Dance. Russians are famous for their colorful and vibrant folk dances, which go back to pagan times. Lively dancing accompanied by singing adorned most of the holidays of the pre-Christian agricultural calendar. One such dance is the khorovod, a lively round dance originally performed only in the spring. During Soviet times folk dance was promoted as a form of mass entertainment for workers and soldiers.
Ballet. Theatrical dance originates from the serf-dance troupes kept by wealthy landlords, on the one hand, and the Western traditions of choreography brought in after Peter. Serf dancers refined traditional dances to new heights, perfecting many of the acrobatic movements modern Russian folk dance is famous for. Peter I invited French ballet masters to Russia in the early 1700's. In 1766 Catherine II established the Directorate of Imperial Theaters, which included a ballet division. From these beginnings there developed a highly developed school of ballet in Russia. The most important theaters in Russia included the Bolshoi (meaning "big") Theater in Moscow, and the Mariinsky (later renamed Kirov) Theater in St. Petersburg. The Bolshoi company dates its origins to 1776. Russian ballet (like Russian opera) really came into its own in the middle of the 19th century when the works or native writers and composers such as Chaikovsky's Swan Lake was performed. Crucial in the "Russification" of the Russian stage were such instructors and organizers as Lev Ivanov (1834-1901), who worked in St. Petersburg with the great French ballet master Marius Petipa (1818-1910), and Sergey Diaghilev (1872-1929), one of the founders of the World of Art Movement who did much to popularized Russian dance in the West. Famous ballet dancers include Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), Mathilde Kshesinskaya (1872-1971), and Vaclav Nijinsky (1881-1931).
In the first few years of Soviet power, all theaters and dance companies were nationalized. Dancers such as Galina Ulanova (1910- ) were expected to perform for the working people rather than the "bourgeoisie". Workers, soldiers and peasants crowded into such formerly exclusive haunts of the rich as the Bolshoi to hear their first operas and see their first ballet. This expansion of the audience brought new and broader appreciation for these art forms. Under Stalin, formalism in ballet (plotless ballets for the sake of pure beauty of movement) were condemned, as was other forms of experimentation; instead ballets with uplifting themes accessible to a wide audience were encouraged. Nevertheless, Russian ballet maintained its prestige and world class standards under Soviet control. Famous dancers of the Soviet era include Maya Plisetskaya (1925- ), Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) and Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948- ); the latter two eventually made their way to the West.
Theater. Russian drama (like the circus) as a genre has its origins in the street performances of the pagan skomorokhi as well as in the performances given at court by foreign actors. After Peter, Russian writers turned early to writing plays, especially social satire. The earliest such play of note is The Minor (1782) by D. I. Fonvizin (1744-92) and Woe from Wit by A. Griboedov (1795-1829). Pushkin's short dramas, such as Mozart and Salieri, The Stone Guest, Boris Godunov (later performed as an opera), as well as Gogol's The Inspector General, established a strong tradition for other writers to follow. Perhaps the most famous Russian playwright is Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), known particularly for his last four plays: The Seagull (1896) Uncle Vanya (1899), The Three Sisters (1901), and The Cherry Orchard (1903).
The Moscow Art Theater (MKhAT) was founded in 1898 by K. S. Stanislavsky (real name Alekseev; 1863-1938) and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko (1858-1943) and took as its symbol Chekhov's seagull. Stanislavsky's method included: respect for the author's intention; rigorous training to analyze and express character truthfully; subordination of individual performances to ensemble. During and after the collapse of Tsarism, a number of innovative directors rebelled against the methods of Stanislavsky. Chief among these was Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874-1940?), a young Jewish intellectual who supported the Bolshevik takeover as an opportunity to transform the theater. Meyerhold, who worked together with avant-garde writers and artists such as Mayakovsky and Malevich, advocated a complete break with the traditions of highly professional realism. Adopting the principles of Constructivism (removing the barrier between art and life, between artist and proletariat), Meyerhold reduced the stage props to geometric forms and often eliminated the stage altogether; the inner feelings of the characters were to be expressed by outer gestures and pantomime. Meyerhold also helped arrange the mass parades and street demonstrations which became a hallmark of Soviet power. (Originally these were held on several occasions which later were reduced only to International Workers' Day, May I and Revolution Day, November 7, the last such parades being held in Fall 1990 and Spring 1991.) The 1920's were the most exciting time for the Soviet theater, as two rival trends--traditional "inward looking" realism and "outward-directed" avant-garde constructivism--coexisted and strove to perfect their methods. After 1932 all avant-garde art was suppressed and the only socialist realism was allowed, since it was considered to be "uplifting" and accessible to the poorly educated masses). Ironically, Stalin chose the "bourgeois" Chekhov and Stanislavsky over the revolutionary Meyerhold, who nevertheless remained loyal to Stalin to the end.
Film. Lenin considered the cinema to be the most important genre of art for the new regime. He was particularly impressed by the films of D. W. Griffith. In the early years after the Revolution, many agitprop films (short clips designed to agitate the viewer with overt propaganda) were made showing evil British spies, lying Mensheviks, greedy kulak peasants, or sneaky "wreckers" attempting to disable Soviet machinery. In 1924 Sovkino, the Soviet Film Agency, was organized. Famous early Soviet films directed by Sergey Eisenstein (1898-1948): The Battleship Potemkin (1926) and October (1927). These films--with their massive casts and epic proportions-- might be called "romanticized docudrama," where historical events and symbolic, romanticized fiction are woven into a powerful political message for the viewer. Director V. I. Pudovkin (1893-1953) is famous for his socialist realist films, such as his Mother, after Gorky's novel. Eisenstein's films portrayed the masses as collective hero; while Pudovkin portrayed heroism on the level of the individual. Soviet cinema served as "a hammer for social change" rather than "a mirror reflecting society's problems." Eisenstein later got into trouble during the filming of Ivan the Terrible, when Stalin felt the Tsar too much seemed to symbolize his own reign. During most of the Soviet era, very few Western films were shown to the populace. Post-Stalin directors include Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-86), director of Andrei Rublev, a film about the tenacity of Russian creativity; and Sergey Bondarchuk (1920- ) director of the six-hour War and Peace, the most expensive Soviet film ever made.
Anatolii Lunacharsky (1875-1933) appointed to head The Commisariat of Enlightenment (or Narkompros). Directs all cultural activity, but allows freedom of expression so long as it is not overtly anti-Bolshevik; advocates allowing appropriate elements of pre-revolutionary culture to be used in service of the Revolution and to educate the masses. Aleksander Bogdanov (born Malinovski; 1873-1928) advocates completely eliminating all past cultural influences and starting afresh with a completely new proletarian culture. Founds Proletkult as a branch of the Narkompros to help bring about the creation of a truly proletarian culture. Champions constructivism and mass popular art (music made by tools; films of workers spliced together; mass festivals) In the late 1920's Stalin does away with both Lunacharsky and Bogdanov and returns cultural expression to realism with an increasingly nationalistic content.
Subjugation of organized religion. Provisional Government abolishes Peter the Great's institution of the Holy Synod and reinstates the Patriarchate. Tikhon elected in Nov. 1917. Bolsheviks remove state funding for the church and confiscate some major churches and monasteries but otherwise leave the Church alone until after the Civil War in 1921. Then churches are forced to hand over all their valuable--ostensibly for famine relief. Bolsheviks use dissenting clergy to form the Living Church, which undermines and replaces the regular church hierarchy. Wholesale destruction of churches and property; thousands of priests and bishops are killed. Tikhon is imprisoned; dies of heart failure in 1925. Afterward, the Patriarch is appointed by the Party, and the Church is controlled by the state police. All other religions are suppressed, especially Judaism and Protestant sects.