Gianni Truvianni

By Author: An Encounter With The Bolshoi Ballet
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I as many who have read my articles may gather am a tremendous opera fan though in all sincerity I can not claim to be an equal devotee of the ballet, however this should not be interpreted that I do not take joy from it. Perhaps it is because my tastes lean more to the passion of the singers and the drama in the opera rather then the grace of the ballet dancer. What ever the reason I must claim to be a bigger opera fan then ballet fan but in all truth I am a lover of the ballet however I did not become one till I in Santiago, Chile met the members of the Bolshoi ballet. This was a time I will never forget as it made me see all the grace of the ballet however before this encounter with the Bolshoi I had seen them perform in Moscow and perhaps it is there that I was introduced to the ballet.

My decision to visit the Soviet Union came during the fall of 1988. It was the time of perestroika, glasnosts and Michael Gorbachov, the new leader of the Soviet Union who many Americans had taken a liking to as they could see a certain honesty in him. I for my part can not claim that my desires to visit the Soviet Union were influenced ...
... in any way by Gorbachov as the real reason for my trip was based on my wanting to travel the world, in search of all those cities and places I had read about in my extensive readings of history. Of course this was also at a time in my life when I was entertaining dreams of becoming a professional photographer and had it in mind to take photographs of Leningrad (previously called Petrograd, presently Saint Petersburg) and Moscow. These cities seemed ideal for this purpose, both having architecture that was so diverse from New York and the feeling of history would be enormous. After all these were two cities that had been almost in the center of World War II and the Russian revolutions of 1917. The first of which overthrew Nicholas II while the second in October (though the Russian Orthodox calendar marks this day as having been in November) put the Bolsheviks in power.

I had even wanted to visit the Soviet Union before but the matter had not been so simple as I would have wanted it. First off all because the Soviet Union was a closed society I needed a visa; not that this was an inconvenience as I had already visited many other communist countries such as Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the DDR, and Yugoslavia. These countries also requiring me as an American to have a visa. I can even add how there was a time in 1987 in which I as an American was required to have a visa in to order to enter France as opposed to being given one automatically upon entrance as was the case with most European countries. The Soviet Union however was different, even from other communist countries which only required me to go to their embassy or consulate, naturally with my passport, two photographs and the money to pay for the visa. The Soviet Union not only required me to have the already mentioned but a prepaid hotel where I would be staying, which basically meant that I would either have to reserve a hotel in the cities I wanted to go to before departing New York or go on what is commonly referred to as a guided tour. I not so much by my own choice took the second option of going on the guided tour even if in all truth I would have preferred to go alone.

It was with the intension of spending Christmas and New Year's day in the Soviet Union that I in early November booked myself on a tour that would include Moscow, Kiev and Leningrad, in that order. It was while visiting these cities in the Soviet Union that I observed many things, some of which were even strange or at least in my opinion for a communist country (me having already visited several) for instance, in the Soviet Union there were stores which only accepted hard currency (this meaning any currency which could be converted outside its country of origin) and were off limits to Soviet citizens. Yes, passports were checked upon entrance in to the stores. It was not that stores like this did not exist in Poland or other communist countries I had visited but contrary to the Soviet Union in those countries anybody could buy what they wished so long as they had the right kind of currency, in the Soviet Union it was a case of Soviets not even being allowed to enter the stores, let alone make purchases of any kind. Naturally just as there were stores in which only foreigners such as myself could enter, there were also stores in which foreigners were banned from as only Soviets could enter and again passports or documents were checked. I even recall how on one occasion, somebody I met asked me to buy him something in the store for foreigners only.

The Soviet Union also had other factors which made it different from any of the Communist countries I had already visited for instance again only guests of hotels were allowed to enter as a control was set up at the entrance where one was obliged to show one's card from the hotel. This however did not present so much of a problem for me nor for many Soviets (I refer to them as such as I can not in all honesty claim to have known who was Russian or from one of the many republics that made up the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) who managed to get in to the hotel in spite of not being a guest of the hotel. Where the card required to enter the hotel was not a problem the fact that I was required to pay everything in hard currency was however more then slightly annoying as this made prices higher then they would have been had I been allowed to buy drinks or other such niceties in Rubbles, which I could get a lot more of on the black market. This however was not to be as hotels wanted hard currency not only for the cost of the room but even for what one purchased in them, this being in contrast to Polish hotels were one was only required to pay for the room in hard currency.

It was in Moscow that I stayed in a hotel called Cosmos which I might add was the most exclusive at the time, though in all truth its standards were lower then those which I had known in the west. I arrived at the hotel on the 24th of December and on my second day of being in Moscow after having spent the first two sightseeing; I had what could be called my first experience in the Soviet Union.

Two young men who must have been about my age at time (me being 21) knocked on the hotel room which I was sharing with one of the members of my tour group. It was in the company of another member of my tour that these two young men came asking if my roommate and I cared to barter trade. At first neither my roommate nor I knew what these two men had in mind and being in a country we knew not to be democracy; my American roommate, whose name completely escapes me and I were slightly apprehensive. It was one of these two young men who asked us if we had any blue jeans or anything we cared to trade such as American cigarettes or basically anything. I for my part felt I had nothing that would be worth their while as all I had was my cameras (which I was not ready to trade for anything), a couple of packs of cigarettes (me being a smoker at the time), the clothes I had brought with me (which included a pair of grey blue jeans that frankly speaking I was even slightly ashamed to even show given the condition they were in) and my cassettes which included some pop music.

It did not take long with these two men and all those from my tour group who had come over to pick up a bargain; for the room I was sharing with a history teacher from Phoenix to become an national or international black market. Blue jeans were being exchanged for Russian fur hats, caviar (this being a French word as the Russian word is ikra) and other Russian goodies. It was inspired by the way these two Russians or so I think they were apparently willing to take just about any and everything we had that I decided to show them the old grey jeans I had bought over a year ago in London. Much to my near shock they accepted to take them for a black fur hat though given they were old they did ask me to throw in something extra which I did in the form of a pack of Marlboro which they accepted but however my having guilty feelings over the old jeans compelled me to add a tape by the British band known as Led Zeppelin.

During these transactions; I noticed how people from two different countries and ways of life could trade and do business and though the English spoken by these two gentlemen was not exactly perfect it was understandable, making me think how even in a communist system it was always possible to find entrepreneurs. I even recall how one of the members of my group wanted to get something in exchange for a Jimmy Hendrix tape only to find out that neither of these two men (who had brought so much stuff with them as to make one believe they had a whole store with them) had the slightest idea who he was. Naturally we explained that Jimmy Hendrix had been a guitar player and they did take the tape though I do not recall what they gave for it. Of course it should be understood that these young men were not getting these things for themselves but to sell to others.

One thing did strike my roommate at the time as being curious which prompted him to ask if they were staying in the hotel to which he was told by one of these two young men that they were not. It was then that I asked how they managed to get in the hotel, me having been told that only hotel guests who showed a card from the hotel were allowed in. It was then that they told us that because their English was not bad and in fact it was not and they dressed like westerns they could get in and obviously they had.

Later on I would meet two other young men in the hotel who were also trying to do what ever business they could and it was from them that I really learnt a lot about how people in the Soviet Union felt toward not only Americans but many things. It might seem strange to some how I do not even remember the names of these two young men or even what they looked like but I remember almost everything that transpired between the three of us. First I went with them to Red Square instead of going with my group; after all if I had wanted to associate with other Americans, one can imagine where I would have stayed.

Many things had I seen through out my travels in many countries, from the Coliseum in Rome (now one of the world's seven new wonders) to the Eiffel Tower but neither of these two monuments or any other which I had seen for that matter could surpass the grandness of Red Square. The place as I observed it on that frozen day in the month of December seemed so overwhelming that I honestly was at a loss for words. It was not that the Kremlin or any of the buildings surrounding it; such as the one being hailed as the world's biggest toy store or even Saint Basel's cathedral were that large but the composition created by all that was Red Square had such a strong initial impact on me that I will never forget. It was mesmerizing to see this place and all its features that for a moment gave me the impression of being in a city above the clouds. The ornaments on the buildings being such that they almost seemed unreal. I naturally after having recovered slightly from my near shock took out my trusty Minolta to photograph this place and all it included; which in all honesty even looked like a small town rather then a large monument. It was in the process of photographing this place that I started with a wide angle lens; as to capture it all in one shot and then moved on to a zoom to get Saint Basil's cathedral; the beauty of which in my opinion is most underrated. Needless to say my camera captured all of Red Square's points of interest but none fascinated me as much as Saint Basil's which to my mind was the typical Russian cathedral.

Naturally in all that was Red Square one could not ignore the presence of the mausoleum dedicated to Lenin; which was visited by the thousands who would bare the cold and heat just to see the body of a dead man. As for myself personally I had neither the time or the inclination to stand on a line; even a short one as was the one for foreigners (as opposed to the other one for Soviet citizens) just to see a man in what in my opinion was an act of idolatry. Unsurprisingly by then the Soviet Union having long gone through a process of change had removed the remains of Joseph Stalin from Lenin's presence, not that this made any difference to me at the time or even now for that matter.

After their acting as my personal tour guide, they took me to a small neighborhood restaurant in Moscow, sort of like a bistro (this French word having its roots in a Russian word meaning fast) where we had some sausage and tea. It was there as opposed to the hotel that I discovered how cheap life could be in Moscow for someone who had US dollars or any other kind of western currency, so much so that I wanted to treat my tour guides to what they had consumed only to discover it was them who wanted to do likewise for me. At first I did not really know what to say and asked if I could pay at least for myself but was told it would be a good idea not to offend them by refusing their invitation. This I did agree to.

It was during our time together that we discovered many things about each other's countries, for instance they discovered that New York was not as dangerous a place to live in as they had been lead to believe by American television and their own media while I was also not excluded from finding find out many interesting things. First off all that Soviets, at least the people were not as anti-American as I had thought they would be and what really surprised me was that despite his popularity in America, specially after his last trip which had taken place a few weeks before; Gorbachov was not really liked in the Soviet Union by the average citizen, specially those who were not in the party.

This at first seemed almost hard to believe as during his last trip to America (which had taken place on the 8th of December) people had literally lined the streets by the thousands in spite of the cold just to get a glimpse of him, in scenes reminiscent of Beatlemania at its peak. I for my account had even gone to where I knew his car would be passing in the hope of getting a photograph. Mine however was done more out of wanting to be a photographer then adoration, this in part motivated by the success I had had the same year in London when on Queen Elizabeth's birthday of the 10th of June I managed to get a great shot head shot as she was coming down The Mall in her open carriage. Gorbachov however was a different matter all together as he was being driven in a closed limo, which made it impossible for me to be able to get any kind of photograph other then one of his car. I even remembered hearing on the news, how he while being driven through Broadway had actually gotten out of his car (much to my regret for not being there to capture on film this historic moment) on a day of extreme cold to shake the hands of some of the thousands who were lining the streets just to get a glimpse of him. This naturally caused joy to a lot while panic to his security guards who were as surprised as those who found themselves shaking hands with Gorbachov. It had been a case that Gorbachov had not informed his security of what he would do beforehand and due to this many of the security cars had driven on only to discover after a few seconds that Gorbachov's car had stopped and that Gorvachov now found himself in the middle of a mob shaking hands with all those who were running up to him. As expected his security had to backtrack themselves to get to him in fear that something might happen which of course did not but I can imagine what anxiety they might have been going through at the time. Among these people there were also protestors from some of the Soviet republics such as Armenia; who even claimed that they felt for the first time that there was a man who at least was willing to hear what they had to say.

After hearing that Gorbachov for the most part was not liked I asked what was it about him that most people did not like and to this question I encountered an answer that I did not really understand at the time and that was that most people did not like Gorvachov simply because his personal standard of living was a lot higher then their own. It was not because of political reasons or ideology or anything of the sort but the luxury he had surround himself in. They mentioned how he flew around the world and they could not, how he had a fur coats, a credit card by American Express (given to him I imagine mostly as publicity), expensive clothes while they did not. I at that point did not see anything strange or unusual in this as in America most Americans did not live as well as our president (Ronald Reagan at the time) and if some did not like him; it definitely was not for that reason. There might have been other reasons such as the Iran Contra scandal but that was another matter but not because he made more money then they did as this was and still is the case in most countries. This however was a case of what most people had come to accept in most countries that it did not matter that their leaders were financially better off then they were so long as their own standard was acceptable to them. However here in the Soviet Union people did not even want to know that their leaders had more then they did even if it was the top leader. This perhaps was the explanation why Soviet citizens were not allowed to enter certain stores, restaurants or hotels, as they would be exposed to what they could not afford anyway and perhaps that their system of financial equality was not really working all that well.

I for my own did not comment on what I had heard; preferring to say nothing since I had not really understood the mentality behind the words and rather then get in to a quarrel with those who had treated me to this humble but pleasant lunch I asked what they thought of American films. This they told me they had seen some but several were being banned such as had been the case with Red Heat staring Arnold Schwarzenegger due to a scene in which the character played by Arnold (a Soviet policeman) trades a 10 dollar watch for a 1,000 dollar watch with an American policeman, played by Jim Belushi. I was curious how these two young men even knew about this scene, if they had not seen the film but this I did not ask.

It was after having a nice meal (which was no worse then what I was getting in the hotel) in this friendly neighborhood place that I took a chance and went to the apartment of one of these two young men to get what they had promised me which was a Soviet military winter coat and a Jersey of the national football team. I having not much of anything to trade offered them American dollars which they did not refuse however we would have to go back to my hotel to get as I did not have them on me.

It was when going back to the hotel that I rode the Moscow subway for the first time and was amazed at how often the trains came and how deep it was, a factor which I knew had not been undesirable during World War II given the bombing this city had been submitted to by the German air force. Upon return to the hotel I paid them the money I had promised them plus a pack of Life Savers in a gesture after theirs which had been to pay for my sausage and tea.

Once concluded, the business of trade by barter with the hour being not far from an evening one I decided to shower and get ready for a night at the ballet. The bolshoi; it would be as if it could be any other being in Moscow, naturally at the Bolshoi (this word meaning great in Russian) theatre. With this in mind I put on my suit, the only one I had brought with me, a nice Cardin (him still being fashionable at the time) on top of which I put on my newly acquired military coat courtesy of the Soviet Union however; it was on the advise of our tour guide that I chose to wear another one. Him telling me that we were in a country were civilians specially foreigners were not allowed to wear Soviet military attire; meaning that it would be wise if I were to put on another coat which I did.

The Bolshoi, I must say was something amazing, not so much the theatre which granted was large but not really impressive or at least not as much as the performance given by this magnificent group of dancers whom both my father and grandfather had always told me so much about. Tchaikovsky's The Nut Cracker was what those in my group as well I were privileged enough to see that evening and though I was already familiar with the wonderful music; I was not so much with the dancing that went with it and as I watched, it seemed that this was the most radiant of all the performing arts in regards to its visual aspect.

After the ballet, it was back to Hotel Cosmos for a night cap which I took at the bar; shots of Vodka accompanied by caviar which in America was so expensive but in the Soviet Union was literally cheaper then peanuts. The hotel had several bars, and it was in each that there were women, some I could imagine were there to exchange other then just souvenirs for money, while others went in groups looking for any westerner to buy them a drink. By them I mean all of them as they came in groups though this did not interest me other then just to see that women in the Soviet Union wore what I would call an excessive amount of make up; despite most of them being much more attractive then the average American woman.

The following day came and off to Kiev it was on a plane by Aeroflot. It was something I will never forget; being on the runway and dozing off in my seat during the long wait which was required before take off, when suddenly I was awaken by the feeling of my ears getting blocked by the pressure. I remember being slightly upset; thinking that we had probably spent all that time on the ground and only then was the plane going to take off when the reality was that it was already going to land. Such a smooth take off and flight it was that not only had it not awaken me, I had not even noticed it or it could have been the fact that my cold was making my very drowsy along with my lack of sleep from the night before.