Is no longer listed on the Kirov roster. Has he finally retired?

I believe the answer is yes.

Retired as in not dancing at all anymore, or only on special occassions/galas et.? And does anyone know what he intends doing now? Teach?

Ruzimatov became Artistic Director of St. Petersburg's 'second' ballet company -- the Moussorgsky Theater of Opera & Ballet, a.k.a. 'Maly-Moussorgsky- -- a month ago, upon the retirement of Nikolai Boyarchikov. It was a bit of a shocker, considering that FR did not distinguish himself as a manager during his brief stint (ca-1995/96) as co-director (with Vaziyev) of the Kirov-Mariinsky troupe. From reliable sources, FR & Vaziyev both enrolled in, & successfully completed, Business Administration courses, since the 95/96 period. FR's second try at managing a ballet company should be more felicitous.

Certainly the Ruzimatov name will lend extra 'cachet' to the Maly-Moussorgsky. Both Ruzimatov & the 'M-M troupe' are regular favorite visitors to Japan -- Ruzimatov often headlining M-M presentations as guest artist -- so I suppose that this is a natural coupling. Perhaps North America will one day finally have the opportunity of seeing the M-M troupe on tour? If so, then I would hope that they would tour with their rare Esmeralda....and I would hope that Ruzimatov will not tinker much with their established repertoire.

As to retiring as performer - FR is still headlining special concert evenings in different theaters of St. Petersburg, usually performing with guest-soloists of the K-M. These concerts are wildly popular in St-P, with FR inevitably dancing chestnuts from his repertoire, such as 'Death of the Poet,' excerpts from 'Scheherazade,' and authentic Spanish flamenco. As far as I know, he has not had an official 'farewell' from the Kirov-Mariinsky but I have not been following things so closely this summer. Perhaps his big farewell gala will come next season..or maybe he just doesn't want one?

Thank you Natalia for the update. There has been "talk", but when it comes from you, it is what is happening or you would not say!

Ruzimatov is dancing in a flamenco programme in Finland next month. Heres the link (click on English version top left) http://www.balletmikkeli.com/

Oh well, then maybe I will still get a chance to see him dancing "live".

He'll dance in Athens next month with a group of Russian stars (Lopatkina, Matvienko, Zakharova, Uvarov etc) In last year's gala he was in great shape considering his age and his stage presence as intense as ever. This year is supposed to dance Bejart's Bakhti with Sofia Gumerova and Assura which according to the producers is an exotic themed solo choreographed by Bolshoi's Morihiro Ivato.
has anyone seen Ivato's work ? There's quite a lot of it in the program.

No but I'd be very interested to! I've only ever seen him dance Golden Idol, which I think he performed most artistically. Doesn't say anything about his choreography though.

And regarding Ruzimatov, stupid question maybe but how old is he exactly?

He graduated from the Vaganova in 1981, so I assume he was born around 1963.

Ruzimatov had a good inning. Now, the question is will Vaziev hold on to the
male PD roster as it stands, or will he remove one or two, or promote one or the other? Recently, some very promising male dancers of danseur noble material, have been voting with their feet to leave. One went to the Dutch National Ballet, another defected to the Bolshoi, and some have landed in Dresden. Sarafanov can't do it all.
It will be interesting to see how Vaziev deals this dilemma in the new season.