Moiseev, Igor

Born Jan. 8 (21), 1906, in Kiev. Soviet ballet dancer and choreographer. People’s Artist of the USSR (1953); Hero of Socialist Labor (1976).

In 1924, Moiseev graduated from the Moscow Choreographic School, where he had studied under A. A. Gorskii. Until 1939 he was a soloist with the ballet troupe of the Bolshoi Theater. He also staged ballets at the theater, including Oranskii’s The Soccer Player (1930, with L. A. Lashchilin), Hertel’s La Fille mal gardée (1930, with A. M. Messerer), Arends’ Salammbô (1932), Oranskii’s Three Fat Men (1935), and Khachaturian’s Spartacus (1958).

Moiseev was among those who established folk dance as a stage art in the USSR. He founded the Folk Dance Ensemble of the USSR in 1937 and since that time has been its permanent artistic director. In addition to individual dances, Moiseev has staged the following dance cycles: Folk Dances of the USSR (1937–38), Dances of the Slavic Peoples (1945), and Peace and Friendship (1953).

In his productions, Moiseev has preserved and developed the richness, imagery, and originality of the dances of various peoples. Using folkloric material, he has created various cycles of choreographic genre scenes, including Pictures of the Past, Soviet Pictures, and Around the Countries of ’the World. He also choreo-graphed Partisans, The Recruits, Viva Cuba!, Suburban Moscow Lyricism, Old City Quadrille, Jota aragonesa, and Road to Dance (Lenin Prize, 1967). The recipient of the State Prize of the USSR in 1942, 1947, and 1952, Moiseev has written articles on the theory of choreography and the art of folk dance. He has been awarded two Orders of Lenin, three other orders, and various medals.