first-class performers. In 1998, the renowned choreographer Yuri Grigorovich from the Bolshoi came to Chişinău to direct his version of The Nutcracker, originally played at the Bolshoi in 1966. The company now toured to Moscow, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Romania, Hungary, Greece, Paris, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Los Angeles. In 1999 it brought productions of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty to the UK. Since 2001 the company has performed Grigorovich’s Nutcracker several times in the UK. This was the first time the production had been seen in this country since the Bolshoi performed it in London in the early seventies. The Moldova National Ballet has toured regularly in Spain since 2005, in January 2007 it performed The Best of Tchaikovsky in Spain and northern Germany. References External links Official website Culture in Chișinău Buildings and structures in Chișinău Moldovan culture Ballet companies 1957 establishments in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic Music venues completed in 1980 Soviet culture History of ballet Ballet in Moldova Opera houses in Moldova