Director Of The Bolshoi Theater Of Belarus Responded To Accusations Of Plagiarism

It was vague and unconvincing.

At the turn of 2025-2026, Igor Kolb, the chief choreographer of the National Opera and Ballet Theater of Belarus, was accused of plagiarism. A month later, the director of this company Ekaterina Dulova decided to respond to these accusations (after all, the final decision was made by her). It turned out very inarticulate and unconvincing, writes "Zerkalo".

The Russian dancer and choreographer Oleg Gabyshev accused the Minsk theater of plagiarism. A year and a half ago, he learned that the Minsk theater was interested in ideas and offered to stage in Belarus a ballet about the artist Mark Chagall, a native of Vitebsk.

After meeting with Dulova and Kolb, the Russian sent to Minsk the finished text of the libretto, as well as visual images that could be used for the scenery. As a result, on December 26, 2025, the theater officially announced that the ballet about Chagall will be the premiere of the next season and will be staged in the fall-winter of 2026. However, it will be staged not by Gabyshev, but by Kolb.

In an interview with the state publication "SB. Belarus Today," Dulova said that the alleged idea of a ballet about Chagall is "at least 4-5 years old," so "our idea will be unique in its own way." She did not give Gabyshev's last name (though she was obviously responding to him), nor did she give any details of the ballet's preparation.

After Gabyshev's post, choreographer Ksenia Zvereva told her story on social media. In 2023, she proposed staging a ballet in Minsk dedicated to the legendary Vladimir Mulyavin, leader of the Pesnyary band. Zvereva was able to get the support of Mulyavin's relatives and the Belarusian Ministry of Culture. According to her, in February 2024, the theater unanimously approved the premiere of the performance, it was scheduled for January 2026.

As noted Zvereva, Dulova "gave written instructions to gather a team at my discretion and develop sketches for scenography, costumes, video content and lighting," and asked to provide a full estimate. After that, work on the ballet began, but Dulova soon stopped contacting me. A year later, in the midst of the ballet's preparation, another artistic council was held in Minsk, at which all employees of the theater (except for a representative of the Ministry of Culture) opposed the production and voted to cancel the premiere.

"Talented people have always been the object of envy. The hero of your ballet, Vladimir Mulyavin, went through this. After the general director of the theater said that she did not see in the face of Pesnyar a 'national hero', and I was banned from the theater," Marina Mulyavin, daughter of the leader of the Pesnyars, commented on the post.

"I bow my head before his (Mulyavin. - Editor's note) phenomenal giftedness, <�...>. But when there is a proposal to perform it in a ballet, choreographic solution... We discussed it for two years, but in the end we had to abandon the idea precisely because it did not prove convincing. We thought about our audience, among other things, and the artistic council made a unanimous decision that such an interpretation - with Mulyavin dancing - was impossible," Dulova said.

These are also absolutely general words. At the same time, the director did not comment on specific accusations against the theater, as well as the fact that work on the project was already actively underway - and before the fact that the hero Mulyavin will dance, no one was confused.

Who is Ekaterina Dulova?

Ekaterina Dulova was born in 1962 in Minsk in a family of musicians who came to the capital after graduating from the Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory and for a long time taught at the Belarusian Conservatory (now the Academy of Music). Graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and its postgraduate program. She defended her master's and doctoral theses devoted to music in ballet theater. Her entire career has been spent at the Academy of Music, where Ekaterina joined as a teacher in 1989. In 2010-2022 she was rector of this institution.

- Of course, I am not indifferent to what I do. I am an Orthodox person and I believe that faith is a certain measure in life, something that allows you to correct yourself and your actions. I am happy when I hear our children singing in Minsk temples. Perhaps my work is an obedience given to me by the Almighty," Dulova said in an interview.

"Previously, the Academy of Music had a separate department of orchestral conducting. Its graduates received the qualification "opera and symphony conductor." But in 2020 its long-time head Peter Vandilovsky died, after which as a result of "optimization" there was a "Frankenstein" - the Department of Orchestral Conducting and Instrumentation. After this merger, conducting was turned from an individual subject into a group subject. Previously, a teacher used to work with each student separately. Now several people sit in one class. Each has maybe 10-15 minutes at the console in the presence of other students. Even purely mathematically, the class time has been reduced several times. The quality of conductor education itself has also decreased, and we - the current conductors who criticized what was happening - had to leave teaching at the Academy. By the way, it was Mrs. Dulova's initiative," noted the famous Belarusian conductor Ivan Kostyakhin in an interview.

In 2016-2019, she was a member of the "council of the republic." In 2021, she participated in the "all-Belarusian People's Assembly" and represented the "Belarusian Union of Women" there. In the same year, she visited the Kupalov Theater together with Alexander Lukashenko. In 2022, Dulova was included in the Constitutional Commission.

- Each of us lives with wonderful hopes for the best. In general, it is peculiar to a human being, and I am convinced that today there is a creative process going on. The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus is a very serious document, and it is not weak, as many people try to present it, it is very compact, but every word there is like gold. Therefore, today it will simply acquire a new breath, new colors," said Dulova in a commentary to Belteleradiocompany.

Repressions and dismissals of employees continue in the Opera House under Dulova. Under her tenure, the ballet troupe of the theater almost went on tour to the occupied Crimea - the trip was avoided because of the publicity.

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