The government of Turkmenistan has closed its national opera and ballet -- not for financial reasons, but because of a nationalistic agenda:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Turkmenistan Closes Opera, Ballet</B><P>ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) - Turkmenistan's authoritarian President Saparmurad Niyazov has closed down the main opera and ballet theater in his Central Asian nation to make way for arts more in line with Turkmen culture.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010405/en/turkmenistan_ballet_banned_1.html" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>

I find this sad reading. <P>It brings to mind a very lovely dancer I once knew from ballet class. She was from Iran - which she insisted on calling Persia. I knew her at the time when the Shah was ousted. From what she said ballet was beginning to flourish there when the state became very orthodox and closed the dance facilities. She and her family fled.

I remember that the State Ballet in Cape Town , South Africa, was also closed down last year due to political reasons.

Hi Kevin, here was that story about the South African company:<P><BR><a href=../../../ubb/Forum3/HTML/000196.html target=_blank><B>Closure of South African Ballet</B></a>

Turkmenistan is not a country that features strongly in the UK press. As background it seems that it is a dictatorship with religeous persecution for those who are not Russian Orthodox or Sunni Muslims. However, the level of political imprisonments and persecution seem to be lower than in a number of countries. And on the positive side, they have dropped the death penalty for all crimes.<P>On the issue of the closing of the State ballet and opera, as an art lover one's initial reaction has to be negative. However, I would guess that this institution is a legacy from the days of the Soviet Union when the art forms of the Czars held sway. In a country which remains relatively poor, if a choice has to be made with indigenous cultural forms and Russian ballet and opera then I <B>might</B> be able to see a rationale for this change of policy.<P><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited April 09, 2001).]

Politics often affect the performing arts. In 1999, the ABT's tour to China was cancelled after the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.<P>Actually, the National Ballet of China is due to tour America this summer. Let's hope that this tour won't be affected by the latest diplomatic incident about the lost Chinese fighter plane.

not to mention that when the national ballet of cuba came to new york in 1978, there was a bomb that blew out all the windows on one side of avery fisher hall, and every audience member not only had to be searched before entering the met, but had to wear a badge after being searched in order to be allowed to move about the theatre! (and i was one of them!) and as a result, the curtain went up 45 minutes late on giselle...<P>[This message has been edited by pmeja (edited April 10, 2001).]<p>[This message has been edited by pmeja (edited April 10, 2001).]