Tajikistan: Despite Hard Times Opera-Ballet to Reopen for Novruz

It is a meeting place and a source of local pride. Boulevards lined with sycamore trees and parks containing giant maples radiate outward from its gold and white neoclassical façade, sparkling in late afternoon. The Sadriddin Aini State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, or "Opera-Ballet" in local parlance, sits proudly in the center of Dushanbe, situated behind a fountain popular for its shashlik and beer stands on hot summer days.

After a five-year, $5 million total refit and refurbishment, the site is giving Dushanbe residents something to look forward to, despite the gloomy state of the country's economy. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The facility is scheduled to re-open in connection with the Novruz holiday, which begins March 21. Marking the vernal equinox, the ancient Persian New Year is widely celebrated throughout Central Asia. On the playbill: Sharofiddin Saifiddinov's 1975 opera "Rudaki," which commemorates the life and work of the 9th century Persian poet born in what is now Tajikistan.

Named for the father of Tajik literature and the first president of the Tajik Academy of Sciences, the theater building creates its own myth-like aura by blending Tajik, Persian and Soviet influences. Current restoration efforts will no doubt embellish the legend for future generations.

Completed in 1942, the theater was originally built as a gift from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to the people of Tajikistan. Some locals say German prisoners of war built it -- quite possible given the Soviet tendency for putting captives to work. Many Dushanbe residents now believe it is the oldest building standing in the city, which sits in a seismically active zone and is thus vulnerable to earthquakes.

By the late Soviet period, the building was in an advanced state of decay due to decades of neglect. The moment of its salvation came in 2003, following a performance of the opera "Rustam and Sohrab," which draws on the work of the 11th century Persian poet Abdulqasim Firdowsi. Tajik President Imomali Rahmon happened to be in attendance, and was appalled to find the theater in such decrepit condition. The president is said to have decided that immediate action was needed to save the facility, when he witnessed an equipment malfunction during the performance.

"The performance ended," recounted Kholakhmad Majitov, a former actor and now director of the state theater. "Rahmon got on stage and thanked everyone. . . . He said the theater is very old and needs major renovations and reconstruction. He said he witnessed himself how the machinery on the stage broke. . . . [and he] told the ministers to start major renovations in 2004 and create the necessary budget."

As the re-opening date drew closer, workers scrambled to apply the finishing details on the renovation project. Craftsmen were proud to display their work. Jamshid, a plaster restorer whose name is straight out of Firdowsi, said the reconstruction project had helped keep alive a dying art.

"This is all in our blood, in our genes," Jamshid said, describing how specific artisanal skills have been handed down through families through generations. "I am talking about our grandfathers. This is the East. For example, one family makes the ceiling. Our people are very talented."

Ballerina Zoya Belayeva has been performing at the theater for 34 years since honing her technique at the Moscow Academy of Dance. Artistic conditions were better during the Soviet era, she laments, but she has high hopes for the restoration of the Opera-Ballet theater. "I know the ballet will not leave, it will not disappear," she says.