Don't panic: how and why the USSR "quelled" fear with ballet broadcasts

The ballet "Swan Lake" in people who remembered the Soviet era, since then and forever associated with force majeure events of state scale. On August 19, 1991, people woke up as usual - brewing tea or coffee, preparing breakfast and reaching for the TV remote control. And suddenly - a surprise: a ballet was broadcast on the screens.

It became clear that some terrible events began in the country. OBOZ.UA tells why in the USSR instead of alarming news showed Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake".

Why in the USSR on all channels included ballet

All channels broadcast Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" on August 19, 1991. But the ballet even earlier became a symbol of coups d'état and force majeure events in the USSR.

It all started with the death of General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. Then, for the first time, TV channels rearranged the broadcasting grid and broadcast the ballet all day long. That day, by the way, viewers were waiting for a festive concert in honor of Police Day, but instead they had to watch "Swan Lake" from morning till night.

A similar situation occurred on the day of the death of General Secretary Yuri Andropov, and then - on the day of Konstantin Chernenko's death. The explanation is simple: on the day of mourning they did not dare to broadcast entertainment programs or movies.

The Kremlin believed that it was dangerous to show all the terrible events to the general public, so they gave the go-ahead to include a recording of the 1983 ballet.

The ballet lasted quite a long time, so the performance could occupy most of the airwaves. In addition, "Swan Lake" was considered a true classic, the pride of the USSR. Tickets were given out as awards for production leaders. All foreign delegations were necessarily forced to voluntarily take to the performance. Psychologists note that ballet has a certain hypnotic effect: music and dances are able to a certain extent to detach the viewer from reality.

Since that time, it has become a tradition of Soviet television to include the ballet on the day of force majeure events. And "Swan Lake" was destined to become a sure sign and symbol of serious political changes.

Note that Tchaikovsky wrote "Swan Lake" in 1876. During the premiere at the Bolshoi Theater, the production failed miserably. The ballet was forgotten for a while, until in 1895 at the Mariinsky Theater was re-staged - this time surprisingly successful.

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