Who Is Olga Smirnova? Russian Ballerina Quit Bolshoi Over Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Ballerina Olga Smirnova quit the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow over the Ukraine-Russia war conflict. Smirnova will join the Dutch National Ballet. Earlier, Smirnova condemned the war between the two countries as she took to share her message on Telegram. Olga Smirnova is one of the biggest Russian celebrities to quit over the conflict.

Russian Prima Ballerina Olga Smirnova will join the Dutch National Ballet, the organisation declared on Wednesday. The ballerina was against Russia's invasion of Ukraine since the beginning. "It is not only about every other Russian perhaps having relatives or friends living in Ukraine, or about my grandfather being Ukrainian. ... It is that we continue to live as if this were the 20th century," she wrote in her post on Telegram saying that she never thought she would be ashamed of her country. "But now I feel that a line has been drawn," she further added.

Artistic Director Ted Brandsen is happy to welcome Smirnova into the Netherlands-based organisation. He mentioned that it will be wonderful to have her despite the tragic and awful circumstances, "She's a beautiful artist and a beautiful person. There's something really magical about her. She dances with her entire soul," he said.

Who is Olga Smirnova?

Olga Smirnova is a popular Russian ballerina and became the Prima Ballerina of the prestigious Bolshoi Theatre at Moscow in 2016. She studied at Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. Immediately after her graduation from the academy, she became a part of the Bolshoi Theatre.

In 2022, she joined the Dutch National Ballet as the principal. She will be working with Larissa Lezhnina, her master-tutor.

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Smirnova has received numerous awards and recognition for her proficiency as a ballerina. She amassed the Grand Prix of the Dance Open Ballet Festival in St. Petersburg in 2016 with Semyon Chudin, Dancer of the Year Award from Positano Premia la Danza Leonide Massine in Italy in 2014, Miss Expressivity Prize of the Dance Open Ballet Festival in St. Petersburg in 2013 and many such accolades.