Russian choreographer, ballet master Grigorovich passes away

MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - Soviet and Russian choreographer, ballet master and dancer Yury Grigorovich, 98, has passed away, the Bakhrushin Museum said in a statement.

"Soviet and Russian choreographer, ballet master and dancer Yury Grigorovich, 98, has passed away," the statement published on the museum's Telegram channel said.

Born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) on January 2, 1927, Grigorovich served as a soloist of the Kirov Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater in 1947-1957, the theater's ballet master in 1961-1964, the chief ballet master of the Bolshoi Theater in 1964-1995, and its choreographer in 2008.

Grigorovich is one of the most outstanding choreographers of the 20th century and an author of eight original ballets, created in collaboration with artist Simon Virsaladze, as well as versions of almost all classical ballets that form the basis of the Bolshoi Theater repertoire. As the principal choreographer of the Bolshoi Theater (1964-1995), he staged Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker (1966), Khachaturian's Spartacus (1968), Prokofiev's Ivan the Terrible (1975), Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (1979), and Shostakovich's The Golden Age.