Bolshoi Ballet | |
---|---|
General information | |
Name | Bolshoi Ballet |
Local name | Большой Театр Балетная труппа Большого театра Baletnaya truppa Bol'shogo teatra |
Year founded | 1776 |
Principal venue | Bolshoi Theatre |
Website | http://www.bolshoi.ru |
Senior staff | |
Director | Vladimir Urin |
Ballet Director | Makhar Vaziev |
Artistic staff | |
Deputy Director | Galina Stepanenko |
Music Director | Tugan Sokhiev |
Ballet Master | Yuri Grigorovich |
Other | |
Parent company | Bolshoi Theatre |
Orchestra | Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre |
Official school | Moscow State Academy of Choreography |
Formation | Principal Lead soloist First soloist Soloist Corps de ballet |
The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it came to international prominence as Moscow became the capital of Soviet Russia. 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, Brazil. [1]
The earliest iteration of the Bolshoi Ballet can be found in the creation of a dance school for a Moscow orphanage in 1773. [2] In 1776, dancers from the school were employed by Prince Pyotr Vasilyevich Urusov and English theatrical entrepreneur Michael Maddox to form part of their new theatre company. [3] 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, 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. [4]
Despite staging many famous ballets, it struggled to compete with the reputation of the Imperial Russian Ballet, today's Mariinsky Ballet of St. Petersburg. It was not until the appointment of Alexander Gorsky 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 (1900), Coppélia (1901), Swan Lake (1901), La fille mal gardée (1903), Giselle (1911), Le Corsaire (1912) and La Bayadère (1917). [5]
The Soviet leadership's preference for uncomplicated moral themes in the arts was demonstrated in Yuri Grigorovich's appointment as director in 1964. Grigorovich held his position until 1995, at which point a series of directors, including Boris Akimov, Alexei Ratmansky, Yuri Burlaka and Sergei Filin, brought more modern dance performance ideas to the company. [6]
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, Brazil. [7] [8] [9] [10]
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. 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.
Source: [11]
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The Bolshoi Ballet operates two troupes of corps de ballet, with approximately 169 dancers in total.
In 2013, ballerina Anastasia Volochkova claimed that female dancers were forced to sleep with wealthy patrons, saying: "It mainly happened with the corps du [sic] ballet but also with the soloists. [...] I repeatedly received such propositions to share the beds of oligarchs." [12] 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." [13]
In January 2013, a sulfuric acid attack on art director Sergei Filin 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. [14]
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". [15]
In July 2017, the Bolshoi Theatre cancelled the premiere of a ballet about openly gay Soviet dancer Rudolf Nureyev. 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. [16] 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. [17]
The Mariinsky Ballet is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Le Corsaire is a ballet typically presented in three acts, with a libretto originally created by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges loosely based on the poem The Corsair by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam and other composers, it was first presented by the ballet of the Théâtre Impérial de l’Opéra in Paris on 23 January 1856. All modern productions of Le Corsaire are derived from the revivals staged by the Ballet Master Marius Petipa for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg throughout the mid to late 19th century.
The Sergeyev Collection is an assemblage of materials that document the repertory of the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg as it existed at the turn-of-the 20th century. The collection consists primarily of choreographic notation and music for many of the notated works. Also included are designs for stage décor and costumes, photos, and theatre programmes for performances of the Imperial Ballet at the turn-of-the 20th century. The choreographic notations of the Sergeyev Collection record—in varying degrees of detail—the original works and revivals of the choreographer Marius Petipa, who served as Premier Maître de ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres from 1871 until 1903. Also included is notation for choreography by Lev Ivanov, who served as Second Maître de ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres from 1885 until his death in 1901. The dance sections of several operas are also among the notated choreographies of the Sergeyev Collection, the majority of which are the work of Petipa and Ivanov, respectively.
Igor Kolb is a principal dancer of Mariinsky Ballet. He graduated Byelorussia State Ballet School, and joined Mariinsky ballet in 1996. He became a soloist in 1998, and promoted to principal dancer in 2003. He made his debut at the Rome Opera in Rudolf Nureyev's version of Sleeping Beauty in 2002, and in 2006 he made his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in Rudolf Nureyev's version of Swan Lake. Igor Kolb left Mariinsky Ballet in 2022 for heading the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus (Minsk) ballet in position of Principal Ballet Master.
Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky is a Russian-Ukrainian-American choreographer and former ballet dancer. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet. He left Russia in 2008. In 2009 he was appointed the artist in residence at the American Ballet Theatre, and as artist in residence at the New York City Ballet from August 2023.
Ivan Vladimirovich Vasiliev is a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer. He graduated from the Bielorussian Ballet School in 2006.
Artem Vyacheslavovich Ovcharenko is a Russian classical ballet dancer. He is a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and a guest artist with the Hamburg Ballet.
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Lunkina is a Russian-Canadian ballerina who is a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.
Ruslan Vasilyevich Skvortsov is a Russian principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet.
Ekaterina Valerievna Krysanova is a Russian principal dancer of Bolshoi Ballet.
Ekaterina Kondaurova is a Russian ballet dancer, currently one of the stars of the Mariinsky Ballet from Saint Petersburg. Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (2020).
Viktoria Valerievna Tereshkina is a Russian ballet dancer, who performs as a principal dancer with the Mariinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg. People's Artist of Russia (2018). Laureate of the highest theater award of St. Petersburg "Golden Soffit", and Laureate of the IX International Ballet Competition "Arabesque".
Oksana Skorik is a professional ballet dancer from Kharkiv, Ukraine and Principal Dancer of the Mariinsky Ballet. She joined the Mariinsky Ballet in 2007 after graduating from the Perm School of Dance in Russia. She was the subject of David Kinsella's documentary A Beautiful Tragedy and was featured on RT Documentary's Ballet, Sweat and Tears.
Elena Evseeva is a Russian ballerina, soloist of the Mikhailovsky (2001—2008) and the Mariinsky theaters. People's Artist of the Republic of Udmurtia.
Anastasia Stashkevich is a Russian principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet.
Olesya Novikova is a Russian ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer with the Mariinsky Theatre.
Renata Mukhametovna Shakirova is a ballet dancer, currently a principal with the Mariinsky Ballet.
David Motta Soares is a Brazilian classical ballet dancer. He was a leading soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet. In May 2022 David became a Principal Dancer with the Berlin State Ballet.
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Lopatin is a Russian principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet.
Anna Nikulina is a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, Russia. Her first lead role was Odette-Odile in Swan Lake in 2004 at the age of 19. She has toured both internationally and within Russia. Her répétiteur as of 2021 is Olga Chenchikova, a former Bolshoi principal. In previous years her répétiteurs have been the important Russian dancers Ekaterina Maximova, Nina Semizorova, and Ludmila Semenyaka. She graduated in 2002 with honors from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography.