After I interviewed Sergei Polunin, and watched him being photographed, I tried to imagine how I’d describe him. He’s a Ukrainian ballet dancer. He might be the best ballet dancer in the world. He has a beautiful body and a slightly goofy-looking but still very attractive, face. On his chest, he has a tattoo of Vladimir Putin’s face. And when you put Putin’s face on your chest, you are attracting attention to yourself in a very specific way.

Polunin said, “When I was a kid, I always liked Putin. I loved him. I loved his energy. No matter what people were saying, for some reason inside I knew he’s trying to do something good.”

Performing in Narcisse at Sadler’s Wells, 2012 GETTY IMAGES

A day or two later, the world became aware of another