“It is important not to stagnate in some kind of closed world”

The dance company “Ballet Moscow” officially joined the staff of the Moscow theater “New Opera”. On October 31, the general director of the theater, Anton Getman, announced the name of its new artistic director. “Ballet Moscow” headed Anastasia Yatsenko, which Tatyana Kuznetsova asked about the nearest plans, about the changes in the troupe and about the priorities of the current times.

– You will make your debut as an artistic director of the ballet. Have you already discussed your responsibilities with the general director of the Novaya Opera, Anton Getman?

We didn’t even have to discuss anything. We have known Anton Alexandrovich since the early 2000s, when he came to work at the Bolshoi, and I was a soloist there, then a teacher, then an assistant to choreographers, and all this happened under his strict guidance. As a leader, I have always liked him. When I found out that he would be the director of the Novaya Opera, I jokingly said: “If suddenly you ever have a ballet, I will be glad to continue our cooperation.” And the thought materialized – I’m here. In this merger, in my opinion, both the Novaya Opera were lucky and the Ballet Moscow.

– Having become an artistic director, will you be responsible for both the repertoire and the quality of performance?

– Of course, I will discuss the strategy and tactics directly with Anton Alexandrovich, but I am responsible for the artistic embodiment. For quality, for quantity, for the interest of the audience, for performance – for everything.

– Will you change the unique structure of the Ballet Moscow, which has always had two troupes – modern and classical?

While the transition is underway. Everyone stays in their places – dancers, choreographers, and teachers. There will definitely not be the position of chief choreographer. It seems to me that she has outlived her life in many theaters. I have been following the Ballet Moscow for many years – who comes, who stages, how it is performed, and the troupe’s artists took part in the “Context” as choreographers. Recently, I noticed that the troupe has actually united: in the “Dance Floor” by Jeroen Verbruggen, in Arthur Pita’s play “Summer. Winter. The Rite of Spring”, in the latest premiere of “The Story of a Room”, “classics” and “contemporaries” dance together. And I love this trend. I think we will have a single troupe of universal dancers. So that all artists have a classic base that gives a certain shape and aesthetics. But the main direction will be modern dance. The “classics” just need to be upgraded in modern dance, giving them new information, new techniques, new teachers, new choreography. I just don’t want our classics to be “under-classical” and modern performances “under-modern”.

– They say that after the news of the joining of the troupe, many artists quit? “Classics” or “contemporaries”?

– I heard that these departures were discussed even under Lena Tupyseva (former director of Ballet Moscow. – “b”). People have already taken place as artists, they wanted to go further – to stage themselves. Six people definitely left, mostly from the modern dance group.

How many people are in the troupe now? Will you fill it up?

– Now there are 24 people. And there should be at least 30 people. Later I will understand how many people we need for a new repertoire. Now we have already announced recruitment to the troupe. Basically, applications are submitted by dancers without a classical base. But I think that in choreographic schools you can find bright graduates of not quite classical forms, who should not fit into a pack. Here they will be able to express themselves in the modern repertoire.

— How many performances do you keep from the Ballet Moscow repertoire?

– Let me count. Two for children and adults: “Cafe Idiot”, “Summer. Winter…”, “Dance Floor”, “All Paths Lead North”… eight, I think.

– Of these, at least three are productions by Western authors. Are there any rights issues? Have the choreographers extended their contracts?

— Yes, no problem. We mainly show these works at the Meyerhold Center. And we will play all the premieres on the stage of the Novaya Opera. Two or three are planned per year. We want to hold laboratories during the season so that the choreographers constantly work with the troupe. And if there are good results, we will also present them to the public.

– And what is the next premiere?

— In February we have three new one-act ballets. I wanted to show the troupe from different angles, this is the reason for the choice of choreographers. It will be the meditative Kostya Keikhel, the bright theatrical Ira Kononova and the pumped-up Anya Shchekleina. We collaborated a lot with these guys on the “Context”, I saw how they grow and change.

“You speak of them with motherly tenderness. I understand that they all went through the “Context”, you opened them, nurtured them. But the result of your many years of efforts is modest – I don’t see such original and independent authors among the laureates as Tatyana Baganova, Evgeny Panfilov, Gennady Abramov, the Yekaterinburg Kiplings were about 20 years ago … Nobody then took care of them, did not provide trained dancers, did not promote and gave no money. And now Russian authors are guaranteed a career regardless of the results – there is no competition from Western choreographers, and the audience’s need for modern dance is great, and they are not critical.

Well, not everyone can be critics. I know you are skeptical about young Russian choreographers. Maybe you are partly right – in each of them I try to find something interesting that can be developed and supported. But Olga Labovkina, let’s say, is already an established talent. When I saw her work on “Context”, I simply could not believe my eyes. Now, it seems to me, she has matured to a big performance, for the whole evening. I hope we will show it in June. I definitely want to work with Pasha Glukhov, but he is very busy now, very much in demand. He started out kind of shy, to be honest. But such a touching note has always been felt in his works, he is sensitive, subtly speaking. Of course, Anton Aleksandrovich and I would be happy if Tatyana Baganova staged something especially for us…

— In general, full import substitution.

– Why? There are options for cooperation. We are talking with Israeli choreographers, choreographers from Latin America have responded. I think a little later we will announce plans when the contracts are signed. This cooperation is very important for us in order not to stagnate in some closed little world.