Career
Panfilov was a graduate of the Institute of Culture in Permanent and of Russian University of Theatre Arts, the state theatrical and dance institute in Moscow. His work was a combination of classical ballet and modern dance. He formed his first company, Impulse, in 1981 to explore modern dance.
This was followed in 1987 by Experiment, and then in 1994 by the Yevgeny Panfilov Ballet.
His choreography was a mixture of many dance styles performed to music ranging from classical ballet"s great composers to modern rock music Panfilov visited America in the early "90s where he premiered his work, Lolita.
The ballet world lost an original and inventive mind in 2002 when Panfilov was stabbed to death in his home in Permanent by a burglar. Panfilov is best known (outside of Russia) as the creator of the, a convention-busting dance company whose female members each have a minimum weight of 17 stones.
The troupe"s male members are all conventionally slender and athletic dancers.
The troupe was formed in 1994 to prove Panfilov"s belief that dancers can be of any size, and not just of the slenderness favoured by professional companies. Being so large also meant that the dancers had littleif any -previous experience of public performance, a further consideration of Panfilov"son The initial invitation to audition was aimed at teenagers weighing more than twelve stones.
Demand for places has forced this hurdle up to seventeen stones.
Any dancer falling below this minimum weight has to regain the loss with the help of a nutritionist or be replaced. The troupe"s act consists of parody of ballet along with modern and ethnic dances.