Olga Smirnova

Bolshoi Ballet

On completing her training in 2011, it was difficult to decide. She received offers from the Mariinsky Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet and Staatsballett Berlin. In the end, she chose the Bolshoi Ballet, prompted by the enormous energy and power of conviction of the new artistic director Sergei Filin. “He was very clear about which roles I’d get to dance, and I’d also be getting loads of performances, as the old Bolshoi Theatre had just reopened after lengthy renovations – which meant that the company was then performing on two stages. So I decided to seize the opportunity, precisely because everyone always says that a dancing career is so short.” She could start immediately as a soloist, and the doors of the Bolshoi remained wide open throughout her years with the company, so that Olga shone not only in the big classics, but also in works by choreographers like John Cranko, William Forsythe, Pierre Lacotte, Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, Wayne McGregor, John Neumeier, Alexei Ratmansky and Christopher Wheeldon. “Ludmila Kovaleva, my coach at the Vaganova Academy, always said, ‘You can only grow if you work with international choreographers as well. Even if you’re tenth cast, make sure you’re in the studio.’ I took good note of that and I’m always open to new influences. I like nothing better than learning and discovering.”

No other choice

In 2016, she was promoted to prima ballerina, and the plan was to continue combining her career with the Bolshoi Ballet with international appearances as a guest artist. But when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Olga – who was strongly opposed to the invasion – decided to leave her homeland. “I had no other choice”, she says. “In an ideal world, you ought to be able to separate art and politics, but it’s hardly possible to do so in reality. Especially the Bolshoi Theatre, as Russia’s main theatre, is tightly interwoven with everything the government stands for.”

She soon knew that she wanted to make the transition to Dutch National Ballet, because of the great variety of repertoire, “which feels like a wonderful breath of fresh air”. But also because of ballet mistress Larissa Lezhnina, “who carefully preserves the ballet traditions of St Petersburg, as well as teaching me that there’s not just one way to interpret a role”. And because of Hans van Manen. “Diana Vishneva, who I really admire, danced his ballet Live, and I remembered how fantastic she thought it was to work with him.” Olga has now experienced that for herself. “He’s incredibly precise with regard to style and steps, but at the same time you get plenty of scope to give your own interpretation of his ballets.” Although the Netherlands now feels like home, she says that mentally she’s still settling in. “I’m incredibly happy with all the support I’m getting here, but it simply takes time to feel truly comfortable and at ease somewhere.”

Both Giselle and Carmen

Olga believes that professional dance revolves around hard work. “If that doesn’t come naturally to you, then you’d be better off choosing another profession.” But in order to keep giving of your best, day after day, she says you need to really enjoy what you’re doing. Her own way of doing that is to continually surprise herself by, for example, trying out different approaches to a role “like an actor”, and by dancing roles that might not initially seem suited to her, such as the seductive Carmen (in the ballet of the same name) or Aegina in Spartacus, which she danced with the Bolshoi Ballet. She is fascinated by Daniel Keyes’ The Minds of Billy Milligan, about the first person who was acquitted due to dissociative identity disorder. “He had 24 different personalities fighting for dominance in his mind, so his behaviour was always different.” She laughs, “Fortunately, I’m not in such a serious state, but I do know that the sweet, innocent Giselle and the sensual Carmen can exist in the same person.”

Text: Astrid van Leeuwen

Read more:

• Olga Smirnova wins Alexandra Radius Prize 2024
• Giselle with Olga Smirnova and Jacopo Tissi to be seen in cinemas worldwide
• Olga Smirnova voted ‘Dancer of the Year’ 2022
• Olga Smirnova & Young Gyu Choi nominated for Critics’ Choice 2022 ‘Dancer of the Year’ 
• Prima ballerina Olga Smirnova and soloist Victor Caixeta make the move to Dutch National Ballet