Igor Alexandrovich Moiseyev (russian: Игорь Александрович Моисеев; – 2 November 2007) was a Soviet

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

. Moiseyev was widely acclaimed as the greatest 20th-century choreographer of character dance, a dance style similar to folk dance but with more professionalism and theatrics.

Life and career

Born in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, he was the only child of a Russian lawyer and a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

n seamstress. His family lived in Paris until he was 8, and throughout his life he spoke to Western journalists in fluent French. Moiseyev graduated from the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and op ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

school in 1924 and danced in the theatre until 1939. His first choreography in the Bolshoi was ''Footballer'' in 1930 and the last was ''

Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisin ...

'' in 1954. Since the early 1930s, he staged acrobatic

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

s on

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical bui ...

and finally came up with the idea of establishing the Theatre of Folk Art. In 1936,

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February1890 – 8 November 1986) was a Russian politician and diplomat, an Old Bol ...

put him in charge of the new dance company, which has since been known as the

Moiseyev Ballet The Igor Moiseyev State Academic Ensemble of Popular Dance, known in Russia as the GAANT, and alternatively known as the Moiseyev Dance Company or simply the Igor Moiseyev Ballet, is a dance troupe focusing on character dance, based in Moscow, ...

. Among about 200 dances he created for his company, some humorously represented the game of football and

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run ...

. After visiting

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

he choreographed a Belarusian "folk" dance Bulba ("Potato"), which over the years indeed became a Belarusian folk dance. According to the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The ( Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various ...

'', Moiseyev's work has been especially admired "for the balance that it maintained between authentic folk dance and theatrical effectiveness". Moiseyev was named

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significa ...

in 1953,

Hero of Socialist Labor The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

in 1976, received the Lenin Prize (1967, for the dance show ''A Road to the Dance''), four Stalin/

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

s (1942, 1947, 1952, 1985), Russian Federation State Prize (1996), was awarded numerous orders and medals of the Soviet Union, Spain and many other countries. On the day of his centenary, Moiseyev became the first Russian to receive

Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

, 1st class — the highest civilian decoration of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...

. In 2001, he was awarded the

UNESCO Mozart Medal The UNESCO Mozart Medal is an award named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and administered by UNESCO. Recipients * Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, 1991 * Alicia Terzian, 1995 * Elfi von Dassanowsky, 1996 * Igor Moiseyev, 2001, for "outstanding contribution ...

for outstanding contribution to world music culture. He died in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

on 2 November 2007 aged 101. He was married at least twice. In 1940, he married the dancer and his daughter from that marriage, Olga, was a dancer in the

. His grandson, , was a performer in the Moiseyev Ballet as of 2015. Today, the repertoire of the Igor Moiseyev Ballet includes choreographic works by Moiseyev, starting in 1937. Approximately, there are nearly 300 original works of Moiseyev.

Dances

Ballets: * Polovtsian Dances (music by

Alexander Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...

) * At the skating-rink (music by Johann Strauss) *

Night on Bald Mountain ''Night on Bald Mountain'' (russian: Ночь на лысой горе, translit=Noch′ na lysoy gore, links=no), also known as ''Night on the Bare Mountain'', is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian ...

(music by

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

) * Spanish ballad (music by Pablo Luna) * Evening in the Tavern * Jewish suite "Family joy" Dance paintings: * Football * Guerrillas * Day on a ship (Engine room,

Yablochko Yablochko (russian: Яблочко, in english "little apple" ) is a of chastushka style and dance, traditionally presented as sailors' dance. The choreographed version of the dance first appeared in the 1926 Reinhold Glière ballet ''The Red P ...

) * Labour Day * The buffoons (music by

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

) and many dances

Honours and awards

;USSR and the Russian Federation * Hero of Socialist Labour (20 January 1976) * Three

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

(1958, 1976, 1985) *

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...

(1981) *

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the ...

, twice (1940, 1966) *

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour (russian: орден «Знак Почёта», orden "Znak Pochyota") was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding ...

(1937) *

; **1st class (21 January 2006) – for outstanding contribution to the development of domestic and international choreographic art, many years of creative activity **2nd class (12 June 1999) – for outstanding contribution to cultural development and in connection with the 75th anniversary of creative activity **3rd class (28 December 1995) – for services to the state, an outstanding contribution to the development of choreographic art *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds ...

(11 April 1994) – for his great personal contribution to the development of choreographic art and world culture ;Foreign * Order of St. Alexander with a crown (Bulgaria, 1945) * Officer of the Order of Culture, 1st class (Hungary, 1954) and 2nd class (1960) * Officer of the Order of Culture (Hungary, 1989) * Commander of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary The Hungarian Order of Merit ( hu, Magyar Érdemrend) is the fourth highest State Order of Hungary. Founded in 1991, the order is a revival of an original order founded in 1946 and abolished in 1949. Its origins, however, can be traced to the ...

(1997) * Commander of the Order of "Citizenship Award" (Spain, 1996) * Order "Danaker" (Kyrgyzstan, 2007) *

National Order of the Cedar National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(Lebanon, 1956) *

Order of Sukhbaatar The Order of Sukhbaatar (or Order of Suche Bator) is a state decoration of Mongolia, originally instituted on 16 May 1941. It was awarded to Mongolians and foreigners "for special services to defenses, economic and cultural construction of the Mon ...

(Mongolia, 1976) *

Order of the Polar Star (Mongolia) The Order of the Polar Star ( Mongolian: , Traditional Mongolian: ᠠᠯᠲᠠᠨ ᠭᠠᠳᠠᠰᠤ ᠣᠳᠤᠨ) is a state award of Mongolia. It is the highest civilian award Mongolia can present to a foreign citizen. The order was created in ...

(1947) * Knight's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta , image=Polonia Restituta - Commander's Cross pre-1939 w rib.jpg , image_size=200px , caption=Commander's Cross of Polonia Restituta , presenter = the President of Poland , country = , type=Five classes , eligibility=All , awar ...

(Poland, 1946) * Commander of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Order Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident a ...

(1996) * Officer of the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipient ...

(Romania, 1945) *

Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise ( uk, Орден князя Ярослава Мудрого) is an award of Ukraine. It is awarded for distinguished services to the state and people of the Ukrainian nation in the field of state building, ...

, 5th class (Ukraine, 3 March 2006) – for outstanding contribution to the development of cultural ties between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, the long-term selfless artistic activity *

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

, 3rd class (Ukraine, 1999) *

Order of the White Lion The Order of the White Lion ( cs, Řád Bílého lva) is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia had no civilian decoration for its ...

, 3rd class (Czechoslovakia, 1980) * Gold Star of the Order of Brotherhood and Unity (Yugoslavia 1946) * Commander of the

Order of Merit of the Kingdom of Spain Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

(1996) *

* Order of May (2004)DECRETO NACIONAL 1.163/2004
/ref> ;Award * Lenin Prize (1967) * Stalin Prizes, 1st class (1942, 1952) and 2nd class (1947) *

(1985) * Russian Federation State Prize in Literature and Art in 1995 (27 May 1996) ;Titles *

People's Artist of USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significa ...

(1953) *

People's Artist of RSFSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significa ...

(1944) *

People's Artist of the Moldavian SSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and signific ...

(1950) * People's Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR (1976) *

Honoured Artist of the RSFSR Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...

(1942) * People's Artist of Buryat ASSR (1940) , - ! colspan="3" style="background: red;" ,

Ovation The ovation ( la, ovatio from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, p ...

, - , -

References

External links

Official Youtube channel of the Igor Moiseyev Ballet

Official site of the Igor Moiseyev Ballet

Obituary in ''The Times'', 6 November 2007

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moiseyev, Igor 1906 births 2007 deaths Dance teachers Dancers from Kyiv Soviet male dancers Russian centenarians Soviet choreographers Russian people of French descent Russian people of Romanian descent Heroes of Socialist Labour Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 1st class Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the USSR State Prize Recipients of the Order of the White Lion People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the National Order of the Cedar Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Commander's Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class Commanders of the Order of the White Lion Lenin Prize winners State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates People's Artists of Russia Honored Artists of the RSFSR Choreographers of Bolshoi Theatre Soviet people of Romanian descent Soviet people of French descent Men centenarians Russians in Ukraine Expatriates from the Russian Empire in France People from Kievsky Uyezd

Life and career

Dances

Honours and awards

See also

References

External links