Bolshoi Confidential: Secrets of the Russian Ballet from the Rule of the Tsars to Today

by Simon Morrison

Bodies as well as plots were changed by politics. The traditional emploi that defined danseurs noble and demi-caractère endured, but emphasis was placed on bigger builds and altogether less softness in the curves. In sculpture, “Soviet man” became like a Greek or Roman demigod, the muscles stronger than steel. So, too, he became in ballet.

PARIS REVIEW article