Pyongyang authorities pushed people to attend a ballet performance by a Russian dance troupe in the capital city last month, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in Pyongyang said on Tuesday that in order to fill the seats of the venue for the performance, the city authorities sent tickets to all local government offices, enterprises, neighborhood watch units, and universities as part of a campaign to get people to buy them.
The Pyongyang city government saw the performance as an opportunity to demonstrate North Korea’s friendship with Russia, and it told people it was their duty to fill the seats.
“They wanted to create an image of a successful event for domestic and foreign consumption to emphasize the friendship between North Korea and Russia through cultural and artistic exchanges,” the source said. “Companies and party organizations appealed to their members to attend the performance, calling it a cultural activity that could be an important reference material for understanding Russia’s social and cultural character.”
Many Pyongyang residents, however, complained that they were “semi-coerced” into buying tickets and attending the performance.
“In fact, North Koreans have little interest in the arts of countries other than South Korea,” the source said. “Many people felt inconvenienced by being forced to attend the performance because they have little interest in the arts of Russia, which has a different language and culture from their own.”
Many Pyongyang residents complained that they did not enjoy the ballet performance because they were forced to attend, regardless of how great the show was in terms of quality or content, and that it simply left a negative impression.
“People quietly said that the basic value of cultural and artistic events is to bring joy to the audience, but forcing people to watch damages this value,” the source said.
Young university students, in particular, were angry that they were forced to spend money and time to watch the ballet performance after tickets were allocated to each unit, and asked testily why the state was doing this.
Officers mobilized to ensure nobody slept through performance
The source said Pyongyang city authorities paid great attention to audience management, saying that while it was important to fill the venue, it was also important to ensure that people did not sleep or fail to applaud sufficiently.
“Before the ballet performance, Pyongyang authorities used police officers in charge of each agency, company, neighborhood watch unitNeighborhood watch units (inminban, people's units) are Nort... More, and university to demand that people not doze off during the event,” the source said. “The authorities also ordered people attending the performance to watch each other and report on their attitudes during the performance, calling failure to pay attention or falling asleep during the performance an impure act that breaks the friendship between North Korea and Russia.”
North Korean media outlets, including the Rodong Sinmun, reported that a troupe from the Primorsky branch of the Mariinsky Theatre in Vladivostok performed “Sleeping Beauty” at the Mansudae Art Theater in Pyongyang on Mar. 20. On Mar. 25, North Korean media reported that the Mariinsky Theatre performed “Firebird” and an evening of classical and modern dance at the same theater.
According to the reports, a delegation from the Russian Ministry of Culture, including the Mariinsky Theatre troupe, visited North Korea on Mar. 18 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of a cultural and economic cooperation agreement between North Korea and Russia. The delegation returned to Russia on Mar. 25.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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