THE ARTS

Using the Name ‘Bolshoi’: A spokesman for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow reportedly has denounced Columbia Artists Management Inc. of New York for what he calls “the illegal use of the name of the Bolshoi” in the billing and promotion of an ongoing American tour by Russian dancers. A story in the April issue of Dance Magazine quotes Vladimir Shishmolkin, chief of the Bolshoi’s international department, as saying “there are not any current artists of the Bolshoi” on the “Stars of the Bolshoi Ballet” tour and that the “Bolshoi” name is used without authorization. The group is scheduled to play the Civic Theatre in Thousand Oaks on April 24 and the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts on April 30 and May 1. A management company official issued a statement this week saying: “We have selected the best of the stars of the Bolshoi Ballet for our current tour, which represents the fourth such tour Columbia Artists has organized.” He also noted that the Bolshoi’s current director, Vladimir Vasiliev, and his wife, Ekaterina Maximova, were part of previous tours.

Movers and Shakers: Local arts leader Roberto Bedoya, a former executive director of Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions who has been project associate for L.A. public programming at the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities since 1992, left the latter organization Friday to become executive director of the Washington-based National Assn. of Artists’ Organizations. Bedoya, who previously was president of the NAAO board from 1990 to 1994, assumes his new position with the arts advocacy organization on April 8. “It’s ultimately about making sure that artists’ organizations . . . are supported,” Bedoya said, noting that his main goal will be “finding new funding” for community-based arts groups in a changing political environment. . . . In other Getty-related news, Jane Slate Siena, head of institutional relations for the Getty Conservation Institute, has been appointed to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board by President Clinton. The board selects participants for educational exchanges and awards 4,700 grants annually.