Sergei Polunin loses his right to work in the UK

Sergei Polunin has had his UK work permit revoked. The Ukrainian-born star, 22, automatically lost the right to work in the country following his surprise resignation as the company is legally required to alert the UK Border Agency as soon as any of its foreign dancers resign.

A Royal Ballet spokesperson said,

Having resigned, Sergei no longer has the right to work in the UK.

Polunin is likely to abandon plans to appear at a gala evening staged by the English National Ballet (ENB) at the Coliseum next month unless he can further extend his permit.

Wayne Eagling, artistic director of the ENB, told the Daily Mail that he has offered Polunin the opportunity to train with the company so he can do class.

Giving him the chance to train with us may be a good way to get him interested in us. We don't have the Royal Ballet's high salaries, but we have a different philosophy. My dancers realise I treat them not as employees but as equals. I don't treat them as a commodity, rather as artists.

Eagling, implying that the Royal Ballet treat their dancers in this manner, is echoing Ivan Putrov's comments to the BBC last week. Eagling addes,

I always try to let my dancers guest elsewhere. Why would you be in a company which does not give you opportunities? It would be a shame for Sergei to waste such a God-given talent at this stage. He could take up tattooing at a later date.

referring to the tattoo parlour that Polunin co-owns.

A source close to the ballet world told the Daily Telegraph,

He has suffered a personal crisis. The pressure of people comparing him to Nureyev at the age of 22 has been tremendous.

The source added that Polunin's recent private life – he recently split from his girlfriend, 31-year-old Royal Ballet first soloist Helen Crawford – has been “a mess”.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.