New director for Bolshoi

Yuri Burlaka, 39, has been appointed to succeed Alexei Ratmansky as artistic director of Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet when Ratmansky steps down in December.

But in an arrangement that one observer told London’s Daily Telegraph would create “a Molotov cocktail” guaranteed to create anarchy and squelch the company’s recent artistic revival, Burlaka is likely to be only one principal in a new three-pronged directorship.

Bolshoi director Anatoly Iksanov reportedly plans to bring in the Bolshoi’s former Soviet-era boss Yuri Grigorovich, 81, to retain control over his own productions, such as “Spartacus,” “Swan Lake” and “The Sleeping Beauty.” Grigorovich was director of the company from 1964 until his controversial forced departure in 1995, which split the Bolshoi into two bitterly competing factions.

Burlaka was forced to agree to Grigorovich’s return, according to the London newspaper, because as current director of the regional Russian National Ballet, he has few Bolshoi inside connections and little power.

Ratmansky, meanwhile, will remain principal guest choreographer and retain control of new productions.

-- Chris Pasles