Supported by
Russian Theater Director’s House Arrest Is Extended
MOSCOW — A court on Tuesday extended the house arrest of Kirill S. Serebrennikov, the artistic director of the Gogol Center, whose case has raised alarms about repression of artistic freedom in Russia.
Mr. Serebrennikov is accused of embezzling government funds that had been allocated for one of his theatrical projects. The ruling means he will spend another three months under house arrest while awaiting trial.
Earlier this month, investigators reportedly elevated their accusations against Mr. Serebrennikov in a draft of an indictment, saying his theater company, Seventh Studio, had embezzled almost twice as much as they had initially suspected. He and his associates are now accused of stealing the ruble equivalent of $2.3 million.
The Ministry of Culture has been recognized as an injured party in the case, and has asked to be awarded the same sum as compensation if Mr. Serebrennikov is convicted.
The case has set off alarms in the artistic community in Russia about the prospect of a return of censorship to the arts. Mr. Serebrennikov has staged plays featuring nude actors and touching on socially divisive issues of sexuality and politics.
Russian cultural figures have repeatedly raised the case with President Vladimir V. Putin in meetings but he has declined to intervene. He has said that nobody is immune from legal prosecution in Russia and pointed out that the Bolshoi Theater recently staged “Nureyev,” a ballet directed by Mr. Serebrennikov about Rudolf Nureyev, a gay ballet dancer who defected from the Soviet Union.
“If this were a persecution, not a prosecution, his performance wouldn’t have been staged at the Bolshoi,” Mr. Putin said in December.
Speaking in court on Tuesday, Mr. Serebrennikov said that his accountant at Seventh Studio, Nina L. Maslyaeva, who has turned state’s witness in the case, had falsely accused him and four colleagues of theft.
In the testimony, published by a Russian-language news portal, Meduza, Mr. Serebrennikov suggested that the topics touched upon during pretrial interrogations in November and December were completely unrelated to the essence of the case. He recalled being questioned about a theater director’s duties and saying that the job involved “being a genius, inspiring the people and staging highly artistic performances” — after which the interrogation was over.
Stepping Into the World of Dance
The choreographer Emma Portner, who has spent her career mixing genres and disciplines, comes to ballet with an eye on its sometimes calcified gender relations.
In Irish dance, precision is prized. But perfection is beside the point at Gayli, a series of L.G.B.T.Q.-friendly ceili classes during March at Mary’s Bar, a queer Irish pub in Brooklyn.
A childhood encounter with an American soldier in Iraq led Hussein Smko to become a dancer. Now the artist performs on New York stages.
“Deep River” is in many ways an apt title for a dance work by Alonzo King, a choreographer fixated on flow.
Robert Garland has held many positions at Dance Theater of Harlem over many years. At long last, he has caught the most prized title: artistic director.
Alexei Ratmansky, arguably the most important ballet choreographer today, has stepped into a new role at New York City Ballet with a deeply personal first work that reflected his Ukrainian roots.
Advertisement