Toronto

Ballerina defects: A leading dancer with Russia’s famed Bolshoi Ballet said she has left the company and the country because of threats against her life. Svetlana Lunkina said this week that she would not return home to Moscow from a trip to Canada because she fears for her safety and that of her husband, a film producer. Lunkina’s departure follows the acid attack on the Bolshoi’s artistic director, Sergei Filin, last month. Filin suffered third-degree burns over his face and nearly lost his eyesight. Anatoly Iksanov, general director of the Bolshoi, linked the “unhealthy atmosphere” at the dance company to principal male dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze. “Evil has now appeared here,” he said.

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