Commenting on Sergei Polunin’s surprise exit from the Royal Ballet, fellow Ukrainian and ex-Royal principal Ivan Putrov, has probably upset a number of his dancer colleagues. In an interview with the BBC he said,

Being in a company has this element that you are sometimes told what to do. If you want to be part of the company you have to, maybe, shut-up and do what you’re supposed to do. If you want to be an artist… an artist creates. A craftsman just does what he’s told, an artist creates. Sergei is an artist and he likes to create.

While being a craftsmen is an excellent and noble quality, Royal Ballet company members such as Alina Cojocaru, Lauren Cuthbertson, Marianela Nuñez, Tamara Rojo, Edward Watson and Zenaida Yanowsky, will be surprised to learn that Putrov doesn’t consider them to be artists. General Mason gives her orders and they just do as they’re told.