Bolshoi Ballet Returns To Chicago After 16 Years In June 2020

Considered "the world's greatest dance company" (The Independent), the Bolshoi Ballet, Russia's premier ballet company, makes a triumphant return to Chicago and to the historic Auditorium Theatre in 2020 following a 16-year absence with Yuri Grigorovich's Swan Lake. This engagement is the company's only Midwest stop on its 2020 United States tour. The company last performed in Chicago at the Auditorium in 2004.

"It is an honor to welcome the Bolshoi Ballet back to Chicago and to the Auditorium Theatre," says C.J. Dillon, Auditorium Theatre Chief Programming Officer. "As one of the few theatres in the city that has hosted the company's major story ballets, we are elated to have the Bolshoi return to our landmark stage with a piece as timeless as Swan Lake."

Grigorovich's Swan Lake, which first premiered in 1969 and was updated in 2001, is set to Tchaikovsky's iconic score (which will be performed live at the Auditorium) and incorporates choreography from masters Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, and Alexander Gorsky. The Bolshoi's critically-acclaimed run of Swan Lake performances at the Auditorium Theatre in 2002 were lauded as "breathtaking" by the Chicago Tribune and "mesmerizing" by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Grigorovich served as the Bolshoi's director and principal choreographer from 1964 to 1995, where he staged new adaptations of classical ballets, including Giselle, Don Quixote, and The Sleeping Beauty, along with creating his own works, such as Ivan the Terrible and Spartacus. Grigorovich continues to work with the Bolshoi to revive his productions.

The Bolshoi first performed at the Auditorium in 1973, with a "Stars of the Bolshoi Ballet" mixed repertory program. In addition to Swan Lake, the company has also performed story ballets such as Don Quixote and Romeo and Juliet at the Auditorium.

The Bolshoi Ballet - Swan Lake will be available as part of the Auditorium Theatre's International Dance Series subscription, available in early spring. Individual tickets go on sale October 18, 2019. Exclusive hotel packages will also be available. For additional information regarding on-sale dates and times, sign up for the Auditorium Theatre's newsletter.