Q&A

When did you start dancing?
I started when I was 12.

Why did you start dancing?
I had severe heart rhythm problems and my doctor suggested me to dance as therapy for my disease. He was right, and my heart problem disappeared with ballet.

Which dancer inspired you most as a child?
Zoltán Solymosi, former Hungarian principal dancer of Royal Ballet.

Which dancer do you most admire?
Sylvie Guillem, because besides her unquestionable artistic talent she is the most fair and moral person I ever met.

What's your favourite role?
I have more than one: Albrecht, Solor, Romeo…

What roles have you never played but would like to?
Cranko's Onegin and Roland Petit's Le jeune homme et la mort.

What's your favourite ballet to watch?
I like to dance so much on stage that I don't really like to watch anything from the auditorium; I always have the feeling I would like to join the performers!

István Simon at Hungarian National Opera's The Nutcracker by Vasilij Vajnonen, photo by Gábor Szilágyi

István Simon in Giselle by Lavrovsky at the Hungarian National Opera

István Simon and Sarah Hay in The Nutcracker by Aaron Watkin, photo by Ian Whalen

István Simon in Giselle at Moskow Kremlin Theatre

Who is your favourite choreographer?
Marius Petipa.

Who is your favourite writer?
George Orwell.

Who is your favourite theatre or cinema director?
Robert Wilson.

Who is your favourite actor?
Zoltán Latinovits.

Who is your favourite singer?
Luciano Pavarotti.

What is your favourite book?
Animal Farm.

What is your favourite film?
The Great Dictator by Chaplin.

Which is your favourite city?
Budapest and Dresden.

What do you like most about yourself?
That I am able to change.

What do you dislike about yourself?
I can hardly resist sweets.

What was your proudest moment?
The last time I was able to do the right thing, even though I was very afraid.

István at the pool

Creating with William Forsythe at Semperoper

István Simon

István with Fabien Voranger at Théâtre de la Ville Paris, rehearsing Steptext

When and where were you happiest?
I am fortunate enough to have many happy moments in my life… it is hard to choose one specifically.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My wife.

What is your greatest fear?
To lose my motivation.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
To have stronger beard.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Becoming a good dance partner.

What is your most treasured possession?
My discipline.

What is your greatest extravagance?
My consolidated lifestyle is very extravagant among dancers.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Intelligence.

On what occasion do you lie?
To protect somebody.

If you hadn't been a dancer what would you have liked to be?
An actor.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Passion.

István and dogs

Working out with Vader… my pug

Dr Watson, the pug, wanting to go on tour

What quality do you most value in a friend?
Loyalty.

What quality do you most value in a colleague?
Talent.

Which historical figure do you most admire?
Serge Diaghilev.

Which living person do you most admire?
Temple Grandin.

What do you most dislike?
When people consider ballet as sport.

What talent would you most like to have?
To be able to write with a good style.

What's your idea of perfect happiness?
Happiness is when you are in charge of your life, you feel loved, and you have people around you that you can love and trust.

How would you like to die?
Knowing that I have fulfilled my destiny and I have accomplished my task.

What is your motto?
Passion always wins!

István Simon and Melissa Hamilton in La Bayadére by Aaron Watkin after Petipa, photo by Ian Whalen

István Simon in Impressing the Czar by William Forsythe, photo by Ian Whalen

István Simon and Zarina Stahnke in In the Middle Somewhat Elevated by William Forsythe, Photo by Ian Whalen

From the wings at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées duing Mats Ek's farewell performance

La Bayadére selfie in István's Semperoper dressing room

At the Royal Opera House waiting for Liam Scarlett's Frankenstein

István with a painting by Csaba Fürjesi, photo by Béla Mezei

István Simon by Daniel Barth

István at dinner with his wife at a Dresden restaurant

István with Sarah Hay joking around in the costume of COW by Alexander Ekman

Gramilano( Editor )

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.