THE BOLSHOI IS BACK

SEEING the Bolshoi Ballet conjures up a sense of excitement, a frisson of anticipation. It’s almost impossible to separate the Bolshoi from the magic of ballet, visions of splendour and Imperial opulence, intrigue and artistic excellence. It was like that for me when I finally had the opportunity to go to Moscow and see the company in its own setting a little while ago.

For a start, there were my grandfather’s stories about the Bolshoi Ballet and its stars from before the Russian Revolution. As a young student at Moscow University he had been an avid ballet fan and theatregoer. The scale of the Bolshoi stage was such that directors often needed extras for their productions, both opera and ballet, and students such as he were all too happy to fill out the numbers in the crowd scenes, standing at the back of the stage in basic costume and sometimes even make-up. In return for this service they would get free seats in the “gods”