Helene

I don't think these things are equivalent. A Chinese or other international student whose family pays for the academic equivalent of Bolshoi training -- the Harvards, Stanfords, University of Chicagos, the Michigan State Honors Program, etc. -- and excels is not dependent on that university's management to attend a top graduate school or to get a position at an investment bank. The degree, grades, recommendations, and GMAT/LSAT/etc. scores can be used to become successful in many fields, not to mention the connections that student can make. The newspaper stories published until today consistently reported that Womack left the company/resigned/quit, but another in today's Links insists several times that she was fired: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/38060-friday-november-15/?p=329617

I keep thinking about Eric Conrad, the guy who taught in Russia and came back with the message for Americans studying there that they just wanted their money and to not equate acceptance to the schools in Russia as an endorsement of their skills.

Darci Kistler said in the "Six Ballerinas" documentary that she had a great deal of trouble when she was in the corps. She described how she would move on the big music, which was the ballerina's, not hers, and that she'd go home in tears after having made so many mistakes, and that's with corps unison less of a priority at NYCB than in the Russian companies. The kind of concentration it takes to do nothing, then move to a specific place in relation to the rest of the group is a different skill. The discipline it takes to try to move exactly in unison is a different skill. It's one thing spending a long time being coached for a role and being the top student who is the center of attention, and another becoming the low person in the anonymous corps, where experienced corps members know many roles like second skins, have rehearsed the roles many times, and could have little patience for newbies, but new corps members have a lot to learn in a relatively short period of time with little personal attention. Those are two different skills. Most dancers either have or learn these skills, because few have the luxury of being sped through the ranks like Kistler. If Womack was promised solos and then wasn't given them, she has every right to be angry. Otherwise, she was at the Bolshoi school long enough to observe how long the process takes for solos. The advice she quoted was about solo roles, not paying to get corps work. As far as the xenophobia of Russian companies, I don't doubt that, but she was in the school long enough to observe and assess her future colleagues, particularly since students perform in many Bolshoi productions. Every time a foreign guest artist is hired by ABT, there are many complaints that the home grown talent is being ignored. It's not surprising that people want to protect their own. One of the linked articles says that Womack was friends with Volochkova, a young dancer who was angry that she asked many times to dance Odette, the crown jewel of Russian ballets. Not a particularly patient pair, but Volochkova was given opportunities to dance corps and soloist roles.

At NYCB that would be expected. For Soloists, it's feast for the few who are fast-tracked and when there are a rash of injuries, but famine for the rest when there are fewer injuries. This has been discussed most recently in the AOL online series. Reading the Marriinsky and Bolshoi threads, it seems to happen to Principals, too, in these companies, and their contracts are renewed for years.

The sponsorship is a completely different issue that fee for roles, and, if you read the articles in Links, you'll see Iksanov already weighed in on the subject, which is that if dancers find men to give them jewels, that's not the theater's business. If Womack went to the police to say that she was told by a member of the theater she will not name out of respect -- a director, according to one of the articles -- that she should pay $10K/performance/role (criminal) and find a sponsor to plead her case to management (not criminal), but that she left instead, if the police found her statement credible, they could launch an investigation not of her financials, but of the theater's and any dancers they find may have been extorted. Filin's lawyer said that they reserved the right to sue for defamation. I wouldn't assume that Filin is scared; it could be part of the monetary damage part of the attack trial, it may be that he's trying to preempt personal liability for any potential untoward thing that happens in the theater, and it could be that he's fed up with letting things slide when someone accuses him falsely, as that didn't work out so well for him when he was threatened last fall before acid was thrown in his face, partially blinding him. Whether it's a smart was to react is another story.

Usually satire requires a great deal of mastery and technique. It sounds to me that what Bourne was creating was theater. I think that Maillot's "Romeo et Juliette" is more successful as theater than as choreography, aside from the Friar Laurence conceit.

It makes extortion attempts difficult to prove as well as difficult to defend against, when they're words in the air. Dmitrichenko has been making similar accusations without having proven anything and without any corroborating witnesses, aside from one who made vague accusations himself, and according to recent articles on the trial, the prosecutors' turn is up. Money doesn't just disappear. It comes from one place and ends up in another. As far as what Womack has disclosed and whether she knew she was being interviewed, there are three articles in today's Links to which I linked above which provide some clarity. The police and prosecutors can investigate when they have what they consider at least a creditable lead, and that includes having forensic accountants review books and bank accounts. It includes wire-taps, subpoenaed records, email reviews, undercover work, recorded conversations, etc. The real question is how much someone who is unwilling to go to criminal authorities about criminal behavior can say without consequence. So far, Womack has suffered no consequence from speaking: she had already left the Bolshoi, and she was hired by the Kremlin State Ballet

You did not respond to my statement in context. I asked "Are you suggesting that anyone who walks into a police station and makes an accusation has their word accepted at face value with no corroborating evidence, that the prosecutors automatically will accept it -- estimated 99% conviction rate in Russia -- and that the accused will sit back and not say, "S/he's lying" or "S/he misunderstood"?" In other words, is the statement of a person who goes to the police about any charge -- not applicable to Womack -- automatically accepted without question, and do you expect the person accused to accept charges -- again, not specific to Womack, because she did not go to the police with evidence of criminal activity -- to sit back and not refute them? The "he" remains anonymous, since, according to an article in "The Telegraph" in today's Links, she's not planning to name who told her about spending $10K/role/performance, "because I greatly respect him." Given the context of her statement, that she "learned" about the going price from this highly respected person, it doesn't follow automatically that this person was the one receiving bribes.

Are you suggesting that anyone who walks into a police station and makes an accusation has their word accepted at face value with no corroborating evidence, that the prosecutors automatically will accept it -- estimated 99% conviction rate in Russia -- and that the accused will sit back and not say, "S/he's lying" or "S/he misunderstood"? "Backing it up with evidence" might be notes from phone calls, a paper trail, an audit of books and bank accounts, corroborating witnesses, police investigations, etc. Going to the police doesn't even necessarily mean testifying: it could be providing enough for them to decide to investigate and gather their own evidence. So far, no Russian legal experts have either discussed this in the media or volunteered to post about the specifics. There are much more stringent libel laws in Great Britain, for example, than in NY. There are different burdens of proof depending on place. Without knowledge of Russian law, any answer would be speculation. There are plenty of reasons for it not to be worth it for her personally to go to the police: that's up to her unless there is the equivalent of a subpoena, where she could be forced to testify, based on her already public accusation. As far as what she could achieve, justice perhaps, on behalf of the dancers of a venerable institution that was her dream but has disappointed her so. Not letting criminals pursue criminal activity and hurt other people is another reason she might. Of course it's up to her to decide if it's worth it, but, in the meantime, the people she accuses in the press of criminal behavior without pursuing criminal charges through the system have the right to point her to the process and to defend themselves against her accusations in any legal way they see fit.

He could have many reasons to say he preserves the right to sue. He could very well be saying, "If you have something to allege, you'd better have proof to back it up," which is just as plausible as "I will bury any of your witnesses," which is speculation, not fact. Filin's lawyer might be making this statement specifically because Filin is asking for monetary damages from the people responsible for his attack, and unsubstantiated allegations reported in the press might influence his ability to be granted and collect those monies. There's no reason for Filin or anyone in the theater to put up with the kind of perpetual allegations that are dredged up every time Volochkova is the press's "go to" girl for a quote about sex and corruption at the Bolshoi. So far, she's proven nothing. She has less to lose than Womack, since Womack wants to continue to be employed in Russia, but Volochkova hasn't filed criminal charges. Those are possibilities. There are other possibilities, such as she'd better be careful that anything she says to the press is something that she can back up in court in the future. Again, there is only speculation as to his motives. Again, there's nothing to substantiate that this is what he is doing. It is one of many possibilities, not a statement of fact about Filin's motives or that of his legal team. He wouldn't have advised her to go to the police if it were a civil charge. He's told her to put her money where her mouth is if her allegations are correct and provable and to go to the police, where the prosecutors will decide whether there is a criminal case against anyone at the Bolshoi.

There's no evidence that anyone "pocketed" the 1/3, aside from the usual and final destination for withholding taxes, the government.So it is sitting in escrow without any id attached? I have no idea what constitutes the actual process in Russia. Traditionally, mandatory withholding is done so that the government is ensured of getting the taxes it is owed from a specific person, and if that money is not identified in some way, they can't verify that the Bolshoi did proper withdrawals. However, there is no evidence that it was taken from her paycheck illegally or not attributed to her, and, in fact, Urin has addressed the issue directly in a passage you quoted, and that is it was deducted because she had not established that she was a US tax resident. Many of your questions can only be answered by experts or speculation, and until there is official news or expert information, they will remain unanswered here. She's already working: she's been hired by the Kremlin ballet, as noted earlier in the thread. "Preventing corroboration" is a theory, not fact. Lawsuits are civil, not criminal matters and have different standards, even in Russia. It isn't clear from the proceedings in the Dmitrichenko trial whether Filin's request for damages are integrated into the criminal trial, or whether the outcome might trigger damages.

There are similar mandatory tax withholding policies between the US and Canada; I'm not surprised the same is true between Russia and western countries. He is good: he didn't miss a note.

Volochkova was easy to dismiss at the time, partly because she was tabloid fodder around what was described as a garish renovation of a garish apartment and lawsuits with contractors and for non-payment.

What does the Bolshoi get directly out of sex sponsorships except the headaches of having outsiders who know little about the ballet pressuring management to cast their wives, girlfriends, and mistresses? They already don't care about how much or little they pay their dancers in one of the most expensive cities in the world, there are dancers who have been much more unhappy with the Mariinsky and have moved to the Bolshoi, like Obraztsova, Zakharova (for a while), and Mercuriev, and they think the prestige and the pull of Moscow -- culture, families -- will keep dancers there. Bribery for parts, however, are a different story: that's being brought up simultaneously in the Dmitrichenko trial; I'm not surprised Filin is considering a suit (or at least putting out the word that he is). I think his take-away from ignoring the threads to him that culminated in the acid attack against him and watching Iksanov being sacked is to come out strong and not expect things to fade away.

It's codified in the legacy admissions policies. In the case of Koch's daughter, is she in the professional division or still on the standard student track? If the latter, there's little to question, just like there was little to question when Ivanka Trump attended as a student.

Speculation and stereotypes about how kids get into elite schools has never been limited to Russian academies. The difference between the Russian academies (and POB and RDB schools) and most North American training is that there is either a dual track for professional vs. high-level recreational training and/or a distinct split at a given age between the two. Ivanka Trump went to SAB as a child and performed in "The Nutcracker" but many children could pass the relatively low-bar audition to general children's training which doesn't become professionalized until ~ age 13-14. There's a reason why so relatively few NYCB dancers start as young children in the school and make it into the Company, and only a handful of Principals, like Fugate, Boal, Somogyi. Scholarships were also need-based, unlike Vaganova and Moscow training during Imperial or Soviet times, which were officially subsidized by the state, unlike now. The issue I brought up, though, was in Russia, where there is criticism of rich Russians buying their chidrens' way into the school, because a child can't possibly ge rich and talented. Womack isn't the only one subjected to sterotyping.

[Admin beanie on] General statements about individuals' or groups' corruption of must be backed up. Please formulate questions carefully, as speculation in the form of questions will be removed. [Admin beanie off]

Assulmuratova doesn't have to "run away." The new overall director can choose his or her own Artistic Director. Other symphonies don't "need" Gergiev any more tan the NY Phil needed Bernstein then or Gilbert now or Muti as a guest conductor anywhere. They want Gergiev and they've hired him. It's up to Gergiev to accept or reject ther offers and only limit outside engagements if he has contractual obligations to do so or of any of his employers find his work inadequate.

There's no evidence that anyone "pocketed" the 1/3, aside from the usual and final destination for withholding taxes, the government. Or, perhaps they assume that anyone whose family can pay the tens of thousands of dollars of fees to the Vaganova Academy for three years of training, for which, unlike for Harvard, no student loans are available, must have money. In fact, Russian anecdotes about Americans often highlight Americans' naievite (to use a mild term) concerning The Way It Is, and don't understand why North Americans don't just pay up, because everything is corrupt and why don't they ever know what the story is and how things work, but havean illusion of meritocracy?The children of rich Russians who are assumed to have bought their way into the Vaganova and Moscow schools don't get a free ride as far as criticism and stereotyping, either.

It's unlikely there is a language barrier after she spent three years in the school where her training was in Russian.

It could be step one for Gergiev to combine management of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky. That was rejected once, but it may have been timing or a shift of power among the well-connected supporters.

The attitude might have come because foreigners pay a lot to train in Russia, so they must be dripping in money and can live without salary and afford all of those roles. I'm sure the theory is that, like local vs. foreigners ticket prices in the old days, a foreign dancer should be paying the foreign price-per-role rate. I can't imagine that she wouldn't have to pay income tax or file on her Russian earnings, regardless of whether a social insurance number was issued. For one thing, as a US citizen, she needs to file a US income tax return indefinitely on worldwide income. (If under a certain amount, it's tax-free, and if above, she'd have to file for an offset of the taxes she paid to the Russian government.)

Update on Day 5 of the trial in Ismene Brown's blog: http://ismeneb.com/Blog/Entries/2013/11/13_Trial_day_5__accuseds_pal_says_police_beat_him_into_confession.html Witnesses of the day were: Filin associate Dilmara Timergazina, who did not take kindly to the accusation that her daughter-in-law, Olga Smirnova, was sleeping with Filin for parts, Vlademire Ageyev, the car park security guard who first encountered Filin after the attack, Filin's building concierge Antonina Proshkina, and Dmitrichenko friend Batyr Annadurdyev, whose testimony and written statements were not always consistent and who seemed to have difficulty testifying [as if he were an articulate actor in a TV script].

More from Ismene Brown's blog: Tsiskaridze may unite Petersburg and Moscow ballet ‘schools’, says Minister This article also discusses names two rivals for the Rector position: Yuri Fateev and Vaganova Academy teacher and pro-Rector Alexei Fomkin. Ministry 'may try to obstruct' Tsiskaridze rivals Key points: Fateev is not mentioned as a rival, but Ilya Kuznetzov is. The Ministry's strategy is alleged to be to add requirements that none of Tsiskaridze's rivals can match, which is usually done before announcing a candidate, but is a time-tested way to ensure a single candidate. The date of the confirmation vote will be announced at the next Academic Council meeting, which is expected to be held by the end of the month. The vote is expected within two-three months, and in Brown's intro, she notes there are 300 voters, only one third of whom are dance faculty.

From what I understand of dancer sponsorships in the US, sponsors volunteer. It's certainly not any disclosed company policy for dancers to have to find their own sponsors.