on Thursday, 2 December, an outstanding Russian choreographer, people’s artist of the USSR Yuri Grigorovich will celebrate his 93rd birthday. According to tradition, on this day in the Bolshoi theatre will be ballet “the Nutcracker” in his performance, which has been on the stage for over 50 years.
Yuri Grigorovich was born on 2 January 1927 in Leningrad. In 1946 he graduated from the Leningrad choreographic school (now the St. Petersburg Academy of Russian ballet. A. Y. Vaganova) and has been accepted in ballet troupe of the Leningrad state academic theatre of Opera and ballet. S. M. Kirov (now the Mariinsky theater). There Yuri Grigorovich made his first choreographic experiments, immediately brought him international recognition: “the Stone flower” by Sergei Prokofiev, “Legend of love” Arif Melikov.
In the years 1961-1964 Grigorovich — choreographer of the Leningrad Opera and ballet theatre. Kirov, from 1964 to 1995, chief choreographer of the Bolshoi theatre of Russia. Since 2008 he is a regular choreographer of the Bolshoi theatre, reminds TASS.
At the Bolshoi, Yury Grigorovich has put eight of the original ballet “the Stone flower”, “Legend of love”, “Nutcracker”, “Spartacus,” “Ivan the terrible”, “Angara”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “the Golden age”. He is also the author of choreographic versions of the ballets of the classical heritage that form the basis of the repertoire of the Bolshoi theatre for half a century.
services of the master award: Yuri Grigorovich — people’s artist of USSR, laureate of the Lenin prize, State prizes of the USSR and of the RSFSR State prize, government Prize of the Russian Federation, cavalier of the order of Saint Apostle Andrew the first-called, the order “For merits before Fatherland” and more than 60 Russian and foreign awards.
