Mikhail Leonidovich Lavrovsky (; born 29 October 1941) is a Soviet and Russian former

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...

of the

Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest Ballet company, ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it ca ...

Biography

Lavrovsky was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

to a family of respected dancers. His father,

Leonid Lavrovsky Leonid Mikhailovich Lavrovsky (; 18 June 1905 – 26 November 1967) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, most famous for choreographing the first full version of Sergei Prokofiev's ''Romeo and Juliet''. Early life Lavrov ...

, was a well-known

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, while his mother, Elena Chikvaidze, was a

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...

. He was trained at the Moscow Choreographic School where his teachers were

Olga Khodot Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia ...

and , and graduated from there in 1961. Three years later,

Yury Grigorovich Yury Nikolayevich Grigorovich (; 2 January 1927 – 19 May 2025) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, ballet master, choreographer, and pedagogue who dominated the Russian ballet for 30 years, especially as artistic director of the Bolshoi B ...

, a well-known choreographer and teacher, arrived at the Bolshoi. He gave Lavrovsky the role of the prince in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'', and later on Lavrovsky appeared in such roles as Ferkhad in '' Legend of Love'', as well as in ''

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

'' for which he won the

Lenin Prize The Lenin Prize (, ) was one of the most prestigious awards of the Soviet Union for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was originally created on June 23, 1925, and awarded until 1934. During ...

. In 1977 he was promoted to principal dancer and became a choreographer at the Tbilisi Ballet. The same year, he was awarded the

State Prize State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and was appointed as an artistic director of the Paliashvili Theatre from 1983 to 1985. Prior to that, in 1980, he became a ballet master after graduating from the

Russian Academy of Theatre Arts The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) () is the largest and oldest independent theatrical arts school in Russia. Located in Moscow, the school was founded on 22 September 1878 as the Shostakovsky Music School. It became the School of Mu ...

, where he served till 1988. In 2001, '' Ballet Magazine'' awarded him their Soul of the Dance award.

References

1941 births 20th-century Russian ballet dancers Living people Male dancers from Tbilisi Honored Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Lenin Prize Recipients of the Lenin Komsomol Prize Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the USSR State Prize Russian choreographers Russian male ballet dancers {{Georgia-bio-stub Soviet choreographers Soviet male ballet dancers