Makhar Vaziev will leave his position as head of the La Scala Ballet Company and take over at the Bolshoi Ballet on 18 March 2016. The Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, Vladimir Urin, had already announced last July that the current director, Sergei Filin, would not have his contract renewed, which expires on 17 March. […]
Sergei Filin
Zakharova’s charity gala money is refused by Kiev school
Culture connects people, and it is a thread which can’t be broken by political tensions. When the Malaysia Airlines Boeing was shot down over the Ukraine last year I was on tour with the Bolshoi in New York. I watched the news and listened to the comments by American politicians about Russia and, frankly, it was […]
Osipova is missing Hallberg, but hopes to return to the Bolshoi
The applause that greeted Natalia Osipova’s return to the Bolshoi stage was enthusiastic. Laura Cappelle wrote in her Financial Times review: The tour marks the Russian superstar’s first performances on the Bolshoi stage since her departure from the company three years ago, and if the breathless reception she got is any indication, she has been […]
You choose it out of Love! Dancing with the Khan-MacKay family
Dancing, like acting and singing, often runs in the family. There are countless dancers whose parents danced: Zenaida Yanowsky (Royal Ballet), Yury Yanowsky (Boston Ballet) and Nadia Yanowsky (Het Nationale Ballet) are the children of Russian ballet dancer Anatol Yanowsky and Spanish ballet dancer Carmen Robles. Ballet’s in their blood. What makes the Khan-MacKay family special is that […]
The year ballet wept… jealousy & rivalry at the Bolshoi
So 29-year-old Bolshoi dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko will go to prison for six years, and his career obviously ends here. His biography has been taken down from the company’s website and soon his picture will disappear from the ‘leading soloists’ page. What a lot of damage he’s caused: to himself, the international reputation of the Bolshoi company and […]
Meanwhile in Russia… Vaganova & Bolshoi latest
The Russian Ministry of Culture announced this morning that there would be an external inspection of the organisation of St Petersburg’s Vaganova Ballet Academy. It will examine the economic and educational structure for irregularities after “”the emergence of numerous items in the media, which refer to procedural violations at the Vaganova Academy”. Though, bizarrely, the Ministry […]
Sergei Filin appears in court & Dmitrichenko says he’s sorry
Sergei Filin, director of the Bolshoi Ballet Company, appeared in court today in Moscow to give evidence in the acid attack case, supposedly instigated by Bolshoi dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko. Filin said that he couldn’t forgive the perpetrators who almost blinded him. Dmitrichenko apologised to him, saying that it wasn’t his attention to hurt him, but […]
Dmitrichenko pleads not guilty in the first day of Bolshoi acid attack case
The first full hearing in the case of the acid attack on artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, Sergei Filin, was held in Moscow today, reported Izvestia. The defendants arrived with guards who were without masks. Last week Bolshoi soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko, who is accused of instigating the crime, claimed to have been beaten-up by […]
Bolshoi dancer beaten up by police
Pavel Dmitrichenko, the Bolshoi Soloist accused of organising the attack on the company’s director, Sergei Filin, was beaten up by masked police as he was taken back to prison following a pre-trial hearing. According to Izvestia, he was beaten by three police officers without apparent reason. Dmitrichenko was handcuffed, but they held him against a wall […]
Bolshoi Theatre director on Filin, Ratmansky, Tsiskaridze, the opera, the image and more
The new head of the Bolshoi Theatre, Vladimir Urin, has outlined some of his intentions for the theatre’s future, after two months into the job. He talked about creating a group of house singers, about Filin, Ratmansky, Tsiskaridze, and about the Bolshoi’s tarnished image with “Rossiyskaya Gazeta“. Urin has a vision for the future of […]
