Karolina Gongadze, a graduate of the Krasnodar State Institute of Culture, said that administrators attempted to ban her from staging a Georgian dance for the practical portion of her graduation thesis. This was reported by the DOXA media outlet, which published a video recorded by the graduate.
“Why does art equal politics?” she asks.
According to Gongadze, the university maintains its own registry of countries whose dances cannot be used in final examinations due to the “unfriendly status of these states.”
Ultimately, Georgia was not classified as such, allowing the graduate to perform the Georgian dance for her thesis defense. However, she reported bans on Ukrainian, Moldovan, and Armenian choreography.
“Russia is not on good terms with Armenia, so that routine was pulled from the festival,” she said, referring to a performance prepared by other students.
