Igor Moiseyev Ballet

The Igor Moiseyev State Academic Ensemble of Popular Dance,[1][2] known in Russia as the GAANT,[3] and alternatively known as the Moiseyev Dance Company[4][5] or simply the Igor Moiseyev Ballet,[1] is a dance troupe focusing on character dance, based in Moscow, Russia. The troupe combines traditional folk dance and classical ballet techniques to create their style of character dance.[6] It was established in 1937 by Igor Moiseyev and is one of the most influential[7] and acclaimed dance troupes of both Soviet and modern Russia.[5][8][9][10]

Igor Moiseyev Ballet
General information
NameIgor Moiseyev Ballet
Local nameБалет Игоря Моисеева
Государственный академический ансамбль народного танца имени Игоря Моисеева
Gosudarstvennyy Akademicheskiy Ansambl' Narodnogo Tantsa Imeni Igorya Moiseyeva
Year founded1937 (1937)
FoundersIgor Moiseyev
Principal venueTchaikovsky Concert Hall
Websitehttps://www.moiseyev.ru/
Senior staff
Chief ExecutiveAleksey Gladyshev
Artistic staff
Artistic DirectorElena Shcherbakova
Deputy DirectorAlla Gladkikh
Music DirectorAleksandr Radzetskiy
Principal ConductorAnatoliy Gus'
Other
OrchestraOrchestra of the State Academic Ensemble of Folk Dance

History

In 1936, Igor Moiseyev was made dance director of the new Theater of Folk Art in Moscow, and helped organized a folk dance festival. [11][9]The next year, on 10 February, the Moiseyev Ballet came into existence, with just 35 dancers.[4] According to Moiseyev, the dance troupe had early difficulties: the politician Poskrebyshev promised to dissolve the ensemble, however, the ensemble had Stalin's patronage. Therefore, neither Poskrebyshev nor any other politician dared to dissolve it.[12] Allegedly, Stalin enjoyed the Moiseyev Ballet so much that they were constantly invited to the banquets and parties he threw, and, when Igor Moiseyev asked for a larger building to house the studio, Stalin allowed them to occupy the Tchaikovsky Hall, a building that was previously meant to be Vsevolod Meyerhold's new theater.[13]

A 1971 Soviet stamp depicting a dancer of the Moiseyev Ballet performing a Romani dance

The first foreign performance of the Moiseyev Ballet occurred in 1945, in Finland.[13] It began to tour around the world in 1955, and has toured in 60 countries,[4] including the USA, France,[14] Israel,[15][16] the UK,[17] Japan,[13] and China.[18] In 1958, impresario Sol Hurok invited the Moiseyev Ballet to perform at the old Metropolitan Opera House, marking the first time a major Soviet dance group had ever performed in the United States. They also appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.[5][19]

The dance troupe was met warmly nearly everywhere, but this was not always the case. In September 1986, tear gas was thrown at a Moiseyev Ballet performance at the Metropolitan Opera House, forcing the evacuation of 4,000 people and injuring 30. An anonymous caller purporting to be the chairman of the Jewish Defense League, Chaim Ben Yosef, claimed responsibility, saying it was a protest on the behalf of Soviet Jews. However, the actual chairman at the time, Irv Rubin, denied the JDL's responsibility. Ben Yosef also denied making such a call and denied the JDL's responsibility. [20][21] In 1987, Ben Yosef and two others were arrested in relation to a series of bombings in New York, including the tear gas attack at the Moiseyev performance.[22]

Reception

The Moiseyev Ballet continues to tour and perform to the current day. It has been praised by cultural figures such as Maya Plisetskaya, Tatyana Tarasova, and Marlene Dietrich.[14]

In the West, the Moiseyev Ballet has been described as speaking "the nationalist idiom of folk movement".[23] It has also been called "a symbol of Soviet bureaucracy", a "mirror of the Soviet epoch", and "the main cultural tyrant of the [Soviet] regime".[14] However, it has also been credited with helping encourage international cultural exchange, especially between the USA and the Soviet Union.[5]

References
  1. "Igor Moiseyev Ballet". Official Site of the Igor Moiseyev Ballet. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  2. "Igor Moiseyev State Academic Ensemble of Popular Dance". Official Site of the Moscow Philharmonic. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  3. "Балет Игоря Моисеева в Кремле" [Ballet by Igor Moiseyev in the Kremlin]. Komsomolskaya Pravda (in Russian). Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  4. "The Moiseyev Dance Company". Official Site of Los Angeles Philharmonic. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  5. Anderson, Jack (3 November 2007). "Igor Moiseyev, 101, Choreographer, Dies". New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  6. Ritzel, Rebecca (26 October 2015). "Wearing braids and boots, Russian folk troupe entertains". Washington Post. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  7. Shay, Anthony (1999). "Parallel Traditions: State Folk Dance Ensembles and Folk Dance in "The Field"". Dance Research Journal. Dance Studies Association. 31 (1). doi:10.2307/1478309. ISSN 0149-7677. JSTOR 1478309. S2CID 154061574. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  8. "Moiseyev Dance Ensemble". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  9. Clarke, Mary (6 November 2007). "Igor Moiseyev Obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  10. Macaulay, Alastair (3 October 2012). "Tapping Glory From a Soviet Past, Supercharged With Precision and Vigor". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  11. Segal, Lewis (3 November 2007). "Igor Moiseyev, 101; elevated folk dancing into a theatrical art". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  12. Shamina, Lidiya (10 June 2004). "ИГОРЬ МОИСЕЕВ: "Выгоню любого, кто возомнит себя солистом"" ["I will fire anyone, who makes himself out to be a principal dancer"]. Izvestia. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  13. Terent'yev, Viktor. "«Хореография Игоря Моисеева – философия мира, добра и любви!» - Статьи - Литературная газета" ["Choreography of Igor Moiseyev: a philosophy of peace, goodness and love!"]. Literaturnaya Gazeta (in Russian). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  14. "Пятьдесят лет спустя" [Fifty years later]. Voice of America (in Russian). 25 January 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  15. "Igor Moiseyev Ballet TANGO Del-Plata". Official Site of the Israeli Opera. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  16. Lenkinski, Ori J. "In his footsteps". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  17. "Moiseyev Dancers Perform in London". New York Times. 23 September 1964. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  18. "В Китае выступит ансамбль народного танца имени Моисеева" [Moiseyev Folk Dance Ensemble to perform in China]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 25 November 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  19. Gould, Jack (30 June 1958). "Moiseyev Dancers; Russian Troupe Scores a Resounding Hit on the 'Ed Sullivan Show'". New York Times. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  20. Campbell, Mary (2 September 1986). "Tear Gas Greets Russian Dance Troupe at Lincoln Center". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  21. Hevesi, Dennis (3 September 1986). "Tear Gas Disrupts Soviet Dancers in Performance at Lincoln Center". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  22. French, Howard W. (9 May 1987). "3 J.D.L. MEMBERS SEIZED IN BOMBINGS". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  23. Laine, Barry (28 September 1986). "Folk Ballet of Moiseyev: 'People's Art'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
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