Production company cancels Russian ballerina performance

Poster for Russian ballerina Svetlana Zakharova's performance with the Bolshoi Ballet next month at the Opera House of Seoul Arts Center, which was canceled Friday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The performance of Russian ballerina Svetlana Zakharova with the Bolshoi Ballet next month at the Opera House of Seoul Arts Center was canceled after much opposition from the public and the Ukrainian Embassy.

Inarts Production, the company that organized Bolshoi Ballet’s tour in Seoul, announced on Friday that Zakharova’s “Modanse” performance, initially scheduled from April 17 to 21, has been canceled.

“We planned this performance before Covid-19 and have considered various options, but due to recent concerns about the safety of artists and audiences and the request from the Seoul Arts Center, we decided to cancel,” a representative from Inarts Production said.

In response to the criticism that the public interest review committee failed to filter out politically controversial performances, the Seoul Arts Center said that “’Modanse’ was first planned in 2018 before the war broke out. Also, it appears that there was a judgment that the war would not continue for this long.”

Zakharova has been showing her political alignment with Russian President Vladimir Putin by serving as a member of the presidential Council for Arts and Culture. She also supported the Russian annexation of Crimea.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Seoul protested against Zakharova’s performance in Seoul when it was announced, calling it “an act of justifying Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

According to a statement released on March 4, the embassy said it cannot “tolerate the act of presenting performers of the encroaching state which validates the unrighteous Russian invasion and neglects the pain of Ukrainians.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]