Bolshoi Dancers Denied Visas to Perform at YAGP Gala in NYC
April 18, 2018
Several weeks ago, Youth America Grand Prix announced that the lineup for tonight’s Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow gala at Lincoln Center’s Koch Theater would include Bolshoi Ballet principal Olga Smirnova and first soloist Jacopo Tissi. But an article in Page Six published last night states that Smirnova and Tissi were denied visas to enter the US.
YAGP organizers “believe the Department of Homeland Security’s decision may be motivated by the myriad tensions between the superpowers,” says the piece, noting that “Smirnova is so revered in Moscow that her treatment could create a Russian backlash.”
