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07/07/10 - The Bolshoi is back
The Bolshoi Ballet is back in the UK, bringing its dazzling young virtuosos and a clutch of ballets that mine the company's rich Soviet and pre-Soviet past. Zoë Anderson looks forward to a season of delights
The Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 19 July to 8 August
The Bolshoi is back. The Moscow company is one of the biggest names in ballet: its name even means "big", covering both the company's vast home theatre and the huge, heroic dancing for which it is famous.
This summer, the Bolshoi return to London for the first time since 2007. Anticipation is high, for the new productions and for a fresh sight of one of the world's leading companies.
The last visit showed the Bolshoi in exuberant, confident form. Will this new season show the same gusto, the same dash and authority?
Three years can be a long time in ballet. The young dancers who were making a name for themselves are now established stars. One of the brightest is Ivan Vasiliev, who kicks off the season by dancing Spartacus.
In 2007, he made an astonishing impression as a teenager. Now 21, he's still very young for the role of Spartacus, which demands great strength. He could also be a rejuvenating force for Yuri Grigorovich's war-horse of a ballet, a Soviet blockbuster that has looked tired in recent years.
It's an eye-catching tactic, presenting the boy wonder in a ballet that represents old Bolshoi history. Here, in one night, is what the company used to be, and where it's going. But dancing around the past has become characteristic of the new Bolshoi. This is a company finding a new sense of itself, and of its history.
Soviet-era ballet was a powerhouse. The Communist state made this a flagship art form, pouring in money, support and prestige. Ballet was chosen because of existing Russian expertise: theatres that had produced cornerstones of the ballet repertory, strong schooling. In the Czarist era, the Mariinsky theatre of St Petersburg had ruled the roost. Under Communism, the Moscow company found special favour: less Europeanised, more of the people.
Premier Events supply the finest seats for the best Opera and Ballet performances at the world famous Royal Opera House. To buy tickets for any event at Royal Opera Hose in this summer, call 020 7283 4040 or click here.
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