Jewish Choreographer Blasts ‘Crazy’ Criticism of Holocaust-Themed Ice Dancing Routine
By Dave Goldiner November 28, 2016
It turns out the creator of a Holocaust-themed Russian TV ice skating routine is Jewish — and he’s defending the stunningly tasteless show against criticism he calls “craziness”
Ilya Averbukh on Monday told the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid that he came up with the concept for the routine, in which the skaters wore striped concentration camp uniforms along with yellow stars of David.
“I would call all this reaction a sign of the craziness of today,” he told the paper, according to the Times of Israel.
The show was performed by Tatiana Navka, the wife of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, on an episode of the Russian celebrity skating show “Ice Age.”
It drew a wave of condemnation in Russia, Israel and in international media.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
