A Russian state culture institute bans choreography students from staging dances from ‘unfriendly’ countries

Karolina Gongadze, a graduate of the Krasnodar State Institute of Culture, said in an Instagram video that the school has a list of countries whose dances choreography students may not stage in their graduation projects.

Gongadze’s thesis topic was “Traditional Folklore in Contemporary Georgian Choreographic Art.” She said the topic had been approved and she had started work on her thesis when she was told (the video doesn’t make clear by whom) that she might not be allowed to stage a Georgian dance for the practical part of the project because Georgia is “unfriendly” toward Russia.

In the end, Georgia didn’t make the list of countries whose dances can’t be staged at the institute. But according to Gongadze, one of her classmates was barred from staging a Moldovan dance.

Gongadze also said an instructor at the school recently asked her to stage an Armenian dance for a “really cool” festival in November. The performance was ultimately pulled from the festival because “Russia and Armenia aren’t friends.”

“In 2022, when our ‘special military operation’ had barely started, they just didn’t want to let students who had already choreographed Ukrainian dances for their graduation projects present them. If you’re thinking of applying to the Krasnodar Institute of Culture, think really hard about it — What if they ban your ethnic group’s dances there, too?” Gongadze said.

The video doesn’t make clear whether the list is official and approved by the school’s administration or informal. It also doesn’t say when exactly the list was introduced or when Gongadze graduated.

The video is no longer available on Instagram because the choreographer has either hidden or deleted it. It’s unclear why. The school hasn’t commented on the video.