The Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus will celebrate Valentin Elizariev’s anniversary with two large-scale events:
31 October, 19.00 the grand ballet Spartacus (choreography and staging by Valentin Elizariev)
2 November, 19.00 Anniversary Celebration Gala Featuring Stars of World and Belarusian Ballet
Participants: legendary ballet master, People’s Artist of the USSR Yuri Grigorovich; vice-president of the association of choreographers of Russia, editor-in-chief of Ballet magazine Valeria Uralskaya; Honored Artist of Russia, General Director of International Federation of Ballet Competitions Sergey Usanov; choreographer, teacher, professor of Beijing Dance Academy, executive vice-president of the ballet committee of the Chinese Association of National Dance Xiao Suhua; rector of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, People’s Artist of Russia Marina Leonova; People’s Artist of Russia, rector of the Vaganova Ballet Academy Nikolai Tsiskaridze; Honoured Artist of Russia, Acting Director of the Mariinsky Ballet Yuri Fateev; rector of the Belarusian State Academy of Music Yekaterina Dulova; Honored artist of the Republic of Belarus, Professor Julia Churko; People’s Artist of Belarus, teacher and répétiteur of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus Lyudmila Brzhozovskaya; People’s Artist of Moldova, artistic director of Kyiv Modern Ballet Radu Poklitaru; People's artist of Belarus, artistic director of the Belarusian State Choreographic College Inessa Dushkevich; People’s Artist of the Republic of Belarus Viktor Sarkisyan; dancers, including the People’s Artist of Russia Svetlana Zakharova (Bolshoi Theatre of Russia), Honored Artist of Russia Ekaterina Borchenko; Honoured Artist of Russia Ivan Vasiliev (Mikhailovsky Theatre), winner of international competitions Maria Vinogradova (Bolshoi Theatre of Russia), Oleg Gabyshev and Lyubov Andreyeva (St Petersburg Eifman Ballet), Elizaveta Shibaeva and Uladzimir Ivanou (National Theatre Brno), winner of international competitions Wen Xiaochao, People’s Artists of Belarus Olga Gaiko and Igor Artamonov, Honoured Artists of the Republic of Belarus Maryna Vezhnavets, Irina Eromkina, Anton Kravchenko and Yury Kavaliou, winners of international competitions, recipients of the Francysk Skaryna Medal Ekaterina Oleynik, Denis Klimuk, Konstantin Geronik (Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus), Alexandra Chyzhyk, Igor Onoshko; recipient of the Francysk Skaryna Medal Egor Azarkevich; participant of the International Ballet Competition, winner of the international competitions Yana Shtangei; Lyudmila Ulantseva( Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus); soloists of Kyiv Modern Ballet; soloists of Mariinsky Theatre; students of the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Vaganova Ballet Academy, Belarusian State Choreographic College. The concert will be conducted by Andrei Ivanou.
Valentin Elizariev devoted 35 years to the Belarusian ballet.
Valentin Elizariev began his career during his studies in the Vaganova Leningrad Academic Choreographic School and the choreographic department of the Rimsky-Korsakov Leningrad State Conservatory (graduated in 1973). In 1970 he became the winner of the All-Union competition of choreographers and ballet dancers in Moscow. In 1973 he was invited in the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of the Republic of Belarus to the position of principal choreographer, as one of the gifted graduates with a number of independent productions.
In Belarus he staged productions, which became an epoch in the development of the national choreographic art. Among them: Carmen Suite (1974), The Creation of the World (1976), Till Eulenspiegel (1978, 2004), Spartacus (1980), The Nutcracker (1982), Carmina Burana (1983), Bolero (1984), The Rite of Spring (1986.1997), Romeo and Juliet (1988), Don Quixote (1989), Passions (Rogneda) (1995), The Firebird (1998), The Sleeping Beauty (2001).
Valentin Elizaryiev also staged productions in Leningrad (Till Eulenspiegel at the Kirov Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theatre), Moscow (Moods at the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR, Classical Symphony and Poem for the State Concert and Choreographic Ensemble ‘Classical Ballet’), Ljubljana (Giselle at the Opera and Ballet Theatre), Istanbul (Don Quixote at the Opera and Ballet Theatre), Warsaw (choreographic triptych Valentin Elizariev’s Ballets at the Warsaw Bolshoi Theatre), Tokyo (Esmeralda, Swan Lake and Don Quixote for the NBA Theatre Ballet Company), Ankara (Spartacus at the Opera and Ballet Theatre), Cairo (Spartacus at the Cairo Opera House), etc. The choreographer created more than 60 choreographic miniatures at the Leningrad State Academic Maly Opera and Ballet Theatre, on the Leningrad television, at the Leningrad Vaganova Academic Choreographic School , at the Kiev Opera and Ballet Theatre, etc.
The ballet company of the theatre has successfully presented Elizariev’s productions in Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Germany, Kuwait, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, France, Spain, Norway, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, India, China, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, UK, South Korea, Cyprus and other countries.
‘Treasure of the nation’, people say about him.
Valentin Elizariev is the laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus, recipient of the Order of Friendship of Peoples, Orders of Fatherland II and III degree, Francysk Skaryna Medal, Friendship Medal, Pushkin's Medal, ‘Benedictus XVI Pont Max Anno III’ medal, UNESCO's Five Continents Medal, All-Soviet Union Ballet Masters' Competition Prize, Best Modern Choreography Prize on the International and All-Union Ballet Competition, Benois de la Dance Prize from the International Dance Association, National Theatre Prize. Also he was awarded diplomas and badges of the highest degrees.
From 1995 on he is a Professor of the Belarusian State Academy of Music. From 1996 he is a member of the Council of Europe in the sphere of music and a member of the International Slavic Academy (Moscow). From 1997 he is a member of the Petrine Academy of Science and Arts (St. Petersburg).
Master’s signature is in his students.
The brilliant artists, choreographers and teachers came out from the Elizariev’s workshop (were the results of Elizariev’s work) over the years of pedagogical activity. Among them People’s Artists of the Republic of Belarus Igor Artamonov, Lyudmila Brzhozovskaya, Olga Gaiko, Inessa Dushkevich, Tatyana Ershova, Vladimir Ivanov, Vladimir Komkov, Lyudmila Kudryavtseva, Kanstantsin Kuzniatsou, Viktor Sarkisyan, Nadezhda Pavlova, Yury Trayan, Ekaterina Fadeeva, People’s Artist of Moldova Radu Poklitaru; Honoured Artists of the Republic of Belarus Marina Vezhnovets, Otar Dadishkiliani, Yuliya Dziatko, Irina Eromkina, Oleg Eromkin, Vladimir Zakharov, Yuri Kovalev, Anton Kravchenko, Zhanna Lebedeva, Aliaksandr Martynau, Ruslan Minin, Sergei Pestekhin, Aleksandr Furman, Tatyana Shemetovets; laureate of the Golden Mask National Theatre Award Lyubov Andreeva; winner of international competitions Sergei Mikel; recipient of the Francysk Skaryna Medal, winner of international and national competitions Konstantin Geronik , Ekaterina Oleynik, Andrey Zhdaniuk, Yuliya Markouskaya, Yuliya Melnichuk, Igor Onoshko, Nataliya Furman.
Valentin Elizariev is a member of the jury of the major international ballet competitions in Moscow, St.-Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Grozny (Russia); Kiev (Ukraine); Jackson (USA), Varna (Bulgaria), Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya (Japan); Beijing, Shanghai (China); Seoul (South Korea), etc.