The Bolshoi’s fresh, contemporary staging of the Romeo and Juliet story premiered in 2003 inspired The Moscow Times to cheer it as “among the most daring and imaginative ventures” in the company’s history. This “seamless stream of dance drama” represents a huge leap for the Bolshoi, which entrusted the staging to an Englishman, Declan Donnellan, who engaged 32-year-old Bolshoi lead dancer Radu Poklitaru to create the choreography. With the Bolshoi Orchestra playing Sergei Prokofiev’s beloved score, Donnellan and Poklitaru “tell the story ofRomeo and Juliet perhaps as clearly, as succinctly and with as much convincing passion as it has ever been told on stage or on film,” contendsThe Times.
About the Company
Now it its 228th year, Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet is a legendary force in the artistic world.
Everything about the Bolshoi is grand — its history, its size, its full-length productions that dazzle with spectacle and dramatic realism, its bravura dance — even its name. “Bolshoi” is, after all, the Russian word for big.
The Bolshoi is unique in its highly emotional, dramatic classicism. Its roots date back to earliest performances in 1776. In 1825 the Bolshoi was designated an Imperial Theater. When the seat of power was moved to Moscow in 1917 as a result of the October Revolution, the Bolshoi gained stature. Performances once restricted to the elite were opened to the masses. As a state theater, the Bolshoi realized considerable financial support and flourished artistically. The powerhouse took on illustrious status when it captivated audiences with its first Western visit with London performances in 1956 and three years later in New York. The size and scope of its productions plus the caliber of dancing from principals to corps de ballet has dazzling impact.
Appointment of Alexei Ratmansky as ballet artistic director of the Bolshoi Theatre in January 2004 stirred excitement and anticipation about the youthful company anew. Born in Leningrad in 1968, he has had a distinguished dancing career that included winning the Vaslav Nijinsky prize in Moscow competition of 1992 and has created more than 20 ballets in his yet young choreographic career.
The Bolshoi Orchestra
The Bolshoi Orchestra was founded in 1776. Originally, it was made up of serf musicians bought by the Treasury from their landowner-masters, of foreigners, and other free people to take part in all the Theatre`s musical dramas and opera productions. In the 1920s and '30s, the best players in the country joined the Orchestra, which became the Soviet Union`s most authoritative collective of performing musicians and the center of the capital`s musical life. Of major importance in developing the Orchestra’s skills were the performances of works by 20th century composers: Prokofiev, Schostakovich, Stravinsky, Ravel, Janacek, Bartok, Poulenc, Britten and Richard Strauss. Today the celebrated orchestra tours extensively both in Russia and abroad.
Performances at Northrop
2002, 2004