appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Agence France-Presse

Legendary Russian ballet dancer and choreographer Yuri Grigorovich has died aged 98.
Born in the Soviet city of Leningrad to a ballet family, Grigorovich’s career – as a dancer, then choreographer – spanned 80 years.
He was for three decades the lead choreographer at Moscow’s famed Bolshoi Theatre and its artistic powerhouse, running it with an iron fist, it was said.
“Yuri Grigorovich, one of the key figures in the world of ballet in the second half of the 20th century, has died,” the Bolshoi said on social media.

“An entire era has come to an end,” Saint Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre, where he started his career, posted online.
Grigorovich made his name staging classics such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and The Stone Flower. The latter was his most famous piece, based on a series of folk tales from the Ural Mountains accompanied by composer Sergei Prokofiev’s music.
Top choreographer Boris Akimov, 78, said he was “proud to have been Grigorovich’s student”.
He “especially revitalised male dance, introducing male roles into ballet, which had previously been dominated by female roles”, Akimov said.


He also defending his strict leadership style.
“He was criticised for authoritarianism and was even called a dictator – but to lead a team, one has to be rigid,” Akimov said.
Grigorovich was the choreographer for performances at Moscow’s 1980 summer Olympics opening ceremony and presided over various ballet competitions, including the French Benois de la Danse, known as the “ballet Oscars”.
In 1995, the ballet patriarch had to part ways with the Bolshoi over allegations the theatre had became artistically stagnant during the final decade of his 30-year tenure as lead choreographer.
He returned in 2008 to serve as a choreographer, and insiders and ballet critics said his hold on Russia’s most famed stage remained formidable.

“It is an era without which much would not have happened,” Russian-Georgian ballet dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze wrote on social media.
“It is a greatness that cannot be overcome. It was a life that will be remembered … Genius.”


Meet DWTS star Rylee Arnold’s boyfriend, football player Walker Lyons

Nearly 50, Jason Mraz is genre-shifting, living in the moment and done flirting

Inside Blackpink star Lisa’s luxury watch collection: from Rolex and Hermès to Patek Philippe

Godzilla Minus Zero review: visually stunning Japanese monster sequel is full of surprises

Fame and celebrity

Yuri Grigorovich, patriarch of Russian ballet whose career spanned 8 decades, dies aged 98

Yuri Grigorovich gestures on the stage of the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow in April 1999, giving last-minute instructions before the opening night of Romeo and Juliet by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. The legendary Russian choreographer has died aged 98. Photo: AFP

Russian ballerina Natalia Bessmertnova during a rehearsal at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2008 with her husband, choreographer Yuri Grigorovich, who has died aged 98. Photo: AFP

Kremlin Ballet dancers perform Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet Ivan the Terrible in 2001, a work first staged in 1975 at the Bolshoi by Yuri Grigorovich. Photo: AFP

Bolshoi Ballet put on a stunning show in Shenzhen, China, featuring a surfeit of talent

Bolshoi principal dancer Yulia Stepanova dances The Swan in Shenzhen on May 14.
Photo: Zhan Jiangjuan/Pingshan Theatre

Bolshoi Ballet principal dancers Eleonora Sevenard as Juliet and Artem Ovcharenko as Romeo dance an “adagio” from the ballet Romeo and Juliet in Shenzhen on May 14. Photo: Zhan Jiangjuan/Pingshan Theatre

Bolshoi principal dancers Elizaveta Kokoreva and Igor Tsvirko in the grand pas de deux from the ballet Don Quixote. Photo: Zhan Jiangjuan/Pingshan Theatre

Bolshoi principal dancer Yulia Stepanova dances The Swan in Shenzhen on May 14. Photo: Zhan Jiangjuan/Pingshan Theatre

The Bolshoi Ballet’s Alyona Kovalyova as Odile in the  Black Swan pas de deux. Photo: Weibo

Bolshoi soloists Maria Koshkaryova and Dmitry Vyskubenko dance Grand Pas Classique in Shenzhen on May 14. The latter’s role was filled by Artem Ovcharenko the next day because of an unexpected injury. Photo: Zhan Jiangjuan/Pingshan Theatre

How Prime Video ballet drama Étoile keeps it real by mixing ballerinas and dancing actors

Luke Kirby in a still from Étoile. Photo: AP

The creators of Étoile went to great lengths to keep the Amazon Prime ballet drama realistic. Photo: TNS

Directors, writers and creators Daniel Palladino and Amy Sherman-Palladino at the premiere of Amazon Prime Video’s Étoile at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

Luke Kirby as Jack McMillan in a still from Étoile. Photo: AP

Étoile creator Amy Sherman-Palladino trained seriously in ballet as a girl. Photo: AFP

Gideon Glick as choreographer Tobias Bell in a still from Étoile. Photo: AP

From left: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Luke Kirby, Lou de Laâge and Gideon Glick at the premiere of Étoile in New York. Photo: CJ Rivera/Invision/AP

Charlotte Gainsbourg as Geneviève Lavigne and Yanic Truesdale as her right-hand man Raphaël Marchand in a still from Étoile. Photo: AP

Why Swan Lake’s Odette-Odile role is so punishing, and how 3 ballet dancers took it on

Unity Phelan rehearses for her role as the Swan Queen (aka Princess Odette and the White Swan) in New York City Ballet’s Swan Lake, on February 25, 2025. Photo: AP

Phelan rehearses for her role as the Swan Queen. Photo: AP

Phelan and Joseph Gordon rehearse for New York City Ballet’s Swan Lake. Photo: AP

A pin on Phelan’s bag reads “Too Lit To Quit”. Photo: AP

For the Odette-Odile role, the dancers had to perform almost non-stop for two-and-a-half hours, with only one intermission. Photo: AP

Phelan and Gordon rehearse for Swan Lake. Photo: AP

Phelan with her dog Pippin after a rehearsal. Photo: AP

1980s Hong Kong pop idol Danny Chan’s bittersweet success story: his talent, fame, the tabloid rumours, his retirement and early death

Singer Danny Chan Pak-keung puts one of his albums in a time capsule in 1991. Photo: SCMP

Danny Chan was one of Hong Hong’s “Three Kings and A Queen of Cantopop” in the 1980s, with fellow idols Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui and Alan Tam. Photo: SCMP

Yvonne Siu, project manager of TVB, presents a souvenir to Danny Chan in 1984. Photo: SCMP

Chan singing at his own birthday party in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Chan (left) and Jacky Cheung Hok-yau at the Top Ten Pop Stars Election in 1987. Photo: SCMP

There were numerous rumours about a relationship between Pansy Ho and Chan. Photo: Weibo

Chan performing at a concert to promote Aids awareness in 1990. Photo: SCMP

Chan was taken to Queen Mary Hospital after collapsing at home on May 19, 1992. Photo: SCMP

Flanked by singer Anita Mui Yim-fong and actor Chow Yun-fat, Danny Chan’s older brother Chan Pak-ling carries his younger brother’s picture at the singer’s funeral in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Lifestyle

Arts

News

World

Russia & Central Asia

Credited with revitalising male dance, Yuri Grigorovich ruled Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre with an iron fist as its lead choreographer


Credited with revitalising male dance, Yuri Grigorovich ruled Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre with an iron fist as its lead choreographer.


Ballet

Russia

Obituaries

Yuri Grigorovich, patriarch of Russian ballet whose career spanned 8 decades, dies aged 98

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Credited with revitalising male dance, Yuri Grigorovich ruled Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre with an iron fist as its lead choreographer

Credited with revitalising male dance, Yuri Grigorovich ruled Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre with an iron fist as its lead choreographer