The New Theatre in Cardiff has announced changes to a production there after the President of the Universal Society of Hinduism, Rajan Zed, called for it to remove its planned performances of ballet, La Bayadère. The Hindu statesman said the Theatre in Wales' capital should not be promoting the production, which he has said appropriates Hindu traditions.
In a statement released from Nevada, USA, he suggested the "deeply problematic" ballet was a belittling of a rich civilisation, exhibiting that of 19th-century orientalist attitudes. The statesman has also urged the New Theatre to apologise for offering the ballet to viewers. The theatre has since said that La Bayadère would no longer be performed there.
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Mr Zed's statement continued: "It was highly irresponsible for an establishment like New Theatre Cardiff to allow such a ballet which had been blamed for patronizing flawed mishmash of orientalist stereotypes, dehumanizing cultural portrayal and misrepresentation, offensive and degrading elements, needless appropriation of cultural motifs, essentialism, shallow exoticism, caricaturing, etc.
"New Theatre Cardiff could do better than this to serve its diverse stakeholders. Like many others, Hindus also consider ballet as one of the revered art forms which offers richness and depth. But we are well into 21st century now, and outdated “La Bayadère”, which was first presented in St. Petersburg (Russia) in 1877, is long overdue for permanent retirement from the world stage." He suggested that the New Theatre Cardiff should re-evaluate its systems and send staff for cultural "sensitivity" training. You can get more Cardiff news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
A New Theatre spokesperson said in response: "Following contact from Rajan Zed earlier today, New Theatre Cardiff immediately contacted the producer of the production, which featured this work as part of a mixed programme. They responded to us immediately, to say: 'La Bayadère is performed at the world’s most prestigious venues and the International Classic Ballet Theatre was looking forward to presenting an excerpt (Kingdom of the Shades) during its Glorious Gala in the UK. However, it was never the intention to cause offence to any community and, in light of the points raised by Rajan Zed, of Nevada (USA), the company will find an alternative piece to open their Gala which visits New Theatre Cardiff on 17 and 18 January'."
The spokesperson added: "New Theatre Cardiff never intended to cause offence by hosting this production and we thank Rajan Zed for bringing it to our attention."
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