The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world’s oldest ballet companies; it only achieved worldwide acclaim, however, in the early 20th century, when Moscow became the capital of Soviet Russia. Along with the Mariinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg, the Bolshoi is recognised as one of the foremost ballet companies in Russia. The earliest origins of the Bolshoi Ballet can be found in the creation of a dance school for a Moscow orphanage in 1773. [1] In 1776, dancers from the school were employed by Prince Pyotr Urusov and the English theatrical entrepreneur Michael Maddox, to form part of their new theatre company. [2] Originally performing in privately owned venues, they later acquired the Petrovsky Theatre, which, as a result of fires and erratic redevelopment, would later be rebuilt as today’s Bolshoi Theatre.
The early history of the Bolshoi Ballet is very sketchy and, despite staging many famous ballets, it struggled to compete with the reputation of the Imperial Russian Ballet, today’s Mariinsky Ballet of St. Petersburg. It was not until the appointment of Alexander Gorsky as Ballet Master in 1900 that the company began to develop its own unique identity, with acclaimed productions of new or restaged ballets including, Don Quixote (1900), Coppélia (1901), Swan Lake (1901), La fille mal gardée (1903), Giselle (1911), Le Corsaire (1912) and La Bayadère (1917). [3]
oday the Bolshoi Ballet remains one of the worlds foremost ballet companies, as well as being the largest, with approximately 220 dancers. The company operates a hierarchical system, similar to those used by other leading European ballet companies, with senior dancers ranked as Principals, and descending in order of importance through Lead Soloist, First Soloist, Soloist and finally Corps de Ballet. Due to its size, the company operates two troupes of corps de ballet.
The performance style of the Bolshoi Ballet, is typically identified as being colourful and bold, combining technique and athleticism with expressiveness and dramatic intensity. This style is commonly attributed to Gorsky. The Bolshoi has an historical rivalry with St. Petersburg heritage ballet company, the Mariinsky. Both have developed very different performing styles: the Bolshoi has a more colourful and bold approasitych, whereas the Mariinsky is associated with pure and refined classicism. (Wikipedia)