Rajan Zed

 

Hindus are urging the prestigious Estonian National Opera (Rahvusooper Estonia) in Tallinn to withdraw the ballet “La Bayadère”; scheduled for April 09-June 11, 2022; which they feel seriously trivializes Eastern religious and other traditions.

In a statement in Nevada (USA) on August 2, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, said that the Estonian National Opera (ENO) should not be in the business of callously promoting appropriation of the traditions, elements and concepts of “others”; and ridiculing entire communities.

Zed, who is the President of the Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that this deeply problematic ballet was just a blatant belittling of a rich civilization and exhibited 19th-century orientalist attitudes. He also urged ENO to apologize for such an inappropriate selection.

ENO, the national opera company of Estonia, should have shown some maturity before selecting a ballet like “La Bayadère” (The Temple Dancer) displaying Western caricaturing of Eastern heritage and abetting ethnic stereotyping, Rajan Zed noted.

It was highly irresponsible for a national institution like the ENO to choose such a ballet, which had been blamed for patronizing a flawed mishmash of orientalist stereotypes, dehumanizing cultural portrayal and misrepresentation, offensive and degrading elements, needless appropriation of cultural motifs, essentialism, shallow exoticism, caricaturing, etc.

 

The ENO could do better than this to serve its diverse stakeholders; Zed stated.

Rajan Zed suggested ENO Director General Ott Maaten, Artistic Director Arvo Volmer, and Estonian National Ballet Artistic Director Linnar Looris, re-evaluate the ENO’s systems and procedures and send its executives to cultural sensitivity training so that such an inappropriate content is not performed in the future.

Moreover; the Estonia Culture Ministry, led by Anneli Ott; and renowned supporting companies like Tallink, SEB, Lexus, Kalev, Liviko, Sansha, etc.; should seriously rethink their relationship with the ENO if it continued with ballets such as “La Bayadère”, which trivialized the traditions of “others”; Zed added.

Like many others, Hindus also consider ballet to be a  revered art fors which offers richness and depth.

 

But we are well into the 21st century now, and outdated “La Bayadère”, which was first presented in St. Petersburg (Russia) in 1877, is long overdue for permanent retirement from the world stage; Rajan Zed points out.

Toomas Edur is the choreographer-director of the two-hour long “La Bayadère”, whose tickets are priced up to €28.

 

“The ballet tells a wonderful story of eternal love, revenge and justice”, an announcement states.