566 replies to this topic

[volcanohunter]

The really freaky detail in the Izvestia report about yesterday's court proceeding is that the name of the country grocer who introduced Yuri Zarutsky to Pavel Dmitrichenko is, I kid you not, Sergei Killer.

Sixth paragraph:
http://izvestia.ru/news/546345

[Mme. Hermine]

Drew, on 07 March 2013 - 09:16 PM, said:

elena, on 07 March 2013 - 07:22 PM, said:

He doesn't believe he has anything to be sorry for because he allegedly only asked for a beating? Can't believe I read that correctly.

Acid in the face is a very personal type of crime; acid in the eyes of an Artistic Director only makes the context even more particular. From the start it seemed like the goal of the attack was to get Filin out and unable to do his work. This Zarutsky guy apparently beat someone so badly that person died later on - so this whole "I just paid for a ['harmless'] beating" type of thing seems like a lame excuse to me.

Of course, stranger things have happened and he might be telling the truth; it just doesn't add up for me so far. He should be very sorry for setting these wheels in motion if in fact he did not know, not be trying to justify it.

The problem with trying to parse this out is one ends up inside his logic.  Let's play along and not assume he is lying.  Hiring someone to beat someone up? I think even dancers at the Bolshoi might agree that's probably technically a crime and considered morally wrong!!! And yes, Elena, one ought to be very sorry indeed for even those hideous consequences of one's actions that one didn't have in mind--maybe it might even give one pause about something as trivial as having someone beaten up. Add to that the fact that hiring someone who managed to kill the last person he "merely" beat up suggests one was never very worried about consequences anyway...Oh well, perhaps Dmitrichenko didn't know the guy's background? Because that, of course, would make it all so much more understandable.

Never mind. Clearly, we should give him a break because he doesn't intend to sound like a psychopath...

I was struck by these sentences in the Guardian article of yesterday:

Quote

Dmitrichenko, speaking from a cage in the courtroom, was defiant. When the judge asked him if he wanted to apologise to Filin, Dmitrichenko replied: "For what?"  

(emphasis is mine)

http://www.guardian....s-ordering-acid

[Jayne]

pretty typical for the accused to minimize their roles in crimes in an attempt o minimize jail time.  We'll see if the judge buys it (doubtful).

The man claims he's Julian Assange, hacking into servers and giving Russian papers his findings.  But they don't publish the breathless scandal that he expected.  So he moved on to hiring convicts???

[Jayne]

Helene, on 07 March 2013 - 10:35 AM, said:

This attack seems so thug-who-thinks-he-is-a-professional-hitman.  A professional hit man wouldn't have left an audit trail, unless it was part of a set up to make him seem like a bumbling fool.

Yes, it gets more "Jeff Gillooly / Tanya Harding" all the time.  Sadly, Filin's eyesight may not recover as quickly as Nancy Kerrigan's knee.

[elena]

Drew, on 07 March 2013 - 09:16 PM, said:

elena, on 07 March 2013 - 07:22 PM, said:

He doesn't believe he has anything to be sorry for because he allegedly only asked for a beating? Can't believe I read that correctly.

Acid in the face is a very personal type of crime; acid in the eyes of an Artistic Director only makes the context even more particular. From the start it seemed like the goal of the attack was to get Filin out and unable to do his work. This Zarutsky guy apparently beat someone so badly that person died later on - so this whole "I just paid for a ['harmless'] beating" type of thing seems like a lame excuse to me.

Of course, stranger things have happened and he might be telling the truth; it just doesn't add up for me so far. He should be very sorry for setting these wheels in motion if in fact he did not know, not be trying to justify it.

The problem with trying to parse this out is one ends up inside his logic.  Let's play along and not assume he is lying.  Hiring someone to beat someone up? I think even dancers at the Bolshoi might agree that's probably technically a crime and considered morally wrong!!! And yes, Elena, one ought to be very sorry indeed for even those hideous consequences of one's actions that one didn't have in mind--maybe it might even give one pause about something as trivial as having someone beaten up. Add to that the fact that hiring someone who managed to kill the last person he "merely" beat up suggests one was never very worried about consequences anyway...Oh well, perhaps Dmitrichenko didn't know the guy's background? Because that, of course, would make it all so much more understandable.

Never mind. Clearly, we should give him a break because he doesn't intend to sound like a psychopath...

Thank you Drew, for putting it much more eloquently than I could. I was just truly shocked at reading these statements! We are in March and Filin is still battling to save his eyesight, it really is a heinous crime in every sense and I can't understand why he is making these comments that show so little remorse.

[Birdsall]

The news is having a field day showing Dmitrichenko in his villain roles as they report this. One clip showed him with a knife chasing another dancer (it was too short and so I wasn't sure of the ballet).

[Mashinka]

Funnily enough the only leading role I've seen him in was an heroic one: Spartacus.

[Drew]

Mashinka, on 08 March 2013 - 06:18 AM, said:

Funnily enough the only leading role I've seen him in was an heroic one: Spartacus.

Well, he seems to think he's Spartacus...

[volcanohunter]

abatt, on 07 March 2013 - 07:59 PM, said:

If Filin was in fact so interested in taking bribes from his own Bolshoi dancers in exchange for parts, why did he offer a contract to an outsider, David Hallberg, and then feature Hallberg in the HD broadcast of SB? Under Dmitrichenko's theory, Filin would have saved all lead parts for Bolshoi dancers and sold them to the highest bribe offer.

For what it's worth, the dancers Dmitrichenko mentioned in court as being part of Filin's alleged kickback scheme are corps members Anna Voronkova and Dmitri Zhuk, who transferred from the Stanislavsky to the Bolshoi at the beginning of the season. This seems to be a "native Bolshoi" vs. "interloper" sort of conflict. Again, it's grumblings from the peanut gallery, but some of the commentary from anti-Filin segments on the Internet take him to task for pushing his recent recruits from other companies, namely, Kristina Kretova and Semyon Chudin. Hallberg doesn't seem to come up in these discussions, probably because so far he has performed in Moscow so infrequently owing to injury.

[Mashinka]

volcanohunter, on 08 March 2013 - 07:28 AM, said:

abatt, on 07 March 2013 - 07:59 PM, said:

If Filin was in fact so interested in taking bribes from his own Bolshoi dancers in exchange for parts, why did he offer a contract to an outsider, David Hallberg, and then feature Hallberg in the HD broadcast of SB? Under Dmitrichenko's theory, Filin would have saved all lead parts for Bolshoi dancers and sold them to the highest bribe offer.

For what it's worth, the dancers Dmitrichenko mentioned in court as being part of Filin's alleged kickback scheme are corps members Anna Voronkova and Dmitri Zhuk, who transferred from the Stanislavsky to the Bolshoi at the beginning of the season. This seems to be a "native Bolshoi" vs. "interloper" sort of conflict. Again, it's grumblings from the peanut gallery, but some of the commentary from anti-Filin segments on the Internet take him to task for pushing his recent recruits from other companies, namely, Kristina Kretova and Semyon Chudin. Hallberg doesn't seem to come up in these discussions, probably because so far he has performed in Moscow so infrequently owing to injury.

As Filin was Stanislavsky director before moving to the Bolshoi, I can understand the disquiet.  As I don't know the names can anyone say if there is anything outstanding about  Voronkova and Zhuk?

Surely as an international star Hallberg is in a different category.

[Cygnet]

Aurora wrote,

Quote

...She also has made choices, whether or not they should hurt her or not are debatable, but linking herself to a coach who consistently and openly delights in antagonizes the management and seems to be using her as a pawn in this can really not endear her to management. That may not be fair but I don't see that it is surprising.

That is precisely what I meant in a recent post.

abatt, on 07 March 2013 - 06:44 AM, said:

volcanohunter, on 07 March 2013 - 06:40 AM, said:

[Personally, I have little sympathy for a 21-year-old dancer who whines "You have no idea how long I’ve been asking to dance Swan Lake, and they refuse."

Bingo.  Pride and self esteem are wonderful attributes, but hubris can backfire, and it sure did here.   I'm not sure whether she was sophisticated enough to realize that her affiliation with NT was a bad idea from the outset.

Excellent posts "volcanohunter" & "abatt."  IMO when an A.D. counsels a young dancer, (or suggests), that it would be in his/her best interest to consider another coach, or if the A.D. 'wishes' to assign another coach, (hint, hint ), common sense would dictate that said young dancer should to follow the A.D.'s advice.  According to the NY Times article, it was Filin who first saw her talent, who saw to it that she and her mother were transitioned, relocated etc. Tsiskaridze is an established Bolshoi star, outspoken and controversial yes, but still a major star of the Theatre; Angelina isn't.  He is her coach, but he's not the A.D.  Tsiskaridze may challenge the Theatre's management, but he's not in charge of the ballet company or the Theatre.  If Angelina isn't involved and survives this, I've got a strong feeling that the Bolshoi management will make her professional life H*ll - regardless. No, that's not fair but that's life.

[Helene]

I don't think the articles say that Filin told her she needed to change coaches but suggested additional coaching from a female coach if she wanted to be capable of O/O.  It was Tsiskaridze who claimed that Filin was trying to take away his pupils.  Is that Bolshoi shorthand for "drop your coach?". Are coaches that territorial that dancers never get additional coaching from great interpreters or dancers who originated roles or got personal coaching from the choreographer/stager?  If dancers are "allowed" this, is it only because of the noblesse of their coach? Is it typical for the coaches to agree to an AD's suggestion?

[Cygnet]

Helene, on 08 March 2013 - 08:40 AM, said:

I don't think the articles say that Filin told her she needed to change coaches but suggested additional coaching from a female coach.  It was Tsiskaridze who claimed that Filin was trying to take away his pupils.  Is that Bolshoi shorthand for "drop your coach?".

No, the articles didn't state that.  What I alluded to were those things that Filin did for Vorontsova, her family's transition to Moscow, and my belief that she should have taken Filin's advice. If Tsiskaridze believed that Filin was trying to poach "his pupils," that's Filin's prerogative as A.D.  At the end of the day, Tsiskaridze's pupils aren't "his pupils;" he (superstar though he is), and they are below the top box on the Ballet's org chart.  Filin's name is in that top box of the Ballet's org chart.  Filin could have reassigned all of Tsiskaridze's pupils, and Tsiskaridze could have hyperventilated all he wanted. I simply agreed with the posters I quoted, that Angelina should have (must have known), that her coach was at the very least radioactive, and that she might want to distance herself from him for the benefit of her career.

[abatt]

I'm curious.  Has Vorontsova  danced since Wednesday?  Was she/is she scheduled to dance?

[Natalia]

Cygnet, I believe that Yuri Burlaka was the AD of the Bolshoi Ballet when Vorontsova and her family moved from Voronezh to Moscow, so that she could complete her last year of schooling at the Moscow academy, then transition to the company at the beginning of the 2009/10 season.  Filin was still in charge of the Stanislavski during this period.

Also, I recall reading in the Russian-language BALET magazine that Yuri Grigorovich was chairman of the jury of the ballet competition won by Vorontsova, that started it all. In other words, Vorontsova caught the eye of Grigorovich, who invited her to move to Moscow, etc. [Several competition winners during that timeframe ended up at the Bolshoi, thanks to Grigorovich having been chairman of several competition juries...not just Vorontsova.]

Grigorovich still has a say in the casting of his ballets, no? He would have been the one to have assigned the lead in Nutcracker to Vorontsova, the title role in Ivan the Terrible to Dmitrichenko, etc. I'm not intimating at all that Grigorovich had a role in the attack....just setting the record straight that Filin had nothing to do with Vorontsova's move to Moscow.