Slavic Languages and Societies Commons^™

Staging Soviet Ideals: The Birth Of Soviet Ballet And Its Reception 1927-1932, Abigail Rose Crosby

Senior Projects Spring 2023

This project explores ballet’s development as a Soviet art form through the critical reviews of three early Soviet ballets: The Golden Age (Zolotoy vek, 1930), The Bolt (Bolt, 1931), and Flames of Paris (Plamya parizha, 1932). Prior to the implementation of Socialist Realism, which set parameters for all cultural production within the Soviet Union from 1934 onward, definitions of Soviet culture were often unclear. As a result, it was often difficult for ballet makers to know what to produce and given the art form’s deep aristocratic roots, pressure to innovate in order to fit into the Soviet cultural project was …