The Bolshoi Meets Bolshevism: Moving Bodies and Body Politics, 1917-1934
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THE BOLSHOI MEETS BOLSHEVISM: MOVING BODIES AND BODY POLITICS, 1917-1934 By Douglas M. Priest A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of History – Doctor of Philosophy 2016 ABSTRACT THE BOLSHOI MEETS BOLSHEVISM: MOVING BODIES AND BODY POLITICS, 1917- 1934 By Douglas M. Priest Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, the historically aristocratic Bolshoi Ballet came face to face with Bolshevik politics for the first time. Examining the collision of this institution and its art with socialist politics through the analysis of archival documents, published material, and ballets themselves, this dissertation explains ballet’s persisting allure and cultural power in the early Soviet Union. The resulting negotiation of aesthetic and political values that played out in a discourse of and about bodies on the Bolshoi Theater’s stage and inside the studios of the Bolshoi’s Ballet School reveals Bolshevik uncertainty about the role of high culture in their new society and helped to define the contentious relationship between old and new in the 1920s. Furthermore, the most hostile attack on ballet coming from socialists, anti- formalism, paradoxically provided a rhetorical shield for classical ballet by silencing formalist critiques. Thus, the collision resulted not in one side “winning,” but rather in a contested environment in which dancers embodied both tradition and revolution. Finally, the persistence of classical ballet in the 1920s, particularly at the Ballet School, allowed for the Bolshoi Ballet’s eventual ascendancy to world-renowned ballet company following the second World War. This work illuminates the Bolshoi Ballet’s artistic work from 1917 to 1934, its place and importance in the context of early Soviet culture, and the art form’s cultural power in the Soviet Union. Copyright by DOUGLAS M. PRIEST 2016 For Babe. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincerest thanks to my committee chair Dr. Lewis Siegelbaum for his enthusiasm for and support of this project since its earliest conception in 2010. Without his guidance this dissertation would certainly not have been possible. I also extend my gratitude to the rest of my committee, Dr. Matthew Pauly, Dr. Karrin Hanshew and Dr. Joanna Bosse, all of whom have pushed me to become a better scholar and helped me to shape my ideas about dance and history ideas into a sensible project. Additionally, thank you to all the other faculty and graduate students in the Michigan State University Department of History who provided me with valuable feedback on my ideas and drafts throughout this process. I would also like to thank the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration for supporting the Moscow-based research for this project and to Professor Maria Zezina in particular for helping to guide my initial foray into the Russian archives. Finally, thank you to my wife Danielle for your eternal patience during my doctoral work and your willingness to uproot for the sake of my degree. All the intellectual aid provided by those listed above would not have been enough to ensure the success of this project without your continued love and support. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 Moving Bodies and Body Politics ............................................................................................... 3 Ballet and Dance in Russia ........................................................................................................ 12 Art and Culture in the Soviet Union .......................................................................................... 16 Dance and History ..................................................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 1: Uncertainty in Revolution, War and Ballet ........................................................... 33 Life in the Theater from February to October ........................................................................... 42 Uncertainty in January 1918 ..................................................................................................... 44 Survival? .................................................................................................................................... 47 Shortage ..................................................................................................................................... 53 Elite Continuity ......................................................................................................................... 57 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 63 CHAPTER 2: Classical Foundations, Socialist Structures ........................................................... 67 Narkompros, Lunacharsky and the Theaters ............................................................................. 72 Educating a New Generation ..................................................................................................... 78 Out with the Old, In with the Old. ............................................................................................. 91 1924 ........................................................................................................................................... 93 Riabstev’s 25th anniversary in the Bolshoi .............................................................................. 100 Zhizn’ Iskusstva, Akim Volynsky and Alexei Gvozdev.......................................................... 102 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 114 CHAPTER 3: Esmeralda, Daughter of the People: Searching for Socialism in Romantic Ballet on the “Big” Stage. ..................................................................................................................... 116 Theater, Big and Small ............................................................................................................ 130 Esmeralda and the Pay dispute ................................................................................................ 137 A Call for Change in Leadership ............................................................................................. 140 Riabstev on the Past, Present, and Future ............................................................................... 148 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 154 CHAPTER 4: Revolutionary Directions: Imperialism, Gender and The Red Poppy ................. 157 Act I – The Red Poppy Rejected ............................................................................................. 165 Act II – The Red Poppy Performed ......................................................................................... 173 An Experimental Intermission ................................................................................................ 181 Act III - The Red Detachment of Women and The Red Poppy ................................................ 192 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 202 CHAPTER 5: Football at the Bolshoi: The Reorganization of the Bolshoi Theater .................. 204 vi The 1928 Ballet School Reforms ............................................................................................ 207 A Tragic Intermission .............................................................................................................. 215 Evaluating Dances and Dancers .............................................................................................. 217 Football at the Bolshoi ............................................................................................................ 227 The Footballer ......................................................................................................................... 233 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 243 CHAPTER 6: The Brigade of the World Proletariat .................................................................. 246 Form and Content .................................................................................................................... 251 The Dispute over Ballet ........................................................................................................... 257 The Competition Drags On ..................................................................................................... 267 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 276 CONCLUSIONS: The Ascendency of Anti-Formalism and the Persistence of Classical Technique .................................................................................................................................... 279 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................. 295 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................