballet dancer Olga Demina mysteriously went missing. In September 2020, Russian investigators announced that they believe Demina may have been killed in a blackmail plot by Malkhaz Dzhavoev, whom she was dating and was allegedly her "manager." In July 2017, the Bolshoi Theatre cancelled the premiere of a ballet about openly gay Soviet dancer
Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...
. The Director General claimed that it was due to poor dancing quality; however, principal dancer Maria Alexandrova claimed it was the first sign of a 'new era' of censorship. It was the first time a show has been pulled in such a way since the collapse of the Soviet Union, sparking rumours about the motivation behind the move.


See also

*
List of productions of Swan Lake derived from its 1895 revival This is a list of notable major productions of the ballet '' Swan Lake''. Throughout the long and complex performance history of ''Swan Lake'', the 1895 edition of Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, and Riccardo Drigo has served as the definitive versio ...
*
Moscow State Academy of Choreography The Moscow State Academy of Choreography (russian: Московская государственная академия хореографии), commonly known as The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious schools of ball ...
, affiliate school


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Ballet companies in Russia National Dance Award winners History of ballet