The first Russian to leave the company over her country’s invasion of its neighbour will join the Dutch National Ballet
The prima ballerina Olga Smirnova, one of Russia’s biggest dance stars, has quit the Bolshoi Ballet company in Moscow after denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It was announced on Wednesday that Smirnova, who was born and raised in St Petersburg, has now joined the Dutch National Ballet, where she will start immediately alongside the Brazilian soloist Victor Caixeta, who has left the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg in response to the war.
