The Nurevey ballet, dedicated to the famous dancer Rudolf Nurevey, has been removed from the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow for being considered "homosexual propaganda."
According to the Russian agency Interfax, the general director of the cultural institution, Vladimir Urin, announced this Wednesday the elimination of this representation due to "the signed law that establishes in an absolutely unequivocal way the issues related to the propaganda of non-violent values. traditional".
The law in question has the objective of prosecuting any exhibition, mention or show of public support for the LGTB collective, already heavily punished in the country. The norm prohibits "the propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations", pedophilia and gender reassignment in the media, the internet, advertising, literature and cinema. Fines for violating the legislation go up to 10 million rubles (160,500 euros).
Urin has affirmed that after the approval of the law, the Bolshoi leadership made the decision to withdraw the function.
The ballet, directed by the renowned Russian director Kiril Serébrennikov, had already generated intense controversy in Russia and, on several occasions, the cancellation of the show was reported, but they were denied by the Theater to this day.
Detractors of the show criticized the set design, which showed a large nude of the dancer, as well as the constant references to his homosexuality.
The dancer Nureyev, on whom the show is inspired, graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy (Leningrad) in 1958, after which he joined the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theater in this city, where he stood out for his special talent. In 1961, during a tour in Paris, he made the decision to defect from the Soviet Union, for which he was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison for the crime of treason. He was one of the most acclaimed dancers of the 20th century in Europe.
In his personal life, Nureyev was in a 25-year relationship with Danish dancer and choreographer Erik Bruhn until his death in 1986, after which he had a promiscuous sex life and contracted HIV.
