Helene

What neither the state nor the federal nor local government does is subsidize a major national/local or showcase company with its full or close-to-full operating budget, like the Mariinsky, until the Russian government had financial difficulties and couldn't, and Gergiev became a full-time development manager in addition to his other full-time jobs, or Paris Opera Ballet, Staatsoper Berlin, La Scala, etc. There are smaller companies with smaller budgets that might be subsidized at a greater percentage from local and state governments, but none of the major companies. The same is true for opera, art museums, non-commercial theater, and what's considered high arts. The amount that film companies get in tax breaks is usually as a for-profit business and is a drop in the bucket compared to the tax breaks given to the usual suspect business corporations, like Boeing, Microsoft, and amazon in my neck of the woods. It's far more likely for taxpayers to vote to spend hundreds of millions on sports stadiums that benefit private, for-profit owners and corporations.

What is the context of this statement? When was it written and about which time?

Not at all strange for a country that never had a monarchy or court and whose Church traditions were more austere than decorative, in general.

No. Film is considered part of the entertainment industry. That doesn’t mean there aren’t film-makers who aspire to making films that are art and others who are decidedly non-commercial. Not all films are made by Hollywood, but the industry as a whole is categorized as entertainment. And, as Fraildove wrote, the latest industry in which Godunov worked was film, and it was certainly the career for which he is best known in the US, between Witness and Die Hard, especially Die Hard.

And Balanchine's Coppelia has a few sections of the Sylvia score for us to enjoy.

I ordered from an independent book store when it first came out, and it was out-of-stock. I was just thinking of canceling the order, when this notice came out, and I can wait another week to see if they get any.

Pacific Northwest Ballet occasionally has open rehearsal/coaching sessions in the main ballet studio at the Phelps Center, one that is as big as the stage. For these sessions, they put up temporary bleachers, with a row of chairs in the front. I usually try to be in the far back corner, but one day I came in time, but after the main group had been let in, and I had to sit in one of the few empty seats in the front row. To my astonishment, Judith Fugate and one of the PNB people sat next to me, and I had to remember to breathe and not, under any circumstances, turn into a raging fan girl. I loved her dancing.

Midsummer is a longer show for kids, being at the beginning and the end and has a lot of them. For Coppelia, the kids' appearances are more condensed.

I assume it was asking whether Godunov was actually gay. Of course, the quickie divorce snarky comment is false. As for why he was at the dance clubs, like many other people, gay or straight or somewhere in between or identifying in any other way, we’ll never know without someone speaking to it. It wasn’t remotely unusual.

Second weekend casting is also up: https://www.pnb.org/season/the-times-are-racing/ Here's a link to a downloadable Excel file: 2024 09 29 The Times Are Racing.xlsx

"Cats" ran for 21 seasons in the West End and 18 seasons on Broadway. not including revivals.

It is not Russian propaganda to state the fact about what Russia’s official position on Ukraine is. It is not Russian propaganda to point out that there are no official sanctions against studying the arts in Russia or performing there or no prohibitions against hiring them back in their own countries in the vast majority of countries. There’s no obligation are a lot of legal principles involved with such prohibitions, and they tend to be broad and rare. That doesn’t mean that they are encouraged. There are many other, more effective ways,ie, preventing money laundering and seizing assets, if there is the political will. There’s no obligation for anyone to understand or respect their decisions to do so. It could be to state Russian assertions themselves as “facts”, and it would be to insist on them.

Re: edited posts: if you’re going to describe a ballet professional's motivations, then, per our site rules, cite where they said or wrote this. Or don’t post about it.

Please do not discuss what happens on other platforms, unless it is to talk about what ballet professionals post.

There's no reason for ushers to know happens to anyone onstage or backstage, and it's up to someone in the company to decide whether to disclose it.