The April 1 and 2 performances of Spartacus by Aram Khachaturian at the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre will be dedicated to the 45th anniversary of the magazine Ballet.

The magazine presents its own award, Soul of Dance, established nearly twenty years ago in partnership with the Russian Ministry of Culture. It's given annually to outstanding figures in the world of ballet and is widely regarded as a prestigious honour within the profession.

Principal dancers Anna and Yuri Kudryavtsev, both recipients of the Soul of Dance award in the Ballet Star category, will perform the leading roles of Aegina and Crassus on April 1.

On April 2, the leading roles of Phrygia and Spartacus will be danced by prima ballerina, Honoured Artist of Russia Yekaterina Bulgutova and principal dancer, Honoured Artist of the Krasnoyarsk Region Georgy Bolsunovsky, who are also recipients of the same award.

Over the years, other artists of the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre have received the Soul of Dance prize, including Anna Ol, Dmitri Sobolevsky, Elena Svinko, and the theatre’s Artistic Director and choreographer Sergei Bobrov.

Ballet magazine is widely regarded as a hallmark of Russian cultural life, valued by both professionals and audiences. Its pages have featured the artistry of legendary dancers such as Vaslav Nijinsky, Vladimir Vasiliev, Anna Pavlova, Galina Ulanova, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Maya Plisetskaya, Natalia Bessmertnova, Maris Liepa, Mikhail Lavrovsky, Vladimir Malakhov, Nikolai Tsiskaridze, Igor Zelensky, and Svetlana Zakharova.

The creation of a magazine dedicated to ballet art in the Soviet Union was a long-fought effort, and only in 1981 did Russia finally gain such a journal. Dance scholar, PhD in philosophy, Honoured Arts Figure, and professor Valeria Uralskaya was among its founders and has served as editor-in-chief since 1995. In 2021, marking the magazine’s 40th anniversary, she visited Krasnoyarsk for the premiere of Catarina ou La Fille du Bandit set to music by Cesare Pugni.