B’nai B’rith urged today that Soviet ballet companies be denied American tours until the “cruel treatment” of Valery and Galina Panov, the embattled dancers, is ended. David M. Blumberg, B’nai B’rith’s president, accused Soviet dance groups of “indifference and silence” toward the fate of the Panovs, principal dancers with the Kirov Ballet of Leningrad until the couple applied for visas to emigrate to Israel.
In a letter to Columbia Artists Management, Blumberg commended its decision to cancel an American tour of the Kirov Company. But his organization was “puzzled and disturbed” by Columbia’s announcement that it will sponsor a tour of the Bolshoi Dancers, Blumberg wrote to Ronald Wilford, president of Columbia Artists Management. The failure of Soviet ballet groups to oppose the treatment of the Panovs “makes a mockery of detente and cultural exchange,” Blumberg said.
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.
