A non-partisan research post - London
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A Russian / Soviet cultural diversion
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RT News - above referenced:
Western nations have repeatedly sought to ban performances by Russian artists and musicians, as well as those deemed supportive of Moscow. Most recently, renowned Italian singer Enzo Ghinazzi, best known as Pupo, had an upcoming performance in Lithuania canceled over a concert he gave at the Kremlin in March.
Earlier the same month, South Korea canceled a series of performances by Svetlana Zakharova, a renowned ballerina from Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre, after Ukraine expressed anger over the planned events.
Wikipedia:
Svetlana Zakharova was the first Ukrainian-born Russian principal dancer performing in Paris and became a world star as of 2000.
A member of United Russia party, Zakharova was a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation during the Russo-Ukrainian War, which led to a break in her relationship with the Kyiv Choreographic School in particular.[14]
Sagely comment: Such are the unfortunate squabbles of war ....
Zakharova is married to Russian violinist Vadim Repin, and they have one child, daughter Anna (b. 2011). She had withdrawn from the Bolshoi Ballet tour to London in the summer of 2010 citing a hip injury; she was pregnant at the time. Zakharova returned to dancing, and performed in London on 15 May 2011, in a gala performance celebrating Soviet ballerina Galina Ulanova.
And for those who enjoy the dance - the touch and closeness - and appreciation of the female form
Note: The - Wham ! Bam ! Thank You, Ma'am ! I'm done ! will find this excruciating. Give a miss !
Svetlana Zakharova and Mikhail Lobukhin, Toreador and Carmen PDD from "Carmen" (2019)
Why has Russia produced so many great ballerinas compared to anywhere else in the world?
MA in Philosophy Jewish journalist, immigrant from Russia. Author has 259 answers and 513.7K answer views
Updated 4y
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What was it like to be a Soviet ballerina?
From the age 15 I worked as a pianist in the different dance schools in Leningrad. Later I worked for Leningrad Music Hall as accompanist for ballet rehearsals. Since 1986 I worked for two years as a pianist for the Phoenix School of Ballet in Phoenix, AZ, USA. My own daughter was placed to ballet school in Leningrad since she was 5.
Ballet in the Soviet Union was fascinating profession. Soviets had three main professions, legally producing Western currency and propaganda value - music, ballet, and sports. Successful in any of those professions citizens had access to so much better life than everybody else! They would have outragous privilege of crossing the border OUT and traveling to the forbidden West. This privilege even non all members of Soviet elite ever had.
Mothers of girls and boys would bring them at the age 6–8 to ballet schools in hopes that they will be chosen. Life in ballet boarding schools would remind military boot camp with horrendous hours of ballet exercises. Well known internationally Soviet school of ballet was an heir of Russian Imperial Ballet School. It connected French choreography (Marius Petipa) with indescribable Asian cruelty to ballet dancers - the only way to create great solo dancers and synchronicity in choir-de-ballet.
After graduation, those, who survived training, would be sent to different theaters of the Soviet Union. The best would get positions in Moscow or Leningrad theaters, which was the top goal for ballet dancers. “Propiska” (right of residency) in those cities was limited, and was unobtainable dream for millions. The life in those cities was so much better, that men would marry ugly women just to get “propiska”. Other cities, with a few exceptions, were on the level of starvation culturally and in terms of food supplies. The story as the girl from provincial city gets position in the ballet of Bolshoi Theater you can see in the recent movie “Bolshoi” by director Valeriy Todorovsky Bolshoy (2017): A Russian ballerina struggling for one play in Bolshoy theatre.
Next part is survival on 90 rubles per month, which was salary of ballet dancers. It was price of one pair of winter boots, or of one good dress. The only money ballet dancers could earn was while on international tours. Like government owned slaves they would not receive even 10% of hundreds of thousands of dollars, earned abroad. It would be confiscated immediately by Soviet consulates. They had $5–7 per Diem. This is why they were dragging suitcases of canned food, to save these dollars or any “per day” in Western currency. They would buy Western goods, which they would sell on return to Russia.
Excellent dancers, they realized very fast, that they were robbed by the Soviet government of their earnings (as did musicians and athletes later). Talking to fellow dancers they realized, how much they are earning actually, and started to defect. First in 1968 it was Rudolf Nuriev, who after a few years on Western stage became a multi-millionaire. Second in 1972 was Natalia Makarova. The most scandalous defector was Michael Baryshnikov in 1974. It was many other stories of Soviet ballet dancers attempts to defect ending in international scandals, like, when plane was not allowed to depart from New York airfield, because ballet dancer wanted to defect and was dragged on the plane by escorting a tour group KGB officers.
If they would not defect, they would travel from one Soviet city to another with salary just two times bigger than salary of illiterate cleaning person. They would tour the provincial districts of the Soviet Union, where after evening performance, they would not have anything to eat. Restaurants were empty at those times. I remember such situations in Rostov, Zaporozhie, and Donezk. Only Moscow and Leningrad were supplied with food. Especially, it was difficult for traveling people who had no family kitchen.
Ballet dancers were kept in such poverty, that I remember as I went with one of them to the movies and forgot my wallet. I borrowed 20 kopek from this beautiful young woman for matinee movie ticket. She was so scared, that I will not return her this money.
They all looked glamorous on the stage. Reality of their life was hard. Terrible overwork. Inability due to constant travels to create and keep families. Considering that Soviet Union did not have contraceptives, they had a lot of abortions and many of them ended up childless (most famous ballet star Maya Plisetskaya). They did not have much time and energy for lovers. Too rigorous exercises to keep themselves in shape, hard work on rehearsals and even more hard on stage. Weekends were the busiest time, which disabled them for normal communication with people outside theater.
Western schools of ballet can not create ballet dancers of Soviet level. Teachers are too kind and too indulging. Students are not afraid of them. There are teachers, who are afraid of students, because students are paying. It is no punishment. With no punishment - no achievement. It is no fear to be kicked out. Only Chinese now can compete in ballet, sports, and music professions, because they are put in the same horrendous and unforgiving exercising situation as Soviet ballerinas used to be.
Source: Quora:
https://www.quora.com/Why-has-Russi...erinas-compared-to-anywhere-else-in-the-world
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