Directed by director Kirill Serebrennikov, the Nureyev ballet was removed from the repertoire of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater (SABT). On this subject informed Interfax in reference to the general director of the Bolshoi Theater Vladimir Urin.
Urin explained that the reason for the removal of the interpretation from the repertoire was the norms of current legislation, in which “issues related to the promotion of non-traditional values are discussed absolutely unambiguously”. “Of course, as soon as the law (on the prohibition of LGBT propaganda) was signed, the theater decided to remove this performance from the theater repertoire,” he added.
Urin “just used logic and common sense so as not to get into trouble,” former artistic director of the Moscow Art Theater Eduard Boyakov, who by his own admission does not see ” nothing strange” in the withdrawal of “Nureyev”. from the Bolshoi Theater repertoire.
“The meaning of the word censorship should be somewhat revised. In Tsarist Russia, censors were people who solved educational problems, that is, it was not an element of repression. <…> The institution of censorship should aim to help cultural traders, cultural managers not to make mistakes,” the director shared.
According to him, the current mass culture raises questions not only in connection with “the prohibition of the propaganda of homosexuality”: for example, Boyakov sees in modern music “a huge amount of content, products related to dope”.
“It’s very dangerous, <…> you have to pay attention to it, and it’s a completely normal and completely healthy story. Today, of course, clips such as Tatu Group once had cannot appear. And I can’t say it bothers me,” Boyakov shared.
The premiere of the ballet “Nureev”, dedicated to ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, took place in mid-December 2017. The production consists of two acts and has an age rating of 18+. In 2019, she received the Golden Mask Award in the Ballet/Performance category.
The cancellation of the Nureyev show at the Bolshoi Theater was reported a year ago on the eve of the May holidays – allegedly due to Serebrennikov leaving Russia and speaking negatively about the Russian military operation in Ukraine. At the press service of the Bolshoi Theater claims that there was no order to remove Nureyev from the theatrical repertoire.
April 18 and 19 in the cinema hall of the Tretyakov Gallery pass screenings of documentaries on Rudolf Nureyev – as part of project “The seasons of Nureyev” which is implemented with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.
“Again we have Tchaikovsky and Nureyev – straight guys.” What does the Russian film industry think of the total ban on LGBT propaganda?
Mid-March 2023 was announcement return to the Bolshoi Theater repertoire of the ballet “A Hero of Our Time” staged by Serebrennikov in early May. The performance has not been given at the Bolshoi Theater since the end of 2020. However, a few days later the Bolshoi Theater in its telegram channel announcement which removes “Hero of Our Time” from the May vacation schedule, replacing it with “The Master and Margarita.”
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