The world premiere of one-act ballets, united under the joint name Four Characters in Search of a Plot, was held on the 10th of September 2020.

The programme included four ballets, staged by four foreign choreographers, who have different experiences of life and the profession, belong to different schools, reflect different styles and work with different dance techniques. The performances they staged have only one feature in common: they were created especially for the troupe of the Bolshoi Theatre.

The process of staging took place at a complex time: in June 2020. The whole world was divided into tiny national ‘hives’ and locked into them. The Artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, Makhar Vaziev decided that in order to uplift the spirit of the artists, they had to be gathered together and provided with work: “The best time in life for a ballet artist is the time spent in a rehearsal studio with a choreographer, when something new is being created. When it became clear, that all our plans had been ruined, I realised that many of our artists missed theatre and were desperate to work. At the same time, the majority of creative practitioners who are usually hard to reach happened to be free: because of the quarantine around the world, plans were destroyed and obligations were cancelled. I approached my friends, and they approached theirs. I started to study ballets and consider various choreographers. Chose four to invite. The most important thing for me was whether they had their own dance language. The choreographers had a complete freedom of choice – they were free to choose themes, ideas, music and performers”.