Ukraine & Russia: the painful predicament
Would you cancel Tchaikovsky because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
Alexei Ratmansky, the choreographer and former artistic of Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet, has been very active in his support of Ukraine. As reported earlier, he was in Moscow staging a new ballet at the outbreak of the war, and rushed home to the United States. Since then he has been keeping up regular posts on his Facebook page, documenting statements of horror and support from numerous dancers.
The saddest post, however, was that of the death of the Ukrainian dancer, Artyom Datsishin, a principal dancer with the National Opera of Ukraine, who succumbed to bullet wounds received on February 26. RIP.
Dancers to have expressed their support for Ukraine include Diana Vishneva and Vladimir Shklyarov, principal dancers at the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg.
Olga Smirnova (pictured) is a glittering light of the Bolshoi Ballet – one of its internationally renown leading ballerinas – but she has quit her post in protest at the invasion and joined the Dutch National Ballet. She issued a statement on the DNB's website that she was "against this war with every fibre of my soul" and that she was supported in her conviction by other Russian ballerinas.
"It is not only about every other Russian perhaps having relatives or friends living in Ukraine, or about my grandfather being Ukrainian and me being quarter Ukrainian. It is that we continue to live as if this were the 20th century, even though we have formally moved to the 21st century.
"In a modern and enlightened world, I expect civilized societies to resolve political matters only through peaceful negotiations. I never thought I would be ashamed of Russia, I have always been proud of talented Russian people, of our cultural and athletic achievements. But now I feel that a line has been drawn that separates the before and the after. It hurts that people are dying, that people are losing the roofs over their heads or are forced to abandon their homes. And who would have thought a few weeks ago that all of this would happen? We may not be at the epicentre of the military conflict, but we cannot remain indifferent to this global catastrophe."
Joining her at DNB is Brazilian-born soloist Victor Caixeta, who has quit his soloist position at the Mariinsky.
Bolshoi leading soloists David Motta Soares and Jacopo Tissi have also resigned. "I am shocked by this situation that has come upon us from one day to the next, and quite honestly, I find myself unable to continue with my career in Moscow, for the time being," Tissi wrote on instagram.
Of course, dancers are not the only artists caught up in the mess. Tugan Sokhiev, the chief conductor and music director of the Bolshoi Theatre – surely the pinnacle of the music world – has also decided to leave – not just his post at the Bolshoi but also his post as music director of the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse in France, saying his position had become untenable.
In a statement published on the Bolshoi Theatre newsletter, he explained he was being asked to favour one orchestra over another.
"First of all I need to say a most important thing: I have never supported and I will always be against any conflicts in any shape and form. For some people even to question my desire for peace and think that me, as a musician could ever speak for anything other than Peace on our planet is shocking and offensive."
As founder of the Franco-Russe festival in Toulouse, he had sought to connect "the two great countries I love, but the festival was now being opposed by the "politicians and administrators" in Toulouse.
He encapsulates the pain and predicament of artists all over the world when he writes:
"I will be soon asked to choose between Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy. This is already happening in Poland, a European country, where Russian music has been forbidden. I cannot bare to witness how my fellow colleagues, artists, actors, singers, dancers, directors are being menaced, treated disrespectfully and becoming victims of so the called 'cancel culture'. We as musicians are given the extraordinary chance and mission to keep the human race kindhearted and respectful to each other by playing and interpreting those great composers. We musicians are there to remind through the music of Shostakovich about horrors of war. We musicians are the ambassadors of peace. Instead of using us and our music to unite nations and people we are being divided and ostracised."
What next? No Swan Lake?
– KAREN VAN ULZEN