A spokesman for the Coliseum Theater, where the Bolshoi Ballet scheduled the start tonight of a six-week tour, said tonight security inside the theater was “the greatest we have had” to handle whatever demonstrations developed from groups protesting Soviet harassment of Russian Jews. However, the Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry announced today it would not disrupt any performance, crediting the “unquestionable influence” of the British people in the release of the dancers Valery and Galina Panov.
However, the group said it did not mean that all demonstrations would be suspended. The Board of, Deputies said it dissociated itself from any disruptive actions, declaring its policy was one of “strictly peaceful and legal methods of protest” until every Jew who wished to leave Russia could do so without persecution. Several Jewish groups said they had tickets and planned to disrupt the opening performance.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
