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/239574With 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&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.