“Ballet — from the word “hurts””: interview with Bolshoi Theater ballerina Vera Borisenkova

Ballet is not only a mesmerizing beauty, but also pain, exhaustive training and hard work on oneself. And especially in the main theater of the country. Vera Borisenkova spoke about whether you need to starve yourself, how to get on the Bolshoi stage, and whether there really is fierce competition in ballet.

About the profession

— How did ballet appear in your life? Have you always wanted to become a ballerina?

— Since childhood I loved dance. And my parents, looking closely at me and trying to give me a comprehensive education, saw how much I liked dancing. It wasn’t that I wanted to become a ballerina and only a ballerina, I was just a girl who dressed up, twirled, turned on music and danced. And at the age of 7–8 years, my parents sent me to a wonderful dance club, where I first became acquainted with ballet.

After some time, the teachers of this circle offered to try out for exams at the Moscow Academy of Choreography. My parents took me there. So, at the age of 10, I realized that I would like to connect my life with the art of ballet.

— Where and how long to study to become a ballerina?

- If we are talking about professional education in Russia, these are very large choreography academies. In Moscow, this is the wonderful Moscow State Academy of Choreography. There is also the famous Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg, the wonderful Perm Choreographic School, the Voronezh Choreographic School and others.

Usually they are located in large cities or in cities where theaters were evacuated during the war, and teachers from these theaters then remained there.

Children usually study from 10 to 18 years old: they graduate from primary school and then go to a vocational school that trains ballet dancers.

— Are there many expulsions and how many graduates actually become professional ballet dancers?

— Ballet is not only art, but also sport. And, as in any sport, the loss here is colossal. Two years ago, out of 300 girls wishing to enter the Moscow Academy of Choreography, 30 were accepted. It’s the same with boys who go in a separate stream.

Of these 30 girls, 12 remain in the middle of their studies. Of these 12, only one or two will come to work at the Bolshoi Theater.

Of course, there are exceptions. There are flows when five artists come to work in the theater. Sometimes - not a single one. But overall, this is a colossal dropout.

Some people realize that they can’t cope, some are not ready for this psychologically, and some realize that they simply cannot devote their lives to such a highly specialized activity as ballet.

— What is the ballerina’s career growth?

— At the Bolshoi Theater, as at the Grand Opera and Covent Garden, there is a gradation of artists. The first stage is corps de ballet dancers, and 99% of graduates who come to work in the theater occupy this stage. Throughout their creative life, they begin to grow, dance solo parts, and are promoted.

Next come the soloists, and then the prima ballerina and the premier. This is the highest degree of creativity success.

— When do they retire?

— There is a very clear age limit - 20 years of ballet experience. And if the artist came at the age of 18, then at 38 he will retire. Of course, the question arises here: what about Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya or Diana Vishneva? Of course, these are wonderful exceptions.

Maya Mikhailovna was such an icon who could afford to go on stage until her last breath, and it was brilliant.

But usually an artist dances for 20 years.

— What do you like about your profession?

— I am an absolute fan of my business. Probably, in my youth I would say that I like the stage, the audience, the energy that you exchange with them.

And now, having gone through a long and interesting creative path, I understand that the most important thing is the incredible people, the teachers who raised you, filled you, and passed on the magic of dance.

When you find yourself in the same theater with these professionals, you are amazed at their endurance, courage, erudition and endlessly strive to be like them, while finding yourself. This has always inspired me.

- What upsets and disappoints?

— In my youth there was a lot of this, there were grievances against myself or some situations. But these grievances only slow you down.

With age you begin to treat them differently, become wiser and understand that if something doesn’t work out, you can look at it from a different angle, change your attitude, make more efforts. And this does not cause irritation and bitter contradiction, as before. You think: “How interesting, a new lesson. Will I be able to pass it?

— How to become a good ballerina?

- You have to be born with it. This is absolutely accurate. If we are talking about a prima ballerina, this is, of course, a huge number of components. These are physical data, which were naturally excellent; and a golden head that was able to subjugate the body; and correct character, sufficiently persistent and wise; and the depth of soul that allows you to live your heroines on stage.

It’s also luck that at that moment you were in the right place, in the right repertoire, at the right time. For example, many years ago it was very important height ballerina, she had to be miniature, like a porcelain figurine in a box. Now is a different time, there are heroic and strong-willed artists who are built differently: they are tall and athletically beautiful.

And the trust of the artistic director is important, who must see the girl from the corps de ballet, give her a chance to show what she can do in a solo number, and believe in her. Of the 32 swans that stand as one in a row, only one will be given the chance to take a step forward and find themselves in the role of Odette and Odile. And everyone wants it.

— How to write yourself into history, like, for example, Baryshnikov or Plisetskaya?

“It seems to me that the story itself writes in its heroes.” If the idea appears in your head that you want to write yourself into history, you will definitely fail.

— Is ballet in Russia really one of the best in the world?

- Of course, yes. There are many wonderful schools all over the world, we learn a lot from each other. But I believe (let this be my subjective opinion) that ballet in Russia is one of the best.

About physical training and injuries

— How do professional ballerinas train?

- These are all elements of masochism. The older you get, the more difficult it is for you to go to the machine in the morning and do a lesson.

We start with gymnastics on the floor. Body preparation looks like that of good athletes: abs, back, planks, twines. After that, we get up to the machine and begin to do the morning exercise, and only after that do repertoire rehearsals begin. These are the steps that you need to go through so that your body is ready for the physical activity that awaits you on stage.

— Does your body hurt even after so many years of ballet?

- There is such a good phrase: “Ballet - the word ‘hurts’.”

And if you wake up in the morning and nothing hurts, you are most likely dead.

We live with this all our lives, you just get used to everything.

— Do you often get injured?

— It seems to me that you can be injured more often if you fall from a bicycle or skis unsuccessfully. We only get injured when the body is extremely tired. This is a signal that you need to either be attentive or rest.

I had injuries. But we believe that you should talk about illnesses either with anyone or with a doctor.

— What injuries do ballet dancers most often receive?

“Of course, our legs, knees, feet, fingers, and tendons are the first to suffer. Secondly, the back.

Massages, exercise therapy and even surgeons who thoroughly know the bodies of ballet dancers help us cope with injuries. Sometimes, after very serious injuries, the doctor may say that victory will be only if you can pedal a bicycle. But the artists still come back and dance brilliantly. This is willpower, discipline and patience.

— What to do if you are out of action on the eve of a performance due to an injury?

- In this case, a replacement is provided. Most roles have several casts: on the first day one cast dances, on the second day another. So there is always a second cast behind the scenes during all performances.

— What to do if you were injured right during the performance?

“Then a replacement occurs right during the performance, and sometimes the viewer doesn’t even notice it.

— Does it hurt to dance on your fingers? How to deal with this pain?

— At the age of 10 it was incredibly painful, but at 30 it was no longer painful. When you put ballet shoes on your feet for the first time, your task is to put roots into them so that you feel like wearing soft slippers. And when you come to this state - you are comfortable, you stand on your feet, you feel your axis, it means that you have mastered these shoes. And all that comes before is torment and adaptation.

—Have you ever wanted to give up everything?

- No. It was very difficult for me, but I always wanted to prove, first of all, to myself that I could. And every time I stumbled and fell, I thought that tomorrow I could definitely do better.

About weight

— Why is it common to be so thin in ballet? Or are these attitudes already changing?

- Nobody puts anyone on the scale. You just have to have a thin, beautiful, flexible body. Thinness, fine bones and lightness are the result of working on stage. The viewer should not know what path the artist has taken to achieve this. Enters the stage ephemeral Sylphide.

In general, on stage you need to be no longer human.

A ballerina is a creature that takes off and lands silently, stands on one leg and rotates around its axis. The viewer should sigh and say: “Wow, how did she do that?”

— Many students of ballet schools tell how they have to starve themselves for the sake of dancing. Why is this happening?

“I realized this only when my daughter also chose the path of a ballerina. During childhood, there is a huge selection process at school. Expulsions happen, among other things, because the teaching staff sees that at a certain moment this body will have a special structure, which may visually look heavy. And I'm not even talking about numbers. A long neck, protruding collarbones, thin wrists and ankles must be given by nature. If the technique can be mastered, then natural data plays a huge role in the structure of the body.

AND difficult stories strict diets and starvation - this is most likely the desire of children to enter this framework. On my creative path there was not a single teacher who would snatch food out of children’s mouths or frighten them.

The class consists of 12 girls. And if 11 of them are transparent by nature, and the 12th is of a different build - beautiful, strong, athletic, then against the general background, of course, she begins to experience. The child begins to lose weight on purpose.

But all this must be regulated at home. Parents should talk to their child and suggest other possible career options.

— Is there any critical weight with which they will not be accepted, for example, into the Bolshoi Theater?

- These are stories. Every artist is of a certain height. My height is 178 cm, and as a child I had problems not with weight, namely with height - I was considered very tall. And, for example, my colleague is 164 cm tall. And they couldn’t put us on the scale and demand the same weight. There is no scale, everything is decided by the eye. If you can see a loose, insufficiently defined body, then they may point this out to you and recommend that you take a little care of yourself. But no one measures or weighs anyone.

— You said that you were considered too tall. Did you have any problems related to this?

- Yes. I grew up very early and understood that with my height I would not be able to stand in a couple of the classical repertoire, because the partner must be at least a few centimeters taller than the ballerina, or better yet, 10. And I understood that there was unlikely to be such a partner for me. And the same with the corps de ballet, where all the girls must be selected.

So when I graduated, I knew that the signature dramatic repertoire was one that I could feel comfortable in and one that would accept me. These are grotesque roles, characteristic heroines, Spanish dances, mazurkas. I knew I needed to look in this direction.

And yet, in the corps de ballet, I also stood and danced swans. Because when I came to the theater, the generation had changed somewhat and became taller.

— Very often they talk about the harsh treatment of teachers in schools. Have you had this experience and how has it affected your body image and relationship with yourself?

— Ballet is very adult profession. At the age of 10, we realized that childhood was over. No one will play children's games with us. Time is short, but the amount of work is colossal. Either you turn on and work, or you go home to play with dolls. Either you accept the food that the teacher gives you in the form of knowledge, or you are capricious.

All instructions are clear and intelligible: lift higher, jump further, pull harder. Of course, if you have been told the same remark three times, and you have your head in the clouds, then the fourth time your voice will be raised. But this is a learning process for which we are ready from childhood.

— Do you have to diet now? What does a professional ballerina eat?

— My colleagues and I eat the same as ordinary people. No special diets and restrictions. The wonderful dining room at the Bolshoi Theater includes all dishes, including pancakes for Maslenitsa.

Our physique is genetics, to which is added a lot of physical activity.

You choose what to eat. The only thing is, if you have a performance in the evening, you are unlikely to go eat cutlets and mashed potatoes before that - simply because you are performing.

About the performances

— Do you choose your roles in the ballet yourself? Is there such a possibility at all?

- Everything is exactly 50/50. The artistic director entrusts you with some roles and says that he sees you in such and such a role. Or he offers to try himself in some role and, if convincing, go on stage in it.

But since our work is creative, we have the opportunity to prepare and show ourselves what we dream about. And if the part turns out to be successful and there is an opportunity to perform in it, they trust us to dance it. Or they ask for modifications. Or they say: “I don’t see you in this image, it’s not yours.” Then the dream can remain a dream.

— Do rejections in a role demotivate you?

- No. After all, there is always a teacher nearby. Everything that happens in your creative destiny, you share with your teacher. He's another one of yours parent. And you should listen to him.

If you really dream about a game, you ask to try it, you work together in the hall for a long time. And you hear the first assessment from the teacher. And you have 100 percent trust in him, so you absolutely accept his advice to do or not to do.

— Where does such a teacher come from in the life of a ballet dancer?

— In the theater, we first rehearse with the corps de ballet teacher. There are teachers who work on solo parts and who have, let’s say, their own class of students. They start to take a closer look at you, how you show yourself, how you go on stage, and they can take you in to try to work out.

Or they can take the child to such a teacher directly from graduation exam if he shows great promise. A large graduation concert is taking place at the Bolshoi Theater, where teachers come and choose students.

— Do you have a favorite and least favorite game?

“You won’t believe it: everyone is loved.” Any performance is like a child. Even if I don’t participate in the play, I still love it madly.

There are different games: difficult, easy, interesting. But it’s impossible to say that I adore some and not others.

— Which was the most difficult?

— There were roles that didn’t work out the first and even the third time. And from the fourth - yes. When you worked so hard, struggled and finally everything worked out, it is, of course, pleasant.

I'll tell you about one of the more recent cases. There was a wonderful performance of “The Taming of the Shrew,” which I was able to attend more than once. I was introduced to a performance where on stage with me there were five leading soloists - ballerinas of extraordinary professionalism and high rank. They danced this ballet for many years, and I was introduced as a new participant due to replacements. I was crazy scary stand in line with them. I was incredibly worried, prepared for a long time, and felt this responsibility. In the end, everything worked out, but I remember this fear of letting down, not living up to expectations.

— Is it possible to improvise or bring your own ideas into the party?

— You can almost never improvise with your body. There is choreography that the choreographer conveys to you, like the text of a dramatic actor. We cannot improvise movements, we can only change the color of these movements, improvise emotions.

— What to do if you make a mistake on stage?

- Move on and pretend that nothing happened. Stumble everyone can, everyone understands this. However, if this happens from rehearsal to rehearsal, from performance to performance, it should be a shame. This means you need to pay attention and finish teaching. The fewer mistakes, the higher the level of professionalism.

About the costumes

— How are costumes for a ballerina selected?

— At the Bolshoi Theater upstairs, on the top floors, there are workshops where amazing craftswomen only for costumes, but also for props and decorations, they sew individual outfits for each artist and each party.

— Does the ballerina do anything with the costume herself?

- No never. Costumes and scenery are an integral part of the performance, which is made by the costume designer and set designer working in conjunction. And here there can be no amateur performance from the artist. All you have to do is come to the sewing workshop. With you take measurements and they assemble the suit right on you.

- But pointe shoes are a purely personal thing for the artist. How many pointe shoes does a ballerina use per performance and per season?

— Previously, pointe shoes had slightly different technologies: tarpaulin, glue, leather insoles. Nowadays there are still such things, but 20 years ago new technologies arrived: a plastic sock covered with satin. These shoes are more durable.

Previously, one pair of shoes for a corps de ballet dancer lasted two weeks. The leading ballerina could change two or three pairs during the performance.

Now one pair can serve for two weeks, a month. They have become more durable.

— Are pointe shoes an expensive thing?

— Pointe shoes are purchased and provided to us by the theater. The price depends on the company and the model. We select the one that is convenient for you shoes, in the office they record everything and make purchases in large quantities.

— How are pointe shoes prepared? Why is this so important?

- This is all very individual. Some people like a softer insole, others a harder one. Someone is sheathing the patch so that it doesn’t slip. Someone sews on extra elastic bands. Everyone chooses their own ribbons: some are tarpaulin, hard, some are smooth.

I choose shoes depending on the performance: for some I need soft and silent shoes; On some, you need to hold your leg more rigidly.

About the Bolshoi Theater

— How can an artist get into the Bolshoi?

“It’s a long job, it doesn’t happen overnight.” It is necessary to graduate from a vocational school and have diploma ballet dancer and come to the screening - they are arranged by the theater at the end of each season. Depending on the circumstances and need, vacancies will be available for different artists.

Artists come, they are examined, some may be invited to stay to work temporarily, so that they can take a closer look at whether the person will be included in the repertoire or not.

- How did you get there?

— I got it on the second try. I was very young and really wanted to go there, I was burning, I understood what I could do and where my repertoire was. I'm very glad that I heard it for the first time."No». I made the biggest leaps just after this “no”.

— Why can’t every good ballet dancer get into the Bolshoi?

- That's not entirely true. If the theater has a need for this type, and a good artist wants to get there, he will get there. Another thing is that many brilliant artists work in other wonderful theaters and do not want to go to the Bolshoi.

— Is the competition high? Is it felt in the team?

- Very high. How on Olympic Games: When there are outstanding athletes on the right and left, everyone runs very well and everyone wants to win. And it’s the same here: there are leaders around, talents who want to get ahead.

But this does not mean that you will trip up your neighbor - this is a delusion.

I would like to emphasize that we have a very friendly team in the theater and great support. And friendship and female friendship there is.

— What to do if your relationship with your partner doesn’t work out?

“This, of course, happens, and yet professionals work here who, from the age of 10, know that their goal is to show a decent result. And no one will ever allow himself to disparage another or make a colleague’s work inconvenient on purpose. The scene is, first of all, respect for each other.

— How does a Bolshoi Theater ballerina’s day work?

— There are always performances in the evening, the only day off is Monday. Morning classes start at 10 or 11, depending on the artist's choice. It’s more convenient for me to arrive to class at 10. Classes with breaks last until the start of the performance. The rehearsal schedule is maintained by the Chancery Department. Sometimes there are six rehearsals a day.

— How many performances a month do you usually perform?

— If I'm not mistaken, 26 performances each. Closed on Monday and two performances on Saturday.

— Is it exciting to perform on such an outstanding stage?

— For me personally, yes, I get very worried every time. I know this haunts many colleagues. Why? I'll probably find the answer to this question in retirement.

For some, going on stage is like entering warm water, but for others it is diving headlong into an icy pond. This does not affect the result in any way, but there is excitement.

— Do you feel like a star performing on such a stage?

- Thank God no. There are tiny flashes when I allow myself to say, “Well done.” But never a star. I just I love my job and enjoy it.