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The Igor Moiseyev State Academic Ensemble of Popular Dance is a dance troupe focusing on character dance, based in Moscow, Russia. The troupe combines traditional folk dance and classical ballet techniques to create their style of character dance. It was established in 1937 by Igor Moiseyev. The company has toured in over a hundred countries and is one of the most influential and acclaimed dance troupes of both Soviet and modern Russia.

History

In 1936, Igor Moiseyev was made dance director of the new Theater of Folk Art in Moscow, and helped organized a folk dance festival. The next year, on 10 February, the Moiseyev Ballet came into existence, with just 35 dancers. According to Moiseyev, the dance troupe had early difficulties: politician Alexander Poskrebyshev promised to dissolve the ensemble, however, the ensemble had Stalin's patronage. Therefore, neither Poskrebyshev nor any other politician dared to dissolve it. Allegedly, Stalin enjoyed the Moiseyev Ballet so much that they were constantly invited to the banquets and parties he threw. At the time, the Moiseyev Ballet had its headquarters in a small building on Leontyev Alley [ru]. When Igor Moiseyev asked for a larger building to house the studio, Stalin ordered politician Aleksandr Shcherbakov to organize headquarters for the dance company. Thus, they began to occupy the Tchaikovsky Hall [ru], a building that was previously meant to be Vsevolod Meyerhold's new theater.

The first foreign performance of the Moiseyev Ballet occurred in 1945, in Finland. It began to tour around the world in 1955, and has toured in 60 countries, including the USA, France, Israel, the UK, Japan, and China.

In 1958, they began to tour in the United States, as part of the Lacy-Zarubin Agreement. Impresario Sol Hurok invited the Moiseyev Ballet to perform at the old Metropolitan Opera House, marking the first time a major Soviet dance group had ever performed in the United States. They also appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.

JDL incident

In September 1986, tear gas was thrown at a Moiseyev Ballet performance at the Metropolitan Opera House, forcing the evacuation of 4,000 people and injuring 30. An anonymous caller purporting to be the chairman of the Jewish Defense League, Chaim Ben Yosef, claimed responsibility, saying it was a protest on the behalf of Soviet Jews. However, the actual chairman at the time, Irv Rubin, denied the JDL's responsibility. Ben Yosef also denied making such a call and denied the JDL's responsibility. In 1987, Ben Yosef and two others were arrested in relation to a series of bombings in New York, including the tear gas attack at the Moiseyev performance.

Reception

John Martin, then the dance critic for the New York Times, wrote in 1961 "Among the truly creative figures in the art of the dance of our time, place high the name of Igor Moiseyev." Anna Kisselgoff wrote that Moiseyev "created a new dance idiom that stood on its own" and called the dances "classics of their genre".

The Moiseyev Ballet continues to tour and perform to the current day. It has been praised by cultural figures such as Maya Plisetskaya, Tatyana Tarasova, and Marlene Dietrich.

In the West, the Moiseyev Ballet has been described as speaking "the nationalist idiom of folk movement". It has also been called "a symbol of Soviet bureaucracy", a "mirror of the Soviet epoch", and "the main cultural tyrant of the regime". However, it has also been credited with helping encourage international cultural exchange, especially between the USA and the Soviet Union.

The Moiseyev Dance Company influenced professional folk dance in Serbia.

References

1. Also simply called "Moiseyev Dance Company" or "Igor Moiseyev Ballet"

1. ^ "Балет Игоря Мойсеева. Руководство и администрация". Igor Moiseyev Ballet (in Russian). Archived from the original on 4 July 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
2. ^ "The Moiseyev Dance Company". Official Site of Los Angeles Philharmonic. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
3. ^ Anderson, Jack (3 November 2007). "Igor Moiseyev, 101, Choreographer, Dies". New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
4. Ritzel, Rebecca (26 October 2015). "Wearing braids and boots, Russian folk troupe entertains". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
5. Shay, Anthony (2019). The Igor Moiseyev dance company: dancing diplomats. Intellect. ISBN 978-1783209996.
6. Shay, Anthony (1999). "Parallel Traditions: State Folk Dance Ensembles and Folk Dance in "The Field"". Dance Research Journal. 31 (1). Dance Studies Association: 29–56. doi:10.2307/1478309. ISSN 0149-7677. JSTOR 1478309. S2CID 154061574. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
7. "Moiseyev Dance Ensemble". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
8. ^ Clarke, Mary (6 November 2007). "Igor Moiseyev Obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
9. Macaulay, Alastair (3 October 2012). "Tapping Glory From a Soviet Past, Supercharged With Precision and Vigor". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
10. Segal, Lewis (3 November 2007). "Igor Moiseyev, 101; elevated folk dancing into a theatrical art". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
11. Shamina, Lidiya (10 June 2004). "ИГОРЬ МОИСЕЕВ: "Выгоню любого, кто возомнит себя солистом"" ["I will fire anyone, who makes himself out to be a principal dancer"]. Izvestia. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
12. ^ Terent'yev, Viktor. ""Хореография Игоря Моисеева – философия мира, добра и любви!"" ["Choreography of Igor Moiseyev: a philosophy of peace, goodness and love!"]. Literaturnaya Gazeta (in Russian). Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
13. ^ "Пятьдесят лет спустя" [Fifty years later]. Voice of America (in Russian). 25 January 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
14. Lenkinski, Ori J. (21 August 2019). "In his footsteps". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
15. "Moiseyev Dancers Perform in London". New York Times. 23 September 1964. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
16. "В Китае выступит ансамбль народного танца имени Моисеева" [Moiseyev Folk Dance Ensemble to perform in China]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 25 November 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
17. Halliman, Victoria Anne (May 2013). Cold War cultural exchange and the Moiseyev Dance Company:American perception of Soviet peoples (PDF) (PhD thesis). Northeastern University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
18. Gould, Jack (30 June 1958). "Moiseyev Dancers; Russian Troupe Scores a Resounding Hit on the 'Ed Sullivan Show'". New York Times. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
19. Campbell, Mary (2 September 1986). "Tear Gas Greets Russian Dance Troupe at Lincoln Center". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
20. Hevesi, Dennis (3 September 1986). "Tear Gas Disrupts Soviet Dancers in Performance at Lincoln Center". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
21. French, Howard W. (9 May 1987). "3 J.D.L. MEMBERS SEIZED IN BOMBINGS". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
22. Martin, John (7 May 1961). "DANCE: MOISEYEV; Creative Innovator From Soviet Union Opens New Choreographic Vistas". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
23. Kisselgoff, Anna (14 September 1986). "DANCE VIEW; MOISEYEV DANCES ARE CLASSICS NOW". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
24. Laine, Barry (28 September 1986). "Folk Ballet of Moiseyev: 'People's Art'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
25. Bajić-Stojiljković, Vesna (2015). Medić, Ivana; Tomašević, Katarina (eds.). Links between the Moiseyev Dance Company and the Folk Dance Choreography production in Serbia (PDF). Beyond the East-West divide: Balkan music and its poles of attraction. Belgrade: Institute of Musicology, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. pp. 165–185. ISBN 978-86-80639-23-9.

• Ballet companies in Russia
• 1937 establishments in the Soviet Union
• Folk dance companies
• Cultural organizations based in the Soviet Union