Bolshoi drops major ballet premiere after acid attack

[Larry1]

Who knew the ballet world was so brutal?

Russia's Bolshoi ballet has postponed one of its most eagerly anticipated premieres of the year, a new version of Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", after the acid attack on Sergei Filin, its artistic director.

The Bolshoi had invited the British choreographer Wayne McGregor to choreograph an entirely new ballet to Stravinsky's iconic score, which premiered in Paris 100 years ago. The ballet was due to have premiered in late March in a festival of dance celebrating the 100th anniversary.

"The Bolshoi management and the stage team led by Wayne McGregor have taken a joint decision to postpone 'The Right of Spring' as Sergei Filin is undergoing treatment," the Bolshoi said in a statement.

... Filin has undergone repeated operations to try and save his eyesight after an unknown attacker last month threw acid into his face. He is set to go for further treatment next week in the German city of Aachen.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/9842547/Bolshoi-drops-major-ballet-premiere-after-acid-attack.html

Here are more details of the seamy underbelly of the ballet world:

Ballet may be high art onstage, but last month's acid attack on Bolshoi Ballet chief Sergei Filin has drawn attention to the fact that it's a dirty business behind the scenes.

Two weeks after an unidentified assailant threw sulfuric acid in Filin's face outside his apartment building, the attack remains in the national spotlight.

Police have opened a criminal case in connection with the attack and have tentatively linked it to Filin's job but have named no suspects. Filin has also said he believes it was connected to his work, while some observers think it was the work of people with financial interests connected to the theater.

As artistic director for one of the world's most prestigious ballet companies, Filin, 42, had fierce rivals and critics, as well as the power to make or break dancers' careers.

During Filin's almost two years as Bolshoi Ballet director, he had the tires of his car slashed multiple times by vandals, including one such incident the day of the acid attack, media reports have stated. Also, Filin's e-mail and Facebook accounts have been hacked.

Earlier this week, a leading Bolshoi dancer came forward saying she had received threats.  Svetlana Lunkina extended a leave of absence from the theater because she said she is afraid to return home from Canada because of threats targeting her and her husband, a film producer.

... Another candidate, Gennady Yanin, who was assistant ballet director at the Bolshoi and was supposed to replace Burlaka temporarily, resigned after someone hacked his website and posted images purportedly showing him having sex with a man, media reports said.

//www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/after-attack-rivalries-at-bolshoi-draw-scrutiny/474887.html#ixzz2JkrOmZW8

[Larry1]

The mystery discussed above is solved:

Ballet dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko confessed on Wednesday to hiring the men who threw acid in the face of Bolshoi Ballet director Sergei Filin in January. Dmitrichenko was reportedly miffed that Filin repeatedly passed over his girlfriend, ballet prodigy Anzhelina Vorontsova, for leading roles.

Wow!

This article in slate.com goes on to answer the question -  Why is the ballet such a big deal in Russia?

It’s equal parts history, national pride, and hero worship. Russians of all social strata have long been obsessed with dancing. Regions have their own folk dances, and during the medieval period, dancing serfs provided the primary form of entertainment in the courts of Russian nobles. When the country became interested in Western European art forms in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, ballet replaced folk dances in the existing culture of dance training and performance. Orphans of deceased government employees were raised from birth to be ballet dancers, and aristocrats founded ballet academies to train the serfs who occupied their lands. The wealthy bought, sold, and traded their most talented dancers.

There’s something uniquely Russian about the way the country went about conquering the ballet world: Russia’s mighty leaders decided to make ballet a Russian art form, and through centralized planning and the shrewd use of resources, bent the country’s culture to their will. Catherine the Great, in particular, organized prestigious schools and built theatrical palaces. (It was Catherine who made the Bolshoi Russia’s most important ballet troupe.) Russian czars used their wealth to coax foreign talent to St. Petersburg, especially after the French Revolution stalled artistic progress in Paris. Most notably, the French dancer and choreographer Charles-Louis Didelot immigrated to Russia after finding it difficult to make a living in in London, which lacked a strong state sponsor of ballet. Once in Russia, both foreign-born and native talent developed a Russian style of ballet. 

You can read the rest of the article here:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/explainer/2013/03/bolshoi_ballet_acid_attack_why_do_russians_take_ballet_so_seriously.html

[Boethius]

I knew it was.  My better half worked at the Kyiv ballet as a second job.  He eventually quit becuase he said he couldn't take the "rotten atmosphere".  There was a similar attack, though not with acid, on one of the principal dances of the Kyiv ballet when he worked there.  It is, in many respects, a very tough world.