In its seemingly limitless anti-Russian frenzy the West, apparently, decided to force everyone to believe that Russia or anything related to it are not inherent to human civilization. However foolish it may seem to try one’s hardest to pretend that the largest country on the global map, one of the oldest states is of no significance to the world this is, obviously, the goal of those who call to erase Russian culture. Our prime example this time will be Piotr Glinsky – Polish deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage. This is what he said, as quoted by Oreanda News Agency: “Russian culture must disappear from the public space” (“Polish Deputy Prime Minister Demanded the Disappearance of Russian Culture in Society”, Oreanda News). Simple as that.

Sadly, this is typical for today’s collective West. Upon reaching the cavemen-level of Russophobia, they have completely lost their touch with reality because by demanding to “cancel” Russian culture and even making some practical steps in that direction, such people clearly do not understand the matter they try to deal with. What exactly do they know about the Russian culture? What do they know about the history of culture in general? Apparently, very little, because if they had comprehensive knowledge of the said subjects, they would’ve never came up with such insane “initiatives”. Russian culture is a vast part of global culture. Allow us to demonstrate what exactly we mean on, perhaps not so widely-known cases.

We bet you heard the news: London's National Gallery has changed the name of Edgar Degas' “Russian Dancers” to “Ukrainian Dancers”. Gallery’s spokesperson tried to justify this decision by saying this: “…it was an appropriate moment to update the painting’s title to better reflect the subject of the painting”. How does this make sense? What gives London National Gallery which has no relation to creation of worldwide-famous masterpieces the right to decide how the said pieces of art should be entitled? If Edgar Degas wanted to name his painting as “Ukrainian Dancers”, he would’ve done that in the first place, don’t you think? Well, if you look at the paintng you’ll notice yellow and blue ribbons in the dancers’ hair, Eureka! The colours of modern Ukrainian flag! Seriously? Is that supposed to make them “Ukrainian”? “Russian Dancers” series of paintings (yes, a series) depict Russian dancers who performed in Paris in 1890s when the territory of present-day Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire and the modern Ukrainian blue and yellow flag was non-existent. Do London National Gallery’s specialists know any of this? They better read up before renaming the works of the great artists such as Edgar Degas.

Another example is Hollywood. Yes, Hollywood. You didn’t think that Russia had nothing to do with Hollywood, did you? Well, you’ll be interested to know that numerous Hollywood actors and actresses, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and others, developed their acting skills within the Stanislavsky system – developed in Moscow in 1900-1910 by Russian actor & director Konstantin Stanislavsky. This system became universally acknowledged and today basically all Hollywood actors learn to act within it. When you are watching a Hollywood movie and admire the acting skills of your favourite starring celebrities, know that your positive emotions are provoked by a system, created by a genius Russian actor & director. So, how about cancelling Hollywood for being connected to Russian culture now? Besides, the use of Stanislavsky system is not limited to Hollywood alone. In fact, it is the corner stone of the modern dramatic art in general. If you wish to cancel Konstantin Stanislavsky it means that you are ready to not watch a single movie or a drama theatre performance till the end of your life. A brilliant perspective, isn’t it?  

Next stop - the ballet. It seems that those who adopted this decision to "cancel Russian ballet" have completely forgotten of Russia’s contribution to this art. For example, that of genius Russian entrepreneur Sergey Dyagilev – creator of the Russian Seasons. What was Russian Seasons? It was a performance tour of Russian artists (including ballet dancers, painters, musicians, singers etc) in Europe in 1908–1929. It was Russian Seasons which introduced Russian dancers, painters, composers and artists of other genres to European public. The idea behind the Seasons was to show the Europeans the richness of Russian culture and art. Europe was absolutely charmed with what Diyagilev brought: the decorations from Maryinsky theatre? Created by Russian painters Alexander Benoit, Nikolai Rerikh, Leon Bakst; Russian dancers: Anna Pavlova (a poster with her image created by Valentin Serov became a true symbol of the Russian Seasons) Tamara Krasavina, Vera Fokina, Vaslav Nijinsky; composers: Modest Musorgsky, Ivan Glinka, Igor Stravinsky, Sergey Prokofiev. It is safe to say that Diyagilev made Europe fall in love with Russia. Yes, there were times when Europe was literally obsessed with everything Russian.

By the way Sergey Dyagilev was also a pioneer of what we now call street advertising. While promoting the Russian Seasons, he introduced such means of advertising as banners and posters. He was also the first to realize that scandal is the best promoter in the world of art, so the details of artists personal lives hit the pages of the newspapers. This is basically what PR looks like even today. So? Should we now cancel the advertising as a business activity, just because it has Russian origins (Still, yes, ads can be really annoying, especially when they are on repeat)?

Sergey Dyagilev also contributed greatly to development of ballet as an art. Ballet was the greatest gift the Russian Seasons ever gave to the Europeans. It was Diyagilev who equalized the gender disbalance by promoting the male ballet dancers. George Balanchine – the man who created the entire American ballet & laid the foundation of the neo-classic ballet art – worked under Sergey Dyagilev. Exactly this experience became the basis of G.Balanchine’s future prominence as an artist. Balanchine’s career in ballet began in Mariynsky theatre. On top of that, here is a curious reminder. In 1954 George Balanchine staged “Nutcracker” ballet
(based on music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky) in New York City Ballet. To this day, “Nutcracker” is still a must-see in the US, one of the most iconic and famous ballet the world has ever seen. Want to know a little secret? Balanchine’s memories of his childhood spent in Russia were the source of maestro’s inspiration for creation of “Nutcracker”. Here is his quote: ““Nutcracker” is a ballet about Christmas. We had wonderful Christmas in Saint Petersburg. It was so brilliant! I was so little, and Christmas has always been special for me”. So, while standing in a long queue for tickets to “Nutcracker” or waiting for your order of tickets to be processed, remember that you’re doing this to get yourself a glimpse of George Balanchine’s love for Russia. So, you still want to "cancel" Sergey Dyagilev or Russian ballet? Then cancel the American ballet and the entire neo-classic ballet as well. While you at it, close the Paris Opera as well. Why? Because of its strong ties with Russia – Sergey (Serge) Lifar, who danced for Russian Seasons, legendary horeographer, writer & dance theoretician was the ballet master of the Paris Opera from 1930 to 1944, and from 1947 to 1958. On this position, he devoted himself to the restoration of the technical level of the Paris Opera Ballet, returning it to its place as one of the best companies in the world.

Getting back to the topic, we would like to give you yet another example of how much does Russia and Russians mean for modern culture. Perhaps, this is the most vivid yet. We are pretty sure that you are familiar with “Chanel No.5” - the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921, one of the most famous perfumes in history. Did you know that the formula for this perfume was compounded by Russian chemist and perfumer, Ernest Beaux? It’s true. Mr.Beaux was born in Moscow in 1882. It was there, in Moscow, where he developed his skill and eventually became an accomplished perfumer. While creating Chanel No.5, this masterpiece of a perfume, an icon of style, Ernest Beaux was inspired by the atmosphere of Russian winter. During World War I he served in Russian Imperial Army. His unit was deployed to the northern regions. “Chanel No.5” was created in 1920, when Ernest Beaux came back from war. The scent of this perfume is the symbol of his nostalgia and love towards Russia’s North, the freshness of the air of a frosty winter day in Russia. So, if you wear “Chanel No.5”, you are nostalgic towards Russia.

This perfume truly became Chanel’s trampoline towards the heights of success. So, does all the aforesaid make a good enough reason to “cancel” Chanel No.5? Or, perhaps, the entire Chanel brand? Well, if that wasn’t enough, Chanel’s brand placed some of its orders in an atelier opened by niece of Russian Tsar Nicholas II.

These are just a few examples of Russia’s footprint in world’s culture, a peak of the iceberg of its contribution to the treasury of humanity’s cultural heritage. We could go on, but in that case we’d rather write a book than an article. In conclusion, we would like to point out that all these attempts to “cancel Russia” and its culture are doomed to fail. Or rather, the only thing they will succeed at is showcasing arrogance, ignorance, visceral hatred of Russia and mediocrity of the authors of this absurd initiative. Still, this entire state of affairs highlights one alarming tendency in the West: in its anti-Russian frenzy and Russophobia it seems to be ready to turn everything into ashes. Narrow-minded & ill-educated are those who propose to “cancel” Russian culture. It cannot be canceled by definition, because Russian culture is supranational – it includes elements of almost 200 peoples who live together in Russia and call this country their home. Secondly, as you can see in the examples we gave, Russian culture is a big and integral part of global culture. So, in a nutshell, to cancel Russian culture means to steal from humanity’s cultural treasury. Is this important enough to stop people like Piotr Glinsky and “experts” from London National Gallery?