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Is Putin Dead? Pay Attention When Russia Starts Broadcasting 'Swan Lake'
Vladimir Putin's enemies are keeping a close eye on a bird in pointe shoes, because a broadcast of "Swan Lake" may reveal his demise.
...Swan Lake has all the elements of a modern-day binge-able series: young, scantily dressed women, a winged sorcerer, an evil stepmother, a handsome prince, a double suicide. On March 3rd, Swan Lake played a role in the Ukraine war, when State authorities in Moscow shut down Russia's youth-focused, independent and often Kremlin-critical TV Rain. The staff walked off the set and asserted their power to have the last word through Tchaikovsky's dramatic music and the disciplined dancing of a corps of ballerinas. The airing of the Soviet recording of the ballet made NBC's nightly news two days later, leaving many Americans puzzled by the telecast of old Swan Lake footage during dead airtime. But TV Rain's gesture was perfectly legible to Russians. Symbolizing much more than nostalgia, it was the latest in over a half-century of Russian and Soviet media utilizing the ballet as an indication of crisis—and even leadership change....
In the original version of Swan Lake, which premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1877, Odette is a swan-maiden whose evil stepmother is trying to kill her. Her only protection is a crown she was given by her grandfather. If Odette marries, the evil stepmother's plans will be thwarted. Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette and vows to marry her but is tricked into infidelity by the demon Von Rothbart and his daughter Odile. Determined to be with Odette, Siegfried rips the crown from Odette's head and throws it into the lake; Odette dies in Siegfried's arms....
This past March, Swan Lake again was performed at Moscow's Bolshoi theatre. Dancers performed Grigorovich's 2001 version, a plotline which followed the tragic ending he initially proposed in 1969. Siegfried is defeated in a confrontation with the Evil Genius, who summons up a terrible storm which makes it impossible for Odette and Siegfried to unite. The prince is left alone at the lake. The music ends on a darker note as well. Competing theories of Vladimir Putin's madness, physical decline and even his hold on power can all be extracted from the performance.
Swan Lake is ripe with possibility, able to convey the full tragedy of the Russian state, of nationalism, of transition, of war and the defeat of evil. As so many of Ukraine's ballerinas have demonstrated in joining in the defense of their nation, dancers' bodies are not just beautiful and disciplined. They are capable of so much more—of resistance....
https://www.newsweek.com/putin-dead-pay-attention-when-russia-starts-broadcasting-swan-lake-1707162
...Swan Lake has all the elements of a modern-day binge-able series: young, scantily dressed women, a winged sorcerer, an evil stepmother, a handsome prince, a double suicide. On March 3rd, Swan Lake played a role in the Ukraine war, when State authorities in Moscow shut down Russia's youth-focused, independent and often Kremlin-critical TV Rain. The staff walked off the set and asserted their power to have the last word through Tchaikovsky's dramatic music and the disciplined dancing of a corps of ballerinas. The airing of the Soviet recording of the ballet made NBC's nightly news two days later, leaving many Americans puzzled by the telecast of old Swan Lake footage during dead airtime. But TV Rain's gesture was perfectly legible to Russians. Symbolizing much more than nostalgia, it was the latest in over a half-century of Russian and Soviet media utilizing the ballet as an indication of crisis—and even leadership change....
In the original version of Swan Lake, which premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1877, Odette is a swan-maiden whose evil stepmother is trying to kill her. Her only protection is a crown she was given by her grandfather. If Odette marries, the evil stepmother's plans will be thwarted. Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette and vows to marry her but is tricked into infidelity by the demon Von Rothbart and his daughter Odile. Determined to be with Odette, Siegfried rips the crown from Odette's head and throws it into the lake; Odette dies in Siegfried's arms....
This past March, Swan Lake again was performed at Moscow's Bolshoi theatre. Dancers performed Grigorovich's 2001 version, a plotline which followed the tragic ending he initially proposed in 1969. Siegfried is defeated in a confrontation with the Evil Genius, who summons up a terrible storm which makes it impossible for Odette and Siegfried to unite. The prince is left alone at the lake. The music ends on a darker note as well. Competing theories of Vladimir Putin's madness, physical decline and even his hold on power can all be extracted from the performance.
Swan Lake is ripe with possibility, able to convey the full tragedy of the Russian state, of nationalism, of transition, of war and the defeat of evil. As so many of Ukraine's ballerinas have demonstrated in joining in the defense of their nation, dancers' bodies are not just beautiful and disciplined. They are capable of so much more—of resistance....
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