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An historic leap! American David Hallberg will soon be in the limelight as the first foreign principal dancer of Russia's Bolshoi ballet company.
At the height of the Cold War, 50 years ago, when Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West, an American dancer in Moscow would have been unimaginable.
But now Hallberg has the opportunity to wow the Bolshoi's fans.- leap
a leap is a big jump but it can also be used to suggest a sudden change.
- in the limelight
limelight was originally a form of stage lighting before electricity. The expression 'in the limelight' now means being 'the centre of attention'.
- at the height of
at the time when the situation was at its most intense.
- defected
left a country with a particular political regime in order to escape that system.
- to wow
to please, to impress.