Boris Zhurilov is one of the few members of the Reunited company who is fully Russian, and the story of Zhurilov’s flight from his homeland is almost as remarkable as his ballet career. Zhurilov got into ballet thanks to his older sister and then followed her to the prestigious Vaganova Ballet Academy. After graduation, he went straight into the Mariinsky Theatre company, which he called a “a dream.” In 2018, after early successes under Mahar Vaziev and later Yuri Fateyev of the Mariinsky, Zhurilov took up an offer to dance premiere roles with the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet in Georgia, before being becoming the first soloist at the Stanislavsky Theater in Moscow. But on February 24, 2022, his dreams and hopes collapsed. He sent his resume to every foreign ballet company but nobody wanted to hire Russians. He ended up getting a contract in Budapest, Hungary. Although it meant a demotion, all he cared about was that he didn’t have to take up arms and go to war against a fraternal people. On September 21, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced mobilization. As both a student and a ballet dancer, Zhurilov should be exempt from the military. Still, he feared for the future. He decided to leave the country, just as millions of other people did. On September 22, he flew to Chechnya. From there, he tried to get to Georgia, but the Chechen driver refused to drive him all the way and took him to Vladikavkaz [capital of North Ossetia. On the way, he read that there were drivers at the Vladikavkaz airport, who would take Russians over the border.
The airport was chaotic, full of crowds of desperate people trying to leave. By some miracle, Zhurilov found a seat on a bus and drove towards the border. The traffic was intense with cars parked four rows deep and crowds of people were starting to walk towards the border. The bus sat in traffic for eight hours. “While we were there, I received a call from home. The military enlistment office was asking about me, saying they suspect I am unemployed and therefore subject to conscription and another call from the Stanislavsky theatre that they have indeed just fired me, and a third from an unidentified number that I take to be the military enlistment office itself. To say that I felt panic would be an understatement. A rumor spread that the border would be closed to all men within hours. I made the decision to walk towards the border. Carrying what I could, I set out on my way. I walked about 8km on a mountain road [on the border of North Ossetia and Georgia] and was at the border an hour before the supposed deadline. It turned out that it was forbidden to cross the border on foot. I somehow miraculously found a taxi with one empty seat, and all the passengers in this car were young guys with small backpacks only, and there was room for my few things in the trunk, and, after waiting three hours, I was in Georgia. I spent the night in Gudauri, then Tbilisi, then flew to Paris and then to Warsaw. I got a visa to the USA, and flew to LA via Germany. And here I am.”
Copyright © 2024 Reunited in Dance
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.