The Bolshoi Theatre is a symbol of Russia for all time. It was awarded this honor due to the major contribution it made to the history of the Russian performing arts. This history is on-going and today Bolshoi Theatre artists continue to contribute to it many bright pages.

The Flames of Paris is a so-called “revolutionary” ballet, and takes as its subject the French Revolution, including in its scenario the storming of the Tuileries by the Marseillais and their victorious march on Paris. The plot is taken from the book of Felix Gras Les Marceliers.

Although its setting is eighteenth-century France, it is a perfect illustration of Leningrad ballet in the 1920s and 1930s, during which time there was a determined effort to find subjects in world history which reflected the more immediate situation in Russia, and to show that the October Revolution was part of more universal movements and historical events.