Bolshoi Ballet

The Bolshoi Ballet is a Moscow-based ballet company known for its large-scale productions, technically demanding style, and central place in Russian ballet.

Swan Lake: A ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky about a prince, a swan-maiden, and an enchantment. The Bolshoi’s interpretations of this repertory staple have helped define its dramatic and choreographic identity.
Bolshoi Theatre: A historic Moscow performing-arts institution whose main building houses the Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera. The ballet company is one of the theatre’s resident ensembles and takes its name from the institution.
Yuri Grigorovich: A Soviet and Russian choreographer who led the Bolshoi Ballet as artistic director from 1964 to 1995. His large-scale narrative ballets became defining works in the company’s Soviet-era repertory.
Mariinsky Ballet: A Saint Petersburg ballet company descended from the imperial theatres and known for its classical tradition. Its history and style provide the Bolshoi’s closest institutional and artistic counterpart in Russia.
The Sleeping Beauty: A classical ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa, based on Charles Perrault’s fairy tale. Its demanding classical style suits the company’s emphasis on virtuosity and grand staging.
Imperial Russian ballet: The ballet tradition cultivated in Russia under the tsars, especially through state-supported theatres and schools. The company inherited choreographic works and institutional practices formed under imperial patronage.
Marius Petipa: A French-born choreographer who shaped nineteenth-century Russian ballet through works such as The Sleeping Beauty. His choreography remains central to the classical repertory performed by the company.
Royal Ballet: A London-based ballet company founded in 1931 and known for its classical and modern repertory. Its repertory and training tradition offer a British comparison to the Bolshoi’s Russian lineage.
The Nutcracker: A ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky about a child’s Christmas Eve journey into a magical world. The Bolshoi’s productions connect this internationally popular ballet to its Russian performance heritage.
Moscow Orphanage: A charitable institution founded in Moscow in 1763 to care for orphaned and abandoned children. Its pupils formed the basis of the ballet school established alongside the company’s early predecessor.

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