Power as Nostalgia: the Bolshoi Ballet in the New Russia

Abstract

The economic and political transition of the old Soviet Union into Putin's Russia has been given plenty of attention over the past few years, with emphasis on free markets and democratic choice much in evidence. In this essay Gregory Sporton discusses the less often considered difficulties of the social transition towards a New Russia. The role of ballet in the culture of the Soviet Union occasionally leads to some embarrassment for those who think the arts represent freedom; and here the symbolic power of the nation's most political theatre, the Bolshoi, is examined at the point of its renovation. How the company has adapted to the new political realities, to the challenge of attracting audiences, and to its own complicity with the old regime is observed against the backdrop of May Day celebrations in 2004. Gregory Sporton is Director of the Visualisation Research Unit in the Department of Art at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. Since 2004 he has been a frequent visitor to Russia, studying a range of aspects of Russian culture under the Soviets from ballet to architecture, education and the visual arts. His study trip in 2004 was funded by the Elisabeth Barker Fund from the British Academy.