RUSSIA: Bolshoi ballet director Sergei Filin arrives to meet dancers for first time since acid attack

Record ID: 861796

  • Title: RUSSIA: Bolshoi ballet director Sergei Filin arrives to meet dancers for first time since acid attack
  • Date: 17th September 2013
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 17, 2013) (REUTERS) ( ** beware flash photography **) BOLSHOI BALLET ARTISTIC DIRECTOR SERGEI FILIN WALKING ALONG AISLE TOWARDS STAGE BEFORE TROUPE GATHERING VARIOUS OF FILIN SEATED WITH OTHER BOLSHOI MANAGERS CLOSE OF FILIN
  • Embargoed: 2nd October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • City:
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Crime,Arts
  • Reuters ID: LVA80M4YHO9G4V9YVTO01PN4UKP3
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Bolshoi ballet director Sergei Filin arrives at famed theatre to meet dancers for the first time since the January acid attack against him.
    Artistic director of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet Sergei Filin met the dancers on Tuesday (September 17) for the first time since an acid attack that nearly blinded him.
    Filin returned to Moscow from Germany last week following eight months and 22 operations on his eyes and face after the attack.
    He joined the troupe's reunion after holidays on Tuesday appearing in dark suit and brown eyeshades along with other theatre managers.
    Filin had the power to make or break careers at the Bolshoi, a world-renowned symbol of Russian culture, and the Jan. 17 attack put the ballet's bitter internal rivalries in the spotlight.
    Bolshoi representatives said in June Filin could not see out of one eye at all and vision in the second one was severely damaged.
    One of the Bolshoi's top dancers, Pavel Dmitrichenko, is on trial on charges of ordering the attack. He and his two alleged accomplices face up to 12 years in jail if convicted.
    Dmitrichenko, who made his name playing villains in Swan Lake and Ivan the Terrible, told the court he was upset with the management and Filin, but that he only wanted the artistic director beaten up, not attacked with acid.
    Russia dismissed the long-serving head of the Bolshoi in the aftermath of the incident, and entrusted another experienced theatre manager with the mission to rebuild the theatre's reputation.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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