Front Burner - The Bolshoi dances on amid record COVID-19 cases

Episode Date: December 3, 2020

Many world-renowned ballet productions, from Swan Lake to Romeo and Juliet, have graced the stage of the legendary Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow since the 1800s. No matter what wars and revolutions the Russians confronted, the Bolshoi would find a way to stay open. That is, until COVID-19. The theatre closed down for six months this year because of the pandemic. It relaunched in the fall, and it's getting ready for a busy Christmas season. Today on Front Burner, CBC Russia correspondent Chris Brown on how the Bolshoi is handling the threat of COVID-19, as Russia deals with one of the highest coronavirus case totals in the world.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. When Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake premiered in 1877, it did so at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. So many world-renowned productions have graced that stage since. One of the things they had in common was no matter what chaos was unfolding in the world, nothing could really stop the dancing at the Bolshoi.

That is until COVID-19. The theatre closed down back in the spring for six months. It launched again this fall and it's getting ready now for a busy Christmas season, one that will be full of challenges given the ongoing pandemic and the fact that Russia has one of the highest coronavirus case totals in the world. Today, CBC Russia correspondent Chris Brown takes us behind the scenes at the Bolshoi. We'll hear how the legendary ballet company is dealing with the threat of coronavirus and what that tells us about how people in Moscow view the pandemic. I'm Jamie Poisson, and this is Frontburner.

Hi, Chris. Thanks so much for coming back onto the podcast. Great to be here again, Jamie. Thanks for having me. So I know that Bolshoi dancers are known for their commitment to ballet, an extraordinary commitment. And they performed during the 1917 revolution when the monarchy fell and the Bolsheviks took power. They even performed after the Nazi invasion. And so closing down for six months this year, that was a big deal, eh? It really was. Now, you have to situate exactly, you know, it's even important to know where the Bolshoi is. It really is in the heart of Moscow, which makes it in the heart of Russia. And it's

a very grand building. It's got these big Gothic columns out in the front of it. It's right in the middle of the theater district on Teatralnia. And you look out and you can see the red walls of the Kremlin from where you are. It's one of those iconic buildings that people will recognize almost anywhere you are in the world. You'll see it for the Bolshoi. And so just by that, just by what it is, it has this hold on Russians, but also on people far and wide as well. And then as you talked about this history that goes back centuries, really, for the Bolshoi Ballet Company, it is the largest in the world, hundreds of dancers. Relaxing from the cares of the Moscow conference, world problems are temporarily put aside as the visitors from overseas applaud the magnificence of the Russian ballet.

They have performed during wars, revolutions, you name it. And, you know, even during the Second World War, as you said, they moved a little bit out of where they were because it did get a bomb on it, but they still performed. They went to the front lines and so forth. But really, the pandemic put a stop to so much. And it really cut right through, you know, the performing souls of these dancers that we were, you know, fortunate enough to go be able and talk to recently. Right, right. You know, you mentioned that has this hold on people the world over, you know, I would say, I've not had the opportunity to go to Russia, but the Bolshoi is very, very high on my bucket list. It's been a long standing dream of mine to go and watch a ballet there. Can you tell me a little bit more about what it's like inside, what the atmosphere is like?

like? It's like any of these, you know, really magnificent structures that are just iconic, whether you're in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris or St. Paul, the Colosseum in Rome, you go in and you really feel just a certain amount of splendor. Now, the Bolshoi is very opulent, very extravagant. You walk in and, you know, the carpet is red, the seats are very plush, and there's gold leaf everywhere. And you turn and you look up and you can see the balcony where Vladimir Putin sits and watches these performances. If you stroll down the hallways, you can see pictures of world leaders going back decades and decades. I saw one of Margaret Thatcher with Mikhail Gorbachev there, a photo and so forth.

And then there's different costumes that are in many of the rooms. And these rooms are beautiful, you know, 30 foot tall ceilings, again, lots of gold. So you get a real sense of the passion that Russians have for the dance, for the art, and also for the venue itself. And it's also the largest ballet company in the world. And so I imagine it's quite complicated to reopen safely during a pandemic. And I know that you got to check out rehearsals and a performance. And can you tell me what you saw? You have to situate yourself, first of all, back in the spring.

And there was so much uncertainty about the pandemic and how bad it was going to be. Russia is praising itself for doing a better job at containing the virus compared to other countries. The government says that everything is under control. But people are increasingly getting worried because there's a lack of information and people distrust the official figures. And what the authorities in Russia did in Moscow in particular is they imposed a lockdown, a very strict lockdown. You had to have a QR code that got scanned even to leave your house. You weren't allowed to walk your dog in the park across the street. And in that situation, they really had no choice but to close down not just bars and restaurants, but all the performance houses as well.

So the theatres, the ballets, operas, all of that stopped. And that is really what was so unprecedented in Russia. And that meant that really an entire season was lost for the Bolshoi dancers. And this is what was so tough for a number of them. And this is what was so tough for a number of them. We talked to one young woman who was just 22 years old. And her name was Aliona Kovaleva. Beautiful poise, just to watch her dance on stage in her black performance costume, you know, with these graceful moves.

She was about 5'10", so very tall for a ballerina. But she lost out on a major role because of that. I've been working on this ballet for quite a long time. But then the quarantine started, and so, of course, all the plans were cancelled. Of course, it was a disappointment. A problem for everyone else. and acquirement for everyone else. We're always stopped and thrown away from our usual world.

What else did you hear from the performers and other people that work at the Bolshoi? Well, what was interesting was to watch this performance. We went to a dress rehearsal for a tribute to Maja Plisetskaya. And Maja Plisetskaya died about five, six years ago now. She really was one of the greatest dancers in the world. She danced at the Bolshoi well until she was in her 60s. And so they were doing an honorary tribute to her. And so we had a chance to sort of see the dancers, see their preparations.

What was striking was, first of all, most of the dancers danced without masks on. They were very, very close to their partners, rolling, tumbling, bodies intertwined, that kind of thing. There was one interesting exception, though, and that was a prima ballerina who we spoke to, Ekaterina Shipulina. Now, she's 41 years old. She's danced everything from Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, you name it.

She is one of the best in the business. And she told us just how challenging it is to be a ballerina in these circumstances and also why she chose to wear a mask at least during the dress rehearsals. It's dangerous and it's very good for us because we have work, we can dance, and we can give our arts and our dance for everybody. Chris, I'm wondering how safe it is for these performers right now in Russia. Like, what are the cases like in the country right now? It's really bad. You know, there's official numbers and then there's what you kind of believe to be true. So the official numbers are about 40,000 dead since the start of the pandemic.

But really, when you look at the excess death rates here in Russia from what you would have had over a regular five-year period, many demographers and statisticians believe the real death rate could be as high as 120,000. Every day in Russia now, there's 25,000 new cases, six or 7,000 of them just where we are in Moscow alone. So we are, you know, who knows if we're at the peak, but we're in an extremely high plateau anyway. So it is very, very dangerous just to be out. And as I said, these dancers, you know, they're not working from home. They're not doing Zoom calls. They are right in the thick of it with each other. We can't work outside online.

We need special requirements and we need special rooms and special floors. And I think this is what's so challenging. When they reopened the Bolshoi back in September, almost within days, they had 30, I think 33 workers and dancers who had COVID-19 and who had to be sent home. And since then, the latest count that we had is at over 100. is at over 100. Now, they're not all dancers. Some of them are stagehands and so forth, just generally people who work at the Bolshoi. But that gives you a sense that just how difficult it is to really take any precautions, you know,

in this kind of very, very tight dance area. You know, you mentioned that some performers were wearing masks. Are they taking any other kind of precautions? So the dancers and the performers themselves really are not. Because I mean, I was dancing with the mask on. That's very hard. I tried once, but I can't. I think we all have to worry about it, but you have to stay safe as much as you can.

They are just out there. And I should also say, nor is the orchestra. The orchestra pit is right at the foot of the stage, of course, where you would expect to find the orchestra. But interestingly, you could see maybe how the wind instruments

and people who have to blow instruments wouldn't be wearing masks, but they're jammed in there like sardines, and none of these musicians were wearing masks, nor were the conductors and other people associated with it. As for the people coming, the audience members, there was more evidence of that there. We went to the front of the, you know, at the entrance, I should say.

We are social beings. We can't be without this. We can't just be careful and only think about our life. We need something more than that. Tonight is a very good performance and we hope that even in this difficult time with sickness and the weather,

we will get some pleasure and indulge in this spectacle. And you could tell they were taking the audience members' temperature when they were coming in. They were checking for masks, but it was a pretty light check. A lot of people, frankly, took them off afterwards. So that's really about it. The other thing I should say is, obviously, they're not filling up the auditorium. There's room usually for 2,000 people in the Bolshoi, 2,200 maybe. They started off in September with 50% of the seats filled. And just in the last few days, they've dropped it down to 25%, you know, for the performances.

So that gives you an idea that their level of worry and their level of concern is pretty significant still. And if not, it might even be getting more concerning. Why did they feel so strongly about keeping on, about continuing to perform? You know, this is a great question. And it really goes to the heart of why the Bolshoi reopened. So first of all, the easy answer is, well, there is a financial question here. The Bolshoi was losing about $100,000 a day when it wasn't in operation. And the director of the facility said, look, we're in real trouble. If we don't start performing again, we may have to close. And so that's just something that

Russians, the government, the people who run the Bolshoi, no one could fathom a Moscow or a Russia without the Bolshoi. So there was an imperative to get going again. So after, again, six months and millions of dollars and losses, they started up again. But really, I think if you talk to the performers, the directors, to the performers, the directors, they'll tell you it is just an appreciation for an art that cannot be stopped, can't be replaced because of the pandemic. This historical stage has seen lots of legends, stars of the previous centuries, previous centuries, and I understand that now we, the dancers of our century, we have to keep the name which the previous centuries made. We talked to Andris Liepa, and he is a very well-known dancer, choreographer, and a director. He has been associated with the Bolshoi for many, many decades.

He was actually directing the Maya Plisetskaya presentation that we saw. When she was young, she was taken to the hospitals, performed in front of the soldiers who came from World War II. It's in our nature. You know, they're not saying, and we're not saying, we're not going to come and we're going to sit at home. We're going to perform that people should feel that life is going on. I know it's dangerous. I know that this is difficult today, but we really believe that art, we're presenting art for the people who need this. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem.

Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization. Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income?

That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just connections do you see, if any, between the theater's approach and attitude towards dealing with COVID and those of the people in Moscow more widely? I think they initially brought in the lockdown because I think they were extremely worried from a health point of view about just how damaging COVID-19 was going to be to the population. And I think at the peak of daily cases,

there was maybe around 15,000 cases a day in Moscow back in the population. And I think at the peak of daily cases, there was maybe around 15,000 cases a day in Moscow back in the spring. And then they reopened again. Putin has announced a gradual lifting of coronavirus restrictions. That's despite a steady daily rise in the number of cases. Starting from tomorrow, May 12th, the national period of non-working days will be over in all the country and for all sectors of the economy. And the lockdown went away and people came back out and the bars opened and they partied till three in the morning. But what they saw was during the lockdown, the government's popularity really dropped. The businesses were shut down. There is no CERB here like what we have in Canada.

There was no extra money for unemployment insurance. Businesses just went bust. There was no state support whatsoever for them. And we could see that the government's popularity was really falling. So when they reopened again back in the summer, in the late summer, things almost for a time felt normal in Moscow. And then, of course, this next wave of the pandemic hit. Now, the cases now are much higher than what they were back in the spring, but they've resisted this lockdown. And I think a lot of it is because simply there's no public

appetite for it here. The businesses want to keep pushing through. People want to keep pushing through. And facilities like the Bolshoi want to keep pushing through. It is worse, I think, for a lot of Russians to think of being locked down than it is to getting sick. This is a country, of course, that has endured 70 years of communism, world wars. They're pretty hardy. wars, they're pretty hardy. And I think there's something about the collective spirit here, the mindset that really pushed back hard on telling people, no, you can't do this. Right. The Bolshoi is just really a symbol, an example of where society is more largely.

I wanted to ask you about Vladimir Putin here and the politics of this. I know that Putin is big on symbolism, on potent historical symbols as a way of showing Russian strength. And has the opening of the Bolshoi been looped into the politics here, maybe a way of showing Russian strength in the face of this virus? I think everything that the Kremlin does is calculated, especially when it comes to the COVID pandemic. They registered their vaccine back in August and have made a big deal about saying this vaccine, which they're calling Sputnik V, is the first in the world. I know it has proven efficient and forms a stable immunity. And I would like to repeat that it has passed all the necessary tests.

One of my daughters has been vaccinated. And so they didn't need to do that, but they've seen an opportunity to try to demonstrate Russian strength, almost to show that Russia is a vaccine superpower, if you will. And so everything around this is designed to protect the Kremlin and specifically the guy at the very top, Vladimir Putin, from political damage. And you have to think that that decision not to do another lockdown here in Moscow is a big part of that. not to do another lockdown here in Moscow is a big part of that. Last time it was the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sabanin, who instituted the lockdown.

And this time it's been the Kremlin that's been saying there's not going to be a lockdown. So you do get the sense that there are definitely political considerations associated with the decision to keep the city open, to keep the stages open and to keep the stages open, and to keep performers out on the stage. Okay, Chris Brown, thank you so much. Thank you, Jamie. So you heard Chris mention Russia's COVID-19 vaccine. That's just one of several in the works right now. The one from Pfizer and BioNTech is showing a lot of promise with 95% effectiveness in clinical trials.

On Wednesday, British officials authorized it for emergency use. It's the first one in the world to be both backed by rigorous science and greenlit for use. Health Minister Patty Hajdu said that Canada's review of the Pfizer vaccine is, quote, expected to be completed soon. Meanwhile, the second wave continues to hit provinces hard. CBC News has learned that provincial officials in Alberta are asking the federal government and the Red Cross to supply field hospitals. This would help take away some of the strain COVID-19 is having on the health care system. Alberta has reported more than 1,000 cases each day for nearly two weeks. That's all for today. I'm Jamie Poisson.

Thanks so much for listening to FrontBurner, and we'll talk to you tomorrow.