Vladimir Viktorovich Vasilev

Born Apr. 18, 1940, in Moscow. Soviet ballet dancer. People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1969).

Vasil’ev graduated in 1958 from the Moscow Choreographic School, where he studied with M. M. Gabovich. He made his debut in 1959 at the Bol’shoi Theater, dancing Danila in Prokofiev’s Stone Flower, and became a leading soloist with the theater’s ballet troupe. A virtuoso, he possesses rare elevation and jumping technique. His dancing is broad and soft in the Russian manner. He is particularly good in roles combining classical and folk dance: Basil in Minkus’ Don Quixote, Petrouchkain Stravinsky’s ballet, the Nutcracker Prince in Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, and the title role in Khachaturian’s ballet Spartacus, for which he received the Lenin Prize in 1970. Vasil’ev was awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize in 1968. In 1964 he was awarded the V. F. Nizhinsky Prize by the Paris Academy of Dance and the Grand Prix at the International Ballet Competition in Varna.