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Post by atlantic on Jan 19, 2013 14:45:26 GMT -5
Ok, I don't mean to take away from the awful attack on Filin, but I saw this post on a blog covering the story: jezebel.com/5977311/ballet-director-still-recovering-from-having-acid-hurled-into-his-face?post=56402889This poster is claiming Joy Womack is her cousin, and that Joy has/was routinely mugged and attacked on the street. This is the first time I have ever heard anything about that. No new story has ever mentioned that, nor has she stated that. If it is in fact true, that is awful. Who would think that attacking a teenager over ballet would ever be acceptable? Especially just a student! Who are these people? Parents of her classmates? And how would they even be able to pick her out of crowd? I'm not criticizing her, she is a victim. But if it is true, I think she really should be more forthcoming about it. I am sure there are a lot of teenage girls that are hoping to follow in her footsteps. If it really is dangerous, then I feel that people need to know that.
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Post by Admin on Jan 19, 2013 22:00:50 GMT -5
Hmmmm...I remember Joy stating that sometimes she never left the school for weeks on end (she boarded there). So I'm doubting that she was routinely mugged and robbed on her way to school. She did mention some jealousy among her classmates, but never said exactly how the expressed that.
However, it's well known that Russia is not exactly a safe place in terms of street crime. I have no doubt that Joy has had a problem here and there.
One could also counter that the U.S. isn't safe, either -- Diana Vishneva was once mugged in New York.
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Post by atlantic on Jan 20, 2013 9:34:21 GMT -5
Yes, I think it is plausible that anyone could get mugged, just as in New York. I think I just read that post from her alleged cousin as meaning she was being targeted as a foreigner, but I think that any foreigner is any country is a prime target for a street thug. I think hearing about the violence against Filin just spooked me; apparently there exist people there that think violence is a way to deal with jealous over roles.
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Post by Admin on Jan 20, 2013 11:54:25 GMT -5
True. All the way back in the days of the Soviet Union, dancers were receiving threatening letters and there were reports of crushed glass put in pointe shoes. Apparently there is an underthread in Russian ballet that we do not understand and are not prepared to deal with. I don't know that I'd want to try to understand.
This ties in with the earlier conversation about whether ballet is still a good profession to pursue in Russia, too.
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