Prima Ballerina is a double portrait of two icons of contemporary Russian ballet. Svetlana Zakharova of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and Ulyana Lopatkina from the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg are perhaps unmatched in today's ballet, and might be ranked amongst the greatest ballerinas of all time. Each have their own unique style and personality, on stage and off, as shown in these breathtaking films.

Revealing interviews with Zakharova and Lopatkina, as well as their fellow dancers, coaches and dance critics provide an inside perspective on the motives, the agonies and the joys of a prima ballerina at the top of her game. Extended and transporting sequences from classics of the repertoire such as Swan Lake, Shehezradze, Sleeping Beauty, The Legend of Love and many others provide a front row seat to an incomparable art.

Valery Gergiev and the Kirov: A Story of Survival by John Ardoin

A Feast of Wonders: Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes ed. John E. Bowlt & Zelfira Tregulova

Ballet's Magic Kingdom: Selected Writings on Dance in Russia, 1911-1925 by Akim Volynsky