Gala concerts featuring Bolshoi Theater ballet dancers under the direction of Valery Gergiev are scheduled for April 16–18 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul, South Korea.

We oppose these concerts because Gergiev has long maintained a close friendship with the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, was his officially appointed cheerleader in the recent fraudulent presidential elections, supported the annexation of Crimea, and has failed to denounce the current war in Ukraine.

Moreover, as Navalny’s team's investigation has proven, Gergiev is a thief and embezzler who spends for personal purposes huge sums of money intended for charity and obtained from state and private donors. Gergiev is allowed to steal and live a luxurious lifestyle at state expense, as well as to head the most famous theaters in Russia, precisely because of his loyalty to the Russian dictator.

In the context of Putin's full-scale aggression in Ukraine, in which hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their lives — both Ukrainians and Russians — Putin's henchmen like Gergiev, no matter how talented they are, deserve strong condemnation and a general boycott.

Not a single theater in the world, including in South Korea, should allow those who support the Russian dictator and his aggressive policies to come close to their stage.

We kindly ask Sejong Center for the Performing Arts as well as Bolshoi gala concerts organizer “Ballet & Model”, for the sake of upholding their reputation among peace-loving people, to cancel the performances by Bolshoi Theater in Seoul as well as any future performances by people who support wars and bloody dictators. 

We would like to stress that we do not oppose Russian culture itself and do not want to “cancel” it. In our perspective, it is perfectly fine for Korean musicians to play Rachmaninoff or Stravinsky, for example, or for foreign concert halls to welcome Russian musicians in general. We are specifically against people like Gergiev who support Putin and his criminal military adventures, thus sharing responsibility for the death and destruction brought upon Ukraine and its people.      

No war! No to Putin! No to Gergiev and Bolshoi concerts in Korea!