Police said muggers punched a Russian ballerina in the face and took her pointe shoes while she was returning home from a performance in New York City.

Natalia Osipova was walking home on Manhattan's Upper West Side around midnight when she was attacked by two men.

They punched her in the face and stole her bag, which contained pointe shoes valued at about 100 US dollars.

Osipova is a star of the Bolshoi Ballet. She is a guest artist at the American Ballet Theatre and is scheduled to perform on Saturday at the Ballet Theatre's performance of Sleeping Beauty. She is to debut as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet on July 10.

Police were searching for the suspects.

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