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The return of grandeur: the Bolshoi brings classic strengths and signature stars to the U.S.

Article Excerpt
When Moscow's 200-year-old Bolshoi Ballet first began visiting the West in the 1950s, it thrilled audiences with its unabashed bravado and abandon. Today's troupe retains the bigness and boldness, but its performing profile has evolved intriguingly. The Bolshoi men's style, which was sometimes vigorous to the point of athletic near-brutality up through the 1960s, has become more refined. Indeed, as will likely be visible when the Bolshoi returns to the United States this June ("Where They'll Dance," page 34), among its current roster of principal dancers are some of the most meticulous classical stylists in the world.

The Bolshoi's first visit here since 2007 comes at a time of ascendancy as well as anxiety. That's in part because of Russia's once booming oil revenues, which have been reduced amid a contracting world economy. Recently, a Bolshoi tour to Mexico and a new production of Verdi's opera Othello were cancelled. Anatoly Iksanov, the theater's general director, told a Moscow newspaper that budget cuts are inevitable. And the renovation of the theater and school that was scheduled to be completed this year may stretch into 2011 (for technical reasons). Nevertheless, the Bolshoi remains an enormous troupe of 220 dancers, as well it should be, given that its name translates as "big"--a big troupe,...

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