The World of Art in the Russian World : Post-Soviet Rewritings of Russian Ballet

Abstract

This chapter explores how two ballets, Swan Lake and The Rite of Spring, have figured in representations of Russia – whether in the Imperial, Soviet, or Post-Soviet contexts. Although definitions of what counts as aesthetically desirable have shifted considerably since the days of the Romanov dynasty, ballet’s propagandistic role in Russian nationalisms (plural) is far more complex than current dance scholarship tends to represent it as being. Abroad, especially in Anglo-American readings, representations of Russian ballet still propagate Orientalism, patriarchal genealogies, and Cold War era prejudice.