'Fat' ballerina loses $1 million damages case
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-16 11:12

Prima ballerina Anastasia Volochkova, who was fired by Moscow's Bolshoi Theater in September 2003 for being too bulky to be lifted, lost a $1-million damages claim from the Bolshoi's general director Anatoly Iksanov for harming her personal and professional reputation April 15, 2004. Volochkova is shown performing at Ukraine's Opera House in Kiev, October 4, 2003. [Reuters]

A top Russian ballerina, sacked for being too heavy, lost a damages claim for $1 million against the chief of Moscow's Bolshoi Theater on Thursday, local media reported.

Prima ballerina Anastasia Volochkova, fired by the theater in September for being too bulky for her partners to lift, sought the damages from the Bolshoi's general director Anatoly Iksanov for harming her personal and professional reputation.

The case at a Moscow court centered on a newspaper interview with Iksanov headlined "No one wants to dance with Volochkova."

"The Basmanny court turned down the ballerina's claim, considering that the published information was not damaging to her honor, professional reputation and dignity," Interfax news agency quoted her lawyer, Lev Zubovsky, as saying.

Volochkova was reinstated at the Bolshoi two months after her dismissal but she took on no leading roles. She then embarked on solo tours and has featured regularly in the Russian media spotlight.

At 168 cm (5 feet 6 inches) and weighing around 50 kg (110 pounds), the blonde ballerina's measurements were considered larger than usual for a dancer. She has dismissed the criticism.

Close

Today's Top News     Top Life News
WHO rules out Taiwan as member         Wu makes high stakes US trade mission         Fake milk powders kill babies         Subsidy to lift income of grain growers         Doctor: Sex harmful to middle schoolers         Soccer legend Maradona in critical condition	Women in the spotlight       Restaurant fined for offering body sushi       Surgery available for a younger voice       Shanghai campus ads raise concerns       Genes replicate like the hairs of the Monkey King       Resurgent desires