 Yury Nikolaevich Grigorovich is an outstanding Russian choreographer of the 20th century.
Grigorovich was the soloist of the Maryinsky Theatre for 18 years and later for a short time headed its ballet. His first productions at the Kirov were 'The Stone Flower' and 'The Legend of Love'. They marked the birth of a new choreographer soon to be known all over the world and of a new trend that many years determined the development of ballet in Russia.
Since 1964 and for over 30 years Grigorovich has been the choreographer-in-chief of the Bolshoy Theatre. It was the time of the greatest achievements in the artistic activity of the company, when it won the world acknowledgment and authority. The Bolshoy Theatre with Grigorovich at the head made international tours over than 90 times. He established the leadership of Russian Classic Ballet everywhere in the world and brought to the world stage brilliant dancers.
In Moscow Yury Grigorovich created ballets which won the world-wide reputation, among them 'The Nutcracker' (1966), 'Spartacus' (1968), 'Ivan the Terrible' (1975), 'Angara' (1976), 'Romeo and Juliet', 'The Golden Age' (1982). He also choreographed new versions of such masterpieces of the past as: 'The Sleeping Beauty' (1963, 1973) and 'Swan Lake', 'Raymonda' (1984), 'La Bayadere' (1991) and 'Don Quixote', 'Giselle' (1987) and 'Le Corsaire' (1994).
According to the Russian critic Poel Karp, 'Grigorovich kept to the type of Petipa's 'grand ballet', but he wanted his ballets to the strongly built dramatically and have unity of style. Thus he created a new genre 'Grigorovich's grand ballet'.
Yuri Grigorovich staged his ballets in Stockholm, Rome, Paris, Copenhagen, Vienna, Milano, Ankara, Prague, Sofia, Genoa, Warsaw.
In 1990-1994 he founded the new company 'Grigorovich-Ballet'. In 1996 he choreographed for different companies from Ufa, Krasnodar and Omsk.
The ballets of Russian master Yury Grigorovich dominate the repertoire of contemporary works. His stagings of the classic ballets reflect his conviction that drama must always infuse dance. Born in Leningrad in 1927, he trained at the Leningrad Choreographic School. He joined the Kirov Ballet, where he excelled in many roles including virtuoso warrior leader Nurali in The Fountain of Bakhchisarai. He was named the ballet master at the Kirov in 1962, but subsequently transferred to the Bolshoi in 1964, where he would stay for 30 years. That tenure is rivaled only by the founding director of the New York City Ballet, George Balanchine.
For a long period Yury Grigorovich has been heading juries of many international competitions. Grigorovich was rewarded with the highest staterecompenses, honorary titles and international prizes for his merits. He is a Member of Vienna Music Society, Honorable Chairman of International Theatre Institute, Chairman of International Choreography Association and Honorable Chairman of the Ukrainian Dance Academy.
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