Bolshoi Ballet Director Will See Again After Acid Attack

Ballet believes Filin was attacked because of his work
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 21, 2013 12:01 AM CST
Bolshoi Ballet Director Will See Again After Acid Attack
Bolshoi ballet director Sergei Filin gestures in a hospital in Moscow where he is being treated.    (AP Photo/RenTV)

Sergei Filin, the Bolshoi Ballet director attacked with what police have now determined was sulfuric acid, has a long recovery ahead of him but he will not be fully blinded, ballet officials say. A masked attacker threw acid in Filin's face last week and while police say they are investigating several theories, Bolshoi officials believe the former dancer was targeted because of his work at the world's largest ballet company, the New York Times reports.

Filin has had one operation on his eyes already and another is scheduled this week. Nikolai Tsiskaridze, a star dancer who has often clashed with Filin, strongly condemned the attack and said it went far beyond the rivalries that are part of Bolshoi life. "There have always been stories about glass in point shoes, about cats thrown onto the stage, about brooms thrown onto the stage and so on," he said. "That is just hooliganism compared to what happened to Sergei, because throwing acid in someone’s face, that is a monstrous crime, which does not just disfigure a person’s life, but strips him of his livelihood, of his eyesight itself. This is monstrous." (More Sergei Filin stories.)

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