Bolshoi Ballet 'a giant brothel', former dancer claims



SOURCE: http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2013/03/20/bolshoi-pimped-dancers.html

Bolshoi Ballet 'a giant brothel', former dancer claims
Soloist accuses general director of pimping young ballerinas to wealthy men
CBC News Posted: Mar 20, 2013 10:54 AM ET Last Updated: Mar 20, 2013 2:32 PM ET

Scandal is deepening around Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet after a former soloist claimed female dancers were pimped to wealthy patrons by the theatre’s general director.

Anastasia Volochkova said the company became "a giant brothel" under Anatoly Iksanov, with dancers as young as 13 told they were expected to have sex with Russian philanthropists.

Volochkova, who was famously fired in 2003 for being too heavy, has since appeared on TV talent and talk shows and dabbled in politics. She made her accusations on a Russian TV talk show Sunday, then repeated them to Russian media yesterday.

'The girls were forced to go along to grand dinners and given advance warning that afterwards they would be expected to go to bed and have sex'
—former dancer Anastasia Volochkova

General director Iksanov denied the allegations on Tuesday, saying, "I don't comment on dirt and ravings."

"It mainly happened with the corps du ballet but also with the soloists," Volochkova said in an interview with a Russian wire service.

"Ten years ago, when I was dancing at the theatre, I repeatedly received such propositions to share the beds of oligarchs.

"The girls were forced to go along to grand dinners and given advance warning that afterwards they would be expected to go to bed and have sex," she alleged.

"When the girls asked: 'What happens if we refuse?’ they were told that they would not go on tour or even perform at the Bolshoi theatre. Can you imagine?"


It is the latest controversy involving the world famous Russian theatre and its ballet company.....
The article goes on to discuss more drama involving one dancers attack at a director with sulphuric acid
 

Smilf

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Not surprising, they also get you hooked on blow too, about as much blow goes around a ballerina change room as it does a modelling event... skinny, skinny, skinny.
 

Blonde Brynn

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This is older than the Bolshoi Ballet itself. Dance companies always run at a loss, and depend upon wealthy patrons, some of whom want something more than the prestige of being named on a program.
 
This is older than the Bolshoi Ballet itself. Dance companies always run at a loss, and depend upon wealthy patrons, some of whom want something more than the prestige of being named on a program.

Interesting, but this must certainly be something a young Ballerina doesn't know until it's too late?
 

Blonde Brynn

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Well if brynn knows and it's generally acknowledged as something that's been the norm then I'm gonna venture that young ballerinas know what they're getting themselves into when they apply to certain companies.
It's probably thought of in the same way jockeys know that reducing (in its various forms) is just part of the life.
Information like this hasn't had many ways of disseminating before the internet, and it's still not widely talked about (as Anastasia Volochkova said, it happened mainly in the corps, those girls keep their heads down), so it's more than likely that a young, naive girl who wants nothing more than to be a part of a ballet company would be completely blindsided by this. No one with any kind of clout or platform from which to complain is being asked to do this.

Think of it this way: the term ''casting couch'' is a part of the everyday parlance, and yet young actresses are still surprised when it happens to them.
 

Smilf

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Ballet is as brutal as modelling if not worse, there are many comparisons. You are constantly being yelled and screamed at about your weight and your total appearance over all, especially when preparing for major performances, gain a pound or 2 or even half a pound and your costume doesn't fit as it did during initial fittings, major shit show! Despite what people think you don't wear steel toe or wood toed ballet shoes for the rest of your career, they are used to break your feet in, needless to say you're feet are in constant pain, suffer broken toes, broken ankles etc. Blow rids the pain you're enduring while performing, keeps you skinny and keeps you awake for the long hours of rehersals etc. from like 5 am until midnight.

It is your DUTY as a professional ballerina to help and hob knob with the rich and elite to gain contributions for company financing as seen in Black Swan, so screwing them is not surprising in the least. Everyone has this prima donna, prissy misconception about ballerina's .. they would be wrong about that. Drug addiction, smoking, anorexia, all HUGE in ballet.
 

vancity_cowboy

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a neighbour's daughter was doing fabulously in gymnastics - winning competitions easily etc. then one day she just decided to quit... and went to hell in a handbasket. drugs, street life for a while, got grossly fat, finally moved back in with her parents and has lived in the basement for the last 15 years, allowing herself to get less pretty every year

i always wondered what the hell that was all about - now maybe i know... :mad:
 

Smilf

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a neighbour's daughter was doing fabulously in gymnastics - winning competitions easily etc. then one day she just decided to quit... and went to hell in a handbasket. drugs, street life for a while, got grossly fat, finally moved back in with her parents and has lived in the basement for the last 15 years, allowing herself to get less pretty every year

i always wondered what the hell that was all about - now maybe i know... :mad:

Yup that'd would do it!
 

Smilf

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OK, there go ballet lessons.
Seriously, I never saw that coming!
It may seem obvious to some, but not everyone has a mental image of a casting couch in ballet.

What else should I save money by not sending my daughters to?
If they want to be SP’s, they can do so without me chucking 6 digits at training.
Just pick things that don't parlay on them maintaining a stick figure, jazz, tap, street dancing or whatever they call that lol .. aren't so bad about weight, still a lot of work and would keep them in shape, but nothing overly gruesome. There's always art and music, soccer, hockey, curling, ringette and many other things that "Barbie" hasn't been an influence on :) Tap dancing is fun for little girls, I used to take it for a long time .. shoes that make noise! Put some music on for them outside in the cement garage or in basement (if it's cement) and you will find them entertaining themselves for hours.
 
Street dancing is great, unless you want to do that as a profession. Then it's casting couch all over again. lol.

Sports would be good. Girls that played soccer, volleyball, basketball and track are in fantastic shape and have lots of fun.
I loved dancing. Like SM mentioned, give them some tap shoes and away they go.

I took jazz, tap and ballet and I loved bthe costumes, hanging out with girls, learning the latest "moves" (MINI POPS ALL THE WAY)

I wish I had done soccer or volleyball or other sports. I am not very competitive and I think the reason is that I never played any team sports.

I would say Karate for kids would be good.
 
Not at all, I loved it! My parents got me into it when I was a baby, so I had no say, obviously, but I grew up loving it. :) I'm just saying that it never got me into drugs or anything.

Being in pageants never got you into drugs. How about porn... I thought beauty pageant winners usually went into porn? (no offense) :pound:
 

Summer-Love

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I've been trained in pretty much all genres of dance, and I still love it immensely, but I must agree that when I started competitively dancing ballet I began to feel the pressure to be thinner. I was always long and lean but not willowy like a lot of the ballet girls. I did start smoking for a while (I quit a while back) but never got into drugs. I did get a bit too obsessed with working out though.

However if I ever have a daughter and they wanted to go into dance I would totally support it, and if they went into competitions I would just keep a close eye on them. Dance was one of the few things I always looked forward to as a hormonal teenager haha.
 
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