Three laureates were absent from the award ceremony in the Kremlin
The “cultural” awards ceremony in the Kremlin on March 22 turned out to be modest: out of seven laureates, three were absent. Vladimir Putin drew attention to the fact that Sergei Polunin, “a miraculous kind of dance”, was not among the awardees. “I don't see him here,” he shook his head. Polunin is famous not only for his choreography, but also for his unreserved support of the president and the SVO, in honor of whose participants he staged a special number. Since 2018, a large image of Putin has been tattooed on the artist's chest.
The Day of Cultural Workers (March 25) was preceded by the presentation of awards in the field of literature and art for children and youth and for young cultural figures in the Kremlin. There were few awardees, so the large Catherine Hall, where such ceremonies are usually held, decided not to open and placed all the necessary equipment in the representative office of the head of state. According to presidential adviser Vladimir Tolstoy, three prizes of 5 million rubles each. were awarded to young talents and another three to masters of Russian culture who dedicated their work to the younger generation. Since one of the prizes was split between two teams, there were supposed to be seven participants at the event. However, there were only four seats in the hall.
Vladimir Putin did not seem to pay attention to this at first. In his speech, he tried to say a few kind words about each laureate. According to him, the young director Aidar Zabbarov continues the famous traditions of domestic psychological theater. At the age of 36, sculptor Yekaterina Pilnikova has already created a number of sculptures of outstanding figures of Russian culture and has a “rare talent”. “Another young but already recognized master who wrote his pages in the world history of choreography is the ballet dancer Sergei Vladimirovich Polunin,” began the story about another GDP winner. But when he looked up at the audience, he stopped. “Only I don't see him here,” he remarked with disappointment mixed with surprise.
The president did not even see the other two laureates. Of the “masters”, only Viktor Gatsulenko from Sevastopol and Larisa Feoktistova from Murmansk came to accept the award, awarded for their contribution to the aesthetic and patriotic education of children in the areas where the navy is based. Despite the distance, as it turned out, they not only lead teams with the same name “Joy”, but wordlessly put on numbers similar in spirit. “They have an edition of 'The Bells of Chersonesos' dedicated to returning to their home port. And we have the “Russian army”. The point is that “whoever comes to us with a sword will die with a sword,” Feoktistova explained to Putin. Director Alexander Galibin, awarded for his contribution to the development of domestic children's cinema, and animator Inessa Kovalevskaya, who, according to the VVP, should be “thanked for the singing heroes of the Bremen musicians” did not participate in the ceremony. , for the Lion and the Turtle, for Katerok” and “In the harbor”.
Dmitry Peskov expressed his belief that everyone absent from the Kremlin had good reasons. “Someone just couldn't because of work,” he suggested. The president's aide Vladimir Tolstoy turned out to be the owner of more specific information: according to him, Polunin premiered the play on the evening of March 22, Galibin attended the 300th anniversary of Perm, and Kovalevskaya is 90 years old, doctors did not allow her to go out. Polunin himself said that he learned about the date of the award presentation three weeks in advance, but he could not change anything: the performance based on the Master and Markétka was prepared for a year, it is a big responsibility for the team and the audience. Why did Putin pay attention to his absence? Maybe because they are aware – they spoke in 2019 in Sevastopol. At that time, Polunin already had a tattoo of the Russian president on his chest. According to his words, the dancer stuffed him for 300 pounds in London in order to absorb some of the negative energy that falls on Putin daily from the side, as they say today, of the collective West. Polunin is a supporter of SVO and at the same time a pacifist: his eldest son was called Mir.