French ballet director resigns at Stanislavsky Theater

Laurent Hilaire had announced that he would leave Moscow “under the circumstances”. The Russian government continues its violent military offensive against Ukraine.

France’s Laurent Heller, director of the ballet troupe at Moscow’s Stanislavsky Theater and former star of the Paris Opera, announced his resignation from the Moscow Foundation on Sunday “due to the geopolitical situation” and is preparing to leave Moscow.

“I resigned yesterday. [samedi]”I regret this decision, I worked in Moscow tomorrow,” he told AFP without further details. Harmony (with theater troupes) I leave sadly but the context no longer allows me to work calmly.”

Russian attack in Ukraine

After weeks of tension over the separatist, pro-Russian regions of Ukraine, the Russian president launched his offensive all night from Wednesday to Thursday. Several cities, including Kiev, the port city of Mariupol along the Sea of ​​Azov, Kharkiv, the country’s second city, and Kramatorsk were victims of heavy bombardment.

On Saturday evening, Russia announced that it was “expanding” its offensive. On Saturday, Ukrainian authorities said that at least 198 civilians have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion, a number that has not been updated after more than 24 hours.

Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, confirmed that the Russian army is not carrying out strikes on residential areas, but several houses have come under fire across the country.

Five years in office

Appointed director of choreography at the Stanislavsky Academic Musical Theater five years ago, Laurent Hilaire was the second French to lead ballet in Russia, nearly 150 years after his illustrious predecessor, dancer and choreographer Marius Petipa, a prominent figure in 19th-century dance. Century and director of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg.

Considered one of the most skilled French dancers of his generation, he renewed the repertoire of the Russian company, third after the Bolshoi in Moscow and Mariinsky in Saint Petersburg.

Laurent Hilaire was born in 1962 and graduated from the Paris Opera School of Dance. Engaged in the ballet troupe, he was awarded the title “Star” in 1985, at the age of 22, by Rudolf Nureyev, a dancer from the Soviet Union who defected to the Soviet Union.