Zakharov, Rostislav

Born Aug. 25 (Sept. 7), 1907, in Astrakhan. Soviet choreographer and stage director. People’s Artist of the USSR (1969) and of the Kazakh SSR( 1958). Doctor of the Arts (1970). Member of the CPSU since 1951.

Zakharov graduated from the Leningrad Choreographic School (1926) and the directorial section of the Leningrad Theatrical Technicum (1932). From 1934 to 1936 he was the choreographer at the Leningrad Kirov Theater of Opera and Ballet. From 1936 to 1939 he was director of the ballet troupe and from 1936 to 1956 the choreographer and operatic director at the Bol’shoi Theater in Moscow. The ballets staged by Zakharov include Asaf’ev’s The Fountain of Bakhchisarai (which laid the foundation for the Soviet choreographic “Pushkiniana” and as staged by Zakharov was seen in Leningrad, Moscow, Budapest, Tokyo, Helsinki, Belgrade, and other cities) and The Prisoner of the Caucasus, Gliere’s The Bronze Horseman and The Red Poppy, and Prokofiev’s Cinderella (State Prize of the USSR, 1946).

Zakharov’s creative work is characterized by the use of ideologically significant themes and an intensification of the role of dramaturgy and methods of imparting realistic characteristics to ballet characters. As an operatic director he staged Glinka’s Ruslan and Liudmila, Bizet’s Carmen, Rossini’s William Tell (State Prize of the USSR, 1943), and other operas. Zakharov began teaching in 1927. From 1946 to 1949 he was administrative and artistic director of the Moscow Choreographic School, and since 1946 he has been head of the subdepartment of choreography at the State Institute of Theatrical Arts (professor since 1951). His students have included G. R. Valamat-zade, E. la. Changa, I. V. Smirnov, Ang Song Hi (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), N. Kiradzhieva (Bulgaria), and I. Blazek (Czechoslovakia). Zakharov has been awarded two orders and various medals.