The Legacy of Russian Ballet Diplomacy

Russia has utilized ballet in its overseas coverage targets for greater than a century, and it has turn out to be an integral a part of the nation’s cultural diplomacy, as effectively an instrument to advertise worldwide dialogue and construct bridges. Among the many items that Russian tradition gave to the world, the legacy of the Russian ballet has a big position. The cultural interactions between Russia and European nations (primarily France and Italy) resulted within the emergence of a tutorial college that was internationally acknowledged by the top of the nineteenth century. “Swan lake”, a ballet created by P.I. Tchaikovsky in 1877, reworked the type of ballet music. A major position within the improvement of ballets worldwide belonged to Russian choreographers A. Vaganova, M. Petipa, L. Ivanov, M Fokine.

After the success of the exhibition of Russian artists throughout the Paris Autumn Salon in 1906, Russian choreographer Serge Diaghilev, beneath the patronage of the imperial court docket of Russia and influential individuals within the secular circles of France, started organizing Russian seasons. These have been annual excursions of Russian artists by way of Paris. In 1907, Anna Pavlova and Adolph Bolm headed a small troupe of twenty artists for excursions overseas. Diaghilev’s Russian Seasons, which occurred from 1906 to 1929 in Europe and America – particularly the primary ones, and which included the ballets The Firebird, Petruska and The Ceremony of Spring – made an ideal contribution to the event of world ballet and opera. These seasons popularized Russian tradition overseas and contributed to reputation of Russian vogue – even the spouse of King George VI of Nice Britain obtained married in a costume that paraphrased Russian folklore traditions.

After the interval of the Revolution and Civil Conflict, many Russian ballet stars, choreographers and composers have been in exile – from Anna Pavlova to Sergei Rachmaninoff. Nonetheless, classical ballet traditions in Russia have been alive and ready for the prospect to be informed to the world and be used as a cultural diplomacy instrument.

In 1935, Serge Lifar, the pinnacle of the Opera de Paris ballet firm invited a star from the mysterious Soviet Russia by sending a letter to world recognized choreographer Agrippina Vaganova (after whom, in 1957, the principle Russian ballet college could be named), who was then residing in Leningrad. Vaganova beneficial the gifted ballerina Marina Semenova, who was married to the deputy Minister of overseas affairs Lev Karakhan. In Paris, Semenova danced Chopiniana, Giselle and Swan Lake. Each the French and the Russian émigrés have been on the point of see the pink commissar who walked with a Mauser. As an alternative, they have been visited by a “younger, fairly, shy girl” who drank solely champagne, spoke good French, however most significantly, danced amazingly. The success might be seen when delicate Parisians wiped away their tears throughout the scene of Giselle’s insanity. By means of her performances, Semenova developed a relationship with the French public and her tour was one of many first ballet diplomacy initiatives of Soviet Union.

In 1956, the Bolshoi Theater went on a overseas tour for the primary time because of Khrushchev’s official go to to Nice Britain. The premiere of Romeo and Juliet was attended by celebrities similar to Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh and Margot Fontaine. The expectations of the London viewers have been totally met and their standing ovation lasted 90 minutes. To say that the Bolshoi Theater troupe in London have been triumphant is to say nothing. The Soviet ballet, which rigorously preserved and multiplied the traditions of Diaghilev’s “seasons”, turned a real sensation of its time, rediscovering the richness of this cultural custom because it astonished foreigners. Former prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Matilda Kseshinskaya wrote about this with satisfaction: “- I cried with happiness … I acknowledged the previous ballet. It was the identical ballet that I had not seen in over 40 years. The soul remained, the custom is alive and persevering with …” Soviet ballet stars Ulanova and Plisetskaya gave performances in Rome, London and New York, and witnessed the worship of kings and presidents alike with their world fame. Moscow had turn out to be the “ballet capital” of the world. Even “transfer to the West” of Alexander Godunov, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov have been contributing in direction of worldwide curiosity to Russian ballet.

These days, Russia is likely one of the few nations the place ballet traditions have been rigorously preserved and developed. Russia at the moment hosts varied ballet festivals and competitions in Moscow and Saint Petersburg – Dance Open, Vaganova Prix, Dance Inversion, Context, Kremlin Gala, Benois de la danse, Baletomania, Moscow Summer time Seasons, Worldwide Ballet competitors and the Worldwide Nuriyev competition in Kazan and Ufa to call them. In 2006, the administrators of the twelve most vital and authoritative worldwide ballet competitions established the Worldwide Federation of Ballet Competitions and turned to the excellent choreographer of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, Yuriy Grigorovich, to move group as its President. In 2013, it turned a member of the UNESCO Worldwide Dance Council and at the moment it fosters worldwide cultural dialogue.

Like every instrument, ballet diplomacy has its limitations. At instances, Russia makes use of cultural diplomacy too actively and disregards the tastes of the target market and alternatives to make use of different public diplomacy devices. Ballet diplomacy can not construct belief directly in an environment of distrust. However the peoples of the world invariably really feel the necessity to complement their very own cultural traditions with the values of different peoples. The distinctive options of Russian ballet are spirituality, meaningfulness, expressiveness and traditionalism and these options are relative to the picture of Russia that’s being promoted each by official diplomacy and ballet diplomacy.