Sawt Falasteen - Russian ballet patriarch Yuri Grigorovich dies at 98

Born in the Soviet city of Leningrad to a ballet family, Grigorovich's career -- as a dancer then choreographer -- spanned 80 years.

For much of it, he was the artistic powerhouse behind the Bolshoi, which he was said to have run with an iron fist.

"Yuri Grigorovich, one of the key figurs in the world of ballet in the second half of the 20th century, has died," the Bolshoi said on social media.

"An entire era has come to an end," Saint Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre, where he started his career, posted online.

Grigorovich made his name staging classics such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and The Stone Flower. The latter was his most famous piece, based on the composer Sergei Prokofiev's music.

"He was able to see in artists what we ourselves did not notice. He helped us unleash (ourselves) on stage, making us feel and experience every moment," Bolshoi's principal dancer Denis Rodkin told the TASS state news agency.

Grigorovich was also the choreographer for performances at Moscow's 1980 summer Olympics opening ceremony and presided over various ballet competitions, including the French Benоis de la Danse, known as the "ballet Oscars".

In 1995, the ballet patriarch had to part ways with the Bolshoi over allegations the theatre had became artistically stagnant during the last decade of his 30-year tenure.

He returned in 2008 to serve as a choreographer, and insiders and ballet critics said his presence over Russia's most famed stage remained formidable.

"It is an era without which much would not have happened. It is a greatness that cannot be overcome. It was a life that will be remembered... Genius," Russian-Georgian ballet dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze wrote on social media.

P.Tamimi--SF-PST