Is This an 'Abandoned Russian Mental Hospital'?
Is This an 'Abandoned Russian Mental Hospital'? This picture is often mislabeled as a mental institution in Russia in the 1950s. It is in fact German ballerinas stretching their calve muscles in 1977. There are special holes in the wall to step on. A haunting photograph seemingly showing several women climbing the walls of a room in a dilapidated building is frequently circulated with the claim that it depicts an (abandoned) "Russian mental institution" in the 1950s, or that it documents paranormal activity of (dead) people levitating: Neither of those explanations seems plausible: It's unlikely that patients would be able to sustain themselves in an "abandoned" hospital, and footholds visible in the wall obviate the "paranormal" aspect of the picture. In fact, this picture was taken from a performance staged by the late German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch of her 1977 ballet "Blaubart" (based on composer Béla Bartók's ...