Reportedly because of government objections to ‘gay propaganda,’ the Bolshoi Theater canceled a hotly anticipated ballet. Its director later shared photos of the crew in tears — Meduza

Meduza

On July 11, a new ballet directed by Kirill Serebrennikov was scheduled to premiere at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Three days before Opening Day, however, the theater’s management announced that the premiere was being delayed a full year, claiming that the performance wasn’t yet ready. Sources in the theater industry suspect that the decision to postpone “Nureyev” was made under pressure from Russia’s Culture Ministry, and possibly because Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky personally objected to the ballet’s supposed “gay propaganda.” (Rudolf Nureyev, on whom the play is based, was a famous Soviet ballet dancer and an openly gay man, and the ballet depicts his romantic relationship with Danish dancer Eric Brun.) Serebrennikov has refused to comment on the canceled premiere, but in a Facebook post on July 11 he thanked his crew, sharing photographs showing everyone in tears.

Reportedly because of government objections to ‘gay propaganda,’ the Bolshoi Theater canceled a hotly anticipated ballet. Its director later shared photos of the crew in tears