Director of the Bolshoi Theater Anatoly Iksanov has been fired, six months after an acid attack on one of his top staffers. Iksanov’s departure comes as the Bolshoi has become associated with seemingly endless off-stage scandals.
Not a shameful kick-out, but rather an honorable discharge –
that’s how Iksanov’s dismissal was presented by Russian Culture
Minister Vladimir Medinsky. The ex-director was praised for his
contribution to the theater’s overhaul and offered a job at the
ministry. Medinsky, however, also hinted at how uneasy things
have recently become at the iconic theater.
“The challenging situation means the theater needs
renewal,” Medinsky said.
The incoming director, Vladimir Urin, who previously headed the
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music
Theater, says he is aware of the challenge.
“I realize perfectly well what burden I will have to shoulder.
One person can’t do anything, but together we can go
forward,” Urin said, adding he was not planning any
revolutions.
Making off-stage life peaceful at the Bolshoi will be part of
Urin’s mission, which he was reluctant to accept. He confessed
his first reaction to the job proposal from the ministry was that
of refusal.
The theater has rarely been out of the media spotlight this year,
making headlines mostly outside the art and culture pages.
It started with the January acid attack on the theater’s Artistic
Director Sergey Filin, who is still undergoing treatment in
Germany with fears remaining that his eyesight could be
irrevocably damaged. The incident six months ago eventually laid
bare the fact that the Bolshoi’s behind-the-scenes life might
have more drama in it than any of its performances.
A leading Bolshoi Theater dancer, Pavel Dmitrichenko, is the prime
suspect in the acid attack, which was reportedly prompted by
a Shakespearean-style feud between him and Filin over a young
ballet dancer, Anzhelina Vorontsova.
The criminal investigation triggered an outpouring of mutual accusations by the two
key Bolshoi players and long-time opponents: the now ex-director
Iksanov and the Bolshoi’s biggest celebrity - premier dancer
Nikolay Tsiskaridze.
Tsiskaridze has for years been a major critic of the Bolshoi
reconstruction, which lasted since 2005 to 2011. In 2009,
Prosecutor’s office started investigation into the alleged misuse
of the reconstruction funding. The cost of the overhaul
grew 16 times by the end of the works, according to the Russian
Auditing Chamber estimates.
Tsiskaridze eventually saw his conflict with Iksanov result in
his two contracts with the Bolshoi – as a dancer and as a teacher
- dropped in June.
“What can I say? He dug his own grave,” The New York Times
cites Tsiskaridze’s reaction to Iksanov’s removal. However, the
big question is if the dancer will be able to return to the
Bolshoi, knowing he has long seen himself as its director.
So far, the culture minister says the issue of Tsiskaridze’s
return has not been, and presumably will not be, discussed.
The new director of the Bolshoi managed to keep the theatre he
headed before out of scandal. But it remains to be seen if he is
the one to put an end to the Bolshoi’s off-stage soap-opera-style
existence.