A number one Russian ballet dancer give up the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow and is leaving the nation for the Netherlands after denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Olga Smirnova will begin dancing with the Dutch Nationwide Ballet “instantly,” the corporate introduced on Wednesday.
Smirnova, 30, who had been the Bolshoi’s prima ballerina since 2016 and whose grandfather was Ukrainian, posted an emotional message on the Telegram app, The Guardian reported.
“I’ve to be sincere and say that I’m in opposition to conflict with all of the fibers of my soul,” she stated, in line with a transcript supplied by the Dutch Nationwide Ballet.
She added: “I by no means thought I’d be ashamed of Russia, I’ve at all times been pleased with gifted Russian individuals, of our cultural and athletic achievements. However now I really feel {that a} line has been drawn that separates the earlier than and the after.”
Victor Caixeta, a Brazil-born ballet dancer who had been dancing with the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, will even be leaving Russia and becoming a member of the Dutch Nationwide Ballet.
Each can be “welcomed with open arms,” the corporate stated.
Smirnova joins different figures within the Russian ballet world who’ve condemned the conflict. Alexei Ratmansky, the previous creative director of the Bolshoi Ballet, and Diana Vishneva, former principal dancer with the Mariinsky Ballet, have been vocal on social media about their opposition to the invasion, the BBC reported.
“I’m in opposition to the conflict in Ukraine, I’m for the individuals, for the peaceable sky above your heads,” Ratmansky posted on Fb.
Smirnova had been scheduled to bop the lead function in Swan Lake on Saturday at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater, in line with her web site. That efficiency is now canceled.
This text initially appeared on HuffPost and has been up to date.
