Tag: Ballet

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Cracking open ‘The Nutcracker’s’ dark Russian past; Behind the holiday classic lies an unsavory history that may change the way you think about it” – Washington Post

Headlines, History, Soviet Union, JRL NewsBlog, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Poland, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Ballerina and Male Ballet Dancer in The Nutcracker. adapted from image at defense.gov, with credit U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Chris Harper

“… The fruits of a violent imperial system lie behind the work’s bright, bouncy ‘Chinese’ dance … and its slow, seductive ‘Arabian’ scene…. At ‘The Nutcracker’s’ premiere … [in] 1892, in St. Petersburg, the ballet paid homage to the czar and his empire …. If you look at some of the forces giving rise to it, and that still live […]

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RUSSIALINK: “‘Scary to Predict’: Bolshoi Theater Warns of Closure if Coronavirus Lockdown Persists” – Moscow Times

Coronavirus, Covid-19 Pandemic, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 9, 2020) Moscow’s legendary Bolshoi Theater has warned that it is at risk of closing down if the city’s coronavirus lockdown doesn’t end by September, its director Vladimir Urin said in an interview published Thursday. The Bolshoi canceled all performances, concerts and tours until April 30 due to the pandemic that has infected more […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Spend an Evening at the Bolshoi; The ‘golden collection’ of ballet and opera will be broadcast online free” – Moscow Times

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 27, 2020) The Bolshoi Theater, like every other theater in Moscow, has had to close its doors until mid-April (if not longer). But to keep up the spirits of all ballet and opera lovers, they are putting up six of their best performances on YouTube for free, starting with “Swan Lake” this Friday. All […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Shvydkoi upset that Bolshoi actors fail to get U.S. visas, sees explanations as ‘weak'” – Interfax

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Bolshoi Theater file photo

MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax) – Russian Special Presidential Representative on International and Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoi said he was disappointed to learn that a number of Bolshoi Theater performers were unable to receive visas for a United States tour. “I was upset to learn that Bolshoi Theater actors did not receive visas for a U.S. tour,” Shvydkoi told Interfax. “The […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Acclaimed Russian ballerinas denied entry into U.S.” – Page Six/Oli Coleman

JRL NewsBlog, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Bolshoi Theater file photo

“Amid roiling relations between the U.S. and Russia, two members of Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet – including one of its prima ballerinas – have been refused visas to perform in New York City …. Organizers of a Lincoln Center gala where Olga Smirnova and Jacopo Tissi were due to dance on Monday believe the Department of Homeland Security’s decision may be […]

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Moscow’s Steamship Bolshoi Keeps Rolling

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television
Bolshoi Theater file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Raymond Stults – February 9, 2016) [DJ: Bolshoi Babylon available on HBO in the US] In the summer of 2013, a British film production team was given unprecedented access to the Bolshoi Theater for purposes of making a documentary about the theater’s inner workings. Titled “Bolshoi Babylon,” the film made its debut on cable television […]

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2015 in review: Eight key events in Russian culture

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

This year brought mixed fortunes for Russian culture, with successes in the realms of literature, art and ballet offset by the growing interference of the Orthodox Church in the cultural sphere. RBTH looks back at 8 important events in Russia’s cultural life in 2015 that had an international impact. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Oleg Krasnov – December […]

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Why Russian children still love the ballet

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Maria Fyodorishina, special to RBTH – February 14, 2015) The Russian ballet tradition is one of the most influential in the world. Despite the fact that most ballerinas stop performing by their late 30s and dancers have less than a five percent chance of becoming a soloist, parents still enroll their children in […]

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RIA Novosti: Bolshoi Kicks Off Opera Season With Reduced Tchaikovsky

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti), Nastassia Astrasheuskaya – Less is more was the ruling principle for Bolshoi’s musical director Tugan Sokhiev at the premiere of Piotr Tchaikovsky’s rare opera The Made of Orleans. He chose to have no decorations or exquisite costumes in the concert opera, staged at the theatre for the second time in its 239-year history. The telling […]

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Bolshoi Theater announces plans for new season ahead of U.S. tour

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dmitriy Romendik, RBTH – May 19, 2014) After a series of high-profile scandals at the Bolshoi Theater led to a change in leadership, fans of opera and ballet have been left wondering which direction the theater will now take. The Bolshoi has now announced the details of its repertoire for the 2014-2015 season, […]

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Filin Returns to Bolshoi 9 Months After Attack

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ian Bateson – September 18, 2013) Bolshoi Theater artistic director Sergei Filin appeared at the theater Tuesday to help kick off its 238th season, nine months after being splashed in the face with acid in an attack that shocked the world. Standing up at the event and looking around wearing protective sunglasses, Filin said he […]

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Sergei Filin hopes to attend opening of new season at Bolshoi Theater

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, August 2, 2013) Bolshoi Theater Artistic Director Sergei Filin, who is being treated in a German clinic, has said he does not rule out that he might return to the theater in September. “If vision in my left eye continues recovering at the same pace and if it stabilizes, it is quite possible that I could return […]

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Russians split in perception of attack on Bolshoi ballet chief – poll

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 6, 2013) Russians are split in their perception of the acid attack on Bolshoi Theater Ballet Art Director Sergei Filin in January and the way it characterizes the situation in the theater, the Levada Center public survey organization found after conducting a poll in 130 communities of 45 regions of Russia in March. The poll showed […]

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Bolshoi’s ‘Rite of Spring’ Festival Goes On Despite Turmoil

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Raymond Stults – March 26, 2013) Despite the turmoil following the attack in mid-January on Bolshoi ballet artistic director Sergei Filin, the theater has continued without hesitation to follow the age-old precept “the show must go on.” And this week it promises to do so with still greater intensity when it opens a four-week-long festival, […]

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Bolshoi Attack Mastermind Denies Ordering Acid Assault

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

MOSCOW, March 7 (RIA Novosti) ­ A lawyer for the star Russian ballet dancer who admitted this week to having masterminded an attack on the artistic director of the Bolshoi Theater said in court on Thursday that his client had not ordered acid to be used in the assault. A masked assailant threw concentrated acid into the face of Sergei […]

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After Attack, Rivalries at Bolshoi Draw Scrutiny

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Bolshoi Theater file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – February 1, 2013) Ballet may be high art onstage, but last month’s acid attack on Bolshoi Ballet chief Sergei Filin has drawn attention to the fact that it’s a dirty business behind the scenes. Two weeks after an unidentified assailant threw sulfuric acid in Filin’s face outside his apartment building, the attack […]

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