A delicate, poetic soul with a keen sense of both history and of her own place in the continuum of Russia’s classical traditions, Alisa Barinova is one of the Mariinsky Ballet’s newest faces. This 2024 graduate was the top of her class, and promoted to second soloist during her second season with the company. Read on for details on her story. You can find the Russian version of this interview here.
Do you come from a ballet family?
I was born into an artistic family: my parents graduated from the St. Petersburg A.L. Shitlitz Art and Industrial Academy, but my mother had always dreamt of dancing. When I was three years old she sent me to ballet classes. I remember how I tried to depict a swan then, imagining myself to be a true ballerina. At home, during holidays or when visiting friends, I constantly danced and learned short ballet numbers on my own. My parents noticed this and during my school years decided to send me to the “Edelweiss” dance group which exists to this day. We danced and toured a lot. My pedagogues in classical ballet there were Larisa Ivanovna Zarubskaya who was able to see my abilities and advise me to enroll in the Vaganova Academy. We decided to try.
Having studied there for one year in the preparatory class of Tatiana Vasilieva Cherkashina, in June the admissions process to the Academy began. I didn’t pass the first round of auditions, but they recommended that I try again in August. And I was able to make my dream come true. At that time I was the happiest person in the world, after all I never thought I could link my life with this wonderful and magical art form.
The first few years I studied in the class of Elena Georgievna Alkanova and tried to absorb every word she said, think through her comments and correct them. Then Elena Alexandrovna Sheshina took our class and the final three years I studied under Irina Nikolaevna Zhelonkina. [Editor’s note: Shesina and Zhelonkina were remarkable soloists in the Mariinsky Ballet for many years] All of these pedagogues studied under Natalia Dudinskaya. Irina Zhelonkina’s classes were technical and far from simple, you had to do everything with maximum turnout, she paid close attention to that. How you stand in a position, how you leave one, so that everything has a position, and everything is done academically. In rehearsals for the ballet “Fairy Doll” she thought up various phrases so that each gesture and glance was understandable, and we liked performing them ourselves. All of the words she spoke during rehearsals remain in my memory to this day. I’m grateful to all of my teachers who accompanied me throughout my years at the Academy, and I’m also grateful to Zhanna Ismailovna Ayupova and Nikolai Maximovich Tsiskaridze. Each of them left a portion of their knowledge and personal experience – knowledge and experience that they in turn gained from their own great pedagogues– in my heart. I’m glad that they are still nearby.
What was the atmosphere like at the Academy?
I felt the iron discipline from the very start, but at the same time the Academy was burgeoning with an artistic atmosphere. And over time it became my second home. I always spent time there with pleasure. The competition was high – but can you really escape that no matter where you are? The main thing is to work on yourself, to work hard and listen to everything the pedagogues say.
Which subject was the most challenging for you?
From the first course (third year prior to graduation), we began Acting classes and for me that was hard. I hid my emotions and worries inside myself, it was not easy to get them out and express them openly.
While you were still at the Academy did you want to work at the Mariinsky?
While I was at the Academy I had already danced almost all of the productions, so I fell in love with the Mariinsky Theatre from my childhood. I was used to the repertoire and the stage, so I didn’t think about other theatres. And our historical stage is imbued with something magical, it holds peace and tranquility, like in a church. Great dancers have performed on that sgage. And you really feel it, as if you’re not alone there. It’s an incredible, atmosphere — time freezes in this theatre. I also love Petersburg. Kriukov canal, St. Nicholas’ gardens and the St. Nicholas church are located near the theatre. All of my beloved, close friends and relatives live here. My soul is here.
What was adaptation like during your first season in the theatre?
I thought it would be more difficult because I didn’t know many people, it was a new team, although I remember many of them from when I was at the Academy. A couple of months later, I was able to blend into the work and the company.
How did being promoted to second soloist change your work?
I would like to extend deep gratitude to Andrian Gurievich Fadeev for my promotion, for the chance to develop, gain experience and for his trust in me. I would say I have more responsibility for each entrance on stage now. Each time I go on stage is great happiness…and gratefulness.
Do you have a specific pedagogue in the theatre now?
From my first days in the theatre, Elvira Gennadievna Tarasova began to work with me. Together we worked together on roles, develop characters, and sharpen technique: we arrange every finger, every turn of the head, every gesture down to the millimeter. We infuse each movement a special meaning, so that it conveys the living expression of the soul. So that there’s no pretense,
everything should be expressive, natural, and spiritual, just like in real life. Elvira Gennadievna keeps telling me: “Language is our body.“ I’m really grateful to her and glad we’re working together.
How much time do you have to prepare a new role? Usually they give us about a month.
You have a strong jump. Do you prefer allegro and jumps over adagio or slower movements?
Thank you. I love when the tempo is faster, so there’s an emotional uplift.
When the music is more energetic, it’s immediately easier to watch, and the type of dance changes. If you look at all the Soviet ballerinas: Plisetskaya, Ulanova or Maximova, they all danced vividly and there was an energy from them that pierces you even through the screen. Watching them dance, I also want to follow their example.
How do you feel about neoclassical?
Right now we’re preparing for a premiere of a new ballet by Vyacheslav Samodurov, “Khorovodi” [Circle Dances]. Last year I participated in his “Dance Scenes” production to the music of Stravinsky. Modern dance is beneficial: it’s always interesting to try yourself in new choreography, it’s always helpful. Here you start to feel your body in a new way, there’s more contact with the floor, you develop coordination and your body’s plasticity. You learn to let go and listen to your body.
What’s the hardest part of your job?
As Galina Ulanova said, “Dance demands great daily work.” Only this work gives birth to genuine lightness and beauty, thanks to which art becomes truly wonderful. Ballet technique should be invisible to the viewer in order to fully convey all feelings and emotions. To do this, you need to master it — to lose yourself in the role and music, to feel them, and then the art will sparkle with different colors.
From where do you draw inspiration?
“Without music, there is no art.” Prior to ballet class I warm up to the music of Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Bach or Mozart – I really like the musical interpolation in the Second Act of “Sleeping Beauty”. In the Academy we studied Rachmaninov, and to this day I’m in love with his Second Piano Concerto.
The more your soul is filled with feelings that permeate the composer’s music, the more complete the image we create on stage. My teachers are correct, “Music has everything, it says everything.” All life experiences, whatever they may be, need to be stored in your inner box so that you can later reveal them and embody them on stage.
What’s the best part of our job?
The best part is that our work brings joy to our relatives, to the pedagogues and the viewers. When you manage to fully dissolve into the music and the role during a performance. The end of the performance, the applause, the condition of the soul when the character that you just gave birth to onstage is still living inside you.
What type of pointe shoes do you wear?
While I was studying, I tried every possible brand of pointe shoes. Now I dance in Grishko and sometimes I change them for Bloch. For me it’s important to feel my feet, each time I lower through the foot, they need to be comfortable like slippers. I’m working in that direction.
How do you relax?
I love to spend time with my family and close friends. To go outside of the city to a forest or lake. In my free time I try to read, paint with oils or water colors. Since my parents are creative people, I suppose I inherited that from them. When the brush touches the canvas, I gain a sense of internal peace. This especially helps me on the day of a performance.
If you were to look back in time, what advice would you give to students today?
The main thing is that they love what they are doing and what they are devoting their lives to. That it isn’t their parents wish – ballet demands a great amount of strength, daily work on yourself. If I look back, I can’t imagine myself without art. My love is here in the theatre.
Do you have a dream for the future?
I don’t want to guess ahead of time, you never know how things will turn out. God directs everything, we need to always be grateful to God. But for now my wish is to dance and enjoy every day, because the dancer’s career is very short.
All photographs copyright of the Mariinsky Theatre, from top: in “The Sleeping Beauty” as Princess Florine, photo by Alexander Neff; in “Don Quixote” by Alexander Neff; in “Le Corsaire” by Alexander Neff; and in “The Fountain of Bakchisarei” black-and-white photo by Mikhail Vilchuk 2025.