Ballet in Mongolia

Last week was the culminating of several months of discussion and planning- the Stars of American Ballet two night performance in Ulaanbaatar. It was a beautiful, frantic, awkward, awesome experience (beautiful= seeing the final ballet itself performed by top performers of the New York City Ballet, frantic- ever-changing timetables and cutting all the gels for the lights, awkward- my uncomfortable tulle skirt and trying to interact with professional ballet dancers, awesome= getting a behind the scenes look at putting together a ballet performance), but ballet has a very long history in Mongolia.

Here's an excellent summary of ballet's significance in Mongolia, put together by a journalist I know for Eurasianet



This year the State Opera and Ballet Theatre celebrated its 50th anniversary, so it's been a good year in Mongolia for ballet.

And finally, a group shot of the ACM ladies.