Rendering 5

The article Russian police arrest man over acid attack on Bolshoi director Sergei Filin written by Shaun Walker was published in The Independent on March, 5. It reports at length that Russian police arrested a suspect in the acid attack that nearly blinded the artistic director of the Bolshoi Theatre - Mr Filin.

The author says that the offender was detained before dawn in the small town of Stupino, Moscow Region, and is thought by police to have thrown the acid at 42-year-old Sergei Filin. But the person who ordered the assault is still at large.

Speaking of the complainant it is necessary to note that he is currently undergoing treatment in Germany to mitigate the consequences of the attack on 17 January.  After surgical intervention, Russian doctors were able to salvage Mr Filin’s sight, and he is now receiving further treatment for his sight and facial burns. He has said he hopes to return to work as soon as possible and is still speaking to his dancers by telephone and Skype.

It's an open secret that the atmosphere in the Bolshoi theatre is strained. A previous leader of the ballet troupe had to resign after pornographic photographs of him were disseminated online, while the theatre’s costly renovation programme has been plagued with allegations of corruption and incompetence. Russian media has played up a dispute between Mr Filin and Nikolai Tsiskaridze who has been engaged in a long-running dispute with the Bolshoi management, criticising the theatre publicly and repeatedly and effectively being banned from dancing.

The article carries a lot of comment on the police actions. Having questioned the majority of the employees and administrators of the theatre during their investigation into the acid attack, police returned to the Bolshoi this morning to conduct further searches. A raid was also carried out on a Moscow address belonging to relatives of the man arrested, according to the police source. A police source told that the person arrested this morning was not a member of the Bolshoi’s troupe, however added that a number of employees and dancers at the theatre were still being investigated by officers.

The article draws a conclusion that ballet performances at the theatre have continued despite the attack on Mr Filin.

Personnaly, I've never been in the theatre, but the last time I think everybody knows what is happening there, unfortunately more about intrigue on the stage than about its productions and performances. And I hope that the acid attack isn't just a newspaper hoax for somebody's reputation.