BLACKFACE IN CLASSICAL BALLET IN RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES ANNABEL

KAPLAN

Major: Dance

Minor: Early Childhood Education

Class of 2023

In December 2019, an Instagram post by Misty Copeland, the first African American principal dancer with American Ballet Theater, sparked a global debate on the use of blackface in classical ballet performance. In the post, Copeland shared a photo of two Bolshoi ballet dancers with brown-painted skin, exaggerated red lips, and eyes circled in white to appear “Indian” for their role as “servants of the Golden Idol” in the ballet La Bayadere. Copeland expressed her distress at this disturbing image and called for change in the ballet world. She wrote, “Until we can call people out and make people uncomfortable, change can’t happen” (Alex, 2019, p.1). However, Copeland’s message was not met with universal support. In fact, many Russians supported the Bolshoi’s costume choice and seemed appalled that the use of blackface would be considered racist.

This post was widely shared among Copeland’s 1.8 million Instagram followers and opened up a discussion on the use of blackface in classical ballet in the global dance community. This online debate highlighted a geographic divide in public opinion on the use of blackface. While most North Americans feel that blackface is an offensive and dated practice that perpetuates negative stereotypes against people of color, many Europeans, specifically Russians, do not hold the same views. This paper will explore why the use of blackface in classical ballet in the United States has become nearly obsolete in the 21st century, while in Russia it remains commonplace. This research will deconstruct the Russian defense of their continued use of blackface and address the question of whether the continued use of blackface in Russian ballet should be considered racist.

Some of the most popular ballets with roles traditionally performed in blackface include La Bayadere, Schéhérazade, and Petrouchka. La Bayadere is a four-act ballet choreographed by Marius Petipa with music by Léon Minkus. Inspired by a Sanskrit drama, this ballet tells the story of a fateful love between a temple dancer and wealthy warrior who is betrothed to another woman (Cohen, 2005). La Bayadere takes place in India; however, in “A ‘La Bayadère’ for the 21st Century: How Companies are Confronting the Ballet’s Orientalist Stereotypes,” Joseph Carman describes how “[t]he ballet’s confusing Eastern pseudo-religiosity mashes up Hindu temples with Persian harem pants and a gold Buddhist idol” (2020). Carman further describes how this inauthentic mixing and matching of Eastern cultures was characteristic of the orientalism that was seen as fashionable at the time of the ballet’s creation in the 1870s. La Bayadere traditionally features “child servants” and “temple dancers” who perform in blackface to appear “Indian.”

Schéhérazade is a one-act ballet choreographed by Michel Fokine in 1910. The ballet is viewed as “the epitome of Serge Diaghilev’s Orientalism” and features a plot about “harem wives and black slaves indulging in an orgy,” at the end of which all of the wives and slaves are slaughtered (Cohen, 2005). The principal character in Schéhérazade, often referred to as the “Golden Slave,” is traditionally performed in blackface. At the time that he choreographed Schéhérazade, Fokine had not done any formal study of authentic Eastern dance. Thus, the ballet features a “pseudo-Oriental” style that allowed it to garner immense popularity in Europe in the early 20th century (Cohen, 2005). Schéhérazade has since gone out of style and has not been performed outside of Russia since 1995. Despite the ballet’s lack of modern performances, Hanna Jarvinen describes the profound legacy of Schéhérazade on the ballet world in “Ballet Russes and Blackface.” Jarvinen writes, “even if Schéhérazade was not still present on ballet stages, its status as a masterpiece gives it currency in the dance discourse” (2020, p.78).

Petrouchka, another Michel Fokine ballet created for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, also features a prominent character that is traditionally performed in blackface. The oneact ballet, to the music of Igor Stravinsky, tells the story of romantic tensions between three puppets: Petrouchka, the Moor, and the Ballerina. The role of “the Moor” is traditionally performed in blackface, with choreography that portrays the character in a dangerously stereotypical way. In “It’s Time to Overhaul the Blackface (or Blueface) Puppet in Petrouchka,” Perron describes how “In Petrouchka, the Moor is not only mean and aggressive, but prodigiously stupid. He worships a coconut when he can›t crack it open with his sword” (2020). Ja rvinen further describes how the choreographies of Schéhérazade and Petrouchka, in combination with the blackface makeup, perpetuate negative stereotypes of people of color. Ja rvinen writes, “If the Golden Slave is the threat of the oversexualized black man who has to be killed at the end of the work because he has sullied the white woman, the Blackamoor is the threat of the killer, the primitive Other, the rebellious slave who would not remain content with his lot” (2020, p. 81). These stereotypes — “the oversexualized black man,” “the killer,” “the primitive other,” and “the rebellious slave” — have haunted people of color for centuries and are being reinforced in these ballets that are traditionally performed in blackface.

Though Petrouchka and La Bayadere are still performed in the United States, the use of blackface in these ballets has become practically obsolete. In the United States, blackface is predominantly viewed as an offensive depiction of people of color, tied to the history of U.S. minstrelsy. In antebellum America, blackface minstrelsy was a cultural phenomenon in which predominantly white performers would darken their skin with burnt cork and perform music, dance, and comedic acts that reinforced negative stereotypes against African Americans. Douglas Jones describes antebellum minstrelsy as a display of “claptrap humor, vacuous Black dramatis personae, and pro-plantation ideology” (Jones, 2021, p. 31). After the Civil War, Black performers began to perform in minstrel shows as well but would often still perform in blackface to conceal their racial identity. Blackface minstrel shows mocked the Black experience for the entertainment of white Americans and reinforced the ideology of white supremacy by portraying African Americans through negative stereotypes.

The use of blackface makeup in the United States is deeply entangled in the troubling history of minstrelsy. However, even after the decline of minstrel shows, blackface continued to be used to promote negative racial stereotypes in popular culture. Michael Rogin describes how major Hollywood films and popular musicals continued to feature blackface and pro-plantation ideology through the 1940s. African American participation in World War II and the subsequent Civil Rights movement began to turn public opinion in the United States against blackface. Rogin describes how “The modern Civil Rights movement, of black militance and mass protests, was born during World War II. Since it was African-American self-representation that blackface nostalgia sought to escape, blackface came under growing criticism during and after the war” (1994, p. 9). Since World War II and the subsequent Civil Rights movement, public opinion has continued to turn against blackface in the U.S. as its ties to minstrelsy and negative racial representation have become common knowledge.

Ballets popular in the 19th and early 20th century that featured blackface are largely either no longer performed in the U.S. or have been modified to be more racially sensitive. Carman (2020) describes how the Pennsylvania Ballet has removed the blackface makeup and made modifications to the choreography of Petipa’s La Bayadere to remove some of the blatant and inaccurate orientalism. To do so, Pennsylvania Ballet’s artistic director, Angel Corella, “asked dance anthropologist and Swarthmore College professor Pallabi Chakravorty to assist in contextualizing La Bayadere from an Indian perspective” (Corella, 2020). Chakravoty assisted Corella in infusing authentic Islamic and Hindu greeting and worship gestures into Petipa’s original choreography. Perron (2020) describes how American ballet companies have attempted to alter the Moor character in Petrouchka to be less offensive. While some companies have replaced the blackface with blue face paint, Michel Fokine’s granddaughter, Isabelle Fokine, states, “I would propose to replace [the Moor] with a ‘Warrior,’ based in appearance on a Cossack doll my father had. That way he could be fierce and lustful, associated with what he does, rather than a particular ethnic group” (Perron, 2020). While many critics feel that these modifications are insufficient and American ballet companies should no longer perform these racially insensitive ballets, Russian ballet companies continue to perform these ballets with original choreography and costuming, including blackface makeup.

After Copeland’s Instagram post, director of the Bolshoi ballet, Vladimir Urin, Bolshoi spokeswoman, Katerina Novikova, and a number of Russian ballet dancers spoke out in defense of the Bolshoi’s use of blackface. Their defense of blackface in classical ballet appears to be threefold. First, advocates of blackface in Russian classical ballet claim that performing ballets such as La Bayadere with original costuming and choreography is simply preserving the traditional costuming of the original production. In response to Copeland’s criticism, Urin stated that the Bolshoi has “performed this production thousands of times in Russia and abroad” with dancers in blackface (“Russia’s Bolshoi rejects US dancer’s ‘blackface’ criticism” 2019, p.1). Urin insinuates that in order to preserve the historical authenticity of classical ballet, productions like La Bayadere should continue to be performed exactly as they were in the original production, with the inclusion of blackface makeup. The Bolshoi’s second justification for the use of blackface in classical ballet is that there are not sufficient non-white ballet dancers in Russia to portray the roles authentically. “Russia’s Bolshoi rejects US dancer’s ‘blackface’ criticism” describes how “[s]ome of Russia’s ballet dancers and experts defended the Bolshoi production of “La Bayadere”, noting that the country simply does not have black ballet dancers” (2019, p.1). This argument suggests that in the absence of dancers of color, blackface must be used to maintain the illusion of exoticism. The Bolshoi’s final defense is that blackface in Russian ballet is not racist because it does not carry the same historical associations as blackface in the U.S. While in the U.S. blackface is considered racist because it is associated with minstrelsy and negative racial stereotypes, in Russia it supposedly is considered commonplace because it lacks these associations. When discussing the Boshoi’s use of blackface, principal dancer Svetlana Zakharova stated, “[t]here is nothing strange here, for us this is absolutely normal,” and, “This is theatre. This is performance. So I probably would not see any suggestion of racism here” (“Russia’s Bolshoi rejects US dancer’s ‘blackface’ criticism,” 2019, p. 1). Zakharova’s comments reflect the sentiment that in Russia, performance in blackface should not be considered racist because it does not carry the historical associations of minstrelsy.

To address the Bolshoi’s first defense of the continued use of blackface in classical ballet, it is necessary to consider whether the essence of historical ballets such as

La Bayadere, Schéhérazade, and Petrouchka can be preserved with slight alterations in costuming. As previously discussed, many ballet companies in the United States continue to perform La Bayadere and Petrouchka but have altered the costuming to remove the use of blackface. It is also important to note that, even when performed in traditional costuming, modern versions of La Bayadere and other 19th century ballets will look much different than their original productions. Technical innovation in ballet has progressed to the point that dancers today are able to accomplish technical feats well beyond their 19th and early 20th century counterparts. However, modern day ballet dancers are not asked to be less technically proficient in order to preserve the historical authenticity of traditional ballets.

Just as the dancers’ execution of the choreography has evolved with time, many dance scholars believe that costuming choices like blackface can evolve as well. British choreographer of Asian descent, Shobana Jeyasingh, describes how while watching La Bayadere she was “offended as a British Asian to sit in an audience and see supposedly Indian holy men [the fakirs] move like servile monkeys.” (Winship, 2020). Jeyasingh believes that ballet companies must alter traditional costuming and choreography to align with modern-day conceptions of racism. She states, “Every branch of the arts has had to engage with the legacy of colonialism, so I don’t see why ballet can’t do the same” (Winship, 2020). Jeyasingh’s statements reflect the view that some classical ballet traditions, such as the use of blackface, are not worth preserving. Statements from Phil Chan, Co-director of Final Bow for Yellowface, an organization created to reevaluate Asian representation in the performing arts, reflect these sentiments. He states, “If you think about what a performing art is, change is an inherent part of it. It’s not fixed like sculpture or painting. The original Black Swan tutu was canary yellow; Giselle had national dances in the second act until Petipa changed it; there are several versions of Balanchine’s Apollo. So if we’re changing some things, why are we are clinging to outdated representations of race?” (Winship, 2020). Despite the arguments of Western dancers, choreographers, and dance scholars, the artistic leadership of the Bolshoi does not appear to believe that the historical legacy of 19th and 20th century ballets can be preserved if the use of blackface is removed.

The Bolshoi’s second defense of their continued use of blackface, that there simply are not enough ballet dancers of color in Russia to portray these roles authentically, is flawed for a number of reasons. According to the 2010 census, approximately 81% of Russians identify themselves as “ethnic Russians.” This means that approximately 19% of the Russian population is composed of ethnic minorities. Whether or not any of these Russian ethnic minorities are considered “white” is a complex question; however, this data demonstrates that if Russian ballet companies were to employ dancers in a way that is proportional to the demographic ethnic diversity of the country, approximately one fifth of the dancers would be ethnic minorities. The Bolshoi is a large company that employs hundreds of dancers, so one fifth of the company would be enough to provide the cast for a full productiion.

The Russian ballet community’s second defense of their use of blackface is further undermined by the fact that the Bolshoi Ballet has a practice of hiring international dancers. While many dancers have come to the Bolshoi from other Eastern European countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, and Hungary, the Bolshoi has hired dancers such as David Hallberg from as far as the United States (Bolshoi Theatre, 2021). This practice demonstrates that even if there are not sufficient dancers of color in Russia to authentically portray roles traditionally performed in blackface, the Bolshoi is capable of hiring international dancers to fill these roles. It is also important to note, however, that many dance scholars believe that simply asking dancers of color to perform roles traditional performed by white dancers in blackface is not a sufficient solution to address the racism inherent in these ballets. Jarvinen (2020) writes, “Typecasting makes the dancer complicit in racist representation and, at its worst, enables a reading in which the racist stereotype can be attested as “truthful” by the nonwhite body dancing the role” (p. 85). If dancer of color are forced to perform choreography that portrays their race as a caricature of negative stereotypes, the orientalist and racist underpinnings of the ballet are still upheld. The Bolshoi’s final defense of their continued use of blackface is more complex to deconstruct. Russian blackface advocates assert that the idea that blackface is racist is uniquely American, and that Russian ballet companies should not be forced to comply with Western standards of racism. Whether or not blackface is viewed as racially insensitive by people of color in Russia has not been sufficiently researched; however, Jarvinen asserts that even when detached from the history of minstrelsy, the use of blackface by Russian ballet companies should be considered racist. Jarvinen references Achille Mbembe’s theory of racial assignation to argue that continued performance of the negative racial stereotypes in ballets such as Schéhérazade and Petrouchka functions to marginalize people of color by reinforcing their “exoticism” and portraying them as “unrepresentable” while allowing white audiences to observe in “willful ignorance” (Jarvinen, 2020, p. 82). She further asserts that while the Russian use of blackface is not directly related to blackface minstrelsy, it is associated with other negative historical contexts. Jarvinen (2020) describes how the Moor character in Petrouchka “was literally an Arab, and primarily associated with the (Orthodox) Christians’ fight against Islam — a Spanish Reconquista imagined onto the conflicts against the Ottoman Turks on the Balkan Peninsula that continued well into the twentieth century” (p. 82). Thus, rather than carrying associations with minstrelsy, the Russian Moor character carries associations of 19th and 20th century European Islamophobia. Jarvinen’s arguments demonstrate that even when detached from the American minstrel scene, Russian bal- let companies’ continued use of blackface actively marginalizes people of color, and reinforces historical Orientalism and Islamophobia.

In summary, while, in the United States the use of blackface in classical ballet has rapidly declined in response to the post-World War II Civil Rights movement, in Russia, the blackface remains commonplace in performances of ballets such as La Bayadere, Petrouchka, and Schéhérazade. In response to Copeland’s criticism, the artistic leadership of the Bolshoi presented three defenses for their continued use of blackface: that the use of blackface is necessary to preserve the historical authenticity of these ballets, that there are not sufficient non-white dancers in Russia to perform these roles authentically, and that blackface is not considered racist in Russia because it lacks historical associations with minstrelsy. This research deconstructed these defenses and provided opposing perspectives that suggest that Russian ballet companies’ continued use of blackface is unnecessary and should be considered racist. The referenced scholars argue that Russian use of blackface is unnecessary because the historical authenticity of classical ballets can be preserved without the use of blackface and Russian ballet companies are capable of hiring dancers of color. These scholars argue that Russian ballet companies’ continued use of blackface should be considered racist because it actively marginalizes communities of color through negative representation and associations with historical Orientalism and Islamophobia.

The scholarly conversation around the use of blackface in classical ballet is relatively new and more research needs to be conducted to determine the impact of the continued use of blackface on communities of color. Anecdotal evidence needs to be collected to determine how non-white communities in Russia view the use of blackface as these communities are often left out of Russian scholarship. More research should also be conducted to determine how the continued use of blackface in Russian ballet companies is indicative of the Russian political atmosphere and of Russian resistance to liberal Western ideology. It would be interesting to examine the Russian use of blackface through the lens of political and ideological relations between Russia and the United States. The scholarly conversation on the use of blackface in classical ballet is part of a growing conversation on racism in classical ballet. Ballet companies are being forced to examine whether the work they present reflects a 21st century perspective of race relations. Many scholars and dance artists are beginning to recognize the ways in which historical notions of white supremacy are entangled in the foundations of classical ballet and are coming to understand that, in order for classical ballet to remain relevant for the 21st century, it needs to face a racial reckoning. These scholars and artists are beginning to realize that the continued use blackface is one of many ways in which ballet remains entrenched in racist ideology that has no place in the modern world.