Vladimir Vasiliev

Biography

A legendary dancer of the 20^th century, referred to as “the God of Dance”, choreographer, theatre director, teacher, actor, poet, artist – Vladimir Vasiliev’s artistic gift has absolutely no limits. Vasiliev has made it into the history of the ballet as one of its principal innovators, the images he created has influenced several generations of artists. A graduate of the Bolshoi Theater ballet school, in 1958-1988 he was the Bolshoi Theatre’s leading soloist, and till 1990 participated as a guest soloist in the famous dance companies of the world.

He worked with such distinguished choreographers as Yury Grigorovich, Leonid Lavrovsky, Kasyan Goleizovsky, Leonid Yacobson, Maurice Béjart, Roland Petit. Vasiliev’s long artistic career has been connected to the greatest names of the artistic world: Franco Zeffirelli, Mstislav Rostropovich, Evgeny Svetlanov, Evgeny Kolobov, Mikhail Pletnyov, Eldar Ryazanov, Marc Zakharov and others. He danced opposite the world’s greatest ballerinas: Galina Ulanova, Maya Plisetskaya, Carla Fracci, Alicia Alonso – and Ekaterina Maksimova, with whom he created an exemplary partnership, both on stage and in life.

Since 1971, Vasiliev has choreographed or directed 14 original ballets, among which are Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Icarus, Macbeth, The Red Poppy, his own versions of Don Quixote, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Paganini, and created choreography for numerous operas and films.

He staged the opera Traviata, as well as two mega performances for the soloists, choir and ballet: Dona nobis pacem, based on the Mass in B minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, and And the eternal light will shine, based on the Mozart’s Requiem. His works were staged in the world’s leading theatres: The Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Staatsoper Berlin, Arena di Verona, Teatro Colón.

He filmed and acted in the television ballets Anyuta, House by the road, among others, the feature film Fouette, and a lot of documentary movies. For more than ten years Vasiliev was the head of the ballet masters’ department of the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts/ GITIS.

He created a number of bright and picturesque parties and gala concerts, including the one honoring Moscow’s 850^th anniversary in the Kremlin. Being the Bolshoi Theatre Art Director in the difficult for the country period of 1995 to 2000, he struggled to maintain and develop the theatre’s best traditions. Under his supervision the Theatre’s New Stage was built and the Bolshoi Theatre School in Brazil was founded.

Being a Renaissance style master, having left his home theatre, he is highly employable throughout the world: he stages performances, holds workshops, leads the jury of musical contests and festivals, writes verses, paints and creates stage designs, plays dramatic roles; is a trustee of the Bolshoi Theatre School in Brazil, heads the Galina Ulanova Foundation and the Ekaterina Maksimova Russian Open Contest of Ballet Artists “Arabesque”.

Vasiliev is the laureate of a lot of most prestigious Russian and foreign awards and prizes.