On April 21, 2022 the Ballet Artistic Director of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, Eldar Aliev, was decorated with the “Dostlug” Order (the Order of Friendship) for his special contribution to international friendship and to development of Azerbaijani Diaspora. The “Dostlug” Order was awarded to him on direction of Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Eldar Aliev was born in Baku, where he graduated from the Baku Choreography Academy, and later he graduated from the Pedagogical Department of the Russian Ballet Academy (Vaganova Academy) in Saint Petersburg. From 1979 to 1992 he was a principal dancer at the Mariinsky Theatre. His repertoire included leading roles in Don Quixote, The Legend of Love, Le Corsaire, Swan Lake, La Bayadère, Spartacus, and other ballets.
Eldar Aliev’s touring career spans over 40 countries and the most prestigious stages over the world: from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and Teatro alla Scala in Milan to Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Sydney Opera House. As a dancer, he collaborated with distinguished contemporary choreographers including Yuri Grigorovich, Roland Petit, Maurice Béjart, Alicia Alonso, Oleg Vinogradov, Vladimir Vasiliev, and Mauricio Wainrot. His partners on the stage included such outstanding ballerinas as Galina Mezentseva, Gabriela Komleva, Tatiana Terekhova, Sylvie Guillem, Amanda McKerrow, Leslie Browne, Altynai Asylmuratova, Lyubov Kunakova, and Olga Chenchikova.
Between 1992 and 2005 Ballet Internationale (Indianapolis Ballet Theater, USA) presented, under Eldar Aliev’s direction, over 30 ballet productions including Aliev’s own versions of A Thousand and One Nights by F. Amirov, The Nutcracker by P. Tchaikovsky, The Firebird by I. Stravinsky, and others. Since 2006 Eldar Aliev has worked as a guest consultant, a coach, a ballet master and a choreographer with leading companies and academies in Europe, Asia and America. He is a jury member of some international ballet competitions.
In February 2015 Eldar Aliev was appointed as the Head Ballet Master of the Primorsky Opera and Ballet Theatre and became the Head Ballet Master of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in 2016. Since 2021 he has been the Ballet Artistic Director of the Primorsky Stage. Among titles and prizes given to Eldar Aliev, there are the title of Honored Artistic Creator of Russia, the title of Honorary Professor of the Shenyang Conservatory of Music (China), the Indianapolis Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” prize, USA, the Soul of Dance prize, Russia, and the Diploma of the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation. The 21st of June has been pronounced by the Mayor of Indianapolis to be Eldar Aliev Day.
