The Bolshoi Ballet has a long history dating back to 1776, and the company presented Spartacus for the first time in Shanghai in 1989. In 2001 the Bolshoi Ballet gave its first show at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, dancing Swan Lake.

Created by Yuri Grigorovich, Spartacus "is a calling card of the Bolshoi Theatre". The choreography for the hero and the antagonist "created in accordance with contemporary classics, has set new standards of heroic male dancing," said Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of Shanghai Grand Theatre.