Renowned Russian ballerina Svetlana Zakharova has been excluded from the cast of a gala concert set to begin in Rome this month, organizers announced. As Reuters writes, this has become another political dispute regarding the participation of Russian artists in cultural events in Italy, UNN reports.
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The star of Moscow's Bolshoi Theater, Zakharova, is an active supporter of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. She was scheduled to perform at the "Stars" gala concert in the Italian capital on March 20-21.
The gala organizers stated that in making the decision to exclude Zakharova, they received "institutional communications… emphasizing the symbolic responsibility of cultural institutions in the current context."
They did not immediately respond to a request for comment on who sent the message. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is a staunch supporter of Ukraine in the war and sanctions against Russia.
They cited the risk that the event would be "misunderstood or used for self-serving purposes," despite their hope of building bridges through art.
Zakharova's "exclusion" followed the controversial decision by the Venice Biennale to reopen its Russian pavilion, which has been closed since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, for the current exhibition running from May to November.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, whose far-right League party had close ties with Putin's United Russia party before the war in Ukraine, supported the Biennale's decision and on Tuesday criticized Zakharova's removal as "Russophobia."
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Italian event organizers have repeatedly tried to invite Russian artists, but each time abandoned the idea due to criticism. Last year, authorities canceled a classical music concert at a palace near Naples due to the planned participation of Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, whom many consider close to Putin.
Zakharova, 46, was born in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, and was a United Russia deputy from 2008 to 2012. In January, she was removed from participating in an arts festival in Florence after objections from the Ukrainian embassy.