Russian National Ballet TheatRe - Krannert Center for the ...

ussian national ballet theatreElena Radchenko, artistic directorThe Russian National Ballet Theatre was founded inMoscow during the transitional period of perestroikain the late 1980s, when many of the great dancersand choreographers of the Soviet Union’s balletinstitutions were exercising their newfound creativefreedom by starting new, vibrant companiesdedicated not only to the timeless tradition ofclassical Russian ballet but also to an invigoration ofthis tradition as the Russians began to accept newdevelopments in the dance from around the world.The company, then called the Soviet National Ballet,was founded by and incorporated graduates fromthe great Russian choreographic schools of Moscow,St. Petersburg, and Perm. The principal dancersof the company came from the upper ranks of thegreat ballet companies and academies of Russiaand the companies of Riga, Kiev, and even Warsaw.Today, the Russian National Ballet Theatre is its owninstitution, with more than 50 dancers of singularinstruction and vast experience, many of whomhave been with the company since its inception. Thecompany is currently on a four-month coast-to-coasttour of the United States.In 1994, the legendary Bolshoi principal dancer ElenaRadchenko was selected by presidential decree toassume the first permanent artistic directorship of thecompany. Radchenko is the founder of the RussianNational Ballet Theatre, and she has focused thecompany on upholding the grand national traditionof the major Russian ballet works and developingnew talents throughout Russia, with a repertory ofvirtually all of the great full works of Petipa: DonQuixote, La Bayadère, The Sleeping Beauty, SwanLake, Raymonda, Paquita, Coppélia, and La Sylphide,as well as productions of, among others, TheNutcracker, Sylvia, and La Fille mal gardée.10 11