Grigorovich resigns at Bolshoi.

MOSCOW - With the August 1991 coup and perestroika behind us, a showdown finally has taken place at the Bolshoi Theater, home of the Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera. Vladimir Kokonin, general director of the Bolshoi, who had publicly declared war on the "artistic directorate" last summer, seems to have been more or less victorious: on the eve of Yuri Grigorovich's thirtieth anniversary with the Bolshoi, Kokonin eliminated the posts of artistic director, chief choreographer, and ballet master - all held simultaneously by Grigorovich.

After the bitter public disputes between Kokonin and the "artistic directorate," a presidential decree confirmed Kokonin's position by declaring that the Bolshoi will be run on a system of employment called "colloquium," under which all artists will be required to sign a seasonal contract and no one will be assured of permanent status.

Even after the official decree had been issued, however, the wheeling and dealing, the speculation and the contradictory rumors continued unabated. Then, on March 9, Russian radio announced that Grigorovich had submitted his resignation, which was accepted. The next day, ten minutes before curtain time for Romeo and Juliet, fifteen dancers staged a strike to protest the resignation.

Immediately following the strike and the resulting confusion, Kokonin suspended the fifteen, including ballerina Natalya Bessmertnova, who is married to Grigorovich. The general director filed a lawsuit requesting that those dancers be punished either by dismissal or by a suspension of their salaries. Kokonin's own job was in jeopardy because Minister of Culture Yevgeny Sidorov had been lobbying for Kokonin's dismissal and Grigorovich's restoration. Meanwhile, fifty-four members of the company signed a petition opposing the strike.

On March 24, with the backing of president Boris Yeltsin, the deputy prime minister and Sidorov presented Vladimir Vasiliev, formerly one of the Bolshoi's great star dancers, to the company as the new artistic director of the whole Bolshoi Theater (the opera company and the orchestra as well as the ballet).

Vasiliev urged an end to the infighting and artistic stagnation at the theater; he spoke of rejuvenating the Bolshoi by inviting such choreographers as Maurice Bejart and Jiri Kylian, directors such as Franco Zefferelli, conductors such as Mstislav Rostropovich, and all the artists who had left the theater in protest.

He expressed the intention of cutting the company's size through attrition, and he insisted that Kokonin be made subordinate to him by the reinstatement of the general director's former position of executive director. When asked about his plans for Grigorovich's repertoire of ballets, the new artistic director replied that the matter would have to be looked into.

Vasiliev also announced that he would remain in his position for three years; if unsuccessful after that time, he would resign. If successful, he would stay on for five years more. (The new artistic director was not available to comment on his plans: An assistant said Vasiliev was too busy with his new job to come to the phone.)

The acceleration of the situation involving Grigorovich coincided with the continuing deterioration of the Bolshoi Theater itself, which is in desperate need of restoration. Plans call for the building of a second theater on the former parking lot so that the Bolshoi itself can be renovated. The second theater is to be operational within three years.