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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.
Director: Michael Sugrue
Producers: Fyodor Mozgovoy, The Key Productions
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Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
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War and peace
Two Ukrainian boys’ summer unfolds just miles from the frontlines
22 minutes
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Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
10 minutes
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Love and friendship
Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone
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Virtues and vices
Why Bennie tried to disappear, and what happened when he was found decades later
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History of technology
Curious singles and tech sceptics – what ‘computer dating’ looked like in 1966
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Cognition and intelligence
A father forgets his child’s name for the first time in this poetic reflection on memory
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Animals and humans
Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way
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Stories and literature
Two variants of a Hindu myth come alive in an animated ode to Indian storytelling
14 minutes