
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 18, 1995                   TAG: 9503210041
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: MOSCOW                                LENGTH: Short

BOLSHOI DIRECTOR FIRED; YELTSIN ORDERS REFORMS

Boris Yeltsin stepped into the bitter feud at the Bolshoi Theater on Friday, firing the general director and ordering reforms to try to halt the turmoil at the famed ballet.

Underlying the uproar is concern that Russia's prized cultural jewel is losing its luster. The 219-year-old theater has suffered in recent years from poor financing, bickering and the flight of talent abroad.

Yeltsin sacked Vladimir Kokonin on Friday and said he would be transferred to another, unspecified job. Culture Minister Yevgeny Sidorov was quoted by the daily Izvestia as saying Kokonin had ``destroyed the theater.''

The president also abolished the general director's post and declared the Bolshoi would be managed by its artistic and executive directors, who were to be appointed by the government within a week.

The Kremlin took action eight days after the Bolshoi's longtime artistic director resigned over the pending change to the hiring system.

The night after Yuri Grigorovich quit, 14 dancers staged a last-minute walkout that canceled a performance for the first time ever. Kokonin called the move illegal and sued the dancers - apparently the last straw for the Kremlin.

- Associated Press

by CNB