Bucharest National Opera’s ballet company falls apart after director’s resignation

Danish choreographer Johan Kobborg’s resignation from the Bucharest National Opera has determined many dancers, including star ballerina Alina Cojocaru, to announce they would leave the ballet company. The scandal escalated into a conflict between some of the Opera’s Romanian employees and the international dancers in the ballet company, many of whom came to Romania after Kobborg took over as artistic director, in December 2013. Some 30 dancers, inspired by Alina Cojocaru, gathered in front of the Opera, on Tuesday afternoon, to show their support for Kobborg. They said they would not perform in any of the Bucharest Opera’s ballet productions, many of which have been prepared by the famous Danish ballet dancer and choreographer, who was the company’s artistic director from December 2013 until Tuesday, April 12. A group of Romanian employees of the Bucharest National Opera organized a counter-protest and booed the rebellious dancers. They even shouted nationalistic slogans such as “out with the foreigners!” The Opera’s employees explained that Kobborg had brought many foreign dancers to the company and sidelined the Romanian dancers. “The Romanian dancers are paid RON 1,000-2,000 (EUR 225-450) while Mr. Kobborg gets EUR 7,300, said Cristina Cotescu, a stage director at the Opera, quoted by Agerpres. Alina Cojocaru, a famous Romanian ballerina, who is also Kobborg’s fiancé, said that he would sometimes pay out of his pocket for some of the shows to happen. “If you think that he was in Romania for the money, better think again,” she said. The Bucharest National Opera’s deputy director Tiberiu Soare claims that Kobborg ran the ballet company like it was his private business. “This ballet company used dance in personal purposes,” Soare told Stirileprotv.ro. He also claims that some funds that the company allegedly raised in a charity event in New York went missing. Tiberiu Soare, who is one of Romania’s most talented young conductors, took over as interim general manager of the Bucharest National Opera, on April 4, after the previous manager was indicted in a corruption investigation. Soare removed Kobborg from the management team arguing that the artistic director position of the ballet company didn’t legally exist in the Opera’s organization scheme. This decision ignited the conflict between Kobborg and the management. The culture minister’s decision to replace Tiberiu Soare with Vlad Conta as interim general manager of the Opera and to create the artistic director position for Kobborg didn’t solve the conflict. Alina Cojocaru and the team of dancers Kobborg coordinated in the past two years have managed to turn the Bucharest Opera’s ballet into an international company. They have brought several important plays to Romania and also performed on some important international stages. Some six ballet performances that have been brought to the Bucharest National Opera’s stage thanks to Kobborgs efforts might be cancelled after his departure. The scandal at the Bucharest Opera even reached the pages of