A trip to the Opera House always serves to remind one of how prevalent and accessible culture is here in Ukraine. Okay, so maybe the production values aren’t the best, maybe the choreography isn’t top-notch, maybe the male lead stepped out of his spins once or twice, maybe Spartacus is not the best ballet in the world, and maybe the trumpet got a bit over zealous come his big moment. But what does that all matter when seats in a box on the first balcony cost only 100hrv each? Production values in the west might be higher, they might have more time to rehearse, and musicians and dancers might get paid well enough to devote all their time to their art, but it all comes at a cost. The wonderful thing about all culture in Ukraine is it is accessible to everyone, and the performers and musicians work for the love of it rather than huge paycheques.

Largely thanks to Hollywood and the commercially marketed nature of pop music in the west, performers across the board have come to expect massive amounts of money for doing what they do, but this is a very recent thing. Historically, actors, musicians and dancers did it for the art, and were never particularly well paid. Now, however, the chosen few make millions and those who cannot bring in the big bucks (not for lack of talent, but for lack of dollars put behind them by large corporations) don’t see the light of day. And classic culture, such as ballet and opera, follows suit. Critics lambaste everything but perfection, pushing up the cost of production and the wages for the very best. This might mean that the offering is better, but it also makes it far more expensive. The result is that those performers who are good but not perfect fall by the wayside, and the audience watching the perfect performances largely come from the elite class. It is not accessible to the general public, and it loses a lot of its merit for that. Here in Ukraine, culture still remains a very socialist affair. Performers perform for the love of their art, and for the acclaim, and audiences from all walks of life – from the very lowly to the richest oligarch – sit in the one room together and share the experience. Is perfection necessary? Is perfection worth the cost? To what extent does it reduce the value of the experience if the production values aren’t the best, the choreography isn’t top-notch, the male lead steps out of his spins once or twice, the trumpet gets a bit over zealous come his big moment? That which we love in life is often flawed. Life itself is flawed. We are all flawed. And the art we view should reflect this. Long may Ukraine retain its perfectly flawed and therefore wonderfully accessible arts. 

Neil Campbell

Chief Editor

neil@whatson-kiev.com