Opera and Choreography Department

Position: Professor
Academic title: Professor
Honorary title: People’s Artist of the USSR
Education: 1967 – Leningrad State Choreographic School named after A. Vaganova; 1973 – Leningrad State Conservatory named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov
Disciplines taught: Coaching

He was born on October 30, 1947 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

In 1970, he became a Laureate of the All-Union Ballet Masters Competition in Moscow. In 1973, he was invited to the State Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of Belarus to the position of chief choreographer.

Ballets staged by V. Elizariev on the Belarusian stage: “Carmen Suite” (1974), “The Creation of the World” (1976), “Till Eulenspiegel” (1978, 2004), “Spartacus” (1980, updated in 2017), “ The Nutcracker” (1982), “Carmina Burana” (1983), “Bolero” (1984), “The Rite of Spring” (1986, 1997), “Romeo and Juliet” (1988), “Don Quixote” (1989), “The Passion (Rogneda)” (1995), “Firebird” (1998), “Sleeping Beauty” (2001), etc.

In 1992-1996 he headed the ballet troupe of the Bolshoi Theater of Opera and Ballet of Belarus, in 1996-2009 he was the artistic director of the National Academic Bolshoi Ballet Theater of the Republic of Belarus. Since September 2018 – Artistic Director of the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of the Republic of Belarus.

In 1993, the choreographer was awarded a Special Prize for the best contemporary choreography at the VII International Ballet Competition in Moscow.

An event that received a worldwide public response was the awarding of V. Elizariev in 1996 with the title “Best Choreographer of the Year” and the “Benois de la Danse” prize, established by the International Dance Association and awarded in Paris.

He was twice awarded (1998, 2001) a special prize from the President of the Republic of Belarus for achievements in the field of choreographic art and contribution to the development of international cultural relations of the Republic of Belarus. In 2001 he received the Gratitude of the President of the Republic of Belarus for the participation of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus in the Days of Culture of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation. In 1997 he was awarded the Order of Francis Skaryna, in 2003 – the Order of the Fatherland, III Degree, in 2007 – the Order of the Fatherland, II Degree.

Since 2003 he has been a member of the Council of Europe for Culture.

In 2007, V. Elizariev was awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of Minsk”.

In 2011 he was awarded the National Theater Prize, in 2012 – the main prize of the Union of Theater Workers of Belarus “Crystal Pavlinka”.

In 2016 he was awarded the UNESCO Five Continents medal.

In 2017 he became Person of the Year in the field of culture.

Laureate of the Union State Prize in the field of literature and art for 2017-2018. Winner of the Special Prize for his contribution to the development of theatrical art in Belarus at the VI Republican Competition “National Theater Award” (2021).

1. Elizariev staged performances in St. Petersburg (“Till Eulenspiegel” at the Leningrad Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after Kirov), Moscow (“Mood” at the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR; “Classical Symphony”, “Poem” at the State Concert Theater -choreographic ensemble “Classical Ballet”), Ljubljana (“Giselle” at the Opera and Ballet Theater), Istanbul (“Don Quixote” at the Opera and Ballet Theater), Warsaw (choreographic triptych “Ballets of Valentin Elizariev” at the Warsaw Bolshoi Theater), Tokyo (“Esmeralda” at the NBA Ballet Company, “Don Quixote” and “Swan Lake” at the Japan Ballet Association), Ankara (“Spartacus” at the Opera and Ballet Theater), Cairo (“Spartacus” at the Cairo Opera House), etc.

During 2017-2019, on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus, V. Elizariev created new author’s editions of the ballets “Spartacus” by A. Khachaturian, “Romeo and Juliet” by S. Prokofiev, “The Creation of the World” by A. Petrov and a revival of the ballet by R. Shchedrin “Carmen Suite” was carried out.

1. Elizariev was elected Academician of the International Slavic Academy of Sciences, Education, Arts and Culture (1996), Academician of the Petrovsky Academy of Sciences and Arts (1997). He has been a Professor at the Belarusian State Academy of Music since 1994, and has headed the Belarusian choreographic training school for more than four decades.

For many years he has been the chairman of the jury of the International Festival of Contemporary Choreography in Vitebsk, a member of the jury of international ballet competitions in Varna (Bulgaria), Moscow, Sochi, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Grozny (Russia), Nagoya (Japan), Kyiv (Ukraine), Jackson ( USA), Shanghai and Beijing (China).