Bolshoi Theatre, home to The Bolshoi Ballet, was opened in 1780

In the 1920s and 1930s new ballets which conformed to Revolutionary ideals were created for the Bolshoi

It burned down in 1805 and again in 1853

The company's heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s with productions such as Spartacus

The dancers toured abroad for the first time and this was the period of defections as well.