re. the 'Wife-vs-Girlfriend' designation, it looks like Vorontzova is the common-law wife (as opposed to 'real-law wife') of Dmitrichenko. The above article clarifies this. In the USA, this is called a 'long-term, live-in girlfriend.' In Russia, people in such long-term arrangements are called 'wife' and 'husband'....e.g., Balanchine and Danilova.
It depends where and when in the US, where there is and has been common-law marriage with the legal rights and restrictions of marriage. A "marriage-like" relationship for one year is considered the basis for a family sponsorship for Permanent Residency in Canada. The difference is in the way the press states it. Even in places with common-law marriage, in a non-City Hall registered marriage the person is more oftened described as someone's "partner" than wife, whereas in Russia, it serms, the press refers to a live-in partner as a "husband" or "wife."
Perhaps what Taranda meant was that Filin will no doubt recover and return to his job as Bolshoi director, don't forget that poor vision was never a handicap for Alicia Alonso.
There was hardly "no doubt" when he made his statement, and how big of him to decide the relative fall-out, especially when Tsiskaridze had already escewed the high road in his initial statements about how this was a love affair or business deal outside the theater and, as it turns out, it was in his own backyard, or at least part of it was. Even after his own conflicts with Filin and Bolshoi management made him a suspect -- not just his criticism but his methods -- and even after saying that he didn't think Dmitrienko was capable of the attack, he still threw him under the bus by talking about how Dmitrienko had conflicts with Filin "that everyone knew about" over grant money and how Filin distributed it. What a guy to be defending.
Filin has been damaged permanently physically, his vision has been stolen, and he and his family have been traumatized, and Taranda thinks that Tsiskaridze's mostly self-inflicted damage to his reputation is somehow worse? Unlike most people, Tsiskaridze had a very public pulpit from which to do damage control: first by expressing his sympathy for the attack and decrying it, second by not speculating in ways that made it sound like the attack was caused by tawdry deeds outside the theater, and by using media to say, "I'm, like everyone else who had conflicts with Filin, being interviewed by the police, and I'm certain I will be cleared soon," even if he added that he thinks Filin is a horrible manager.
Tsiskaridze will forever be tainted by the accusatons against him, indeed there are already those suggesting his close association with Vorontsova automatically means he was part of a plot to attack Filin. Mud sticks and and it could be his reputation is destroyed forever by all this and I think that is what Taranda was alluding to.
If he's known more for his conflicts than his dancing, then that is his own doing. At this point, it's impossible to separate the damage he's inflicted on himself before and after he was suspected in any way -- Filin himself said early on that he didn't suspect Tsiskaridze -- and how much being suspected hurt his reputation. Perhaps it was not a good strategy for Tsiskaridze himself to say it hurts him more than Filin.
Taranda's opinion it is worth listening to, after all few know the Bolshoi better than he does and Tsiskaridze has danced in his company so he knows his character well. He is also a neutral in all this as he is hardly Grigorovich's greatest fan after being publicly sacked by him. There is a lot of back story with all this that I'm afraid will ever emerge.
In my opinion, Taranda's opinion speaks more about Taranda than Tsiskaridze, and Filin, by stating that he's sure there is more behind this than the three in custody, is trying to ensure that the backstory comes out.
I am NOT condoning any kind of acid attack on anyone, but perhaps when Filin resumes the helm of the Bolshoi he ought to also re-evaluate his own management strategies. It's not easy dealing with 200 very ambitious egos I'm sure, but it also seems like his style of management escalated, rather than de-escalated conflict.
Conflict is a given in his line of work: there are more dancers, designers, conductors, and coaches than opportunities. What happened to him was criminal, and to change in light of a criminal attack -- an exception -- is a questionable strategy.
I think it's worth remembering that Filin promoted Vorontsova out of the corps de ballet in May 2012 and that he promoted Dmitrichenko twice, to first soloist in January 2012 and to leading soloist in December 2012.
Put like that, there isn't any real motive for the attack. Perhaps it's all a frame up.
Except for second part of the story, which is that Dmitricheno didn't think it was enough, just like Vorontsova didn't think it was enough, so the motive is still there, even if it is a frame-up or Dmitichenko was involved but is taking the fall for others as well. Dmitrichenko was also quoted as complaining about salaries at the company, which is presumably why he was managing a dacha village outside Moscow, and wilth bigger promotions come bigger pay and sometimes (bigger) guesting opportunities. None of the articles said that Filin had rejected Dmitrichenko's grant proposals, only that they has fought about grants, but if that were so, it would be another financial motive.
As far as Vorontsova or her entourage thinking she is being held behind, she's probably not only looking at the Somovas and Smirnovas and their careers, but also the trajectory of Osipova's. (It was Burlaka, not Filin, who insisted that Osipova break her ABT guest contract to join the company in DC for "Le Corsaire.") Osipova was offered money and apartments and great flexibilty in her contract by Kekhman, and she is back to guesting at the Bolshoi. What uber-talented 21-year-old who was sponsored at 16 to go to one of the most pretigious schools in the country by a former star and company director, was asked to join the Bolshoi, is the girlfriend of a rising dancer from a dance family, is coached by one of the most famous and self-promoting dancers around, and has been told and shown how wonderful she is and how she is being robbed of her due opportunities by coach and boyfriend wouldn't want to go as fast as possible up the food chain and think she deserves it? Most of the ones who haven't have loyalty to the institutions or get their dancing identities from them or put their careers into the hands of a creative genius like Balanchine despite other offers and possibilities.
