Donkey takes final bow at Russian ballet troupe



Russia's Mariinsky ballet has said farewell to one of its longest-serving artistes: a 21-year-old female donkey named Monika. The animal is to be pensioned off after 19 years carrying the knight's overweight servant Sancho Panza around the stage in productions of the ballet Don Quixote. The Mariinsky, previously known as the Kirov, is one of Russia's foremost ballet troupes.