Denis Matvienko has been ‘fired' as artistic director of the Kiev Ballet, but it was a position that apparently he had never officially held. From November 2011 he has been fulfilling the role, but has found that the contract had never been signed, according to Korrespondent.net.
Yesterday, at a press conference, Matvienko said,
At the beginning of February, I found out that I am not the artistic director of the ballet company of the Kiev Opera and never have been.
It was just before the première of La Bayadère, and I did not say anything immediately to not cause a stir. The Director of the Kiev Opera confirmed this fact. It turns out that my contract, submitted in November, is not signed. During this time I was leading the company, giving statements on tour, while not knowing that I didn't hold the role. This is a flagrant violation, cheating me and my artists.
Matvienko's name has been moved on the company's site from the role of Artistic Director to join the names of the other dancers of the company.
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.
