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| Internet photo of the theatre and fountain |
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historical theatre in downtown Moscow, Russia. The word "Bolshoi" sounds so beautiful, but it just means "big or grand" in English. The theatre's original name was The Imperial Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow. At the time, all Russian theatres were imperial property. Moscow and St. Petersburg each had only two theatres. One for opera & ballet and one for plays. Because opera and ballet were considered nobler than drama, the opera houses were named "Grand" or "big" and the drama houses were called the Smaller Theatre - or "Maly" meaning "small", "lesser" or "little".
It is by far the worlds largest ballet company having more than 200 dancers. The main building has been rebuilt and renovated several times during its history and is a major landmark of Moscow and Russia. A picture of the facade is on the 100-ruble banknote.
On October 28, 2011, the theatre was reopened after an extensive 6-year renovation (lucky us!). The acoustics in the Bolshoi's historical stage are said to be among the best in the world.
The ballet company was founded in 1776. Initially it held performances in a private home, but then acquired the Petrovka Theatre and in 1780, it began producing plays and operas and established what was to become the Bolshoi Theatre. The Petrovka Theatre was destroyed by fire in 1805 and was replaced in 1808 with the New Arbat Imperial Theatre. That theatre was destroyed by fire when the French invaded Moscow in 1812. The current theatre was built between 1821 and 1824 and opened its doors on 18 January, 1825.
On January 17, 2013, Sergei Filin, the Bolshoi's ballet director was attacked with sulfuric acid and as a result has lost most of his eyesight. A male dancer was later charged with the crime.
Our tour guide was Maria through www.toursofmoscow.com. There was a group of 8 of us who joined in the tour, but before we met for lunch at the Grand Cafe Dr. Zhivago. It was a beautiful cafe connected to the National Hotel. It is ranked #80 out of nearly 12000 restaurants in the city and it is a beautiful experience. Silly me, I forgot to take any photos, so here are a couple from the internet. Apparently others haven't taken great photos of this restaurant either - it is more beautiful than these pictures show. I think we all enjoyed our lunches and then Alice left to go back home with her sister Julies' daughter. We walked a few short blocks to the Bolshoi Theatre where we met our guide.
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| The china in this restaurant was beautiful! |
After lunch was our tour. Although it was a lovely tour of the public areas of the theatre, I was kind of hoping for a truly "backstage" tour experience seeing some dancers, their backstage area and costume room, but unfortunately, we did not see any of that. We did, however, get a great perspective on the theatre itself and were able to see the depth of the stage behind what the audience sees. Nobody is allowed in the Presidential box, but we saw it from afar. We went on a day where there were no dancers in the building, so we did not see any dancers rehearsing. We saw the workers setting up the stage for that evening's performance. As we went around and I sat in some of the seats, I was surprised to realize first hand that you cannot see the stage at ALL from some areas!
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| Left to right - Julie (Alices' sister), Tina, Francine, Kerry, Helen, Shirly, Vera (Helens' Mom) and Tanya |
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| We were ALL supposed to be doing a crossed-legged "ballerina-esk" pose...not all participated! |
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| From near stage towards the back of theatre |
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| Presidential Box Seats |
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| Gorgeous chandelier from top level that is cleaned once a year and light bulbs changed |
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| Presidents' Box Seat from stage area |
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| Hall where patrons gather before the performance |
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| Vera and Helen in grand hall | | | |
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| After tour drink at O2 Lounge rooftop of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel | |
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| Great city views from O2 Lounge! |
Our next time at the Bolshoi Theatre was Sunday, September 27th, 2015. Our first ballet experience in Moscow. Craig purchased the tickets for us for our 16th Anniversary and presented them to me in Prague. Thank you love! Prior to the ballet, we went to lunch at Savva Restaurant in the old Metropol Hotel, which I was told used to be a KGB building. The hotel opened in 1901 and in 1917 the Bolshevist government moved to Moscow from St. Petersburg (formerly Petrograd) and the Metropol Hotel became the residence of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (RCEC). It was then called the Second House of Soviets. In the 1930's, the Metropol was returned to its original status of a top-class hotel.
The ballet performance was Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" (ballet version). It was a wonderful performance, but it was much more contemporary than I am used to seeing. I missed the elaborate costumes and sets of former ballets I have been to like the Nutcracker. It still was an enjoyable afternoon at the ballet spent with friends and my wonderful husband Craig!
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| This is a view from the patio of the restaurant we ate at before going to the theatre... you can see how close it is to the Bolshoi! That's the Bolshoi in the background with the pillars |
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| Off to the ballet! |
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| Rob and Alice joined us for an afternoon of ballet! |
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| Reception hall prior to the ballet |
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| The "new stage" theatre - apparently more comfortable than the "dining chairs" at the Historical stage of the Bolshoi Theatre |
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| Selfie before the show began |
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| Last photo - no photos allowed during the performance |
