Russia Bolshoi Ballet

The orchestra readies for a performance as spectators begin to fill the 750-seat hall where the Bolshoi holds its productions while the larger and more prestigious main stage remains closed for renovation.  (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

The ballet “The Flames of Paris” is performed at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.  (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

Performers wait in the wings of the Bolshoi stage during a performance of “The Flames of Paris.”  (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

Dancers perform during “The Flames of Paris” production at the Bolshoi.  (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

Performers rest in their dressing room during intermission of “The Flames of Paris” at the Bolshoi Theater.  (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

Opera singer Irina Rubtsova warms up in her dressing room before a performance of Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” at the Bolshoi Theater. “Every singer in the world dreams of singing on the stage of the Bolshoi,” Rubtsova says. “Nothing can compare with its acoustics, or the feeling you get when you walk out and see this black cosmos before you.”  (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

Ballerinas Elya Bochkaryova, left, and Viktoria Zagrebayeva exercise during ballet class in the auxiliary building of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.  (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)

A ballerina warms up prior to a performance of “The Flames of Paris” at the Bolshoi Theater.  (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)