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,
Russian nobility Russian nobility The Russian nobility ( "dvoryanstvo") arose in the 14th century. Its members (1,900,000 at 1914, 1.1%) staffed most of the Russian government apparatus until the February Revolution of 1917. The Russian word for nobility, "dvoryanstvo" (дворянство), derives from the Slavonic word "dvor" (двор), meaning the court of a prince or duke ("kniaz") and later, the court of the tsar or emperor. Originally, "dvor" here implied servants at the estate of an aristocrat. Later, in the late 16th-early 17th centuries, the word "dvoryane" was to describe the highest rank of gentry literally performing duties at the royal court, or