Alkis Raftis, the President of UNESCO International Dance Council and Boris Eyfman, the head of “Ballet and Dance” section on the 4th Saint-Petersburg International Cultural Forum are going to raise a fund in the aim of preserving art of ballet, Alkis Raftis reported at the today round table entitled “Classical Heritage –Museum or Theatre?”  The fund will be named after a famous choreographer Marius Petipa.

Participants discussed author's approach in the interpretation of ballet masterpieces of the past. "Classic ballet is a museum of theater history where the spirit of the past lives, and we will be devouring ourselves right as reptiles as long as we don't preserve it", said Boris Eyfman opening the discussion. According to him, there are 3 types of choreographers: "restorers", "experimentalists" and "those who still are delicate with classic ballet performances". Moderator himself categorizes himself as the last type.

As was pointed out by Alkis Raftis during the discussion, the notion of "authenticity of dance" should be avoided. According to his words, money alone is true or false, but art is a living substance. The national ballets' artistic directors Kang Sue-jin, Feng Yingan and Petr Zuska shared their experience in interpretation of classic ballet works based on shows like The Nutcracker and The Chinese New Year. The head of Hungarian National Ballet observed that there should be 10 per cent of modernization in contemporary ballet, but it must necessarily be based on the classics.

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