Near a street fight, bullet hits dancer from Boston Ballet

One of Boston Ballet's newest talents, who had moved to the city only a month ago, was shot in the stomach over the weekend, struck by an apparently stray bullet in a spray of gunfire in the city's Theater District.

Hours after his second performance with the company, Samuel Shapiro, 20, had walked his girlfriend to her apartment in Bay Village and was headed home shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday when a bullet tore into his abdomen.

Shapiro, who was recruited for the ballet's junior company in June, was recovering yesterday at Boston Medical Center. Boston Ballet administrators said they are hopeful he will make a full recovery and resume his dance career.

The incident shook one of the city's beloved institutions, and administrators called a company-wide meeting yesterday to discuss the shooting and the safety of company employees.

``I think it's of concern to all of us, because we have young artists who perform in the evenings and . . . are often walking after dark," the ballet's executive director, Valerie Wilder, said in an interview after the meeting.

Shapiro was the 284th victim of gunfire in Boston this year. That number is up 31 percent over the same period last year, when there were 217 shootings. Acting Police Commissioner Albert Goslin said yesterday that there have been no serious violent crimes in the Bay Village neighborhood in more than a year. He called Shapiro's shooting an aberration.

``The department is very upset," Goslin said. ``We're hoping and praying he survives his injuries and gets on with what sounds like a very positive and productive career."

Shapiro danced the shepherds' dance, or Pastorale, from ``The Nutcracker" and another piece Saturday afternoon at Christopher Columbus Park in the North End as part of the 2006 Boston Arts Festival, said Bonnie Mathis, director of the junior company.

He had been dating a ballerina with the corps de ballet and went out with her that night, ballet officials said. Moments after he dropped her off, Shapiro saw two men fighting, according to a law enforcement official.

As he started to walk the other way to avoid them, he heard gunfire and was struck, near the corner of Melrose and Church streets, by what police believe was a stray bullet, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Goslin said investigators want to speak with anyone who might have witnessed fights or problems near closing time at nightclubs in the area. One Bay Village resident said cars and at least one house in the area were hit with bullets.

Reached at home in Winston-Salem, N.C., Shapiro's father, David Shapiro, said that his son had danced in London and New York and other large cities and that he never expected such violence in Boston.

He said he is encouraged by his son's recovery so far. ``The outcome is as good as it could be," Shapiro said.

Boston Ballet officials said they will hold a place for Shapiro on the company. Known for his lithe movement, Shapiro can be riveting on stage, said Elizabeth Olds, assistant to the artistic director.

``He's a good kid," said Olds. ``We are obviously shaken by this."

Suzanne Smalley and Maria Cramer of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.