Dictator of beauty: choreographer Yuri Grigorovich has died

Yuri Grigorovich, the great choreographer, the author of the editions of almost all significant classical ballets that formed the basis of the Bolshoi Theater's repertoire and the glory of the Soviet ballet school, a man who changed not only Russian but also world ballet, died at the age of 99. Izvestia recalls the main milestones of the outstanding choreographer's biography.

Since childhood on the stage

Yuri Grigorovich was born on January 2, 1927 in Leningrad. His father, Nikolai Evgenievich Grigorovich, worked as an accountant, and his mother, Klavdia Alfredovna Rozai, ran the household. In her youth, she studied ballet, but left the stage for her family, and she taught Yuri to the theater. Her brother, the uncle of the future choreographer Georgy Rozai, was a soloist at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre. Yuri fell in love with ballet immediately and very soon could not imagine any other future for himself except the stage. At the age of 10, he moved from an ordinary school to the renowned Leningrad Choreographic School and very soon found himself on the big stage. After the first year of study, he began performing in children's episodes of the ballet The Nutcracker on the stage of the Leningrad Kirov Opera and Ballet Theater (now the State Academic Mariinsky Theater), and in 1940, he danced on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater in front of the leaders of the USSR in a group of the best students of the school.

After the outbreak of war, the school was evacuated to Kostroma, and then to Molotov (now Perm). It was there in 1942 that Grigorovich appeared on stage in the premiere production of Gayane by Aram Khachaturian, which took place on the stage of the Molotov Opera and Ballet Theater. After the end of the war, the college returned to Leningrad, where Grigorovich, having graduated with excellent recommendations, was accepted into the ballet troupe of the Kirov Theater. He performed mostly grotesque and characteristic roles: the directors appreciated not only Grigorovich's dancing talent, but also his artistry.

Very soon Grigorovich became interested not only in dancing, but also in staging performances. In 1947, he acted as a director for the first time, staging the ballet "The Stork" on the stage of the Leningrad Gorky Recreation Center. At that time, he was barely 20 years old. And soon he released two more productions: "Slavic Dances" to the music of Antonin Dvorak, "Seven Brothers" to the music of Alexander Varlamov.

Ballet Innovator

Grigorovich's talent as a choreographer was soon noticed in his own troupe, and he began to be involved in staging dances in opera performances. In 1957, he was given the opportunity for his own production on the stage of the Kirov Theater for the first time: Sergei Prokofiev's ballet "The Stone Flower" became Grigorovich's first on the famous stage. His debut thundered in the ballet world: the young choreographer managed to combine traditional ballet symphonism with drama characteristic of the Soviet dance school, thereby saying a new word from the Leningrad stage not only in Soviet, but also in the world ballet art.

Grigorovich worked on "The Stone Flower" together with the production designer Simon Virsaladze. This was the beginning of many years of fruitful cooperation between the two creators. Virsaladze worked on artistic solutions for Grigorovich's ballets in Leningrad, and later in Moscow. It was he who in many ways stood at the origins of the renewed aesthetics of the Bolshoi Theater in the late Soviet era — the years of world glory of the Soviet ballet.

Grigorovich's career as a choreographer was rapidly progressing. In 1961, he became the choreographer of the Leningrad Kirov Opera and Ballet Theater, having worked in this position for three years. And in 1964, the choreographer received an offer that no one could refuse - to take the post of head of the Bolshoi Ballet Company. Grigorovich agreed and moved to the capital.

Grigorovich brought with him from Leningrad the ballets "Romeo and Juliet", "The Stone Flower", and "The Legend of Love", which he had already staged at the Kirov Theater. Soon new productions were added to them — "The Nutcracker" to the music of Tchaikovsky and "Spartacus" to the music of Khachaturian. For many years they gained great popularity not only in the USSR, but also in other countries.

Ahead of the whole planet

For more than thirty years of leading the Bolshoi Ballet Company, Yuri Grigorovich has staged 15 ballets on its stage — original dance productions and director's versions of world classics. Among them are "Ivan the Terrible" to the music of Sergei Prokofiev, "Angara" by Andrei Eshpai, "The Golden Age" by Dmitry Shostakovich, "Swan Lake" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, "Giselle" by Adolf Adam, "Bayadere" by Ludwig Minkus. The Bolshoi Ballet Company has toured with them in many countries, always inspiring the delight of the audience.

Yuri Grigorovich was a tough leader. Dissatisfied with this, members of the ballet company often accused him of being a dictator, and Aram Khachaturian called the director "a brilliant choreographer with a bad character." Grigorovich himself did not hide that he was cruel and demanding of his subordinates, but at the same time he was sure that otherwise it would be impossible to create talented performances. "There must be discipline in any business. If she's not there, it's over," he said in an interview.

In 1980, Yuri Grigorovich became the choreographer of the opening and closing ceremonies of the XXII Summer Olympic Games in Moscow, and in 1985 he staged an artistic and sports program for the World Festival of Youth and Students. Grigorovich remained the head of the Bolshoi Ballet Company until 1995. Subsequently, as the head of his own troupe, he staged ballet performances in Russia and abroad. Since 2008, Grigorovich has returned to the Bolshoi Theater as a full-time choreographer. He continued to work until the last years of his life. In 2016, the Mariinsky Theatre released an original version of the ballet "The Stone Flower", staged under the direction of 90-year-old Grigorovich. In the following years, the maestro continued to participate in the ballet life of Russia, advising young choreographers.

Yuri Grigorovich died on May 19 in Moscow, at the Central Clinical Hospital.