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Russia's Bolshoi Theater celebrates 240th anniversary

On March 28 the Bolshoi Theater marks 240th anniversary

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Bolshoi Theater, designed by architect Joseph Bove, 1865

© Fotokhronika TASS

Ballet Petrushka by Igor Stravinsky staged at the Bolshoi Theater, 1948

© Fotokhronika TASS

Galina Ulanova as Juliet in Sergei Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet, 1951

© Georgy Petrusov/Fotokhronika TASS

Bolshoi Ballet principal dancers Nikolai Fadeyechev as Prince and Maya Plisetskaya as Princess Odette performing a scene from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet, 1958

© Alexander Batanov/Fotokhronika TASS

Ballet Lieutenant Kije (Sergei Prokofiev's music), 1963

© Yevgeny Kassin/Fotokhronika TASS

Actress Tatyana Tugarinova as Yaroslavna in Alexander Borodin' opera Prince Igor, 1964

© Leonid Zhdanov/Fotokhronika TASS

Bolshoi Ballet dancer Nikolai Fadeyechev as The Prince in a scene from Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet, 1964

© Leonid Zhdanov/Fotokhronika TASS

A dance of Shireen's friends in Arif Melikov's ballet A Legend of Love, 1965

© Leonid Zhdanov/Fotokhronika TASS

Soprano Galina Vishnevskaya as Cio-Cio-san in a scene from Giacomo Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly, 1966

© Yevgeny Kassin/Fotokhronika TASS

Scene from Tchaikovsky ballet The Nutcracker, performed by Ekaterina Maximova and Vladimir Maksimov, 1966

© B. Borisov/Fotokhronika TASS

Aram Khachaturian’s ballet Spartacus staged by choreographer Yuri Grigorovich, 1968

© Alexander Konkov/Fotokhronika TASS

Soloist Valery Lagunov as Archon in a scene from Sergei Slonimsky's Icarus ballet, 1976

© Alexander Konkov/Fotokhronika TASS

Bolshoi Theater principal dancers Alexander Godunov as Prince and Ludmila Semenyaka as Princess Odette performing a scene from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet, 1978

© Nikolai Malyshev/Fotokhronika TASS

Prima ballerina Natalia Bessmertnova and soloist Alexander Bogatyrev performing Frederic Chopin’s waltz, 1980

© Alexander Konkov/Fotokhronika TASS

A scene from U.Musaev’s ballet Indian Poem choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich, 1981

© Alexander Konkov/Fotokhronika TASS

Mezzo-soprano Elena Obraztsova as Charlotte performing in the Werther opera by Jules Massenet, 1986

© Alexander Konkov/Fotokhronika TASS

A scene from Dmitri Shostakovich's The Golden Age ballet staged by Yury Grigorovich, 1987

© Alexander Konkov/Fotokhronika TASS

During the first act of Georges Bizet's Carmen opera at the Bolshoi Theater, 1983

© Oleg Ivanov/Fotokhronika TASS

The Moscow Bolshoi’s history started on March 28, 1776, when Prince Pyotr Urusov, an art devotee and sponsor, obtained kind permission from Her Majesty Empress Catherine II “to arrange for stage performances, masquerades, balls and other entertainments” for a period of ten years. Bolshoi Theater's greatest ballets, operas, dancers and singers - in this gallery by TASS.

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