62 replies to this topic

[leonid]

Thank you Alison for recording this in Links.

I cannot remember of reading of such an assault on a ballet dancer before and am shocked.

http://artsbeat.blog...na-is-attacked/

Edited by carbro, 15 June 2010 - 01:39 PM.
Added direct link to article

[cubanmiamiboy]

"She had attended a performance of Ballet Theater’s “Sleeping Beauty,” in which she is to dance Saturday night, at the Metropolitan Opera House and was crossing Amsterdam Avenue on her way home when she was mugged, said the agent, Sergei Danilian. “Two guys just came from her back and they hit her and they took her bag...”

[cinnamonswirl]

I'm not shocked. That's New York. Muggings unfortunately happen. Thankfully not as much as they used to, but they do. It's an unfortunate side of working and living in the city. I doubt she was targeted because she is a dancer.

Still, I know from personal experience that it is a traumatic event, and I do feel for her.

My real question though, is why on earth did the muggers did her pointes? The hammer, ok, but pointe shoes? What do they plan to do with them? Sell them on eBay?

[dirac]

You're welcome, leonid. At least Osipova seems to be all right, which is something to be grateful for.

I too was wondering what the muggers propose to do with her pointe shoes.....

[Mme. Hermine]

the only similar event that comes to mind is paul petroff being attacked in a hotel.  poor girl, glad she is all right.

not sure pointe shoes is what they expected to get somehow.

[Drew]

One of Balanchine's finest male dancers, Bart Cook, was mugged in the 1980's (reportedly on his way to see Gelsey Kirkland's debut in Swan Lake).

I myself was blocked and grabbed (and I assume about to be mugged) by someone I originally though was a panhandler--I even said "excuse me" as I tried to walk by him--in the Lincoln Center area subway right after a performance.  The station was full of people, though the particular short tunnel I was walking through was empty. I yelled "Hey!!!" instinctively I suppose, as I myself was rather surprised by the violent and loud noise issuing from my mouth and then echoing through the tunnel, and the person let go of me and walked off.  When I went into the crowded waiting area for the train, no-one appeared to have heard anything or, at any rate, to have paid attention. This was around 1992.

One tends to think of New York being much safer now -- and it is -- but my heart still races when I enter that subway station and I try never to walk through tunnels anymore. Well, actually, I usually splurge on taxis in New York if I have very far to go or no-one is around and, otherwise, walk. But, of course, now I'm a tourist in New York and, at that time, I was living there.

It is very upsetting to hear about Osipova's experience: I very much hope it does not have long term effects on her and that it does not sour her on New York and the United States. She has a growing number of admirers here and I count myself as one of them...

[MakarovaFan]

Thank God Osipova's okay.

[sandik]

cinnamonswirl, on Jun 15 2010, 07:31 PM, said:

My real question though, is why on earth did the muggers did her pointes? The hammer, ok, but pointe shoes? What do they plan to do with them? Sell them on eBay?

Likely they just grabbed the whole bag and ran -- that's pretty standard.

My question is what they thought when they looked to see what they got.

[leonid]

dirac, on Jun 15 2010, 02:41 PM, said:

sYou're welcome, leonid. At least Osipova seems to be all right, which is something to be grateful for.

I too was wondering what the muggers propose to do with her pointe shoes.....

Of course one is grateful to hear that Osipova is physically ok.

I am somewhat surprised that she was was she not escorted back to her hotel?

[Leigh Witchel]

This is just awful; I'm so sorry my city gave Osipova such a poor welcome. But I have to say, the Osipova of my imagination would have pulled out a gun (with very pretty mother-of-pearl inlay, of course), karate-chopped them, handcuffed them, had them arrested, convicted and they'd be halfway to Siberia by now. In my imagination, Osipova is half Mathilde Kchessinska, half Foxy Brown.

[sunday]

Leigh Witchel, on Jun 15 2010, 03:49 PM, said:

This is just awful; I'm so sorry my city gave Osipova such a poor welcome. But I have to say, the Osipova of my imagination would have pulled out a gun (with very pretty mother-of-pearl inlay, of course), karate-chopped them, handcuffed them, had them arrested, convicted and they'd be halfway to Siberia by now. In my imagination, Osipova is half Mathilde Kchessinska, half Foxy Brown.

Yep, awful. Reminds me of some documentary with Lopatkina talking about being afraid of walking through Leningrad immediately after the fall of the Wall.

I don't think NYC allows concealed carry permits in the hands of foreign nationals, and she would have been in a world of hurt if discovered carrying a gun to work, probably. Perhaps Osipova should take a page from Sylvie Guillem book and start practicing martial arts in her ample free time. Thank to God  she was not raped.

So, ABT: pay her a bodyguard, pretty please. I still expect to see her dancing live! She was expected to perform past summer here, but Alexandrova substituded for her.

[Cygnet]

OMG this is awful!  Thank God she's okay!

[carbro]

cinnamonswirl, on Jun 15 2010, 02:31 PM, said:

I'm not shocked. That's New York. Muggings unfortunately happen. Thankfully not as much as they used to, but they do. It's an unfortunate side of working and living in the city. I doubt she was targeted because she is a dancer.

Correction:  It's an unfortunate side of working and living in a city.  According to InfoPlease.com, NYC's crime index places it way, way, way at the bottom of US cities with populations of 100,000+.  Also keep in mind that most crime is not in neighborhoods such as Lincoln Center where large numbers of tourists visit.  I live in the police precinct that includes Lincoln Center, and when I once called for police help with a noise complaint, the responding cop said, "If you need us again, just call 911."  I responded that I thought 911 was reserved for genuine emergencies, and he said, "Well, in this precinct ..." and shrugged, as if he was happy to have any call to break up the peaceful tedium of his shift.  

As a New Yorker, though, I am ashamed that it happened at all.

As for why Osipova may have been targeted, it was likely because at 5'4" and probably about 100 lbs soaking wet, she looked, to the untrained eye, weak.  Ha!  She played it smart, though, by not resisting.  Dancers as a group have to be adaptable, and I hope our visitor suffers no lasting effects.

[MakarovaFan]

I agree with Sunday that ABT should hire an escort for Osipova. Hopefully this will not make her think twice about returning to NY.

Let's hope the same thing doesn't happen to Cojacaru.

[Jayne]

carbro, on Jun 15 2010, 05:19 PM, said:

According to InfoPlease.com, NYC's crime index places it way, way, way at the bottom of US cities with populations of 100,000+.  Also keep in mind that most crime is not in neighborhoods such as Lincoln Center where large numbers of tourists visit.  I live in the police precinct that includes Lincoln Center, and when I once called for police help with a noise complaint, the responding cop said, "If you need us again, just call 911."  I responded that I thought 911 was reserved for genuine emergencies, and he said, "Well, in this precinct ..." and shrugged, as if he was happy to have any call to break up the peaceful tedium of his shift.  

The Village Voice had a great investigative piece a few weeks ago.  Don't rely on NYC crime statistics, most crime reports are downgraded to be listed as petty offenses by the Powers That Be.  They WANT the crime stats to look lower, so the politicians can get re elected by sayng "crime went down under my watch".

There are even recordings of precinct meetings where the lieutenants tell the beat cops to "pay the rent" (write more tickets).  And yes, they do have quotas.

would not surprise me if this is true in most cities.