Bolshoi Ballet

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox ballet company 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Soloists of the Bolshoi Ballet at the Schiphol airport, 9 June 1960

The earliest iteration of the Bolshoi Ballet can be found in the creation of a dance school for a Moscow orphanage in 1773.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name=Mackrell/> Template:Clear

Repertoire

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Notable staff

Dancers

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Directors

Conductors

Choreographers

Composers

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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, Brazil.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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. 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

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Female

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Male

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Leading soloists

Female

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  • Arina Denisova
  • Olga Marchenkova
  • Eva Sergeyenkova
  • Margarita Shrayner
  • Maria Vinogradova

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  • Mark Chino
  • Dmitry Vyskubenko
Anna Tikhomirova performing in Delhi

First soloists

Female

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  • Daria Khokhlova
  • Maria Koshkaryova
  • Elizaveta Kruteleva
  • Anastasia Meskova
  • Anna Tikhomirova

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Male

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  • Klim Efimov
  • Daniil Potaptsev
  • Alexei Putintsev
  • Alexander Vodopetov
  • Gennadi Yanin (working under contract)
  • Denis Zakharov

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Soloists

Female

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  • Anastasia Chapkina
  • Anastasia Denisova
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  • Yaroslavna Kuprina
  • Sofia Maymula
  • Maria Mishina
  • Uliyana Moksheva
  • Kristina Petrova
  • Stanislava Postnova
  • Maria Shuvalova
  • Anastasia Smirnova
  • Alexandra Trikoz
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  • Ekaterina Varlamova
  • Anastasia Vinokur
  • Angelina Vlashinets
  • Ksenia Zhiganshina

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Male

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  • Alexander Fadeyechev (working under contract)
  • Georgy Gusev
  • Egor Khromushin (working under contract)
  • Alexei Loparevich (working under contract)
  • Makar Mikhalkin
  • Anton Savichev (working under contract)
  • Andrei Sitnikov (working under contract)
  • Alexander Smoliyaninov
  • Ivan Sorokin

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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 [sic] ballet but also with the soloists. [...] I repeatedly received such propositions to share the beds of oligarchs."<ref name=BolshoiBrothel>Template:Cite news</ref> 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."<ref name=Files>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2022, the Bolshoi Ballet, like the Mariinsky Ballet, removed the name of choreographer Alexei Ratmansky from his ballets, owing to his opposition to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, it continued to perform the ballets without Ratmansky's permission. He stated that he intended to sue the company.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the spring of 2025, allegations emerged that critics were offered bribes to write positive reviews about the debut of Maria Shuvalova, daughter of former first deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov, in the title role in Anyuta.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Despite the controversy surrounding the quality of her performances, Shuvalova was promoted to the rank of soloist in July 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

References

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