CriticalDance Forum

Since writing the above, events have moved on a pace but Dmitrichenko still languishes in prison with his trial date repeatedly changed and any chance of bail resolutely refused, if it goes ahead without another postponement his current trial is supposed to occur this month.

Nikolai Tsiskaridze’s prophecy that Filin would rise from his sickbed to show up in London for the Bolshoi’s summer stint unsurprisingly came true with Filin actually venturing onto the stage to take a curtain call with the dancers after a performance of Jewels. Afterwards he held a press conference outside the theatre in Floral Street which gave myself and others the opportunity to see his injuries at close quarters. Most of Filin’s face is quite remarkably clear, glowing in fact; however there are indications of some sort of injury as the skin on his forehead above the right eye is yellowed and looks puckered and he also has two red wheals on his face – one along his jaw line and a shorter one just below. Here is a newsreel of the interview in Floral Street:

http://www.1tv.ru/news/culture/239574

With the company in London it gave an opportunity to discover just what the rank and file thought of this year’s events and support for Pavel Dmitrichenko is immense, almost total and there is disquiet over the Tsiskaridze dismissal with even those that cannot be classed as his supporters appearing appreciative of his outspokenness over the tacky Bolshoi refurbishment. Who/what was behind it all? That whispers about mafia involvement, which is what both Ratmansky and Gergiev have alluded to in the past, can be heard rather confirms what I guessed all along.

The indefatigable blogger of all things Bolshoi, Ismene Brown has announced a return to the Bolshoi for Sergei Filin followed by the news he was still on sick leave and reveals that the new Bolshoi chief, Urin, had a somewhat strained relationship with Filin when they worked together at the Stanislavsky. Tsiskaridze is claimed to have the ear of the Minister of Culture and not long after meeting with this minister it is announced that he will return to the Bolshoi on 31st December for a farewell performance on his fortieth birthday. When tickets go on sale a few days later Tsiskaridze’s fans queue overnight and buy up the lot immediately. The event was a news item in Russia:

http://www.vesti.ru/videos?vid=541780&cid=460 <http://www.vesti.ru/videos?vid=541780&amp;cid=460>

I hope it was worth it as at the time of writing I am assured that both the performance on 31st and two other farewells about which there is speculation have yet to be confirmed. Something I have noticed on the ballet fora is how quiet things have become regarding Filin’s health after Tsiskaridze’s dismissal, rather as I thought, once Tsiskaridze’s detractors had achieved their aim in seeing him ousted from the Bolshoi, their interest in poor Sergei Filin’s welfare evaporated.

To bring the story up to date I must refer again to Ismene Brown’s Blog where she has today posted an interview with police investigator, Dmitri Altynov. Even Ms Brown finds such an article unbelievable, though as she points out this is Russia, however were such a piece published in any UK publication, the trial would almost certainly collapse as it would be considered sub judice and would be likely to prejudice a jury. However I’m not even sure if trial by jury actually exists in Russia

http://www.ismeneb.com/Blog/Entries/201 ... s_all.html

Dmitrichenko’s future looks bleak and I’m sure that whatever punishment is meted out to him it won’t be as terrible as the loss of his dancing career. Whether he is able to spill the beans in court over the alleged corruption in the Bolshoi is something I’m beginning to doubt as it seems the trial is simply to find him guilty and any mitigating circumstances will be brushed aside. In August I was informed that a person whose name has cropped up in this saga has gone missing, I have at this moment no way of verifying that, but there has always been far more to this episode than is being reported in official channels.

Dmitrichenko goes on trial today. His chance of acquittal is nil.

http://www.ismeneb.com/Blog/Entries/201 ... itted.html

Last week the trial was adjourned due to the absence of one of the lawyers; finally underway Ismene Brown gives an account of the proceedings:

http://www.ismeneb.com/Blog/Entries/201 ... rnova.html

The allegations may or may not be true concerning casting couch policies but for some time now Smirnova has been 'maîtresse-en-titre' and I imagine that is why she is listed as appearing for the prosecution. It's funny how company secrets now become common knowledge.

Ismene Brown's update for November 1, 2013.

Arts Desk

Sergei Filin testifies in court. A report from ABC News.

ABC News

Shaun Walker reports for the Guardian on the Wednesday, November 6, 2013 courtroom drama.

Guardian

In the New York Times, David Herszenhorn reports on the departure from the Bolshoi of American dancer Joy Womack.

NY Times

Simon Shuster reports on the situation for Time Magazine.

Time Magazine

Roland Oliphant for the Telegraph.

Telegraph

Very pleased someone has finally broken ranks about this vile practice, isn't this what Dmitrichenko was alluding to?

Just a correction. The US news has the amounts incorrect. She was asked for 10,000 rubles not dollars. That comes to about $300.
In the Russian press her pedagogues were quoted as saying she had a lot of trouble learning roles fast enough, which at the Bolshoi, with a repertoire as large as theirs, became a big issue. Kondratieva was also quoted as saying that she was technically inferior to the other dancers and not ready yet (after only 2 yrs) for leading roles.

The Associated Press reports on the Wednesday, November 20, 2013 testimony of former Bolshoi Director General Anatoly Iksanov.

Associated Press

Zara Kessler discusses reports on the Bolshoi for Bloomberg.com.

Bloomberg.com

In the New York Times, Simon Morrison writes an op-ed piece on the Bolshoi.

NY Times

Post removed due to violation of the courtesy policy

As a note, regarding the trial of Tsiskaridze and Dmitrichenko, there were 12 Bolshoi dancers that testified alluding to the fact that the "conflicts" Dmitrichenko described were not conflicts but working (work related) issues. Tsiskaridze has defended Dmitrichenko in the trial.
http://lenta.ru/articles/2013/11/25/filin/

In a March statement, Filin was asked who he believed was behind the acid attack. He said someone else paid Dmitrichenko to make the attack and that someone was Tsiskaridze. Here again is that source:
http://newsru.com/russia/11mar2013/filin1.html

As a reminder, Tsiskaridze was fired from the Bolshoi after his scandalous behavior. He was refused the position of artistic director and overall director there. He manipulated leading artists into signing a petition requesting Iksanov's removal and when said artists realized what he had done, they each personally wrote to the Bolshoi administration with 1) an apology and 2) a request to repeal their signatures on the paper. Tsiskaridze was also refused a position at the Mariinsky as artistic director. The wife of RosTech, Katya Ignateva Chemezorova, has paid in order to buy Tsiskaridze a position heading up the Vaganova Academy. That appointment has sent the entire Academy - entire teaching staff plus 300 children - into a tailspin. The staff has formed a Council and have sent messages to Putin asking for there to be fair elections among qualified applicants with administrative experience (Tsiskaridze does not have that). The details of the Vaganova Academy takeover are in the Mariinsky Forum on this site.

The rest of the Bolshoi troupe continues to work without acid-throwing incidents while the trial goes on at present time.

http://www.itar-tass.com/proisshestviya/792200

Itar Tass reports that a group of Bolshoi ballet dancers have approached the court wishing to refute the testimony of both Tsiskaridze and Angelina Vorontsova which they say defames Sergey Filin. Tsiskaridze and Vorontsova have, they say, created a great disturbance and furor/indignation among the members of the company.

Attorney Stukalova stated that on 27 November the court expects Marina Kondratieva, Alexander Petukhov, Artyem Orvachenko, Vlad Lantratov, Denis Medvedev, Anna Rebetskaya, Olga Smirnova and Evgenia Obratsova to speak.

"The artists wish to state to the court that the testimony of Tsiskaridze, Pronin and Vorontsova does not correspond to reality and that they have a wonderful artistic director [Filin]," the attorney said.

[Стукалова уточнила, что 27 ноября в суде ожидаются народная артистка СССР, член Художественного совета балетной труппы, балетмейстер-репетитор Марина Кондратьева, заслуженный артист России, балетмейстер-репетитор Александр Петухов, премьеры Большого театра Артем Овчаренко и Владислав Лантратов, первый солист театра Денис Медведев, солистки Анна Ребецкая и Ольга Смирнова, а также балерина театра Евгения Образцова.
"Артисты хотят заявить суду, что показания Цискаридзе, Пронина и Воронцовой не соответствуют действительности, что у них замечательный художественный руководитель", - сказала адвокат.]

In the New York Times, Patrick Reevell reports on the Wednesday, November 27, 2013 trial testimony.

NY Times