An Acid Rain’s a-Gonna Fall

Film lifts the curtain on infighting at the institution after an acid attack on its artistic director. The Calvert Journal reports What do the Bolshoi and the Kalashnikov have in common? According to a new documentary exploring the aftermath of an acid attack at the legendary ballet company in 2013, they are the two brands that define modern Russia. The film, released in the UK on 8 January, was shot during a time of much soul-searching at the institution and examines what the assault on its artistic director, Sergei Filin, says about the broader state of Russian politics. [Read more].

• Carmen Gray, Brutal Bolshoi: inside the troubled world of Russia’s legendary ballet, The Guardian, December 27, 2015

A scene from Swan Lake by the Bolshoi ballet company. Photo: Tristram Kenton for The Guardian.