4 replies to this topic

[dirac]

A man who allegedly hacked Sergei Filin's e-mail account has been arrested.

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Investigators suspect the hacking is linked to the attack on Sergei Filin, an acclaimed dancer who suffered third-degree burns to his face, head and eyes last week when a masked attacker threw acid in his face.

Related.

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Following emergency surgery on his eyes, the former dancer was taken out of intensive care and was in stable condition in a regular hospital room, Alexander Mitichkin, the head doctor at Moscow's Clinic 36 told Russian news agencies on Saturday.

Police declined to discuss any leads in the case or the type of acid used in the attack.

[Mme. Hermine]

A report from the Guardian on S. Filin:

http://www.guardian....scow-no-arrests

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Sergei Filin remains in hospital and has undergone an operation to restore his sight. Police said on Sunday they had identified the liquid thrown at Filin as sulphuric acid.

Internal politics and fears of his family, in the Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph...al-cruelty.html
Kat

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Katerina Novikova, a spokesman for the Bolshoi, revealed the disturbing atmosphere of intimidation that Mr Filin, and those in whose footsteps he followed, had faced at the ballet, where 200 dancers compete fiercely for roles.

"Sergei was constantly receiving threats after he took up this post and his predecessors were under attack before him," Miss Novikova said. "But we never thought that this war for roles, not real estate or oil, could reach such a criminal level.

Commentaryby Mark Monahan in The Telegraph.

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And, although the communist era has of course been and gone, the Bolshoi's status is as strong as ever. Its top dancers have rock-star status in Russia, and the company has an influence that extends well beyond cultural circles.

This largely explains why, since the fall of Communism in 1989, the Bolshoi has been so riven with in-fighting.....

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Jann Parry, the dance writer, said that the most likely motivation for the attack lay with supporters of Grigorivich and Mr Tsiskaridze. She said: "Grigorovich had a fiefdom that controlled everything, and even though he is now 86, he still has many supporters within the ballet, including Tsiskaridze who say 'Bring back the old regime'.

"Tsiskaridze is incredibly ambitious to become artistic director, at 39 he is coming to the end of his career as a dancer...."

[Mme. Hermine]

Donald Rosenberg of the Plain Dealer on Alonzo King and Lines:

http://www.cleveland...llet_story.html

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Alonzo King usually has no idea what's going to happen when he steps into the studio with his dancers. And don't get him started on titling works.
"I really feel the baby has to be born before you give it a name," King said recently by phone from San Francisco.

[Mme. Hermine]

The Joffrey Ballet is reviewed:

http://www.theaterjo...-Joffrey-Ballet

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What a difference a hundred years makes. What was once so radical that it brought howling, whistling and cat calls in 1913—Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, choreographed by Nijinsky ­– brought only a yawn Friday night. To watch The Joffrey Ballet’s laborious reconstruction of the work down to the detailed costumes was to see the profound sea-change in what constitutes ballet today.

[dirac]

More on Filin, in the NYT:

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Investigators questioned Mr. Filin on Saturday, and the police have said they are investigating a variety of theories, including professional grudges or disputes over money. His associates and relatives have speculated that Mr. Filin had threatened commercial interests associated with the theater, or that one of his rivals hoped to take his job. Yuri Burlak, one of his predecessors in the position, told the newspaper Izvestiya that he favored the second theory, noting that Mr. Filin had three years left on his contract.