Educational Media Reviews Online

Empire of Dreams is a history of the Bolshoi Ballet from its pampered beginnings in the early Soviet era to its troubled status in today's democratic Russia. Empire of Dreams consists of actual ballet film footage, and interviews with principle Bolshoi personnel in a candid behind-the-scenes look at this venerable Russian institution.

Right from the very beginning, the blurring of art and politics took place at the Bolshoi Theater. While the current Director of the Bolshoi,Vladimir Vasilye, recalls that dictator Joseph Stalin was a "father figure for this temple of art" and that Stalin "did everything for the dancers," Prima ballerina, Maya Pliesetskaya, has a different memory. She was forbidden to dance abroad because her Jewish father was declared "an enemy of the people" The KGB even tried to stop the audience from applauding at her greatest performance because of her "unreliability"

In contrast to the days when Stalin would sit observing the ballet hidden in a darkened balcony, and singers would be searched coming into the Bolshoi by the NKVD, the Khrushchev era was much more politically relaxed and is now considered a golden age. Ballet master, Gregerovich, changed the Bolshoi's style from romantic ballet on points to a new intense structure of dance based on a dramatic or heroic storyline. The premier ballet of this era, choreographed by Gregerovich, was Spartacus by the Soviet composer, Aram Khatchaturian.

Gregerovich, who remained chief choreographer and ballet director until the 1990s, was unable to repeat his early successes and his later works (Shostakovich's Age of Gold) were stale and unadventurous. The Bolshoi drifted into stagnation, "wrapped in mothballs" one singer called it, with internal conflict and the fossilization of the ballet repertoire..

Today the Bolshoi is in both financial and artistic trouble as many of its best dancers, like Godunov and Derevianko, have gone to the west. The 2500 employees of the Bolshoi no longer have secure employment and many of the 240 dancers, the largest troupe in the world, work elsewhere in addition to the Bolshoi.

Will current ballet choreographer, Gordeiev, be able to reinvigorate the Bolshoi by combining classical esthetics with modern values? A short excerpt from the new Bolshoi production, The Last Tango, makes one cautiously optimistic.

Empire of Dreams was originally a German production. While the narration is in English, the occasional subtitles are in German. This was confusing at times. For example,"Schwanensee" is used instead of the English "Swan Lake." German spellings of names are also used:"Chatschaturian" for "Khatchaturian."

This is an interesting and rewarding documentary. The mixture of performance excerpts, interviews and archival film footage works well in Empire of Dreams. The film has the professional polish of the very best documentaries. The intellectural level of Empire of Dreams is high school or college. It could be used in Russian language and culture classes, or with ballet or dance programs.