Sergei Polunin was in Milan recently to partner Natalia Osipova in Giselle after David Hallberg was forced to withdraw. There was great curiosity and excitement among the La Scala ballet crowd to see these two firecrackers on stage together. While he was in town, he talked to Il corriere della sera‘s dance journalist, Valeria Crippa, who asked him whether he felt liberated or trapped by ballet.
I filter my emotions through the characters I play, I reach down to my soul, I lose myself in the flow of feelings, in this way every performance is different. I don't like rehearsing much, it's rather boring and takes away the spontaneity of the interpretation. Take Giselle: I love to dig deep into Albrecht's sadness… his loneliness. It is the dark side of ballet that attracts me.
Talking of ‘dark sides' he also explained his decision to leave the Royal Ballet, soon after he's been made the Company's youngest ever Principal dancer.
I follow my instincts of the moment. A part of me fights against the restrictions of this career and I feel as though I'm going mad. Repeating everything for twenty years? Class? It's dreadfully tedious.
That's the reason why I left the Royal Ballet; as an artist, I want to expand my creative horizons, but in a large company, you are limited. So I threw away a lot of what I had achieved in order to bring something new into my life. I have found myself in a midway place where I feel free to experiment.
A freedom that let him go to Los Angeles where he collaborated with David LaChapelle for the video to Hozier's Take Me to Church. Such was the popularity of that video (11 million views on YouTube) that this blog was brought down several times by the sheer number of people wanting to find out more about Sergei Polunin.
It surprised me that so many people loved that video, and so many children were saying that they wanted to become dancers. I'd like to make ballet more pop. There are loads of people who think it's boring.
So what of the future?
There are several projects I'd like to carry through. There is a Foundation bearing my name to give youngsters the possibility to study dance, which is what happened to me when, at 13, I arrived at the Royal Ballet School with the help of the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation. I think my next project will be to choreograph a work. I also want to make a movie, working with a director like Gus Van Sant who has already photographed me.
I was greatly inspired by Baryshnikov, Vladimir Vassiliev in Spartacus… and Nureyev, of course. I'm tired of being seen as a rebel, even if I love rock. I want to become a positive role model for others.
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
I glad to hear that Sergei wants to dance. I was afraid he would quit dancing, but it looks like he fell in love with ballet once again. I’m looking forward to his new projects.
Love this guy – after being persecuted by the press and some colleagues (ok, he asked for it) here he is: honest and open and not afraid to say what’s in his head. Good on you Sergei. It’s good for you and good for dance ie good for me too!
Just he hope he gets enough training and advice when he’s traveling around so much. One good thing about a big company is having a solid structure of teachers and coaches behind you. Sergei’s an exciting dancer but needs to always to take care of his body and his technique.
I agree with what Sissy Walker wrote about taking care of technique. I have noticed some slippage in his technique from videos taken even a few years ago. His strength is definitely his jumps; however, I’ve noticed that he has a tendency to lean his head to the left during “spotting” on multiple pirouettes and usually does 3 to 4, at most. I also just saw his Act II Giselle pas where his back buckles upon landing which did not even happen six months ago! Compare it to Baryshnikov and it’s quite clear that strength from class is different that just turning in a performance. I think people had hoped he would be a generational dancer and although the potential is there, I’m sensing a high level of immaturity. He has said that he does not relish practice rehearsals and class, but this is the only way to keep the technique at a high quality level. Perhaps the Royal Ballet was too restrictive and Igor Zelensky of the Stanislavsky can impress upon him that discipline is required for the long haul. Also, being a purist, I don’t really care to see ballet turned into “pop”.
I agree with what Sissy Walker wrote about taking care of technique. I have noticed some slippage in his technique from videos taken even a few years ago. His strength is definitely his jumps; however, I’ve noticed that he has a tendency to lean his head to the left during “spotting” on multiple pirouettes and usually does 3 to 4, at most. I also just saw his Act II Giselle pas where his back buckles upon landing which did not even happen six months ago! Compare it to Baryshnikov and it’s quite clear that strength from class is different that just turning in a performance. I think people had hoped he would be a generational dancer and although the potential is there, I’m sensing a high level of immaturity. He has said that he does not relish practice rehearsals and class, but this is the only way to keep the technique at a high quality level. Perhaps the Royal Ballet was too restrictive and Igor Zelensky of the Stanislavsky can impress upon him that discipline is required for the long haul. Also, being a purist, I don’t really care to see ballet turned into “pop”.
I hope he gets to choreograph his masterpiece on dancers who find taking daily ballet classes a bore and rehearsing tedious. Maybe they can express their tedium and boredom by yawning during his choreographic work, unable to perform his steps because they are out of shape, and come late to rehearsals.
Agree: Zelensky needs to have another talk with Polunin and remind him about responsibility – to himself, his body and to everyone else who is on the stage with him. That said, he appears to have become stronger since his return to Russia. Also, he is more centered in turns. But without daily class how on earth is he going to maintain his technique? Without rehearsals, performances will suffer. Going on stage under-rehearsed could be a disaster – image a ballet with lots of tricky lifts and no rehearsals! There’s a limit to how far your co-dancers can ‘carry’ you on stage.
He is phenomenally naturally gifted in physique, energy, musicality, dramatic expression and (so far) technique and I’d really like to see him get better and better. Perhaps the discipline that Ossipova manifests will have its effect on Polunin.
Maybe Zelensky has the right approach with Polunin – a little leeway, but not too much. I have older videos of Polunin at what I consider his “peak” just before leaving the Royal Ballet. I do not believe he has gotten better with his technique and at his age, he should be still improving. I think you’re correct in that he seems mentally stronger in Russia and double agree with you that perhaps Osipova will have a good influence on him. I don’t think he is taking a daily class with a coach. I think he’s basically doing it himself. This may work at 26 years old but it won’t work long term, in my opinion.