Bolshoi’s Filin still under fire

Sergei Filin will have a number of operations in Germany at different clinics, and it’s yet unclear how well he will see after treatment.

But the attacks on him have not subsided. On Wednesday a fake statement was published on the internet claiming that Filin was probably attacked due to his struggle against ticket scalpers.

The statement on a fake Facebook page which says it belongs to Sergei Filin says that the re-selling of tickets at inflated prices has become a criminalised business, and that Filin was most likely attacked due to his efforts to stop it.

It looks like another attempt to get at Filin and to provoke further tension at the theatre, say observers.

Katerina Novikova is the Bolshoi theatre’s spokesperson. She told VoR:"This statement means that Sergei’s in conflict with the Bolshoi management because he’s trying to suppress the ticket sales system. This is all wrong.

"I mean the ticket sales system probably is not perfect, the Bolshoi management is doing as much as we can to fight the scalpers, but Sergei is not fighting against this and is not in any conflict with the Bolshoi management - and the page, and the text published, are fake."

Novikova says that the theatre is trying to close down Filin’s fake Facebook page, but that it keeps coming back.

It is common knowledge that the Bolshoi has some issues with ticket re-sales.

After Filin was attacked, his predecessor, Alexei Ratmansky, identified ticket scalpers as one of the reasons why there were problems at the theatre.

Ratmansky left the theatre in 2009, citing difficulties at the company and a wish to live outside Russia.

Meanwhile, the Bolshoi’s general director Anatoly Iksanov and principal dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze have been trading insults publicly this week.

In a lengthy interview in a Russian news magazine, Iksanov said that Tsiskaridze had not carried out the attack but had created the atmosphere in which it took place.

He said that whatever Tsiskaridze might say, legally, the theatre had no grounds for firing him.

Tsiskaridze is one of Russia’s best-known and most outspoken ballet dancers, and often appears on television.

He hit back at Iksanov on Wednesday, denying all allegations made against him and criticising the theatre.

He said that today’s situation at the Bolshoi was a ‘reputational risk for the entire country.’

Tsiskaridze frequently criticises the Bolshoi management, though he denies this is because he wants to become the theatre’s artistic director.

Up to now, Iksanov has not made many comments in reaction to Tsiskaridze’s words.

Katerina Novikova says that Iksanov was simply answering Tsiskaridze’s criticisms after years of silence.

"The thing is that Tsiskaridze is constantly attacking the Bolshoi management, and Mr Iksanov never ever publicly expressed his opinion on that.

"And recently he just decided to tell openly what he feels about this, that’s it. I don’t think anything changed in Tsiskaridze’s statements, only Mr Iksanov was silent all these years, and he decided to comment, finally," she said.

In a related development, sources within the Bolshoi ballet company say that the theatre has pulled one of the ballets to be performed in London this summer.

Dancers are no longer preparing to perform British choreographer Wayne McGregor’s new version of the Rite of Spring, sources say.

It is unclear why the ballet might have been withdrawn.

Some observers say that McGregor and Filin wanted to work very closely together on the ballet, and with Filin in hospital for some time yet, this may have been difficult to organise.

Instead, London ballet fans will be treated to the complete version of the ballet Jewels, say the sources. Previously, only part of the ballet was to be shown, along with the Rite of Spring.

Jewels is an exciting modern ballet that is extremely popular with audiences.