Opposition Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) representative Vytautas Juozapaitis proposes to amend the Professional Stage Art Act and establish conditions for mimansa artists to receive a pension similar to actors, conductors, choir artists, and other creative workers.
“The Professional Stage Art Act provides compensation payments only to specifically listed creative workers, including actors, but mimansa artists are not directly mentioned in it. The discrepancies in the provisions of the law and the current orders of the Minister of Culture (in one, a mimansa artist is called a ‘performer,’ in another – an ‘actor’) cause legal uncertainty regarding the status of mimansa artists and do not ensure equal social guarantees for professional stage art creative workers performing acting roles,” the project states.
The parliamentarian proposes to grant pensions to mimansas if they have at least 30 years of creative work experience.
The pension consists of 13 base social benefits (BSI) – this year it amounts to 962 euros per month or 11,544 euros per year.
As the Ministry of Culture previously commented to BNS, there are currently 14 mimansas in Lithuania, and mimansa artists currently work only at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre under employment contracts. Other theaters, when there is a need for mimansas in a performance, use other forms of employment.
In the Ministry of Culture’s conclusion, which was approved by the Government this week, it is proposed to support the aim of the amendments prepared by V. Juozapaitis – to ensure equal social guarantees for professional stage art creative workers.
However, the Government proposes that the Seimas not consider the draft law.
“Improvement of the system of state pensions and other pension-type benefits from the state budget (…) can only be implemented by comprehensively addressing the problems of the system of state pensions and other pension-type benefits from the state budget,” the conclusion states.
It indicates that in implementing the XXI Government program, it plans to submit draft laws amending the laws regulating state pensions and other pension-type benefits to the Seimas for consideration by the second quarter of 2028.
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The conclusion states that these amendments will propose “systematic improvement of the legal regulation of the payment of the mentioned benefits, also taking into account the legal regulation measure proposed in the draft to ensure equal social guarantees for professional stage art creative workers.”
As BNS wrote, pensions are currently granted to creative workers with 18–30 years of creative work experience gained performing professional stage art works.
Currently, differentiated creative work experience requirements are set for different groups of stage art workers, taking into account the nature of their activities, physical and professional intensity, and specific skills.
The shortest – 18 years – experience requirement applies to ballet artists, dancers, and circus performers, whose activities are characterized by very high physical intensity, strength, agility, and coordination requirements.
30 years of experience is required for conductors, choir artists, actors, and other stage art workers whose activities are considered less dependent on intense physical exertion.
Pensions for artists are paid only when they do not have the right to receive or do not receive higher old-age, disability, or length-of-service pensions of the same amount, state, foreign state pensions, or other permanent pension-type benefits for the nature of work.
Mimansa artists appeared (also in Lithuania) during the Baroque period, when mass scenes, background actions, and mise-en-scène requiring additional performers without individual roles began to be used in performances.
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