Moscow (AFP)

Closed due to coronavirus, the Bolshoi hopes that its dancers and singers will be able to go back on stage in mid-September, the director of the famous Moscow public theater, Vladimir Urine, told AFP on Friday.

According to this "optimistic scenario", rehearsals will resume at the end of July, thus giving artists enough time to regain their level, wants to believe Mr. Ourine.

However, he recognizes that the Bolshoi will only reopen after all the restrictions have been lifted to stem the coronavirus epidemic in Russia, the second country with the most contaminations in the world with 262,843 cases declared on Friday.

According to Mr. Ourine, the public can respect distancing measures and wear masks. But it's not possible on stage. "A musical theater with masks, gloves and a distance of 1.5 meters is impossible," he points out.

Like the other Moscow scenes, the Bolshoi, founded in 1776, has not performed since March 16, the date on which major public events were temporarily banned in Russia.

Speaking from a box overlooking the historic red and gold auditorium of the theater, Vladimir Ourine, 73, says that he always goes there very regularly.

According to him, it is especially the artists who suffer from confinement because they waste time spent at their best: "A break of more than six months is a serious professional problem (...) especially for ballet", regrets Mr. Ourine.

"And so morale is not very good and (the artists) all want to come back and resume rehearsals," he continues.

The Russian government recently announced aid of 3.8 billion rubles (47.7 million euros at the current rate) to support culture. Mr. Ourine tells him that "everything will be fine" and that his theater has enough reserves to survive.

"Naturally, the Bolshoi did not go bad when we work. So we have a small financial cushion and have kept state funding," he said.

- "There is hope" -

The director acknowledges that his plan depends on the lifting of compulsory confinement in Moscow, scheduled for May 31. And claims to be based on "people who know the situation better" within the authorities.

"There is hope for an exit," he said, even if "no one can predict" what the coronavirus will hold.

According to him, other operas and ballet companies around the world are more pessimistic. He claims to have spoken recently to Peter Gelb, the director general of the Metropolitan Opera of New York, who does not exclude him to reopen from January.

For his part, Mr. Ourine specifies that the first shows planned in his establishment will not include foreign artists, because of the travel restrictions in force.

The premiere of a ballet based on the novel "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov was to take place this month at the Bolshoi. But the show will be postponed because its choreographer, Edward Clug, is of Romanian nationality.

For Vladimir Ourine, the coronavirus crisis will have two other consequences: fewer shows, but also lower prices, an advantage that only a state theater can offer. "We understand very well that many people will not be able to afford tickets to the Bolshoi at the usual price."

© 2020 AFP