Ballet Director Still Recovering From Having Acid Hurled into His Face

By Doug Barry | January 19, 2013 | 5:00pm

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In keeping with the proud tradition of grisly backstage ballet drama that movies have so thoroughly accustomed us to, Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the famed Bolshoi ballet, is still suffering from a vicious attack that took place on Thursday night when someone threw acid in his face. In. His. Face. Though Filin has already undergone one operation, Russian officials say that he’ll need at least one more, and add that it isn’t yet clear if Filin’s right eye can be saved.

Is that a terrifying enough story for you this otherwise serene Saturday afternoon? No arrests have been made in the attack, but Filin’s colleagues have speculated that acid-in-face is most likely the retaliatory hallmark of a rival ballet colleague angry at Filin’s selection of certain dancers for prized roles. According to Alexei Levchenko, a spokesman for Russia’s deputy prime minister, Filin was in stable condition as of Friday evening and the prospects for restoring his vision should be clearer over the course of the coming week.