Bolshoi Ballet of censorship. It was the first time a show has been pulled in such a way since the collapse of the Soviet Union, sparking rumours about the motivation behind it. Today the Bolshoi Ballet remains one of the world's foremost ballet companies, in addition to being one of the largest, with approximately 220 dancers. The word "bolshoi" means "big" or "grand" in Russian. The company operates on a hierarchical system, similar to those used by other leading European ballet companies, with senior dancers ranked as principals, and descending in order of importance through lead soloist, first soloist, soloist and finally,
All-Russian nation (, "Megálē Rhōssía") and Little Rus' (, "Mikrà Rhōssía"). The terms were geographic in nature; the Byzantines used them to distinguish between the jurisdictions of the metropolitanates of Moscow and of Halych; "Little" (or "Inner") referred to the region closer to Byzantium, Galicia; "Greater" (or "Outer") to the regions further away and more remote, Muscovy. In the Russian language, the word "Russian" (, "Russkiy") is a single adjective to the word Rus' (). In the period of the Russian Empire, from the 17th century to the 20th century, the word "Russian" often referred to the All-Russian (East Slav) peoples, as