1st performance directed by ex-Bolshoi dancer Iwata

1st performance directed by ex-Bolshoi dancer Iwata

MOSCOW, Russia - Morihiro Iwata (R) gives instruction to a dancer at the Buryat State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in capital city Ulan-Ude in the Republic of Buryat in East Siberia under the Russian Federation on Nov. 2, 2012. Iwata, who was the only Japanese soloist at Russia's Bolshoi Ballet, provided the first ballet performance he directed at the theater the same day.

1st performance directed by ex-Bolshoi dancer Iwata

1st performance directed by ex-Bolshoi dancer Iwata

MOSCOW, Russia - Morihiro Iwata (L front) examines a rehearsal at the Buryat State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in capital city Ulan-Ude in the Republic of Buryat in East Siberia under the Russian Federation on Nov. 2, 2012. Iwata, who was the only Japanese soloist at Russia's Bolshoi Ballet, provided the first ballet performance he directed at the theater the same day.

Iwata gives farewell performance as Bolshoi dancer

Iwata gives farewell performance as Bolshoi dancer

MOSCOW, Russia - Morihiro Iwata, the only Japanese soloist at Russia's Bolshoi Ballet, receives flowers as he and other performers take a curtain call at the company's Moscow theater on July 17, 2012. It was the final performance at the ballet company by the 41-year-old first soloist, who joined the company in 1995.

Iwata gives farewell performance as Bolshoi dancer

Iwata gives farewell performance as Bolshoi dancer

MOSCOW, Russia - Morihiro Iwata, the only Japanese soloist at Russia's Bolshoi Ballet, gives his farewell performance at the company's Moscow theater on July 17, 2012. The 41-year-old first soloist joined the ballet company in 1995.