A Russian ballet performance celebrating the life of Soviet ballet dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev has finally premiered in Moscow after it was initially cancelled in July this year.
The Guardian reports there was speculation the Russian government was responsible for the show’s 11th-hour cancellation—due to the gay themes explored in the piece.
The ballet’s director—Kirill Serebrennikov—was placed under house arrest in August. Authorities are investigating Serebrennikov, who they suspect of embezzling government funds. However, his supporters say the charges are “flimsy” and “politically motivated”.
Russia currently has an anti-gay propaganda law in place, which prohibits “the promotion of homosexual behaviour”.
Valery Pecheykin, a playwright at Gogol Centre, where Serebrennikov is the artistic director, says the charges are unjustified.
“Officially, the case is about financial impropriety but things look very different from our point of view,” she told the Independent, adding that Serebrennikov was targeted for creating “provocative, independent, tolerant works” and daring to “cover the full range of human sexuality”.
Pecheykin continued on to say that homophobia was “Russia’s best export”.
“We don’t manufacture telephones and rockets keep falling out of the sky, but our homophobia is flying high.”
‘The Lord of the Dance’
Nureyev was born in 1938 in the Soviet Union and went on to become one of his generation’s most influential ballet dancers. After infamously defecting to the West, Nureyev took on the role of ballet director at the Paris Opéra from 1983-1989 before serving as its chief choreographer until 1992.
Known as ‘The Lord of The Dance’, Nureyev had long-term relationships with fellow dancers including Erik Bruhn of Denmark and Robert Tracy from the United States.
Five months after the intended premiere, the controversial play has successfully opened in Moscow. The director of the Bolshoi Theatre —Vladimir Urin—says the story will polarise Russian audiences.
“The play is going to spark a debate,” he told the BBC.
“Someone will love it, others—hate it. But we are doing art here. Art has to raise questions and issues which are in the public interest.”
