National choreographer named best in Russia

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

World-famous dancer and choreographer Eldar Aliyev has won the Soul of Dance prize. 

Eldar Aliyev was named best in the category "Knight of the Dance".

The Soul of Dance Award was established in 1994 by the Russian magazine "Ballet" together with the Russian Culture Ministry. The prize is awarded annually for achievements in the development of Russian choreographic art.

The solemn ceremony of awarding the prize and the Gala concert of the laureates will take place in May.

The chief choreographer of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, Eldar Aliyev, was born in Baku where he graduated from the Baku College of Choreography. From 1979–1992 he was a leading soloist of the Kirov (Mariinsky) Theatre. His repertoire includes leading roles in "Don Quixote", "The Legend of Love", "Le Corsaire", "Swan Lake", "La Bayadère", "Spartacus", and etc.

Moreover, the choreographer has recently presented a new version of Fikrat Amirov's ballet "One Thousand and One Nights".

More than 300 costumes with hand embroidery were made for the ballet show. Some of them were made at the workshop, while most part by experienced craftsmen in St. Petersburg.

The magnificent performance of the ballet dancers left no one indifferent. The ballet was accompanied by the soloist of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, tar musician Ramin Azimov. The orchestra was conducted by the chief conductor and musical director of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre Ayyub Guliyev. 

Azerbaijan's traditional music instruments - tar and naghara were presented to the theatre on behalf of the national musicians.

The long-necked music instrument featured in the score of Fikrat Amirov. The eminent composer started his musical journey as a tar performer.

The idea to add tar performance came from Eldar Aliyev. Ramin Azimov, the soloist of the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theatre, performed on tar during the premiere.

The chief choreographer of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theater has successfully toured over  40 countries and performed at some of the most prestigious stages like the Kennedy Centre, the Metropolitan Opera, the Opéra de Paris, La Scala, the Berlin State Opera, the Sydney Opera House and others. 

As a dancer, he worked with such leading choreographers as Y. Grigorovich, R. Petit, M. Béjart, A. Alonso, O. Vinogradov, V. Vasiliev, M. Vainrot.

His partners on the stage included outstanding ballerinas: Galina Mezentseva, Gabriela Komleva, Tatiana Terekhova, Sylvie Guillem, Amanda Mckerrow, Leslie Browne, Altynai Asylmuratova.

He also worked in the USA as a leading soloist of the ballet company of Ballet Internationale (Indianapolis Ballet Theater), and soon became artistic director of the company. 

Since 2015,  he has been the Ballet Master in Chief of the Primorsky Opera and Ballet Theatre.

In June 2016, Eldar Aliyev was awarded the title of Honorary Professor of the Shenyang State Conservatory. His prizes also include the honorary diploma of the Legislative Assembly of the Primorsky Territory and the Diploma of Russia's Culture Ministry.

In 2021, Eldar Aliyev was awarded with the honorary title "Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation".