Olga Smirnova - Ostrava Research Project

The discovery of coal and regular mining activities in the second part of the 18th century boosted the economical development of once a peripheral area of the present day Ostrava and in the second half of the 19th century it became one of the most significant industrial centers of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The number of inhabitants increased drastically which led to the transformation of the administrative, social and cultural life of the town. Known after the WWII under the names of the “city of coal and iron” and also the “steel heart of the republic”, nowadays Ostrava is aspiring to acquire the status of the European Cultural Capital in 2015.
Ostrava’s Moravian-Silesian National Theatre ranks among the best in the Czech Republic. The Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava became one of the leading Czech symphonic orchestras very shortly after its founding in 1954. High quality opera, drama, ballet performances and classical music concerts often attract a great number of visitors. It can be easily considered to be “Ostrava phenomenon” having a high-rank professional theater and orchestra in the city with the population slightly over 330 thousand inhabitants.
Ostrava’s public is very demanding. And the theater halls are often full. I found very interesting the fact that about 25 % of the cast of Ostrava’s leading cultural institutions consists of foreigners. Among them the great number of artists, musicians, dancers come from the countries of the former Soviet Union. In addition there is a large group of Italian professionals – mainly opera singers – who found an application to their talents in Ostrava. Such a large number of foreign professionals permanently based in Ostrava could not but influence the quality of the theater performance and the choice of the repertoire. And possibly as a consequence shape the cultural preferences of the Ostrava’s public.
In my research I would like to focus on the professionals from the former Soviet Union republics who are now performing in Ostrava Theater and singing in Ostrava orchestra. Many of them started coming to the Czech Republic already in the early 90ies – the time when the general spirit of suspicion towards “the Russians” was in the air. Many of them are now active in the cultural scene. How do they reflect upon their life in Ostrava? Do they identify themselves with the Czech in general and Ostrava’s in particular cultural sphere? Do they build relations with their Czech and non-Czech colleagues following the rules of the “healthy competition” (I’ve often heard the claim that “a Russian professional has to be three times better than the Czech one in order to get a job position in the Czech Republic”) and what relation does it have to the quality of Ostrava’s cultural life?
During my stay in Ostrava I will conduct a series of interviews with the Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian ballet dancers, opera singers and chorus singers. I will attend a performance in the Moravian-Silesian National Theatre (and time permitting also Arena Chamber Theater) and talk to several regular theater goers.