Reportedly because of government objections to ‘gay propaganda,’ the Bolshoi Theater canceled a hotly anticipated ballet. Its director later shared photos of the crew in tears

On July 11, a new ballet directed by Kirill Serebrennikov was scheduled to premiere at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Three days before Opening Day, however, the theater’s management announced that the premiere was being delayed a full year, claiming that the performance wasn’t yet ready. Sources in the theater industry suspect that the decision to postpone “Nureyev” was made under pressure from Russia’s Culture Ministry, and possibly because Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky personally objected to the ballet’s supposed “gay propaganda.” (Rudolf Nureyev, on whom the play is based, was a famous Soviet ballet dancer and an openly gay man, and the ballet depicts his romantic relationship with Danish dancer Eric Brun.) Serebrennikov has refused to comment on the canceled premiere, but in a Facebook post on July 11 he thanked his crew, sharing photographs showing everyone in tears.

The Bolshoi Theater’s management says that the decision to cancel the premiere of “Nureyev” was made jointly with Kirill Serebrennikov and the ballet’s choreographer, Yuri Posokhov. Speaking to the newspaper Vedomosti, Serebrennikov said it was the theater’s decision, and refused to elaborate any further. Writing on social media, several of the Bolshoi Theater’s actors have claimed that the show was ready and had even finished its final rehearsal.

On July 11, Kirill Serebrennikov published his first written comments about the cancellation of his ballet’s premiere, thanking the show’s crew, including Vladimir Urin, the Bolshoi Theater’s general director.

“The premiere would have been today. But Rudy [Nureyev] can’t exist without freedom, and so he’s flown the coup once again. Yura, Ilya, all the actors, dancers, chorus, all my friends and theater brothers, all and everyone who made this performance, including the producers and General Director Urin, thank you all. To some of you, for your amazing work on the stage, which still exists no matter what. And to others for the opportunity to do this. Just as these letters will be saved in ‘the cloud,’ your performances, though never seen by the public, are being sent straight for special storage, but they’re hardly disappearing. My friends, I love you all!!! Rudy is pleased with our work. I’m sure of it,” Serebrennikov wrote on Facebook.