Russia’s Bolshoi, Performing in China, Vows to Return to the West 

People pose for pictures in front of the National Center for the Performing Arts, before a performance by Russia's Bolshoi Ballet company in Beijing, China, July 25, 2023. (Reuters)
People pose for pictures in front of the National Center for the Performing Arts, before a performance by Russia's Bolshoi Ballet company in Beijing, China, July 25, 2023. (Reuters)
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Russia’s Bolshoi, Performing in China, Vows to Return to the West 

People pose for pictures in front of the National Center for the Performing Arts, before a performance by Russia's Bolshoi Ballet company in Beijing, China, July 25, 2023. (Reuters)
People pose for pictures in front of the National Center for the Performing Arts, before a performance by Russia's Bolshoi Ballet company in Beijing, China, July 25, 2023. (Reuters)

The artistic director of Moscow's state-owned Bolshoi Ballet has vowed that his company will eventually perform in the West again, having been subject to a cultural boycott since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The storied ballet company performed at Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday in its first international tour since the pandemic.

Speaking in Beijing on the eve of the performance, artistic director Makhar Vaziev insisted the troupe was "not suffering" from being unable to perform in the West.

"I have no doubt that one day everything will go back to how it should be because culture is a wave that is very hard to suppress," Vaziev, 62, said in an interview.

"Many governments have banned cultural figures from Russia... but we are still talking to the same people we talked to in the past."

The Bolshoi's dancers hope their performances will herald a return to the global stage for the crown jewel of Russian culture, which toured the world even in the most tense days of the Cold War.

But the company only has two further confirmed international stops so far: the Belarusian capital Minsk in November, and Oman in January 2024.

The theater, founded in 1776 by Empress Catherine the Great, will showcase excerpts of some of its best-known ballet works in two gala performances in Beijing, followed by a three-day staging of the 19th century ballet "Don Quixote".

It still receives around 70 percent of its funding from the Russian government, according to the company's PR representative. No performers have so far publicly condemned President Vladimir Putin's war, which has caused an estimated 8,500 civilian casualties according to the UN.

Reuters was asked to avoid political questions during interviews with members of the troupe.

In February 2022, the day after Moscow sent thousands of troops into Ukraine, London's Royal Opera House called off the Bolshoi's planned post-pandemic return for a residency scheduled for that summer.

Cancellations in other Western cities soon followed, and creative collaboration with Western venues and choreographers evaporated.

Several Russian and foreign leading dancers also quit the company in opposition to the Ukraine war, including former principal ballerina Olga Smirnova.

"I would really like to visit other countries, see the world, and get to know different venues, theaters, teachers and choreographers," said principal dancer Elizaveta Kokoreva, who joined the company at the beginning of the pandemic.

"But it is what it is right now."



Malaysian Rice Porridge a ‘Trademark’ Ramadan Tradition

This picture taken on March 5, 2025 shows an Indian Muslim mixing ingredients to prepare the popular dish "bubur lambuk" at Masjid India during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kuala Lumpur. (AFP)
This picture taken on March 5, 2025 shows an Indian Muslim mixing ingredients to prepare the popular dish "bubur lambuk" at Masjid India during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kuala Lumpur. (AFP)
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Malaysian Rice Porridge a ‘Trademark’ Ramadan Tradition

This picture taken on March 5, 2025 shows an Indian Muslim mixing ingredients to prepare the popular dish "bubur lambuk" at Masjid India during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kuala Lumpur. (AFP)
This picture taken on March 5, 2025 shows an Indian Muslim mixing ingredients to prepare the popular dish "bubur lambuk" at Masjid India during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kuala Lumpur. (AFP)

As dusk fell, hundreds of Muslims at a mosque in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur feast on bowls of fragrant rice porridge known locally as "bubur lambuk", part of a Ramadan tradition dating back decades.

Slow-cooked with various spices in giant pots and stirred with oversized ladles, bubur lambuk is traditionally prepared by volunteers in mosque courtyards before being distributed to the public for iftar, the fast-breaking meal in the largely Islamic nation.

But the broth, specially prepared at Masjid India, a well-known Kuala Lumpur mosque, serves a unique version of the porridge using a recipe originating from India.

"This tradition has been passed down from generation to generation, from the 60s to the 70," he told AFP.

"So it has become a trademark. If it (Nombu Kanji) wasn't there, it wouldn't be complete."

Mosque volunteers use 140 kilograms (308 pounds) of rice daily to cook the porridge, which is served in bowls to prayer attendees or packed into 1,000 large plastic packets to be distributed to the public.

Each packet is enough to feed a family of four.

"From the perspective of making things easier for the people in this area, sometimes the homeless who struggle to get food, low-income workers, and office workers who sometimes don't have time to go home and cook benefit from this," he said.

"So, the preparation of iftar meals by mosques helps make their daily lives more convenient (during Ramadan)."

Mohaiyadin Sahulhameed, a local resident originally from India, said the porridge served at the mosque reminded him of home.

"Back in our village, the way we cook is using large woks, with curry leaves, mustard seeds, cinnamon, and all sorts of ingredients mixed together. When combined with rice, it creates a rich aroma, quite similar to how it's done here," he said.

The mosque's cook, Sathakkathullah Hameed, said he saw preparing the large pots of porridge daily as a religious calling.

"During this fasting month, I want to help others. Allah grants rewards, mercy, and blessings, and, God willing, He will provide sustenance," he said.

"And when people eat the porridge I cook, they say 'Bismillah,' (in the name of God) and I respond with 'Alhamdulillah' (praise be to God)."