Olga Smirnova lives to dance. A leading soloist and star of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, she works from dawn until dusk, barely pausing to rest or eat a quick meal. Even when she isn’t dancing, she is constantly thinking of ballet: she says the music never stops playing in her mind, invading even her dreams. The Prodigy is a rich account of the trials and rewards of professional dance, and a portrait of one young woman’s intense dedication to her art.
For the star of the Bolshoi Ballet, there is no distinction between life and art
Director: Michael Sugrue
Producers: Fyodor Mozgovoy, The Key Productions
25 April 2014
videoWork
Far from the studio, craftsmen hammer ballet shoes with their own rough grace
9 minutes
videoDance and theatre
A ballerina dances with the geometry of her own movements
3 minutes
videoDance and theatre
From calluses to burnt shoes, the elegance of ballet is built from the ground up
4 minutes
videoDance and theatre
Stephen Fry loathes dancing. To understand better, see it performed – in dance
2 minutes
videoDance and theatre
Passion, precision and swagger: join an Oscar®-winning flamenco masterclass
29 minutes
videoLove and friendship
‘When I first saw him, my heart skipped a beat.’ What Russian women think about love
11 minutes
videoDance and theatre
Classical ballet transforms into a dance of the surreal in this duet from 1968
14 minutes
videoStories and literature
In rural Russia, the days of Communism are fading from memory like fairytales
12 minutes
videoChildhood and adolescence
Defying death and the law, Kirill chases freedom atop Moscow’s tallest buildings
15 minutes