Moments

Have you been in Yekaterinburg since 2011? How has he changed in your presence?

The city has changed a lot. I have very bourgeois needs: the main thing is that there are cafes and restaurants next to my work. For starters — so you can somewhere to drink coffee. I remember, there was only 'Coffee House' near the theater, and the rest is sadness, and 'Coffee House' itself is sadness, and now around, in the center, there are a lot of places and at once there is a feeling of a living place. And I like Ekaterinburg for its rudeness, simplicity

Rudeness?

Yekaterinburg is an industrial city, not Petersburg with tearful channels, such a very ... 'weighty, rude, visible', as Mayakovsky put it, and this simplicity, a combination of simplicity and rationalism in business, as they say, in conversation ... I like it, I I prefer without 'marlezonskogo ballet.'

And culturally, what titanic shifts have occurred in Yekaterinburg?

It seems to me that all the personal capabilities that I and the troupe have are quite rare. The Yekaterinburg ballet was recognized as one of the main ones in the country. This and “Mask” in the end. This is how to say ... — cool. For such a short time. Much has shifted, and I like the performance that artists have. Somewhere, maybe in the capitals, artists feel like a privileged caste, and here I saw that artists understand: they don’t know how, they don’t know, but they want to achieve it. This enthusiasm, this desire and ability to learn — the most important thing. You know, there are British Fold, poodles, and mongrel dogs are the most intelligent. Here are all such mongrel mongrels, because this is a theater of migrants, we all came from somewhere. A sort of cultural colony that unites us all, and we are all here for something.

This year you have the premiere of 'Paquita', which was already a classic one-act, why did you decide to refine it to three acts?

'Paquita' is our opportunity, our attempt to bring something new to the repertoire, but at the same time to rethink the classics. Now comes the fashion for the reconstruction of the performances. The English way of reconstruction is closer to me, it should have something from today. And this, I believe, wisely, we live in today, and we must recognize him from the stage. And “Paquita” is an opportunity to see how imperial classical dance can transform. And is it possible at all. Maybe this is a terrible archaic, like a Faberge egg.

A few years ago there was an incredible fashion for concerts of academic music, today there is an incredible surge of interest in the opera house.

We did not analyze it, but we went to it. Our opera theater successfully occupies several positions: first, there is no second opera theater and a second ballet troupe here. But we are looking wider within the country. First, our theater has become a symbol of Yekaterinburg. Plus — the quality of performances. But it is clear that our theater cannot compete with Bolshoi or Mariinsky.

I do not agree. We are all Urals patriots here and will always support ours more ...

Patriotism must be rational. It is clear that the best dancers gather in the Bolshoi and Mariinsky troupe. This is a natural process, and it will never be different. But we can compete in terms of quality productions. And the energy, the output that our artists have, I believe, is extremely high. Naturally, the troupe is growing, becoming more professional, more confident. And some kind of bestial force that our artists have, captivating the audience — I think so.