A world-renowned Bolshoi ballerina is leaving Moscow for Amsterdam in opposition to Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Olga Smirnova, who has been an outspoken critic of the war, will be joining the Dutch National Ballet, the theater organization has confirmed. In an update to their website, the national ballet said that Russia's severed ties to the artistic community, as well as Smirnova's risky denouncements of the government, ultimately made it "untenable for her to work in her native country."
"I have followed her career with great interest for many years," said Ted Brandsen, director of the ballet in Amsterdam. "It is a privilege to have her dance with our company in the Netherlands — even if the circumstances that drove this move are incredibly sad."
In an upload to a Telegram channel earlier this month, Smirnova, who is a quarter Ukrainian, wrote that she could no longer "remain indifferent to this global catastrophe," but added that she had been considering a transfer for a while, just that "the current circumstances accelerated this process."
"I never thought I would be ashamed of Russia, I have always been proud of talented Russian people, of our cultural and athletic achievements," she said. "But now I feel that a line has been drawn that separates the before and the after."