Bolshoi won't renew Sergei Filin’s contract as ballet director
44-year-old, who nearly lost his sight in an acid attack in 2013, defended his programme of innovation, under fire from conservatives at famed Russian theatre, when troupe performed in Hong Kong this year
Russia’s famed Bolshoi theatre on Thursday announced it would not renew the contract of its ballet troupe’s artistic director, Sergei Filin, who was injured in a brutal 2013 acid attack.
“The general director of the Bolshoi Theatre Vladimir Urin told artistic director Sergei Filin at an end-of-season meeting that his contract would not be renewed when it expires in March 2016,” the theatre said in a statement.
Filin was left scarred and partially blind after he was doused with acid on the orders of a ballet soloist in January 2013 in an attack that rocked the dance world.
The trial of Filin’s attackers, which ended with dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko being jailed for six years, uncovered bitter backstage rivalries and jaw-dropping allegations that Filin handed out roles in exchange for money and sexual favours.
Former principal dancer Filin told Russia’s state Tass news agency that he had “no reason to take offence”, as he had expected that he would not be offered a new contract.
“In the modern world this is normal practice. I consider it fair,” he said. “I have to move on, developing myself as a professional, doing something new.”