In 1981, the New World Society, a leftist group in West Los Angeles that slavishly followed Moscow's party line was presenting the Nutcracker ballet live via a video hookup with Moscow--some sort of cable device. The hookup worked, but given the video technology of the time, the cathode ray tube monitor made it somewhat hard for a large group to watch because it was so small. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the show.
After the performance, the master of ceremonies wished everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, which I felt was odd coming from a Marxist-Leninist who, by definition, would have been an atheist. However, someone behind me said in Russian, "S Novym Godom"--happy New Year--but not "S Rozhdyestvom Khristovym"--to the birth of Christ, or merry Christmas. Considering where I was and the nature of this group, I figured this was par for the course.
I was in Moscow in December, 1981 and I attended The Nutcracker at the Bolshoi Ballet one evening. I wonder if it was the same performance that you saw.
As the Cold Warriors hoped and worked for, communism as the dominant political force is gone from Russia, but Christianity is still there.
What were you doing with Commies in LA, working undercover for the FBI?