ABSTRACT
The most visible of all Soviet-American exchanges have been in the performing arts, a world of ballet dancers, symphony orchestras, virtuoso soloists, folk dancers, theater, ice shows, circuses and jazz. It is also a strange mix of the arts, publicity and lucrative, but risky, business. There is also a political payoff. Soviet artists project an image of a vital, talented and creative people whose government suppports the arts and is dedicated to peace and friendship with all countries. Soviet artists perform abroad under the auspices of the USSR State Concert Agency—Goskontsert in Soviet parlance—a state monopoly which functions as a foreign trade organization under control of the USSR Ministry of Culture. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 and the lapse of the cultural agreement at the end of 1979 brought a suspension of performing arts exchanges between the two countries.
