Covid-19 Update, June to November 2020

In Russia, the quarantine due to Covid-19 continues through 15 June, and some expect the end of the month. At the Mariinsky Theatre, dancers have returned to morning class already, while the Bolshoi troupe was sent on official annual vacation starting 1 June, which will last 56 days. The bulk of the troupe are still taking class remotely by video however, so as to stay in shape. Bolshoi Theatre General Director Vladimir Urin has said he expects theatres to open last in Russia, as enforcing the mask/glove regime among spectators is not realistic. There is no word yet as to when the Mariinsky will open, but people are hopeful it may be as early as September. We will post more news as it comes.

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The November update on Covid in Russian Theatres is as follows: all Russian theatres opened their seasons to a full performance schedule (nightly and in some cases 2 performances per day) as of September. Each state theatre — the Bolshoi, Mariinsky, Stanislavsky, Mikhailovsky, Perm, and others — have taken measures to prevent the spread of Covid internally, some more effective than others. While at the Mariinsky dancers continue to fall ill each week, at the Stanislavsky as of mid-October there were no cases of Covid among the dancers. As of mid-November, a resolution was made to decrease theatre ticket sales to 25% of the full hall of a given theatre. And word has it that, for the month of January, all theatres will close to prevent further spread of the pandemic.