THE BOLSHOI BALLET ACADEMY: An Unparalleled Tradition of Dance Excellence

By Rev. Jim Purcell, MPS (Ret.)

How does ballet move from gifted and powerful to the sublime? I don't know, But the educators of the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, Russia do. They have been teaching the most gifted students of dance in the world since 1773, when the very first dance lessons began being taught in a former orphanage.

The celebrated and world famous Bolshoi Ballet Company, the jewel of Russia, receives a majority of its dancers from the Academy, as do several other Moscow dance troupes.

Most of the greatest names in Russian Dance history have, at one time or another, been students at the Academy. And, there is an elite cadre of Academy alumni who have received their country's highest praise for any dancer, the "Prima Ballerina Assoluta," or premier artist, which is the ultimate performer in the former Soviet Union. Some of the legendary Academy alums who have achieved this honor includes: Olga Lepeshinkaya, Raisa Struchkova, Natalia Bessmertnova, Ekaterina Maximova, Maya Plisetskaya, Nikolai Fadeycheu, Vladimir Vasiliev, Mikhail Lavronsky and Nikolay Tsiskaridize, among others.

Through its long march of time, the Bolshoi Ballet Company has regularly changed its name. Previously, the celebrated Academy has been the Moscow Choreographic Institute, the Moscow Ballet School, the Bolshoi Moscow Ballet School and the Bolshoi Theatre Ballet School. Yet, despite the names it may have temporarily held, the Academy has remained consistent in its mission -- to create the finest dancers performing in the world today.

The way the Academy does that is a thorough, comprehensive program of classical training, coordinated specifically for the talents of individual students. Classes include: Ballet Technique, Point Work, Centre Work, Repertoire, Pas de Deux, Character Dance, Jazz and Historical Dance.

The Academy holds annual auditions seeking a full-time program of "traineeship" and vocational training.

The Academy also partners with the Russian-American Foundation for students to take part in "summer intensives" in New York City, NY and Middlebury, CT. During these intensives, performances can be seen at the famous Lincoln Center, in Manhattan. A few students are chosen to perform in Gala Performances in Moscow or to enroll full-time in the Academy in Moscow.

For information about the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, go to their website, which offers a host of opportunities to a wide range of groups: NYC Summer Intensive, CT Summer Intensive, the Bolshoi Prep Summer Program, the NSLI-Y For Youth Moscow, the Teacher Certification Program and one may register for auditions there.