The Bolshoi Ballet Le Corsaire

Date: May 18-20 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts

In 1776, Prince Pyotr Urusov and English entrepreneur Michael Maddox founded a theater company in Moscow. From this very date the history of the Bolshoi Theatre started: the first permanent company, the first professional music theater that in the ensuing years acquired the status of the main stage of the country. From the very beginning the Moscow ballet had its specific features: "Moscow style" that was formed in the middle of the 19th century implied that acting play prevailed over pure dance. Don Quixote, which was taken from Moscow to St Petersburg, became a showcase of Moscow ballet. Alexander Gorsky was at the head of the company at the first quarter of the 20th century. His choreographic ideas reflecting the spirit of his time stipulated a new rise of popularity of the Bolshoi Theatre. The history of these years includes experiments by Kasyan Goleizovsky who added a lot to the development of the Russian ballet, while from 1930s until the mid-1950 drama ballets prevailed: The Fountain of Bakhchisarai by Rostislav Zakharov, Romeo and Juliet by Leonid Lavrovsky were brought from Leningrad. Both Moscow stars - Olga Lepeshinskaya, Asaf Messerer - and Leningraders that entered the Bolshoi Company - Galina Ulanova, Alexei Ermolayev, Marina Semionova performed in these ballets.