Ballet star leaves Bolshoi due to invasion of Ukraine: 'I never thought I would be ashamed of Russia'

The star dancer of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Olga Smirnova, left the company to join the Dutch National Ballet, protesting the invasion in Ukraine, the Dutch company said in a statement.

“Smirnova openly denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has made work in his native country unviable,” the text said.

“The Dutch National Ballet is an ideal place to advance my career as a dancer. I've been thinking about this kind of decision for a long time. The current circumstances have simply accelerated this process,” said the 30-year-old dancer.

The official Dutch text also confirms the arrival in the company of Brazilian dancer Victor Caixeta (22), soloist of the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, a decision that the artist had already announced last week.

Smirnova and Caixeta will perform together at the ballet Raymonda (by Russian author Alexander Glazunov), which is scheduled to premiere on April 3, the Dutch company explained.

The Dutch National Ballet recalls Smirnova's statement earlier this month on the Telegram network.

“I have to be honest and say that I oppose war from the bottom of my heart,” the statement said.

After recalling that his grandfather had Ukrainian roots, Smirnova expressed his deep disappointment: “It is a modern and enlightened world, I hope that civilized societies will resolve their political issues only through peaceful negotiations.”

“I never thought I would be ashamed of Russia, I have always been proud of the talent of the Russian people,” she added.

“But now I think a line has been drawn that means a before and after,” he explained.

Smirnova was born in St. Petersburg and graduated as a dancer in 2011. She was hired as a soloist of the Bolshoi, and in 2016 she assumed the role of director.

He has won numerous awards throughout his career, including the Grand Prix of the Dance Open Ballet Festival in St. Petersburg in 2016.

Caixeta is also quoted in the Dutch company's statement: “The current circumstances mean that I have to make the hard decision to leave Russia, the place that has been my home for almost five years,” recalled the Brazilian dancer.

The music director and principal director of the Bolshoi Theater, Tugan Sokhiev, announced his resignation on Sunday and said he felt pressured by calls to take a stand on the invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian said in a statement that he was resigning “with immediate effect” his position at the Moscow theater, as well as his equivalent position at the Orchestre National du Capitole in Toulouse in France.

Sokhiev was appointed by the Bolshoi in 2014. He was hired as part of the moves to improve the image of the theater after the scandals, including the acid attack in 2013 against its then-artistic director Sergei Filin.

(With information from AFP)

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