Galina Doty

Doris Ressl

Dance History

May 13, 2016

How Russian Politics Affected Ballet in the

Early 20th Century

When most people think of Ballet they, in vision beautiful costumes, girls flying

across the stage on their toes and However, most people when first thinking of Ballet do

not think of the history of Ballet and how the politics of a countries has affected it Ballet

from it's beginning has been influenced by the politics of a country. To some, it is only

looked at as a form of entertainment, however Ballet has always served a bigger

purpose, especially in Russia. At first it was used to show that Russia was a rising and

growing empire,endeavoring to catch up to Western Europe. Then it was used to

represent the Bourgeoisie class of the 19th and early 20th century. Then, Russian

politics of the early to mid 1900s greatly affected Ballet due to the constant support and

resources given from the Russian Aristocracy, however after the Bolshevik revolution

the support vanished and because Ballet was found unfitting in a socialist society, it was

adapted to expand more socialist views.

 From the early 1700s, Russian Aristocrats fought to incorporate the arts,

particularly ballet, into their history. Russian aristocracy took on the French culture by

absorbing their language, their art forms and their way of life. This was highly

implemented by the Romanov family throughout the centuries. The Romanov family

ruled Russia from 1613 to 1917 and they were highly influential. The growth of the

Russian empire was inveigled by Catherine II, or Catherine the Great when she ruled

from 1762-1796. Russia was looking for ways to advance their country, so they started

looking west. The countries in Western Europe were very influential to the rest of the

World. Russia, wanting to gain the influence of Western Europe, decided to adapt their

culture into their own. Catherine the Great helped this by bringing, European

neoclassical art and architecture to Russia, and [with that] French culture and language

dominated the life of the nobility and the Russian court. (Pbs) Through out the years

Western European became so integrated into the Russian Culture that generations of

Romanov's' married other Western royal families. Western Europe became so

integrated that almost all the Russian monarchs throughout the 19th and 20th century

were dominantly not even Russian by blood. This is also true for Ballet. Since Ballet

was so respected in Western Europe, due to its popularity throughout the courts of

Europe, Russia brought it over and placed it at a very prestigious level. The art form of

Ballet, including the Ballerinas and Choreographers, were therefore highly respected in
Russia and praised just as in many countries since the era of Louis the XIV. Praise for

Ballet was at an all time high during the late 19th century to the early 20th century.

Ballet dancers and choreographers gained the respect of nobles in countries where it

was prominent.

Since Western influence was so high, Russian not only married other Western

European royals but brought over their choreographers and dancers. One of the most

influential person that came to Russia was, French choreographer Marius Petipa.

Marius Petipa changed the face of Ballet and created what is now known as Classical

Ballet. Before, during the romantic era of Ballet, pointe work was only used a slight

amount and the theme of Ballets included, fantasy, etherealism, supernaturalism and

exoticism. The stories of the time dealt with issues of good vs. evil, man vs. nature and

society vs. the supernatural. Marius Petipa created many changes to Romantic Ballet.

Petipa was responsible for the shortening of the tutu, more advanced pointe work, and

making Ballet focus on more complicated tricks rather than the story. He also created a

new structure of Ballet. He invented the Grand Pas de Dues and broke down his Ballets

into four different Acts. Since Marius Petipa was so influential to the Ballet world and

creating all these changes, Russia became the center for Ballet.

Russia also a very important center for Ballet due to its two major Ballet

companies, the Bolshoi Ballet and the Mariinsky Ballet. These Ballet companies were
extremely popular though out the world throughout the 19th and 20th century, and are

still to this day. The Mariinsky Ballet which was founded by French ballet master and

teacher Jean-Baptiste Land in 1738 in St. Petersburg as a dancing academy to train

young dancers. In the 19th century St. Petersburg became the center of Russia and

The Mariinskys popularity rose. The Mariinsky has had a very rich history and have had

many famous dancer sand choreographers grace its stage. Ballet dancers reigned

supreme on this stage, among them Mathilde Kschessinska, Anna Pavlova, Vaslav

Nijinsky, Galina Ulanova, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. (mariinsky.ru) The

Mariinsky is where, George Balanchine set out on theroad to art. This theatre has

witnessed thedawn of thetalents of such brilliant theatre decorators as Konstantin

Korovin, Alexander Golovin, Alexandre Benois, Simon Virsaladze and Fyodor

Fyodorovsky among countless others. (mariinsky.ru) The other Ballet company that

Russia had was the Bolshoi Ballet. The Bolshoi Ballet is one of the oldest ballet

companies in the world founded in 1776. The Bolshoi Ballet is a world-renown company

and along with the Mariinsky, is part of the two most successful ballet companies in

Russia. The Bolshoi Ballet is very highly respected around the world. The theatre is

believed to have been created originally, as a dance school for an orphanage in

Moscow. (Bendinghaus) As this company grew it became, direct competition with the

Imperial Russian Ballet, which is today's Mariinsky Ballet of St. Petersburg.

(Bendinghaus) These companies and dancers became famous around the world. It

caused Russia to gain prestige and rise as an Empire. Since Ballet affected the Empire

of Russia so much and brought money and prestige to the company, These Ballet

companies and dancers were supported very well.

Throughout the Mid-1700s to the early 1900s, Ballet rose Empire. During this

time, Ballet in Russia functioned as entertainment for the tsar and his family. Ballerinas

and Choreographers were kept close under the Royal familys wing. Due to its prestige

and popularity, Ballet companies in Russia had the on going support and funds from

many powerful Aristocrats and most importantly the Royal Family. This was especially

true for Nicholas II who ascended to the throne after his father's death on October 20,

1894. Nicholas II was the last tsar of Russia and ruled an empire that bordered Turkey,

Persia, Afghanistan, Mongolia, and China while Poland, the Baltic States, and Finland

were Russian territories. (Pbs) Nicholas II was an important patron to the arts.

Comparable to the rulers before him, he kept the Ballerinas and Choreographers close

to him and even his mistress throughout his reign was even the Ballerina, Mathilde

Kschessinska. As the 19th century drew to a close, the centre of ballet activity moved

to St. Petersburg, where the art was supported by the bottomless resources at the

disposal of the tsar. (Kant) The Czar spent an extravagant amount of money supporting

the arts and the Aristocratic lifestyle. This caused Ballet to flourish and become an
extravagant, very popular art form at the time but created problems for the common

people of Russia and it country as a whole.

The arts and the Aristocracy in Russia were very affluent throughout the 19th and

early 20th century. However, the common people and economy of Russian were far

from prosperous during this time. This was due to unfair changes from the tsar, the

many economic problems and the Bolshevik revolutionary party who were committed to

the ideas of Karl Marx. When Nichols came to power he prepared to change many

things about Russia. Nicholas the II was a conservative and want to immediately

implement change as soon as he succeeded his father. Some changes that Nicholas

the II implemented were the initiation of, substantial reforms in education, the

government, the judiciary, and the military and in 1861 he proclaimed the

emancipation of about 20 million privately held serfs. Local commissions, which were

dominated by landlords, effected emancipation by giving land and limited freedom to the

serfs.(Country Studies) However the former serfs still were required to make

redemption payments to the government over a period of almost fifty years. Another

reason the Russian Empire had troubles due to the many economic problems they

faced. Russia had a very late development and struggled to catch up with the rest of

Western European cultures. Russia had a huge population, however most of it was rural

and serf dominated. Russia relied highly on foreign trade for their economy. The state
budget had more than doubled, however, and debt expenditures had quadrupled,

constituting 28 percent of official expenditures in 1891. Foreign trade was inadequate to

meet the empire's needs. Until the state introduced high industrial tariffs in the 1880s, it

could not finance trade with the West because its surpluses were insufficient to cover

the debts.(Country Studies) The Aristocracy also spent a lot of money on

accommodating to their wishes, which cause some people to want to revolutionize

against them.

The Bolshevik group was one of these revolutionaries. The Bolsheviks were ,led

by Vladimir Ilyich Ulianov, believed strongly in Marxism and that the working class

should be able to free themselves from the control of the Russian aristocracy. Due to

what was going on with the conditions that the tzar implemented and the conditions of

the world, the Bolsheviks looked at the year 1917 as the perfect time to revolutionize.

The Bolshevik revolution occurred in 1917 and they overthrew the Russian government

and Royal Family. In March, growing civil unrest, coupled with chronic food shortages,

erupted into open revolt, forcing the abdication of Nicholas II (1868-1918), the last

Russian czar. (History.com) At the time the Bolsheviks were still not that strong.

However after the fall of the tzar they began to rise up due to the failing Provisional

Government, the peoples exhaustion of World War I and the rising popularity of the
Soviets. Since Ballet was popular and funded among the aristocracy, the revolution

greatly affected it.

When the Bolshevik Revolution occurred the ideals and politics changed.

Vladimir Lenin was now in charge and the political views were those of Marxism. Lenin

implemented different social and economic views into the Russian government. Before

the Revolution, there were basically only three classes of people: Peasants, Nobles,

and Romanov's. Although certain reforms had been made, the peasants were still

treated poorly and taken advantage of by the nobles. At the same time, World War One

was taking place which not only negatively effected Russias economy but also had a

great effect on Russian society as well.(Glaze, pg.1-2) Lenin then came up with a plan

called the New Economic Policy, or the N.E.P. to address these ongoing issues. Lenin

also changed the social and political views of what was now the Soviet Union. Lenin

and his revolutionaries were Proletarians and highly against the Bourgeoisie class.

Ballet was very much part of the Bourgeoisie class so the new government did not see

the performing arts were of important significance. So, with very little support, the loss of

resources from the czar and the new government by the Radical Bolsheviks in 1924,

Ballet companies and dancers either fled to other countries or had to adapt and revision

themselves due to these new politics.

 The Revolution changed the way ballet was looked at and how their companies

were run. Since the ideals of the government were more restrictive and entertained to a

Proletarian audience ballet companies had less freedom and inability to be modern. So

this forced Ballet, to adjust its growth to this new policy. Some of the artists of the soviet

union seemed willing to try to adapt and push their work towards this new socialist rule

however there were others thought that ballet did not need to changes to this socialist

direction because it was prosperous. For the dancers and companies that stay were

reformed however they were not completely set aside. In the 1920s classical/romantic

ballets were still performed. The new governments main goal was to reach out to

working class audiences. Leaders of this movement wanted the working class to indeed

be cultured to show superiority. (Hamm) The new founded Soviet Union did not

completely cast aside Ballet because a contributory part of the concept of the new

governments nationalities policy. The Soviet Union wanted Ballets to be adapted to

Proletarian audience however they still wanted to apply them to their society to have the

quality of being cultured. Performing and fine arts, literature, and scholarship all

expressed being cultured throughout history. The new Proletarian leaders wanted to be

cultured and, Classical ballet served a dual purpose in fulfilling the Soviet Unions claim

to be the most culturally, scientifically, economically, and politically advanced country on

earth.(Hamm) The Soviet Union wanted to show their claim on their superiority to the
rest of the world in all areas so the Soviet Union used these provincial and republic

ballet theatre served as a powerful source of propaganda, not only to Moscow and

Leningrad, but also abroad, emphasizing the Soviet Unions dedication to cultural

development even in traditionally under-developed regions. (Hamm) The Soviet Union

did use Ballet however they still stopped the modernization of it. The modernization of

ballet was nearly diminished after the 1930s because of the governments rule. The

state had eventually taken control of the performing arts by the 1930s, which made a

large impact on the ballet performances. Due to this socialist direction, Ballet

throughout the 20th century has had little enhancements with growing into the modern

culture and is, highly known for practicing classical style of Ballet and have very strict

technique.

Following the Russian Revolution, the Soviet government decided that the ballet

school and company were unwanted symbols of the tsarist regime and wanted to close

them. The ballet company was the first to be re-established, becoming known as the

Soviet Ballet, with the school re-opening later as the Leningrad State Choreographic

School, both remaining in their previous locations. The Mariinsky Ballet not only lost

previous funding from the czar but through the October Revolution of 1917, the

company lost 40 percent of their choreographers and dancers. The company changed

its name to Kirov Theatre, to honor General Sergei Kirov, the well-known early
communist leader. (Hamilton) This showed how Ballet was now taken over by the

Revolutionaries in Russia. The Bolshoi ballet almost became obliterated due after the

Revolution. In 1918 Vladimir Lenin insisted on demolishing the Bolshoi Theater. He

said that opera was a bourgeois art, it cost too much, and that the performers were

arrogant and wanted only money. Surprisingly, it was Joseph Stalin and Anatoly

Lunacharsky, who is considered the USSR's first culture minister, who changed Lenin's

mind. (Hamilton) Russias two major Ballet companies were not destroyed, however

they were overthrown by this new government and were controlled and restricted.

Many Russian dancers and choreographers did not want to confine to the new

Bolshevik leaders. They wanted the freedom to be more modern and looked for places

to explore their creativity and adapt to 20th century changes and modernizations. One

very important innovator of Ballet that fled from Russia was Sergey Diaghilev, who

founded Ballet Russes in 1909 with choreographer Michel Fokine, dancer Vaslav

Nijinsky, and designer Alexandre Benois. (Winestein) Diaghilev was not a dancer or

choreographer but an innovator. He had a vision for a new way for Ballet, similar to how

Marius Petipa had a revision for Ballet when he paved the way for Classical Ballet.

Diaghilev went on and created the Ballet Russe which was french for Russian Ballet.

Ballet Russe started under a different name and in fact had nothing to do with Diaghilev

at all. Ballet Russe started out as a ballet company made by Pavillon dArmide historian
Alexandre Benois, an avid balletomane whose grandfather had built the Mariinsky

Theater. (Winestein) The Mariinsky took in the ballet that they created however nothing

happened until Mikhail Fokin came across it, staging a segment of it as a graduation

performance for the students of the Imperial Ballet School. (Winestein) The Ballet was

a success and led interest to Benois' great friend, Sergey Diaghilev. Diaghilev was

impressed by their performance and agreed with Benois' advice that, he should bring

not only opera but ballet productions to Paris. (Winestein) This led to the foundation of

the Ballets Russes and its initial Parisian success. (Winestein) Ballet Russes start off

was right when the problems in Russia started. However Ballet Russe was never

performed in Russia. After the staging of Stravinskiy's controversial The Rite of Spring ,

World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution kept Diaghilev from returning to Russia. Since

the Ballet Russe wanted to present audiences with, new choreography, new music,

new stars, and a new performing company the company left Russia in order to make

these changes. The Ballets Russes dragged ballet out of the 19th century and

launched it into the 20th. In the process, they redefined the art of dance on all levels

not just its style and subject, but its place, status and reach. (Garafola) Ballet Russes

works were able to be avant-garde and to adapt to the modernization of the 20th

century, unlike the Ballet companies that were ruled under the Soviet Unions new

leaders. Ballet Russes productions redefined ballet for the twentieth century,
reinventing an entire art form that had grown stale elsewhere in Europe However,

Ballet Russe wanted to still preserve Russias pre revolution culture. Diaghilev took in

dancers for the company and had them create new names that sounded more Russian.

Overall, the choreographers and dancers of the Ballets Russes overturned many of the

static conventions of classical Ballet, and ushered in the era of modern dance while

preserving a sense of tradition and the heritage of the Russian ballet

school. (Winestein)

It has been shown that the Politics of Russia have greatly affected Ballet. Ballet

was originally brought over as a political move by the Romanov Family to represent

their way to catch up with the rest of the Worlds countries who were prosperous. Then

once it was implemented Ballet became an entertainment and representation of the high

class in Russia. It helped Russia gain popularity and since it was so respected in the

country, Russia became the center for Ballet in the 19th and 20th century. In 1917, the

Russian revolution really affected Ballet through out the world. Ballet lost its constant

support, security and freedom given from the Russian Aristocracy because it was

looked at as unfitting in a socialist society. This caused Ballet to break up into two

different paths. It broke up Ballet into the classical Ballet which is still preserved in

Russia and the more contemporary ballet that came from the Ballet Russe. If the

Russian Revolution did not occur Ballet Russe would have been different and Classical
Ballet might not have been preserved like it was after the Revolution. Ballet has always

been a very popular art form and entertainment in many countries for centuries. Since

Ballet is so popular and influential itself, the politics and events of these countries

affected Ballets path and made it what it is today.

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