Bolshoi Celebrates Yuri Grigorovich’s 95th Birthday
On January 2, 2022, the Bolshoi Theatre celebrates famous ballet master and choreographer Yuri Grigorovich’s 95th birthday. The fate of the Russian ballet in the second half of the 20th century is very closely tied with the name Yuri Grigorovich. Yuri comes of a St. Petersburg ballet family. He graduated from St. Petersburg Ballet Academy and danced on the stage of the Kirov Theatre for 18 years. The ballet master’s talent was revealed early in life. His first production at Kirov Theatre was The Stone Flower (S. Prokofiev, 1957). Another masterpiece – Legend of Love (A. Melikov, 1961) – demonstrated the great talent of the choreographer.
Since 1964 Yuri Grigorovich has been the choreographer in- chief of the Bolshoi Theatre. The Bolshoi Theatre, with Grigorovich as its’ head, made international tours more than 90 times. He established the leadership of the Russian classical ballet everywhere in the world. In Moscow, Grigorovich created ballets which won the world-wide reputation for the Bolshoi Theatre.
The Bolshoi Theater celebrates his milestone birthday by collecting in one festival the maestro’s performances: original ballets and his editions of ballets of classical heritage.
On January 2, Yuri’s birthday, the January series of performances (2-6) begins with one of the most beloved and demanded performances, The Nutcracker. On January 9, they will move to the territory of ancient Italy, where the noble Thracian Spartacus will raise his heroic uprising against the ruthless praetor Crassus in Spartacus.
On January 10 and 11, the amazing and mystical story of the Provencal Countess Raymonda, almost kidnapped by a Saracen knight, but rescued by her fiancé, who returned from a crusade by the glorious knight de Brienne, will unfold.
January 14-16 and 18 – fans will enjoy Swan Lake, which debuted on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, from old German legends and since then has conquered the whole world.
The final chord of the festival (February 5 and 6) will be The Legend of Love, one of the most famous ballets by the master, with which he began his career on the Moscow stage in 1964 as chief ballet master of the Bolshoi. The ancient oriental legend of a love triangle, the two peaks of which are an unheard-of example of self-sacrifice, and in the end received an excellent translation into the language of dance.
Yuri’s choreography of new and classic ballets were crucial in establishing Bolshoi’s world-wide fame. Join Bolshoi Theatre in celebrating Yuri’s 95th birthday! To learn more, visit https://bolshoi.ru/news/announcements/918-Grigorovich95/