Most of the audience were Communists (except for Yours Truly), and they ate it up. Indeed, it was a fine performance, and the quality of the video was very good given that 1981 was still in the analog era.
Afterward,the MC wished us a merry Christmas, which I thought was very un-Marxist-Leninist, but someone in the audience shouted in Russian, "S novim godom!" (to the new year, or happy new year), the preferred holiday greeting during the Soviet era.
I guess you can say that I experienced a Red Christmas.
Thank you for sharing! And no shade if you dabbled ‘in the red’ for a bit! Kidding. 🙂 But ex-communists make the best conservatives. And the Christian tradition is embedded in so much of the Russian psyche and language; they could only put on the charade for so long.
I watched videos of Soviet ballets on repeat, growing up. They were glorious and hardly reflected any austere, Marxist aesthetic. They likely served as the imaginative and grand imperial escapes both participants and viewers alike needed to cope with the day to day realities on the ground. 🦋
None of the ballets I watched were The Nutcracker, so I will have to look into the Soviet era interpretations. (I ended up visiting both Moscow and St. Petersburg in person a few years ago and saw several ballets *in person.* The companies have become much more commercialized/globalized since the USSR collapsed - that the distinctive soul has been somewhat lost.)
Ironically, George Balanchine, a Soviet exile himself, choreographed what would become the flagship American take on The Nutcracker. And arguably the best.
But it’s actually the ONE ballet he did that goes against his signature minimalist, modern aesthetic. Go figure! 🩰