Cadra Peterson McDaniel – författare

American–Soviet Cultural Diplomacy: The Bolshoi Ballet’s American Premiere is the first full-length examination of a Soviet cultural diplomatic effort. Following the signing of an American-Soviet cultural exchange agreement in the late 1950s, Soviet officials resolved to utilize the Bolshoi Ballet’s planned 1959 American tour to awe audiences with Soviet choreographers’ great accomplishments and Soviet performers’ superb abilities. Relying on extensive research, Cadra Peterson McDaniel examines whether the objectives behind Soviet cultural exchange and the specific aims of the Bolshoi Ballet’s 1959 American tour provided evidence of a thaw in American-Soviet relations. Interwoven throughout this study is an examination of the Soviets’ competing efforts to create ballets encapsulating Communist ideas while simultaneously reinterpreting pre-revolutionary ballets so that these works were ideologically acceptable. McDaniel investigates the rationale behind the creation of the Bolshoi’s repertoire and the Soviet leadership’s objectives and interpretation of the tour’s success as well as American response to the tour. The repertoire included the four ballets, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Giselle, and The Stone Flower, and two Highlights Programs, which included excerpts from various pre- and post-revolutionary ballets, operas, and dance suites. How the Americans and the Soviets understood the Bolshoi’s success provides insight into how each side conceptualized the role of the arts in society and in political transformation. American–Soviet Cultural Diplomacy: The Bolshoi Ballet’s American Premiere demonstrates the ballet’s role in Soviet foreign policy, a shift to "artful warfare," and thus emphasizes the significance of studying cultural exchange as a key aspect of Soviet foreign policy and analyzes the continued importance of the arts in twenty-first century Russian politics.

ENG:This document describes the book Soviet-American Cultural Diplomacy: The American Debut of the Bolshoi Theater by Cadra Peterson McDaniel. The book is a study of the 1959 Bolshoi Ballet tour in the US as a tool of Soviet foreign policy. It examines how the repertoire was formed, combining communist ideas and reinterpreted classics, and how the tour was perceived on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The work highlights that cultural exchange became a form of "elegant warfare" and emphasizes the continued relevance of art's role in Cold War politics. Cadra Peterson McDaniel is an Associate Professor of History and Coordinator of the Master of Arts in History at Texas A&M University-Central Texas, specializing in Russian foreign policy and culture.RUS:«Советско-американская культурная дипломатия. Американский дебют Большого театра» — первое масштабное исследование гастролей Большого балета в США в 1959 году как инструмента внешней политики СССР. После подписания соглашения о культурном обмене Советский Союз стремился произвести впечатление на американскую публику мощью своей хореографии и исполнительского мастерства, превратив сцену в арену культурного соперничества.Кадра Петерсон Макдэниэл исследует, как формировался репертуар, сочетавший коммунистические идеи и переработанную классику, и как турне было воспринято с обеих сторон «железного занавеса». Работа показывает, что культурный обмен стал формой «изящной войны» и подчеркивает: роль искусства в политике времен холодной войны остается актуальной и в наши дни.