The American Ballet Theatre is superb, especially Gillian Murphy,
as are some European ballet companies like the Paris Ballet.
However, look at the DVD of Swan Lake by the La Scala Ballet.
Odette / Odile is played by a Russian, Svetlana Zakharova. And
the skills of the general company are simply not as good as the
general company of the Bolshoi and Kirov.

Please, let's not compare apples and oranges. You can't be seriously
trying to compare the Bolshoi and Kirov to La Scalla Ballet. I won't argue
with your conclusion in that particular match-up. But that misses the
point. The American Ballet Theatre, Royal Ballet, or Paris Opera Ballet
are every bit the equal of the Bolshoi and Kirov companies.

Actually this is more of a fruit basket. The ABT is really the only
truly great American ballet company, hence my point. The USA has
twice the population of Russia (I'm rounding a bit, but not too much)
and exactly 1/2 as many great ballet companies. Actually it is worse
than that, because Russia has better ballet in Perm than the USA
does in SF. My comparison of the Bolshoi/Kirov versus La Scala -
and you are correct, it is no comparison - was intended to show
that a Russian dancer was the top doggie. And even the Paris Ballet
uses lines on the stage to show the herds how/where to move, but the
Bolshoi/Kirov employ no such aids. Though I must admit, the Paris
Ballet has the best looking women dancers in the world, probably
not a big criteria for you.