Royal Academy of Dance’s Why Dance Matters podcast celebrates its 50th episode with Olga Smirnova on why dance matters and leaving Bolshoi Ballet.
Smirnova joined Dutch National Ballet in 2022 after making headlines by leaving Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On the Why Dance Matters 50th episode, she discusses her momentous decision to leave Russia and her profound sense of why dance matters.
As a young girl, Smirnova went to dance classes, and was accepted into the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St Petersburg. On completing her training in 2011, she joined the Bolshoi Ballet, starting immediately as a soloist. In 2016, she was promoted to prima ballerina, but when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Smirnova—strongly opposed to the invasion—decided to leave her homeland.