Troubled Ukrainian dancer Sergei Polunin was recently invited to appear as Siegfried in the Paris Opera Ballet's staging of "Swan Lake," wherein the Prince is to be portrayed as a closeted gay man.
Problem? Over the last few months, Polunin – whose history of bad behavior has him labeled "ballet's bad boy"– has posted Instagram messages that were homophobic, sexist, pro-fascist (he has Putin's face tattooed on his chest), fat-shaming, and violent.
Among other things, Polunin claims gay male dancers "need a good slap" and that they're the cause of ballerinas' masculinization: "Females now trying to take on the man role because you don't fuck them and because you are an embarrassment."
He also says in a since-deleted post, "Let's slap fat people when you see them. It will help them and encourage them to lose some fat. No respect for laziness! Stop sitting on your ass and start exercising. Do you see lions or lioness being fat??? It's not healthy, it's ugly, it's lazy."
Members of the community, including dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet, criticized the decision to invite Polunin in light of these comments. Corps de ballet member Adrian Couvez said, "Such an embarrassment you are, @SergeiPolunin_. To invite someone like this to @operadeparis in 2019 is just impossible. Our company promotes values of respect and tolerance. This man has nothing to do with us." (
Translated from French.)
Less than 48 hours after the announcement, Paris rescinded the invitation and condemned his remarks.
Though Polunin is regarded by many to be one of the best dancers of his generation (he was the Royal Ballet's youngest ever principal dancer at only 19), this is not the first opportunity he's lost because of his personal issues — including drug and alcohol addiction. His rise, fall, and temporary redemption is chronicled in the documentary
Dancer.
https://instagram.com/p/Bqkh4megNyU
https://instagram.com/p/Bst3PNhjpM9
https://instagram.com/p/Br-9pH_gsbN
As Dance Magazine said, "It was a long time coming, but ballet's bad boy has finally become too bad for ballet. Ballet should treat him accordingly."
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