Simon (Soliko) Virsaladze ( ka, სოლომონ(სოლიკო) ვირსალაძე) (13 January 1909 – 7 February 1989) was a Georgian and one of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's leading designers of ballet, film and opera. He also worked as collaborator with the founders of

Georgian National Ballet The Georgian National Ballet ( ka, ქართული ეროვნული ბალეტი, tr) is the first professional state dance company in Georgia (country), Georgia. Founded by husband and wife Iliko Sukhishvili and Nino Ramishvil ...

company, Iliko Sukhishvili and Nino Ramishvili, in the creation of classic Georgian costumes.

Life and career

He 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 ( ...

. As a child he studied both ballet and art, and although he went on to design for plays, operas, and films it is as a ballet designer that he made his name. He was chief designer for the Zacharia Paliashvili Theatre for Opera and Ballet in

(1932–1936) and designed

Vakhtang Chabukiani Vakhtang Mikheilis dze Chabukiani (March 12, 1910April 6, 1992) was a Soviet and Georgian ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher. He is considered to be one of the most influential male ballet dancers of the 20th century, and is noted for crea ...

's The Heart of the Hills (1938) for the Kirov in Leningrad, where he eventually became chief designer (1945–1962). He also designed for the Maly Theatre Ballet and the Novosibirsk Theatre. He was chief designer of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow from 1964 until his death. He collaborated with

on many productions in Tbilisi and Kirov, but he was best known internationally as

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 ...

's designer, having collaborated on all of his major ballets. For Yury Grigorovich he designed ''

The Stone Flower "The Stone Flower" ( rus, Каменный цветок, Kamennyj tsvetok, p=ˈkamʲɪnːɨj tsvʲɪˈtok), also known as "The Flower of Stone", is a folk tale (also known as ''skaz'') of the Ural region of Russia collected and reworked by Pav ...

'' (1957), '' Legend of Love'' (1961), '' The Sleeping Beauty'' (1965 and 1973), ''

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 ...

'' (1966), ''

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 ...

'' (1968), ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'' (1969), ''

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...

'' (1975), ''Angara'' (1976), ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' (1979), '' The Golden Age'' (1982), and ''

Raymonda ''Raymonda'' () is a ballet, grand ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Alexander Glazunov (his Opus number, opus 57) and libretto by Lydia Pashkova. ''Raymonda'' was creat ...

'' (1984). He also designed Sergeyev's ''Raymonda'' (Kirov, 1948), ''Swan Lake'' (Kirov, 1950), and ''The Sleeping Beauty'' (Kirov, 1952) and Vainonen's ''The Nutcracker'' (Kirov, 1954). American reviewers, writing of touring Soviet productions, praised Virsaladze's designs for their grand scale, tastefulness, sensitivity to period and style and for often furthering the action of the ballet. He received the USSR State Prize in 1977. He died in Tbilisi on 7 February 1989.

References

1909 births 1989 deaths 20th-century painters from Georgia (country) Artists from Tbilisi Full Members of the USSR Academy of Arts Tbilisi State Academy of Arts alumni People's Artists of the USSR (visual arts) Recipients of the Stalin Prize Recipients of the Lenin Prize Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the USSR State Prize Russian male painters Russian scenic designers Scenic designers from Georgia (country) Soviet painters Burials at Didube Pantheon {{USSR-artist-stub

Life and career

See also

References