Assoluta Svetlana Zakharova, the world’s top prima ballerina, who is scheduled to perform in Korea in April, has been embroiled in a ‘pro-Putin’ controversy.
Zakharova is a ballerina who is praised around the world for her overwhelming physical condition and perfect skills. She has twice won the Academy Award for ‘Brois de la Danse’ in dance. She received the title ‘Prima Ballerina Assoluta’, which is given to the representative ballerina of this era. Although she is from Ukraine, she is a strong supporter of President Vladimir Putin. She served as Russian Duma (lower house of parliament) for two terms, from 2011 to 2019. In 2014, she also supported Russia’s invasion and annexation of Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula.
Zakharova entered the Kiev Choreographic School at the age of 10, and at 15 she won second place, the youngest ever to do so, at the Vaganova Free Competition. With this, she set an unprecedented record of skipping grades and was transferred to Vaganova Academy. Upon her graduation at the age of 17, she joined the Kirov Ballet (now the Mariinsky Ballet). A year after her debut, she was promoted to prima ballerina. She began her career as a guest lead at the Paris Opera Ballet in 2001 and has since grown into a world-renowned ballerina who has toured theaters around the world.
Zakharova is scheduled to premiere ‘MODANSE’, which became a hot topic in collaboration with fashion brand Chanel, at the Seoul Arts Center Opera Theater on April 17 and 19-21. This is a double bill performance of two one-act ballets, ‘Gabrielle Chanel’ and ‘Like Breath’. Zakharova took on the lead role and luxury brand Chanel participated in costume design, creating a hot topic from the premiere.
In the cultural world, there is a debate ahead of Zakharova’s performance in Korea. With countless lives being sacrificed due to the war in Ukraine, there are conflicting views, including that it is not appropriate for ‘Putin’s dancers’ to appear on stage, and that art and politics are separate things.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, boycotts of Russian artists arose in Europe and the United States. Valery Gergiev, who was a representative ‘pro-Putin’ artist and called ‘the world’s busiest conductor’, was fired from the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany after the Ukraine incident. The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in the Netherlands canceled the festival named after him. At the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s Carnegie Hall performance, where pro-Putin pianist Denis Matsuev was scheduled to perform, Korean pianist Cho Seong-jin took his place.
The Royal Opera House in London, England, canceled the tour performance of the Russian Bolshoi Ballet, and the European Broadcasting Union, the organizer of the Eurovision Song Contest, Europe’s largest music festival, restricted Russia’s participation in the 2022 event. Zakharova also became a target of public opinion immediately after the Ukraine war and suffered the cancellation of her performances. This movement continues to this day. If the performance takes place as scheduled, Korea will become the first country where Zakharova performs among the countries that condemned Russia’s war.
However, there are voices that say it is not right to directly connect individual artistic activities with politics. A dance industry official said, “Modance was a work created by an outside organization for Zakharova,” and added, “It is not right to place political restrictions on an individual’s artistic activities.”
InArts Production, a Modance performance planning company, explained, “This is a performance we had been planning before the coronavirus pandemic to present to the audience a new performance that had never been seen before in Korea,” adding, “The performance was postponed due to the coronavirus issue, and an unexpected war broke out.” did. He continued, “We promoted the performance independently of political issues, and we also believe that war should never occur,” adding, “However, (if the performance is stopped), small agencies and small businesses may suffer serious damage. “Please don’t look at it in black and white terms,” he said.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.