Bolshoi is ordered to reinstate fired dancer

MOSCOW - Thanks to Russia's Labor Ministry, ballerina Anastasia Volochkova may be back at the Bolshoi for an encore.

Labor officials on Tuesday ordered the Bolshoi Theater to reinstate Volochkova, who was fired two weeks ago amid allegations from other dancers that she was too heavy to lift.

The Labor Ministry ruled her dismissal violated labor law, saying she must be rehired by Monday and given back wages, said Andrei Pryanishnikov, a spokesman for Labor Minister Alexander Pochinok.

Bolshoi spokesman Katerina Novikova said it was too early to comment on how the Bolshoi would react to the decision. Pryanishnikov insisted the Bolshoi has no choice but to comply.

Volochkova, who exudes movie-star glamor, was fired amid a contract dispute and claims by theater officials that they could not find partners to dance with her because she is too big, although she reportedly weighs just 110 pounds. Some of America's leading ballerinas, including Suzanne Farrell and Maria Tallchief, have been about her size or heavier.

The Russian press denigrated her with headlines such as "Not even bears could hold her."

Volochkova, who continues to draw large crowds for performances outside the Bolshoi, has dismissed the allegations that she was too big and said her numerous partners had never complained.

But a former partner who quit the Bolshoi this year, Yevgeny Ivanchenko, threw his weight behind the theater in an interview published last week, saying the 27-year-old ballerina had become heavy to lift and that dancing with her meant risking injury.

The Bolshoi has said the issue ran deeper than her size, saying it fired Volochkova after she refused to sign a proposed contract.

Even if Volochkova is reinstated, it is not clear whether she would dance for the Bolshoi again. The theater has a large corps of ballerinas to choose from and could easily sideline her.

But Volochkova has a significant number of supporters, including the powerful pro-Kremlin political party United Russia, which she has joined.

"Certainly I want very much to start a lawsuit versus the Bolshoi theater director, specifically for moral damage," she told Russia's ORT television Monday.

- Information from Knight Ridder News Service was used in this report.

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