Smirnova now often looks to pare movement back, she said, praising “the power of stillness” onstage. James Bonas, a British stage director who adapted “Macbeth” with Pickett, compared Smirnova’s “clarity and simplicity” to that of great theater performers. “In ballet, acting can have a painted-on quality, but she understands the idea of inhabiting a character from the inside. You see intention in her body so clearly.”
And Smirnova will push for her vision of a character. In rehearsal, she asked the artistic team to cut an entrance for Lady Macbeth, because she felt it was unnecessary. “She is one of the truest people,” Pickett said. “She will let you know if things are not working.” With a laugh, she remembered the moment she told Smirnova, last year, that she was working on an adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” for American Ballet Theater. “She was very quiet, and she went: ‘Oh, I don’t think so.’”
Ted Brandsen, the director of Dutch National Ballet, said Smirnova “wouldn’t say so much at the beginning, but she has really opened up.”
“She had to get used to being in an environment that was not necessarily so competitive and hard,” he added, “where people could be more vulnerable.” Smirnova agreed that she has felt “less pressure” than in Russia, for cultural reasons.
“It might sound weird, but people try to be open and nice here,” she said, cracking a smile.
In Russia, the reaction to her departure has been severe. In 2023, the Bolshoi Ballet erased her name from its website, leaving blank spaces in cast lists for past performances. “I come across Russian ballet dancers at galas,” she said, “but we stay professional. I prefer not to go into a discussion.”
One relationship has endured: Once a month, she calls Ludmila Kovaleva, the renowned teacher who oversaw her final years of training at the Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg, the alma mater of a long list of ballet luminaries including Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev. “She wants only the best for me,” Smirnova said of Kovaleva. “When I decided to come here, she said: ‘Olga, that might be a good way for you to reveal your artistry in a different way.’” In their discussions, they talk about Smirnova’s latest roles and review performance videos.