Sergei Filin, the Bolshoi Ballet artistic director who was wounded in an acid attack that shocked the dance world last year, will appear in New York in April as one of the judges of the Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition. As an influential figure for classical ballet in Russia particularly, the coup for the Youth America Grand Prix may be a controversial one for the prestigious competition.
Filin is expected to make a couple of public appearances at performances marking the 15th anniversary of the prominent competition, which awards scholarships to young dancers, and was recently featured in the documentary film “First Position”. In addition to this Filin is expected to take a curtain call at the competition’s 15th anniversary gala on 10 April at the David H. Koch Theater, which will feature Olga Smirnova of the Bolshoi Ballet, as well as Misty Copeland and other dancers from American Ballet Theater, among the performers. Before the performance, the Russian director is then scheduled to answer questions from the stage the following night, before a performance by several prominent dancers, including Sara Mearns of New York City Ballet, Herman Cornejo of the American Ballet Theater, and Alicia Graf Mack of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
The attack on Filin last year outraged the ballet world and threw the Bolshoi Ballet into a state turmoil, watched by the rest of the world as the drama continued to unfold. A former dancer in the company, Pavel Dmitrichenko, was sentenced to six years in a penal colony for ordering the attack, which partially blinded Filin. Despite this, the sight in one of Filin’s eyes is strong enough for him to act as a judge at the Youth America Grand Prix, where the youthful talent of the dance word will perform.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.