| Mary Louise Kelly / Monika Evstatieva / Jolie Myers | NPR |
When the rehearsal wraps, we head backstage to meet Anna Karenina herself — or at least the woman dancing the part. Her name is Olga Smirnova, a 26-year-old prima ballerina, which is young to be a principal dancer here.
She studied in St. Petersburg and was recruited at age 18 to move to Moscow and perform with the Bolshoi. It was a decision she describes as hard — but also easy... read more
