Flight of the soul through the ages: The Bolshoi Ballet Academy

A 2013 Arts Documentary narrated by David A. Watson.

The Moscow State Academy of Choreography commonly known as The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, founded as an orphanage by order of Catherine II in 1763, is one of the oldest and most prestigious schools of ballet in the world. It is located in Moscow, Russia and the affiliate school of the Bolshoi Ballet.

The Bolshoi Ballet receives the majority of its dancers from the Academy, as do most other Moscow ballet companies. Numerous choreographers, instructors and graduates of the academy have become renowned in Russian ballet and internationally, including Olga Lepeshinskaya, Raisa Struchkova, Natalia Bessmertnova, Ekaterina Maximova, Maya Plisetskaya, Nikolai Fadeyechev, Vladimir Vasiliev, Mikhail Lavronsky, Nikolay Tsiskaridze, to be bestowed a People's Artist of the USSR, "prima ballerina assoluta" and "premier dancer", the ultimate title for a ballet performer of the Soviet Union.