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,
Mat (Russian profanity) the first volume of the "Great Dictionary of Mat" by the Russian linguist and folklorist Alexei Plutser-Sarno treats only expressions with the stem "хуй" ("khuy"), numbering over 500 entries; 12 volumes are planned. Another theory is that it originates from the Greek word "huios" which means son. "Pizdá" () means cunt. "Yebát" () means fuck, also can be used as interjection expressing amazement. It comes from the Proto-Slavic "jebati" and Proto-Indo-European "*h₃yebʰ-e-ti", cf. Ancient Greek οἴφω ("oíphō") "to live in a marriage" and Sanskrit यभति ("yabhati") "Blyád"' () means whore. Obscenities are among the earliest recorded attestations of the Russian