*Misty Copeland has called out Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre for dressing performers in blackface, but the company has says it will “not get involved in such a discussion.”
Copeland, who made history in 2015 as the first Black female principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre, posted an image on Instagram of two white female actors in black body paint rehearsing for the Russian production of La Bayadère.
She said the use of blackface is racially insensitive.
Bolshoi Theatre director Vladimir Urin disagrees, saying the company will continue to use white performers painted black, as the ballet (a romantic tragedy set in India) has been performed the same way since 1877, per BBC.com.
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“The ballet La Bayadère has been performed thousands of times in this production in Russia and abroad, and the Bolshoi Theatre will not get involved in such a discussion,” Urin told Russia’s RIA Novosti news.
“I get that this is a VERY sensitive subject in the ballet world,” Copeland wrote on Twitter, adding: “But until we can call people out and make people uncomfortable, change can’t happen.
“It is painful to think about the fact that many prominent ballet companies refuse to hire dancers of colour and instead opt to use blackface.”
A 14-year-old Russian ballet dancer reportedly posted the photo, but after it was hit with a wave of abusive comments, it was removed from Instagram. Copeland reposted it, sparking debate online.
Supporters of the theater company say the use of black make-up is necessary because of a lack of Black performers in the country.
“Finding some sort of deep insults in this is simply ridiculous,” Urin said. “No-one has ever complained to us or saw… an act of disrespect.”
Peep the image of the actors above, was Copeland right to call out the theater? Sound off in the comments below.
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