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Sergei Filin Attacked


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Christopher Wheeldon was shown visiting Tsiskaridze's apartment in the BBC documentary on the making Wheeldon's ELSINORE (a.k.a. Misericordes) ballet. He may have even mentioned the number as he stood at the front door of the building, trying to punch-in the code (shivering in the cold). Anyway, Tsiskaridze's apartment building & unit # seems to not be a secret.

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More news this morning on Filin's treatment: http://rbth.ru/news/2013/03/30/bolshoi_ballet_chief_to_undergo_complicated_eye_tissue_transplantation_i_24475.html

Sergei Filin, the ballet director of the Bolshoi Theater, who suffered an acid attack in Moscow in January and who is currently receiving treatment in Germany, is to undergo a complicated surgery involving eye tissue transplantation.

"A major operation on the right eye involving tissue transplantation is ahead. Doctors pin great hopes on this operation," Filin's lawyer Tatyana Stukalova told Interfax.

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Christopher Wheeldon was shown visiting Tsiskaridze's apartment in the BBC documentary on the making Wheeldon's ELSINORE (a.k.a. Misericordes) ballet. He may have even mentioned the number as he stood at the front door of the building, trying to punch-in the code (shivering in the cold). Anyway, Tsiskaridze's apartment building & unit # seems to not be a secret.

It's a new apartment. The television program mentioned that it was a gift from an oligarch.

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More news this morning on Filin's treatment: http://rbth.ru/news/...on_i_24475.html

Sergei Filin, the ballet director of the Bolshoi Theater, who suffered an acid attack in Moscow in January and who is currently receiving treatment in Germany, is to undergo a complicated surgery involving eye tissue transplantation.

"A major operation on the right eye involving tissue transplantation is ahead. Doctors pin great hopes on this operation," Filin's lawyer Tatyana Stukalova told Interfax.

Thanks for this update, I hope it is a great success and that his recovery keeps going strong.

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That is interesting, Mashinka; would you care to set the record straight for us?

I do not know about the others here, but I have been getting more and more confused as to what is fact and what is opinion on many things involved in this case.

Thanks.

-d-

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"Russians split over Bolshoi acid attack". Ismene Brown Blog. Sunday, 7 April 2013.

"
Russia Beyond the Headlines
, a news and politics site run by the government-produced media publication
Rossiyskaya Gazeta
, is reporting some public opinion research into the events surrounding the acid attack on the Bolshoi Ballet’s director Sergei Filin.

The figures show a considerable apathy about the gravity of the crime and more people thinking it fairly normal behaviour for theatre people than being outraged. The Bolshoi Theatre’s domestic reputation appears hardly affected, with just 10 percent being ‘deeply disappointed’ in it."

http://www.ismeneb.c...cid_attack.html

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You ask me to elaborate on my comment regarding the Ismene Brown blog about Tsiskaridze. I am happy to do so but to make things perfectly above board over the weekend I contacted a native Russian I know who works in London as an interpreter/translator to go over a couple of things originally reported in Russian that appear to have been misrepresented or ignored by Ms Brown.

First of all I am disturbed by Ms Brown's assertion that Pavel Dmitrichenko is close to Tsiskaridze: he is not. As far as I can ascertain he has never been coached by N.T. and neither is he a particular friend, they would know one another but only in the context of being colleagues in the same theatre. N.T. does coach P.D.'s girlfriend admittedly, but I fail to see how being close to one automatically means being close to the other.

In Tsiskaridze's interviews he has questioned whether Filin had in fact been attacked with real acid and has offered himself as general director instead of the current incumbent Anatoly Iksanov.

Because of the undoubted seriousness of the attack on Filin, sympathy for his condition outweighs all other considerations, but I too find it unusual that his face is relatively unmarked; we are told that he alleviated the worst of the acid's effects by rubbing snow into his face. Actually this would do little to minimize the damage as according to my first aid handbook (I took a first aid course when I worked with the British Red Cross) when presented with chemical burns the initial treatment is to immediately 'flood' the injured area with water for a minimum of 20 minutes. I myself have wondered whether some other caustic material was used that would have severely damaged his eyes but not have produced the typical scarring that goes with acid on his face.

The statement that Tsiskaridze "offered" himself as Bolshoi General Director isn't quite accurate; here is the link to the TV interview

I am told he actually answers the question of whether he would like the job, not the same at all as putting himself forward, though I expect that his detractors, a rather sinister and well organized bunch apparently, will argue that his being on the programme in the first place is evidence of his intent.

Tsiskaridze, who has a practically bomb-proof contract as ballet teacher at the theatre as well as his continuing dancing career there, has accused Filin and Iksanov in the past of trying to reduce his teaching involvement and squeeze him out, though in fact Filin confirmed Tsiskaridze's contract.

Read the following from January last year, http://www.rt.com/ar...vation-505/ as far as I'm concerned he is not accusing he is stating a fact. Tsiskaridze went on to prove to them that their actions were illegal and he was reinstated. Here is the story: http://ria.ru/cultur.../688070482.html

As to other aspects of the blog, Ms Brown is right to wonder whether the examination of the Bolshoi books is down to an annual audit rather than to check to see if Dmitrichenko's accusations are correct. Personally I doubt if there had been irregularities that they would have been documented officially. As for Volochkova's remarks, they are impossible to verify but I know of an instance regarding another Russian company where a certain party took place and a small group of invited guests was asked to leave at the insistence of the 'business man' ostensibly hosting the party; looking back, Volochkova's remarks suddenly start to make sense.

Any rules pertaining to press interviews and the like have to be viewed according to whether there is a contractual obligation to give these only under the auspices of the press office. From what I know of the Russian companies they rarely care about these matters, it is only Tsiskaridze's outspokenness that is the issue here not whether some arcane rule has been broken.

Ismene Brown's later blog is far more interesting showing public opinion towards the acid throwing incident. It seems many consider this nothing out of the ordinary, which probably says more about the current state of Russian society than anything else. I'm surprised at the level of sympathy towards Dmitrichenko too, as I'm fence sitting where he is concerned until we find out whether his confession was made under coercion or not.

Finally, as pointed out in another thread, Tsiskaridze is no longer cast to dance in the summer Bolshoi tour to London in spite of being originally listed as dancing. I think an explanation to the London fans is in order.

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Because of the undoubted seriousness of the attack on Filin, sympathy for his condition outweighs all other considerations, but I too find it unusual that his face is relatively unmarked; we are told that he alleviated the worst of the acid's effects by rubbing snow into his face. Actually this would do little to minimize the damage as according to my first aid handbook (I took a first aid course when I worked with the British Red Cross) when presented with chemical burns the initial treatment is to immediately 'flood' the injured area with water for a minimum of 20 minutes. I myself have wondered whether some other caustic material was used that would have severely damaged his eyes but not have produced the typical scarring that goes with acid on his face.

Besides having rubbed solid water on his face, he was helped by the security guard and his wife to his apartment, where he went directly to the shower to flood his face with liquid water. This was explained in great detail in Remmick's article in "The New Yorker."

Tsiskaridze said nothing about how snow coud not possibly have worked, but flushing would have: he claimed that the use of snow -- ie, the use of water -- would have caused a chemical reaction that would have damaged Filin's face -- as if Filin had added water to sulfuric acid in a lab container -- when, in fact, flushing with water is standard protocol.

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Finally, as pointed out in another thread, Tsiskaridze is no longer cast to dance in the summer Bolshoi tour to London in spite of being originally listed as dancing. I think an explanation to the London fans is in order.

On this score I think the Bolshoi may actually be doing him a favor, because, to put it kindly, Tsiskaridze's performances now have a quality of, shall we say, high camp.

https://www.youtube....h?v=rXlDiLoi4nw

It is worth noting that Anzhelina Vorontsova has not been cast for anything on the tour, even though the casting lists not only principal characters but also the names of dancers who will be appearing as Aurora's Friends or in the ensemble of "Emeralds." Perhaps she does not wish to travel while Dmitrichenko is in police custody. Tsiskardize's other pupil Denis Rodkin will be going, and in light of Dmitrichenko's arrest and the current paucity of interpreters of the role, Rodkin will be making his debut as Spartacus in a couple of weeks.

And Batyr Annadurdyev, who was in the alleged "stake-out" car with Dmitrichenko on the night of the attack, and who submitted his resignation following a heated telephone conversation with Filin, has since withdrawn his resignation and is going to London, too.

I did notice that in the television interview above Tsiskaridze tried to distance Vorontsova from Dmitrichenko a bit, stating, when asked to clarify, that she is Dmitrichenko's girlfriend, not his common-law wife. Dmitrichenko's father, in the meantime, has stated on television that he and his wife regard Vorontsova as their son's fiancée.

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In addition to being able to immediately flush his face with water after the attack, Filin has also had the benefit of the latest burn therapies to aid in healing his skin. I posted the link a few posts ago but I'll post it again:

http://indrus.in/eco...gion3335.html

I'm surprised the story I linked above hasn't been more widely reported. It might help answer questions of why Filin's face looks as good as it does after being splashed with sulphuric acid. Instead the press continues to describe him as "disfigured" when it's obvious from looking at him that he's not.

And I believe that Tsiskaridze was also claiming the Filin has had twelve surgeries on his face, when it's his EYES that have been operated on that many times. And last I heard the total of surgeries was up to thirteen, with at least two more planned on his right eye. His doctors have been quoted numerous times saying that the worst damage was to his eyes, not to his face.

Edited by dirac
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Mme Hermine asked:

"Help from a translator on this short report?"

That short report had nothing to do with the topic discussed. It was about the arrests of a corrupt customs official and a prosecutor who played dishonest tricks with the jewellery factory.

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Here's a link to an interview in Izvestia with Filin's lawyer. From what I can tell from the Google translation, the news she gives about his sight is very discouraging. She says that right now he can't see out of either eye. :( That's very upsetting if it's true and also confusing, since in previous reports his doctors have said that he has some vision in his left eye and that they were hopeful that enough vision could be restored for him to live a normal life.

http://izvestia.ru/news/548951

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This is such a shocking (at least to me) change from the optimistic tone of Filin's previous health updates. From what his lawyer has said it sounds like his condition has changed for the worse and he's now completely blind. I wish one of his doctors would give an interview or at least issue some kind of statement as to what is going on with Sergei's health.

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If living in such a nightmare is needed in order to be part of that institution, then whoever can go on carrying such weight is certainly a champion. If I was a dancer today I wouldn't have any desire whatsoever to belong to such environment. This is a barbaric thing that ought to be watched from far away distance and never dare to be part of. Fair or not, when I see the company in London, I will be thinking..."so this is the troupe in which all that was generated...". Horrible, barbaric, almost unreal...

Get out of there, Hallberg...

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If living in such a nightmare is needed in order to be part of that institution, then whoever can go on carrying such weight is certainly a champion. If I was a dancer today I wouldn't have any desire whatsoever to belong to such environment. This is a barbaric thing that ought to be watched from far away distance and never dare to be part of. Fair or not, when I see the company in London, I will be thinking..."so this is the troupe in which all that was generated...". Horrible, barbaric, almost unreal...

Get out of there, Hallberg...

So well said, Cristian. What's happened at the Bolshoi is so monstrous and mindboggling. I still can't wrap my head around it.

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