Opera and Ballet Theater in Dushanbe Reopens for Novouz

Named for the father of Tajik literature and the first president of the Tajik Academy of Sciences, the Sadriddin Aini State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, or "Opera-Ballet" in local parlance, reopens after a five-year, $5 million total refit and refurbishment. Completed in 1942, the theater was originally built as a gift from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to the people of Tajikistan.