Dancing influence: Russian ballet and the politics of cultural diplomacy

This article examines the development of Russian ballet as an instrument of imperial cultural ambition and symbolic cultural diplomacy. Inspired by French and Italian traditions, Russian institutions appropriated ballet and transformed it to convey refinement, modernity and cultural authority. Since the founding of the Imperial Ballet School, ballet has functioned as a prominent form of Russian soft power, shaping international perceptions and fostering cultural rapprochement, rather than producing direct political outcomes. Through selected case studies, including Lavrovsky’s Romeo and Juliet , Yakobson’s experimental choreography and The Nutcracker , this article demonstrates how ballet contributed to the construction of national identity and facilitated symbolic diplomatic engagement by shaping the affective and perceptual frameworks in which political interactions occurred.