Russian ballet maestro Yuri Grigorovich dies age 98

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/b4f4/live/6459a880-353d-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/b4f4/live/6459a880-353d-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/b4f4/live/6459a880-353d-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/b4f4/live/6459a880-353d-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/b4f4/live/6459a880-353d-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/b4f4/live/6459a880-353d-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/b4f4/live/6459a880-353d-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/b4f4/live/6459a880-353d-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Getty Images Russian choreographer and former Bolshoi Theatre dancer Yuri Grigorovich attends an awards ceremony at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, May,24,2017" class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> Getty Photos Yuri Grigorovich's productions of Ivan the Horrible and Romeo and Juliet redefined Soviet ballet

Acclaimed Russian ballet choreographer, Yuri Grigorovich, has died aged 98.

Described as one of many best choreographers of the twentieth century, he was creative director of the Bolshoi Ballet from 1964 to 1995, which he's stated to have led with an iron fist.

Grigorovich's productions of the Stone Flower, Ivan the Horrible and Romeo and Juliet redefined Soviet ballet. Praised for revitalising male dance, he created elements for males demanding distinctive power and artistry.

Born in 1927, a decade after the Bolshevik Revolution, his work was steeped within the traditions of classical ballet.

His uncle, Georgy Rozai, had studied underneath the legendary Vaslav Nijinsky and the younger Grigorovich went on to bop as a soloist with the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad earlier than turning to choreography.

His departure from the Bolshoi in 1995, amid disputes over performers' contracts, led to the primary ever dancers' strike on the theatre in its 200-year historical past. Throughout a scheduled efficiency, a dancer emerged to tell the viewers the present was cancelled, leaving a surprised silence.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/d4ae/live/206837e0-3542-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/d4ae/live/206837e0-3542-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/d4ae/live/206837e0-3542-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/d4ae/live/206837e0-3542-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/d4ae/live/206837e0-3542-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/d4ae/live/206837e0-3542-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/d4ae/live/206837e0-3542-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/d4ae/live/206837e0-3542-11f0-96c3-cf669419a2b0.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A still from the ballet, showing a line of dancers en pointe " class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> The Stone Flower was thought of his most well-known piece, accompanied by settings of a collection of folks tales composed by Sergei Prokofiev

Following the Soviet Union's collapse, the Bolshoi confronted instability. Grigorovich moved to Krasnodar to discovered a brand new ballet firm. He returned to the Bolshoi in 2008 as a choreographer and ballet grasp.

Grigorovich acquired prime Soviet and Russian honours, together with the titles Individuals's Artist of the USSR and Hero of Socialist Labour. His spouse, famend ballerina Natalia Bessmertnova, died in 2008.

His dying got here on the identical day as that of one in all his most celebrated collaborators, dancer Yuri Vladimirov, aged 83.

Valery Gergiev, head of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theatres, advised Izvestia newspaper that Grigorovich was "a legendary determine who will proceed to command respect and admiration for many years to return".