Yuri Nikolaevich Grigorovich, the outstanding Russian choreographer, born in 1927, is a disciple of the Petersburg school of Russian classical ballet. He started his career as soloist at the Kirov Theatre (now the Mariinsky Theatre), in Leningrad (the then-name of St.-Petersburg). He worked at the Mariinsky theatre for 18 years; on its stage he danced a number of character and grotesque parts, among which are:

His first choreographic steps – the ballets "the Stork Baby" by D. Klebanov (1947) and " Seven Brothers " by À. Varlamov (1948) were mounted in the ballet studio of Leningrad Palace of Culture named after A. M. Gorky. As to the Ìariinsky theatre Grigorovich created choreographic scenes for the operas " Sadko " by N. Rimsky-Korsakov (1953), " Rigolettî " by G. Verdi (1954), T. Khrennikov’s "Mother" (1957), " the Great Love " (" Rusalka ") by À. Dvorak (1959), " Three Fat Men "(" 3 Tolstyaka ") by V. Rubin (1959), and the ballet piece " Esmeralda " by A. Dargomyzhsky (1958) of the Leningrad Maly Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 1955 he staged the " Valse - Fantasie " to the music by Ìikhail Glinka for the graduation performance at the Leningrad choreographic school.

The first major choreographic work by the young master, which made his name as a choreographer, is " Stone Flower " by S. Prokofiev premiered at the Mariinsky theatre in 1957. In 1959 he mounted the production for the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre and the Bolshoi Theatre troupes; two years later in 1961 – for the Swedish Royal Opera (Stockholm) and the Opera and Ballet Theatre " Estonia " (Òallin). In 1961 on the Mariinsky stage Grigorovich mounts " The Legend of Love ", a ballet to the music by Arif Melikov, which received most favourable attention from the national critics and ballet-lovers. In the same year he stages " The Legend of Love " for the Novosibirsk Ballet and in 1962 for the Azerbaijan Ballet. In 1963 he goes to Prague to do the same job for Czechoslovak National Theatre Company and in 1965 he is invited to stage the ballet for the Bolshoi Company. Both works – " Stone Flower " and " The Legend of Love " – made the name of Grigorovich well-known and determined the way of the Russian ballet’s development for many years ahead.

From 1964 for 30 years Yuri Grigorovich had been working as the Choreographer-in-Chief of the Bolshoi Theatre Company. These were the years of the Company’s prosperity, when the Russian Classical School of Ballet won admirers all over the world, revealing the galaxy of brilliant dancers.

It’s notable that under Grigorovich the Bolshoi Ballet went on over 90 foreign tours all over the world.

The ballets he mounted for the Bolshoi made him world famous. In Moscow were created: " The Nutcracker " by P. Tchaikovsky (1966), " Spartacus " by À. Khachaturyan (1968), " Ivan the Terrible " to the Prokofiev score (1975), " Angara " by A. Eshpai (1976), " Romeo and Juliet " by S. Prokofiev (1979), " The Golden Age " by D. Shostakovich (1982). There he also revises classical masterpieces of the past " The Sleeping Beauty " (1963, 1973) and " Swan Lake " (1969, 2001) by P. Tchaikovsky, " Raymonda " by A. Glazunov (1984, 2003), " La Bayadere " (1991) and " Don Quixote " (1994) by Ludwig Minkus, " Giselle " (1987) and " Le Corsaire" (1994) by A. Adan.

Here is a list of Grigorovich’s productions mounted for the ballet companies of the world:

Yuri Grigorovich is the author of a number of major ballet projects:

He possesses the following titles:

- Professor of the Leningrad Conservatoire (1974);

- from 1975 to 1989 – Chairman of the Dance Committee at the International Theatre Institute, presently – Honourable Chairman;

- for a long time he has been heading the juries of various international ballet competitions in Russia, Finland, USA, Switzerland, Japan, Bulgaria, Austria;

- from 1992 till present – Chairman of the international jury of the Benois de la Danse Prize (Moscow, Paris, Warsaw, Berlin, Stuttgart);

- from 1994 to 2004 – the International Serge Lifar Ballet Dancers’ Competition in Kiev (there were 5 competitions held);

- since he left the Bolshoi Theatre in 1995, he goes on staging ballets for a number of Russian and Commonwealth-members’ opera companies: in St.-Petersburg (" Raymonda "), the city of Novosibirsk (" Spartacus "," The Legend of Love "), the city of Ufa (" La Fille Mal Gardee "," Don Quixote "," The Nutcracker "," Swan Lake "), the city of Ekaterinburg (" The Legend of Love "). Furthermore he has acquired new partnerships – for the first time he stages " Raymonda " in the city of Minsk, " The Nutcracker " in the city of Kishinev and the city of Tbilisi, " Swan Lake " and " Romeo and Juliet " in the city of Yakutsk;

- from 1996 till present he has been running his own ballet company called “the Grigorovich Ballet Company”, headquartered in the Krasnodar city (Russia), which actively tours in many countries of the world: Lebanon, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Italy, Turkey, USA, Germany, Great Britain;

- since 1999 – Chairman of the International Choreographers Union.

Grigorovich has been decorated with the highest State recompenses, rewards, ranks and titles in the field of art:

He has the rewards, prizes and titles of other countries: