Bolshoi Ballet Star Confesses to Acid Attack

Bolshoi Ballet lead soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko confesses to masterminding the acid attack on Bolshoi artistic director Sergei Filin, disappointing and shocking theater fans in Moscow.

Published

3 months ago

Categories

Arts & Society, World

Topics

Arts & Culture, Europe

People

Sergei Filin, Pavel Dmitrichenko

Places

Russia, Moscow

Transcript

Russia's Bolshoi Ballet has been no stranger to intrigue-both on stage and off. But fans were shocked when lead soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko, seen here in black performing Romeo and Juliet, confessed to masterminding the January 17 acid attack on the ballet's artistic director Sergei Filin. Dmitrichenko and two other men were arrested on Tuesday. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) BOLSHOI BALLET SOLOIST PAVEL DMITRICHENKO, SAYING: "I masterminded this attack, but not to the extent it eventually happened." Filin was badly burned in the attack outside his Moscow apartment. He is now in Germany for treatment that is expected to save his sight. Outside of the storied theatre, Russian residents expressed their shock. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ST. PETERSBURG RESIDENT VSEVOLOD, SAYING: "This is of course disgusting. You absolutely cannot imagine that people working in art may even think that way. It is curious - if it's all true - it is curious how you can make art while having this blackness behind your back." The theatre, near Moscow's Red Square, reopened to great fanfare in 2011 after a six-year, $700-million renovation that restored its tsarist opulence but was criticized for going far over budget.