Vladimir Vasiliev (dancer)

This article is about the Russian ballet dancer. For other persons of the same name, see Vladimir Vasiliev (disambiguation).
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Viktorovich and the family name is Vasiliev.
Vladimir Vasiliev
Vasiliev in 1972
Born
Vladimir Viktorovich Vasiliev

(1940-04-18) 18 April 1940 (age 84)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
EducationMoscow Ballet School
Occupations
  • Principal dancer
  • Ballet director
  • Choreographer
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1961; died 2009)​
Career
Former groupsBolshoi Ballet

Vladimir Viktorovich Vasiliev (Russian: Владимир Викторович Васильев; born 18 April 1940) is a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer and choreographer. He was a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and its director from 1995 to 2000.[1][2][3] He was best known for his role of Spartacus[4] and his powerful leaps and turns.[5] He received the People's Artist of the USSR (1973).

Vasiliev was named "God of the dance"[6][7] and is regarded as a classical dancer on the same level as Rudolf Nureyev, Erik Bruhn and Mikhail Baryshnikov.[8] At the height of their careers, Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova were the golden couple of Russian ballet.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference r1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference r2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cameron, Judy; Terry, Walter (1975). The Bolshoi Ballet. Harper & Row. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-06-430600-3. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  4. ^ The Bolshoi Ballet's Spartacus at Covent Garden, review by Mark Monahan, 20 July 2010: "Forty-two years ago, Vladimir Vasiliev, the original Spartacus, threw down what by all accounts was a fearsome gauntlet. But now, it is another, entirely unrelated Vasiliev - 21-year old Ivan, returning to London with the Bolshoi after a three-year absence - who is setting the standard."
  5. ^ Vladimir Vasiliev is extraordinary in a 1960’s video of Goleizovsky’s ballet Leili & Madjnun, on Gramilano - Ballet, Opera, Photography.
  6. ^ Katia et Volodia Filmporträt über Jekaterina Maximowa und Wladimir Wassiljew, film by Dominique Delouche from 1988, medici.tv.
  7. ^ Vladimir Vasiliev - God of the dance, film, Vladimir Vasiliev's 12 best performances (42 min 12).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference interviewofheymann was invoked but never defined (see the help page).