No great European city is complete without a powerful connection to the arts. Such a connection was established in Moscow in 1776 when Prince Peter Urusov and Michael Maddox collaborated on what would become the Bolshoi Theater.

The initial performances of Urusov's and Maddox's small ballet troupe were held in private homes. Small, intimate, and underwhelming, these performances quickly outgrew the confinement of individual houses. In December 1780 Urusov and Maddox opened the Petrovka Theater, and in 1824 moved to the current building on Moscow's Theater Square.

Not to be confused with St. Petersburg's former Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theater, the Bolshoi Theater literally means "Grand Theater." On January 18, 1825, the Bolshoi saw its inaugural performance, a splendid rendition of Fernando Sor's Cendrillon. It would not see foreign ballets and operas until 1840, but until then would produce a wide array of beautifully done Russian works.

A thorough description of the Bolshoi's interior and exterior is, unfortunately, impossible. Since 2005 the main building has been closed for the most extensive renovations the theater has ever seen. Much of the original Byzantine-inspired ivory façade will remain intact, with the majority of the renovation going to the interior. The focus of this $730 million dollar undertaking is to restore the original acoustics to the main theater, a feature that was lost to construction during the Soviet Era. Performances can still be attended in the New Stage and the Great Kremlin Palace until the main building reopens on October 2 of this year.

The second inaugural performance of the Bolshoi Theater will be Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila. Imagine the life and vigor of attending this production. A six-year-long buildup of anticipation, a return to the theater as Urusov and Maddox imagined it. Seeing the work-in-progress of the Bolshoi is fantastic enough, but to witness one of the first performances on its new hallowed stage - incomparable.