Written By Kate Taylor
23/02/25
In August 1991, Soviet state television broadcast Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ on a loop, signifying that an event of seismic magnitude was occurring.
Indeed, it had.
A tradition dating to 1982, when Leonid Brezhnev died, the ballet represented a ‘changing of the guard’ and was followed by an announcement of new leadership. This blocking of television channels meant that only the information of the official announcements could reach the people. Control was paramount.
In front of captivated audiences, Soviet ballets presented a view of the world that aligned with the doctrine of the state. Dancers and composers were not allowed to draw influence from the artistic freedoms of Western society; instead, they focused on the superiority of ‘Mother Russia’. This included hiring Western choreographers or performing any ballets that had non-communist undertones. In many ways, ballet had been utilised as a tool of the state for decades, with the synchronised movement of the corps embodying the ‘many-as-one’ vision of a unified Russia under the earlier Tsars. Regardless of this, the world of ballet considered the Russian discipline to be one of the very best, pushing the limits of performance.
The Bolshoi Ballet’s first Soviet performance, ‘The Red Poppy’ (1927), contained themes of class struggle and anti-imperialism, with revolution ultimately rescuing the dancers from capitalist exploitation. Aligning with the doctrine of the state, Chinese lead, Tao-Hoa, falls in love with a Soviet sailor, highlighting the connection between the Soviet and international revolutionary movements. Despite its poor reception from the Chinese state, who felt it perpetuated harmful stereotypes of inferiority, it was a huge domestic success, being performed 3000 times within Russia. For Stalin, ‘The Red Poppy’ was a triumph of Socialist Realism, setting the precedent for future works.
These themes became common within the Bolshoi Ballet, promoting the superiority of the Russian state to the world. Indeed, composers who failed to follow this format were harshly punished. Shostakovich, one of the great composers of the Stalinist period, was denounced by the state twice (in 1936 and 1948) for introducing Western influences on his music. Branded as an ‘enemy of the people’, friends and family were forced to sever ties on pain of death. Others were not so lucky, facing extended stays in Gulags, or execution.
During the ‘thaw years’ of Khrushchev’s premiership, increased freedom of movement allowed Soviet ballets to tour the world, with tickets for Bolshoi Ballet performances in London and New York collecting as much as $1,200 in resale value. Ballets performed internationally included Grigorovich’s ‘Spartacus’, a dramatic account of the legendary Revolt of Spartacus, a rebellion against oppression under the authoritarian Roman Empire. Against the brave dissidents, the Roman enemy were often shown goose-stepping and giving the Nazi salute. By referencing the Soviet victory over its ‘great enemy,’ it reinforced the USSR’s dominance, subtly shifting Western perceptions while downplaying potential threats from the USA or its allies.
These tours were not without risk. Rudolf Nureyev, a principal at the Kirov Ballet during the 1950s, became known for his rebellious streak and attitudes that did not conform with those of the State, making him unlikely to represent the USSR on the world stage. Foreign pressures forced the Ballet to include him in the 1961 French tour. Whilst on tour, the dancers had limited freedoms and were not allowed to socialise with foreigners for fear that they might bring back ideas of Westernism to the USSR. Alongside captivating audiences in Paris, Nureyev dismayed the Company by visiting several gay bars and days later escaped his KGB escort at Le Bourget Airport, reportedly telling French police that he wanted to ‘stay and be free’.
In addition to giving him greater freedom to express his homosexuality, his declaration appeared to burst the Soviet image of a new era of artistic freedom and openness. He continued his career in Paris and London, returning to the USSR for the first time in 1987 to visit his dying mother.
Another Kirov Ballet principal, Mikhail Baryshnikov, defected in Toronto in 1974, telling US reporters that it was ‘not a political act’, and simply based on the ‘artistically stifling conditions’ within the Ballet. Set in the backdrop of the Cold War, these defector dancers formed a crucial part of the ‘new era’ of Western ballet, which, in fact, drew greater influence from the Russian discipline and explored themes based on their experiences within the USSR. Indeed, after 1991, Russia and the West increased creative collaboration, becoming an informal avenue for diplomatic relations.
Throughout the USSR’s short history, ballet was utilised as a weapon of the state both to repress those who demanded greater freedoms and to present a unified, superior front to the rest of the world.
And its legacy lives on. If you had switched on Russian state TV as troops rolled into Ukraine, you would have been greeted by a looping performance of Swan Lake.
Bibliography
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Dickason, Kathryn. 2013. Stanford dance scholar examines how ballet challenged the Soviet regime. 13 October. Accessed February 5, 2025. https://arts.stanford.edu/stanford-dance-scholar-examines-how-ballet-challenged-the-soviet-regime/.
Hernandez, Javier. 2024. Mikhail Baryshnikov on Leaving Everything Behind . 28 June. Accessed February 5, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/28/arts/dance/mikhail-baryshnikov-soviet-union-defection.html.
Horton, Andrew J. 1999. “The Forgotten Avant Garde: Soviet Composers Crushed by Stalin.” Central Europe Review, 28 June.
Kisselgodd, Anna. 1974. “Baryshnikov Cites Soviet Curb on Art.” In July 23rd, by The New York Times. New York.
St Hugh’s. 2023. The Spartacus Story as Balletic Propaganda in the Soviet Union. Extended Research Essay, Oxford: St Hugh’s College.
Winship, Lyndsey. 2022. Dancers and dissidents: how ballet became a political football between east and west. 17 March. Accessed February 6, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/mar/17/dancers-and-dissidents-how-ballet-became-a-political-football-between-east-and-west.
Featured Image Credit: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/02/20/on-this-day-swan-lake-premiered-a69364
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