Igor Zelensky is resigning from his position as director of the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich with immediate effect. The background is unclear, but there are assumptions.
The previous director of the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich, Igor Zelensky, resigned on April 4th.
The discussion about the attitude of Russian artists to the Ukraine war is spreading. Late on Sunday evening, the director of the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich, Igor Zelensky, announced his resignation. The Russian choreographer, born in 1969, gives private and family matters as the official justification: “My family now needs my full support,” says Zelensky. This is not compatible with the management of a ballet company.
However, it is doubtful that this alone led to the resignation. Shortly after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Zelensky was increasingly criticized in the Bavarian state capital. Following Valery Gergiev’s resignation as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic and the cancellation of engagements by soprano Anna Netrebko at the Bavarian State Opera, Zelensky’s possible closeness to Putin was also discussed.
Advisor to a Russian foundation
Among other things, the focus is on the Russian cultural foundation «National Cultural Heritage» based in Moscow. It is said to have been founded by the local Bolshoi Opera House and Tretyakov Gallery, as well as the Mariinsky Theater and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg – on the basis of a decree by the Russian President in 2018. The foundation is tasked with establishing several cultural centers – one also on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. The 52-year-old Zelensky is said to have been one of the advisors to the foundation.
In addition, there was apparently footage showing Zelensky with Putin; however, it is no longer available online. According to corresponding press reports, including in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, the responsible art ministry demanded a statement from Zelensky about the nature and scope of his consulting work. A personal questioning has reportedly taken place in the meantime, but nothing has been known about the findings so far. But criticism of this silence has recently become louder and louder.
In addition, since taking office in 2016, Zelensky’s work in Munich has been met with critical voices that have been directed against both his artistic preferences and his personnel policy. Zelensky was already considered a traditionalist at the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theater in Moscow, where he had been ballet director since 2011. In December 2016, the premiere of the “Spartacus” ballet by the Soviet-Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian was criticized in parts of the Munich press; the Moscow Bolshoi choreography from 1968 was used for the premiere.
Star dancer Sergei Polunin from the Ukrainian Cherson presented himself in the role of the Roman general Crassus – a dazzling figure in the international ballet world. A Putin tattoo on Polunin’s chest is said to have been covered with make-up for the appearance; she is, among other things, in the book “Sergei Polunin. Free: A Life in Images and Words». Another tattoo shows Zelensky, whom Polunin considers his mentor.
All silence
Many are speculating that the suspected closeness to Putin and his policies has now led to Zelensky’s resignation; However, there is no reliable evidence for this, all those involved are silent. The fact that Zelensky – in contrast to Munich’s general music director Vladimir Jurowski – did not want to publicly speak out against the Ukraine war in no uncertain terms had recently fueled the mood against him. Zelensky’s successor should be clarified immediately. Until then, the ballet masters Judith Turos and Thomas Mayr will take over the work in Munich.