Ex-Bolshoi star Tsiskaridze returns to dance in The Nutcracker on New Year’s Eve

Former Bolshoi dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze, whose contract was terminated by the theatre at the beginning of the summer, will return for The Nutcracker, as it would give him “the chance to say goodbye to the audience”.

A source close to the theatre's administration told RIA Novosti that Tsiskaridze had asked for the top job at the Vaganova Academy, but Culture Minister Vladimir Medina had rejected the suggestion. However he did agree to him dancing at the theatre on 31 December.

The source said that Bolshoi Theatre Director Vladimir Urin was against bringing Tsiskaridze back into the theatre, as even one performance would necessitate him taking classes and attending rehearsals, which risked re-igniting the tension seen during the first half of this year, starting with the acid attack on Ballet Director Sergei Filin, and Tsiskaridze's subsequent public criticism of the Bolshoi management team and the theatre's phenomenally expensive restoration. However, Urin was ‘forced' to agree, and told Interfax,

 I think it would be right to give the artist to say goodbye to the stage and the audience.

 The 31 December is the day of Tsiskaridze's 40th birthday.

Photo: Tsiskaridze in The Nutcracker by Mikhail Logvinov / Bolshoi Theatre

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.