Filin leaves the hospital on Feb. 4. He has introduced contemporary productions to the Bolshoi repertoire
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How the vicious rivalries in the theater began is a matter of dispute, as are most things at the Bolshoi. But all sides agree that the atmosphere in the company was poisoned years ago by a power struggle between two camps, one represented by Iksanov, who has run the theater for 12½ years, and the other by Nikolai Tsiskaridze, one of the Bolshoi's principal dancers. Filin, much like the artistic directors who preceded him, was caught in the middle.
In 2010 the departure of artistic director Yuri Burlaka created a scramble to replace him in the prestigious post. Burlaka had lasted only a year, hobbled by criticism that he lacked vision, and Tsiskaridze was considered one of the favorites to replace him. A charismatic dancer and TV celebrity, the then 36-year-old had devoted his life to the Bolshoi since the age of 13 and was adored by fans. But Tsiskaridze and Iksanov squabbled over whether the theater should stick to classics or produce more contemporary works. They had their first public row in 2003, when the general director tried to fire Anastasia Volochkova, the prima ballerina, claiming she had become too fat for her dance partners to lift her without undue effort during performances. Tsiskaridze was one of the few male dancers at the Bolshoi to come to her defense, "like a gentleman," Volochkova says, "and Iksanov did not like that." Unable to find legal grounds to fire her, the management has kept her on a nominal salary but since 2005 has refused to give her any roles, forcing her into a semi-retirement of film and TV gigs. The public feud between Iksanov and Tsiskaridze only escalated after that, and by the time the role of artistic director became vacant in 2010, they had stopped speaking to each other. The most likely candidate to fill the position then became Gennady Yanin, the Bolshoi's deputy director.
But just before his promotion, Yanin found himself in the middle of an ugly scandal. An anonymous e-mail with photos of someone resembling Yanin having sex with men was sent to thousands of Russian political and cultural figures as well as local and foreign news outlets. Homophobia is pervasive in Russia; Yanin was forced to resign in disgrace. (Three years on, he declined to be interviewed for this article, telling me by phone, "I've moved on, thank God. I'm now far from the Bolshoi.")
Tsiskaridze was considered by most insiders and observers to be the next in line for the post, but in March 2011, Iksanov passed him over and appointed Filin, who had left the Bolshoi three years earlier to work as artistic director at a second-tier theater in Moscow. Filin's ballet credentials were flawless. He had danced at the Bolshoi for two decades before leaving in 2008 and shared Iksanov's desire to update the troupe's somewhat dusty repertoire of classics. Tsiskaridze, a ballet traditionalist, disagreed with them on this. His relationship with Filin was already strained--the two had competed for roles at the Bolshoi for most of their dancing careers. In vying for the post of artistic director, Filin had a reserve and political correctness that recommended him over the impish Tsiskaridze. Never uttering a word of criticism against his boss outside the theater's walls, Filin is known as a staunch Iksanov loyalist. For Tsiskaridze, the appointment ruined any chance of promotion, and that is when the backbiting got worse.
Ripple Effect