Yuri Grigorovich Has Turned 85

January 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Yury_Grigorovich

Fondly dubbed "The Father of The Nutcracker," Yuri Grigorovich has turned 85.  On January 2nd, the ballet master and choreographer's birthday was celebrated with a performance at the Bolshoi Theatre of, none-the-less, the ballet he made famous, The Nutcracker. Yuri Grigorovich Has Turned 85 One of the towering choreographers of the 20th Century, Grigorovich graduated from the Leningrad Choreography School and danced as a soloist of the Kirov Ballet (now the Mariinsky Theater) until the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Choreographers, Classical Ballet, The Bolshoi Ballet Tagged With: , , , , ,

Stephen Colbert Attempts to Dance The Nutcracker

January 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Stephen Colbert attempts to perform The Nutcracker in Tights

American Ballet Theatre's principal dancer, David Hallberg and soloist Hee Seo perform a short excerpt of the popular Christmas ballet as Stephen Colbert attempts to dance The Nutcracker as Tchaikovsky's score plays in the background. Earlier this month David Hallberg dropped-in on the host of the Colbert Report to explain his new career move: a reverse defection to the Bolshoi Ballet. In the second part of the interview Stephen Colbert attempts to dance The Nutcracker with limited … [Read more...]

Filed Under: American Ballet Theatre ABT, Ballet Companies, Ballet in the Media, The Bolshoi Ballet Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Bolshoi Ballerina Resigns Russian Party

December 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Bolshoi Ballerina (Image: en.wikipedia.org)

As a ballerina, Anastasia Volochkova became the youngest soloist of the Mariinsky Ballet which was a first, as she was still a student there.  In 1998, she became a prima ballerina at the Bolshoi Ballet and continued to dance in numerous productions until 2003. She was let go at that time for being too tall and too heavy, then a Moscow court ruled "the Bolshoi Ballet had to reinstate Volochskova immediately and awarded her thousands of US dollars in back pay and damages." Needless to say, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ballerinas, Ballet Companies, Ballet Dancer, Classical Ballet, The Bolshoi Ballet Tagged With: ,

American Dancer Joins The Bolshoi Ballet

December 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
American dancer joins the Bolshoi Ballet David Hallberg

Last October something unheard of in the history of ballet happened: An American Joins The Bolshoi Ballet. David Hallberg, a native of South Dakota and principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre talks about his latest decision to join the Bolshoi Ballet. Hallberg has had an unusual career as a dancer. He started training in ballet at an age considered "old" in the ballet world - at 13. His first 4 years were spent making up for lost time. For his senior year he made a career move … [Read more...]

Filed Under: American Ballet Theatre ABT, Ballet Dancer, Classical Ballet, The Bolshoi Ballet Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

David Hallberg, American Dancer at The Bolshoi

December 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

David Hallberg, American Ballet Dancer at The Bolshoi makes ballet history. David Hallberg, the first American to become a premier dancer with Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet, was interviewed by Martha Teichner. ...Martha Teichner spent time with Hallberg in New York City as he packed for Russia and later, when he returned to perform in the American Ballet Theatre's "Nutcracker" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In this interview, David admits he sees himself as an ambassador and answers … [Read more...]

Filed Under: American Ballet Theatre ABT, Ballet Companies, Ballet Dancer, Classical Ballet, David Hallberg, The Bolshoi Ballet Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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