Attacked Bolshoi ballet chief ‘regaining sight’

MOSCOW (AFP) ― Russian doctors said Monday that the Bolshoi ballet’s artistic director would regain sight in at least one eye following a brutal acid attack his coworkers blamed on infighting at the famed theatre.

But Sergei Filin’s doctors added that a string of operations was required before they could determine whether one of Russia’s greatest recent performers could return to what may be the most influential job in dance.

“The trend is generally positive,” the Moscow health service’s top eyesight specialist Larisa Mashetova said in televised remarks.

“He is regaining sight faster in one eye, but I think that we are going to even things out for both,” said Mashetova.

“Still, the recovery process will take a lot of time.”

The 42-year-old Filin ― appointed artistic director in 2011 after an acclaimed stage career ― suffered third-degree burns to his face late Thursday when a masked man cornered him near his central Moscow house.

Preliminary findings released Sunday showed that the assailant used sulphuric acid. Closed circuit footage showed a figure running away through an empty outdoor parking lot in the dark.

Several of the ballet’s greatest dancers have since reported infighting at the Bolshoi ― founded in 1776 ― and voiced fears the attack may be linked to Filin’s decision to award top roles to his favourite dancers.

They said Filin himself had on occasion mentioned feeling like he was in a constant fight for survival with his staff.

The weeks leading up to the attack appeared to be filled with tumult and almost open verbal warfare between some members of Russia’s artistic elite.

Filin reported the tyres of his car being slashed in the week preceding Thursday acid attack.

One of his social media accounts was also hacked and its contents ― including some private exchanges of an explicit nature ― published online in what friends interpreted as a broader intimidation campaign.

But the assault itself appeared to leave a deep scar on dancers who have since expressed nothing but respect for their boss.

“This is just theatre,” Bolshoi’s choreographer Svetlana Adyrkhayeva was quoted by Russian media as saying over the weekend.

“Normal people do not behave in this manner.”

Moscow police have so far made no arrests while spending the weekend interviewing Bolshoi dancers and directors as part of their investigation.

Filin underwent emergency surgery on Friday and is scheduled for another procedure on his skin Tuesday.

Doctors said one more operation on his eyes has tentatively been scheduled for Wednesday.

The eye specialist Mashetova said Filin was in good spirits.

“He is a person with a sense of humour. He has a positive attitude... and that helps the recovery,” said Mashetova.

Another doctor said Filin might still require up to four more operations in the coming days and weeks.

“We have completed the first of what might be three or four procedures,” said Moscow health department chief Georgy Golukhov.

“He can see slightly better out of his right eye than the left.”

The Bolshoi ballet itself is going through a period of rehearsals and is not scheduled to perform again in Moscow until Thursday.

Media reports said Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky visited Filin in hospital on Sunday and was surprised to find the patient eager to discuss the ballet troupe’s future with him.

“To my shock, what we ended up discussing was not his current state or personal fortunes, but his creative plans,” the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily quoted the culture minister as saying.

“We talked about who might lead the troupe for now.”