In Memory of Yuri Grigorovich

Yuri Grigorovich was a native of St. Petersburg. He graduated from the Leningrad Choreographic School and began his career at the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Theater in St. Petersburg. In 1957, at the same theater, he staged his first ballet, The Stone Flower, set to music by Rodion Shchedrin, which was soon transferred to the Bolshoi Theater stage along with the choreographer himself. His 1964 ballet The Legend of Love, performed at the Bolshoi, was hailed as a success. In 1966, Grigorovich, together with set designer Simon Virsaladze, presented The Nutcracker to Tchaikovsky’s music — a production that audiences still flock to see. But undoubtedly, Grigorovich’s greatest masterpiece was Spartacus, staged in 1968 to Aram Khachaturian’s score. Vladimir Vasiliev, the first and incomparable Spartacus, and Maris Liepa, the first and incomparable Crassus, turned this performance into a gem of world ballet art. The shower of state awards bestowed upon the premiere’s participants forever cemented Grigorovich’s unofficial title as the greatest Soviet choreographer.

Finally, in 1975, another historical ballet emerged — Ivan the Terrible, depicting the fiery young tsar beloved by his people, the schemes of villainous boyars, the terrible yet just retribution for the murder of his beloved wife, the torment of guilt, and the unification of the country under the ringing of church bells. This Grigorovich masterpiece also owed its success to brilliant performers — Natalia Bessmertnova as Anastasia and Yuri Vladimirov as the young Tsar Ivan.

By the early 1990s, Yuri Grigorovich’s persona seemed outdated for the Bolshoi Theater. He left the company but returned six years later in the 2000s as a resident choreographer, his influence far exceeding the modest title. By then, four of his ballets — The Nutcracker, Spartacus, Ivan the Terrible, and The Legend of Love — had been enshrined in the Bolshoi’s "golden collection," with each new generation of dancers dreaming of performing in them. And to this day, Russia has yet to produce a choreographer of Grigorovich’s stature and authority.

Based on materials by Tatiana Kuznetsova, Kommersant No. 87.