The history of Russian Ballet in the 20th century is inextricably linked
to the name of the outstanding Russian choreographer Yuri Grigorovich.
He is a graduate of the Petersburg school of Russian classical ballet.
In 1947 he became a Kirov Ballet Company (today the Maryinsky)
soloist and danced with the Company for seventeen years. And it was
for the Kirov he mounted his fi rst major ballets: Sergei Prokofi ev’s
Th e Stone Flower (1957) and Arif Melikov’s Legend of Love (1959).
Th ese productions made Grigorovich’s name as choreographer and
started new trends that, for many years, determined the development
of Russian ballet.
From 1964-1995 Yuri Grigorovich was choreographer-in-chief
of the Bolshoi Th eatre of Russia. Th ese were the years the company
reached its highest peak of excellence, winning world-wide acclaim
and authority. Under Grigorovich the Bolshoi Ballet Company undertook
over 90 foreign tours, promoting the company’s brilliant galaxy
of soloists on the world stage.
Th e ballets Grigorovich created at the Bolshoi made him world famous:
Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker (1966), Aram Khachaturyan’s Spartacus
(1968), Prokofi ev’s Ivan Th e Terrible (1975), Andrei Eshpai’s Angara
(1976), Prokofi ev’s Romeo and Juliet (1979), Shostakovich’s Th e Golden
Age (1982, 2006). He also choreographed new versions of the classical
masterpieces for the Bolshoi: Tchaikovsky’s Th e Sleeping Beauty
(1963, 1973, 2011) and Swan Lake (1969, 2001), Alexander Glazunov’s
Raymonda, (1984, 2003), Ludwig Minkus’s La Bayadère (1991) and
Don Quixote (1994), Adolphe Adam’s Giselle (1987) and Le Corsaire
(1994), Peter Ludwig Hertel’s La Fille mal gardé (2009).

Yuri Grigorovich has staged his ballets in Stockholm, Roma, Paris,
Copenhagen, Vienna, Milan, Helsinki, Ankara, Prague, Sofi a, Genoa,
Warsaw, Istanbul, Seul. He is the author of major ballet projects
in the ancient theatres of Greece and Italy, at London’s Albert Hall,
in San Marco Square, Venice, at Moscow’s Luzhniki Sports Stadium
(Olympiad 1980).
For a long time Yuri Grigorovich has chaired the juries of international
ballet competitions in Russia, Japan, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Finland, USA,
Switzerland, Austria, and he is chairman of the Benois de la danse
award. From 1975-1989 he was president of the International Th eatre
Institute Committee of Dance, at the present time he is its honorary
president. He is the recipient of many government awards, prizes and
distinctions in the fi eld of the performing arts and culture of many
countries (over 50 in all).

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