They demand that the ballet performance "Bajadér" be removed from the program.
The president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, Rajan Zed, has called on the Hungarian State Opera House to withdraw the ballet A Bajadér, to be presented in June 2025, citing concerns about the trivialization of Eastern religious and cultural traditions.
In a statement issued in Nevada, US, Zed argued that the taxpayer-funded Opera House should refrain from appropriating traditions and ridiculing entire communities.
He called the ballet a "gross disparagement of a rich civilization" and a presentation of "19th-century Orientalist attitudes."
Zed urged the Opera House to show maturity in its selection, to avoid ballets that perpetuate ethnic stereotypes and misrepresentation, and to apologize for the incorrect selection.
He criticized the ballet for its "condescending, flawed mix of Orientalist stereotypes, dehumanizing cultural depiction, insulting and degrading elements, unnecessary appropriation of cultural motifs, essentialism, shallow exoticism and caricature".
Zed called on the general director of the Opera House, Szilveszter Ókovács, ballet director Tamás Solymosi and artistic director András Almási-Tóth to reevaluate their procedures and provide cultural sensitivity training for their managers.
He called on the Ministry of Culture and Innovation led by János Csák, as well as the National Cultural Council, to review their relationship with the Opera House if it continues to present ballets such as A bajadér.
Zed pointed out that while ballet is a highly regarded art form, the piece in question, which was first performed in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1877, should have been retired from the world stage a long time ago.
Choreographed by Albert Mirzoyan and directed by Gábor Hontvári, Máté Hámori and Domonkos Héja, the piece is a 2 hour 55 minute ballet in three acts.
In connection with the case, the Hungarian State Opera House issued a statement.
"The Nevada religious leader, whose organization called Universal Society of Hinduism ca. has a thousand followers on the most popular social media site and last posted more than ten years ago. In recent years, bajadér has voiced his objections to all announced productions, as did the Royal Ballet in London, the Paris Opera, the Houston Ballet, the Scala in Milan, the State of Bavaria Opera, the Dresden Semperoper, the Boston Ballet, the Australian Ballet and dozens of other ensembles. The creation and running of these productions were not significantly influenced by Rajan Zad's statements," reads the announcement, which emphasizes:
since the author did not contact the Hungarian State Opera, it can be assumed that his announcement was not primarily intended for the opera house.
"The Hungarian State Opera House does everything to ensure that the viewers of its productions are not offended by their culture, faith, religion or ethnicity. With this in mind, we are confident that if Bajadér's shows, which are considered one of the gems of classical ballet literature, are not accompanied by scandals in multicultural strongholds such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia or France, then the tradition-respecting production of the Hungarian State Opera House will not become a source of conflict either."
Cover image: The building of the Hungarian State Opera
Source: Wikipedia/Tamás Thaler
