Swans of the Kremlin: Ballet and Power in Soviet Russia

Detailed and nuanced, this history looks at the complex and often conflicted relationship between the evolving, postrevolution Soviet regime (1917–68) and ballet, an art form associated with the aristocratic court culture. With a close reading of archival sources available only in Russian, historian Ezrahi chronicles the push and pull between the state, which wanted to dictate the content of ballet for the purpose of indoctrination and education, and committed dancers and choreographers, whose needs had to be met to develop their art form. The author's research focuses on Russia's two most significant dance troupes, the Marinsky (later Kirov) and the Bolshoi. Faced with the regime's ideologically motivated directives for ballets with propagandistic themes that favored pantomime and folk dances and condemned abstraction and classical ballet as mere decorative ornament, dancers and choreographers were able to work subtly within the restrictions, incorporate innovations, and reclaim some artistic authority. This study builds upon research in social history and ethnography by Stephen Kotkin, Alena Ledeneva, and Sheila Fitzpatrick but breaks new ground in the specific area of ballet history.