Naked Russian Ballerina Wins Job Back


Karina Sarkisova, a Moscow-born member of the Vienna State Opera, believes she has been scapegoated after a sexy photoshoot saw her fired from the theatre.
After 15 years with the company – and several roles in which she appeared naked on stage – a provocative photo shoot with Wiener magazine saw her sacked until a media storm forced the theatre to reconsider.
The famously staid institution faced accusations of double standards – especially after singers and dancers were ordered to pose in their undies to promote a production of Carmen earlier this year - before performing a neat pirouette and reinstating Sarkisova.
In a statement from the theatre, ballet chiefs said Sarkisova could return "based on her explanations and apologies", AFP reported.

Repeat offender
September’s issue of Wiener magazine featured Sarkisova’s sexy shoot under the headline ‘The Naked Ballerina’ (Die Nackte Ballerina)
© flickr.com/ / wienerpost
September’s issue of Wiener magazine featured Sarkisova’s sexy shoot under the headline ‘The Naked Ballerina’ (Die Nackte Ballerina)
The theatre had ealier dismissed her from the corp-de-ballet, saying it was not her first offence and she had been warned after stripping off for Penthouse in the halls of the world-famous venue.
But Sarkisova herself was furious, claiming it was hypocritical to make this an artistic decision and alleging she was simply too famous for the theatre to afford.
“I hope this is nothing to do with ballet director Manuel Legris,” she told Komsomolskaya Pravda. “At the Paris Opera he published a back and even the lead singer was shown nude!
“Perhaps it is the work of the trade union in relation to some financial problems. This has already happened when an artist became too expensive.
“Soon I was due to sign a new contract which would have made me almost impossible to sack.”
She also claimed to have received messages of support from her colleagues in Vienna and dancers all over the world, adding that her pictures are beautiful and there is “nothing criminal” in them.
And she denied being paid for the interview and photoshoot, saying she was happy to appear on several pages of a popular magazine.

The right decision
Worldwide support has not been backed up by the artistic director of the Bolshoi ballet in Moscow.
Yury Burlak told KP that it was the right decision, and the Legris had concluded the behavioru was unworthy of an artist.
And he warned that Sarkisova could find it hard to get work in Austria and may have to look elsewhere.

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