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Yes, hence the NYT headline: "Mariinsky Dancers Barred..."

That sort of terminology is only used in the case of freelancers. There is a reason dancers are identified by their professional affiliation: étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, senior artist of the Australian Ballet or principal dancer of San Francisco Ballet. They are hired precisely as representatives of their employer. This establishes their credentials with audiences and carries varying degrees of prestige.

When a dancer takes an outside gig he is not a representative of his employer. Perhaps yagp should have referred to Kim as intl guest artist

Akhmetshina has been working in the West since she joined the young-artists' program of the Royal Opera House in 2017. I likewise think that if YAGP had invited a Russian ballerina who works in the United States, the Netherlands or Austria, it would not have been an issue.

The issue raised in the assemblyman's letter is not Russian nationality but institutional affiliation with the Mariinsky whose head is a very close ally of Putin. I find it less problematic for someone to be banned for that reason than for someone to be banned on basis of nationality or even citizenship. Akhmetshina is not listed on the Mariinsky's website or on the Bolshoi's--she is not a member of those companies. In fact, according to an interview in Vogue, after one competition in Moscow her entire career has been in the West. In any case, there is no Russian institutional affiliation that links her to the likes of Gergiev, nor has she been through the ideological machinery that sends artists to perform in the Crimea. [Ballet fans may be intrigued to learn that, like Nureyev, Akhmetshina is from Ufa. She even specifies in the Vogue interview that "I am from the Republic of Bashkortostan in Russia..." and in another (12/31/2023 NYTimes) that she is half Tatar and half Bakshir --so shades of Nureyev there too.] Whatever the personal situation or political stance (if any) of Khoreva, Kim, and Nagahisa they "represent" a major Russian institution closely tied not just to the Russian state but to Putin personally. Akmetshina does not. One might argue that the situation does not merit banishing them from American stages; on the other side, I suppose some might argue that even Akmetshina should be banished. But I feel I understand the difference between the cases. (And, all that said, it also wouldn't surprise me to learn that there are inconsistencies in how companies and theaters go about addressing this issue, and any one controversy may have spillover effects to other situations.) YAGP seems to have though they could open a little chink in the balletic iron curtain and ride out the controversy, but the Koch theater is technically owned by New York State and gets money from them, so it's no great shocker the theater caved in once the issue was raised in Albany. I say, "the theater" because Khoreva's Instagram says the theater cancelled the appearance . But who knows how this played out. She herself probably doesn't. I am inclined to think that the original invitation to the Mariinsky dancers was insufficiently thought through. I don't think this is just 20/20 hindsight on my part because...well...when I saw their names listed for the gala I was very surprised. When I saw the appearances had been cancelled, much less surprised. I can imagine what YAGP might have been thinking (I edited this post to get rid of those speculations) but in any case, for the current context, they were mistaken....

"House of Balanchine" .... love that!

YAGP should not have announced them as artists for the program if they were just going to cave to protestors. The war in Ukraine is tragic. But I don't think the blame for Ukraine's misery can be placed on the shoulders of Kimin Kim or Nagahisa. The Met Opera hired Russian Akhmetshina this season as its new Carmen, and featured her in its Live in HD performance of the opera. The Met also hired other Russians regularly. She also performs at the Royal Opera this season. How could it be possible that it's okay for a Russian citizen to perform at the Met Opera, but it's not okay for a South Korean citizen who has been performing in Russia for many years before the war started to perform here, and is persona non grata in the U.S. I attended the show last night (the YAGP gala) but I saw no protests.

It was certainly a controversial decision — but a debacle?

Mearns learned the tall girl role in Rubies a long time ago but due to injury she never performed it. She retired Emeralds from her rep a number of years ago. Now she only performs Diamonds at the House of Balanchine.

While the gala was taking place, the city of Dnipro and its vicinity was being bombed, resulting in seven deaths, including two children aged 8 and 14. So honestly, I'm not too worried about Khoreva's or Kim's feelings or the disappointment of people who wanted to see them. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68853490

Well, yes Toronto audiences will have the "unique opportunity" to see an acclaimed Balanchine ballerina dance all three roles in one of his iconic works and, normally I'd be thrilled to do so - but not at the expense of our own dancers. There are way too few performances of Jewels scheduled in June and three opportunities taken from the company dancers is three too many. I suspect there are more than a few pissed off people in the company right now questioning why and how this decision was made. Additionally, Sara Mearns can't have come cheap - so why add extra expense at this time. I don't think it was something Cote had a hand in, as I believe he doesn't have that kind of influence anymore. So, I'd like to have been a fly on the wall when this casting decision was made and the reasoning behind it. I don't hold any resentment towards Mearns - if she was invited and wanted to do it, she's perfectly intitled to except. She isn't scheduled in any of the three shows I have booked and, once casting is finally posted, if I do change dates, it will be due to which dancers I want to see. Is there some sort of competition between Mearns and Nadon about who dances all three roles first? This is something I've never heard about .... is it common knowledge amongst New York ballet fans?

Mariinsky Dancers Barred From Youth Ballet Gala in New York - The New York Times (nytimes.com) This debacle has made the NY Times. They forgot to mention that some of the banned dancers are not Russian citizens. In reality, many people, myself included, regarded Kim and Khoreva as the headliners for this event.

It's also not unusual for a cancelation to be initiated by the venue. After all, impresario A or organizer B thought that inviting controversial performer X or speaker Y was a good idea.

I think it's all about the Mariinsky as a brand. Had they been Russian dancers who work abroad, there wouldn't have been a problem. Had they been Japanese or Korean dancers who didn't work in Russia, there wouldn't have been a problem. But the Mariinsky is part and parcel of Putin's machine, as a tool of soft power, in that it gives special performances for the military, in that its director is part of Putin's inner circle and has used those ties to the hilt. In particular Nagahisa and Kim have made a choice to continue working in Russia, which is not an ally of the United States, and they must realize that one of the consequences of that decision is that their foreign appearances would be greatly reduced.

But the stated basis for intimidating the Koch theater into denying these performers the right to perform at the theater has nothing to do with copyright violations. (By the way, Cuba frequently violates copyright with respect to choreography, but their dancers are nevertheless permitted to perform here.) The stated reason in the Assemblyman's letter is the war in Ukraine. As far as I'm aware Kim and Nagahisa are not Russian citizens. They are citizens of countries that are allies of the US, and their home countries have not prohibited them from working with the Mariinsky. There is no citation of any law or regulation which the Koch or YAGP would be violating by permitting these performers on stage. As an aside, why was the Assemblyman's letter addressed to the Koch instead of YAGP, which is the entity that actually contracted with these performers. Maybe the Assemblyman's efforts to aid Ukraine would be better served by calling out the Republicans in Congress who have held up desperately needed aid to Ukraine for so long.

I actually think that's a beautiful thing. For Veyette to want to have one more run-around with the rest of the guys of the company is pretty cool.

That’s my guess. It is SUCH a great ensemble movement.

Maybe that will be a tribute to starting in the corps and being part of an ensemble.

If Stars & Stripes is involved, Veyette is going out with a bang. I'm trying to picture what he will do in the 3rd movement of Glass Pieces, though. I guess he will be the first guy who runs out leading the rest.

It's not really a coincidence, because Khoreva did get a visa and did fly to New York. Khoreva, Kim and Nagahisa are all employed by the Mariinsky, whose director is Vladimir Putin's number one apologist in the arts, and where intellectual property rights are ignored. All of them have performed in occupied Crimea. All of then have performed ballets from the which the choreographer's name has been removed, and not just in The Pharaoh's Daughter, but in indisputable Ratmansky ballets. These are some of the reasons the Mariinsky Ballet has become untouchable, and everyone who dances there carries its taint.

2018 - yes. But what an odd coincidence! I doubt we'll ever know the whole story, but it's more and more puzzling. Why was Kim given a visa, when he never publicly criticized the war and hasn't performed in the West since the invasion. Were these visa decisions rushed through by the state department without taking time to check things out on all of them? Did somebody say, well, we denied visas in 2018, must be something suspicious?

This sounds like a minor official - a NY State Assemblyman - intimidating the head of the Koch. The above letter does not cite to any violation of any sanctions as the basis for his demand that YAGP break its contract with these dancers.

Here's the BBC story about Smirnova leaving Russia and criticizing the war. This one is the most baffling in this episode: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-60767490

The Pointe Magazine article about Smirnova and Tissi is from 2018, FYI. I agree that Khoreva and Kim shouldn't have been pulled out at the last minute (not fair to anyone involved), but would having dancers from the state-funded Mariinsky at an American event violate sanctions rules? Or is this purely an emotional matter?

Kimin Kim did not perform last night. Denying a visa to Smirnova and Tissi is insanity. Smirnova left her homeland in protest of the war. It is too bad that a NY State Assemblyman could derail a private contract between YAGP and its contracted talent. There are plenty of Russian nationals performing at the Met and in other classical venues in the U.S. The litmus test is whether they came out and supported Putin and the war. In my opinion, banning these individual dancers is wrong.