From the far away Udmurt Republic, Elena Evseeva is now a sought-after soloist with the Mariinsky who’s not only dancing but teaching. She granted Vaganova Today a detailed interview about her path from Izhevsk to the Perm Choreographic School, and ultimately to Saint Petersburg. Read below for her story, or click here for the Russian version of this interview.
* * *
How did you end up in the world of ballet?
I was a very active and curious child. From the age of 6 until I was 8 years old I attended various children’s groups: I played the cello, painted, attended ballroom dancing and rhythmic gymnastics, I even tried to play basketball. Like all children, I spent a lot of time actively playing with other children on the playground, I played jumping rope and Chinese jump rope, all types of games with balls, hide-and-seek, cowboys and Indians, I rode bicycles, climbed under fences and so forth – it was fun. There were no cellphones or even internet at that time. Former ballerina Zinaida Ivanovna Druzhinina lived in our neighborhood. Somehow she approached my mom on the playground bench and asked her to bring me to the ballet studio. So when my mom told me about Druzhinina’s offer, I immediately agreed because I was curious what ballet was. My first movement that I did in the path into the great world of ballet was a grand plié in first position in the center of the studio, and they immediately placed me in the older group. I was 8 years old then. Taking ballet classes began to consume all of my time so I had to part ways with all of my other activities. I took classes with Ms. Druzhinina until I was 10 years old and then began to attend the Perm Choreographic School.
Did you already dream of becoming a ballerina when you were 8 years old?
I wasn’t thinking about a professional career as a ballerina when I was 8, I just really, really enjoyed dancing. While taking classes from Druzhinina in the studio, we performed concerts at factories, in old people’s homes, in orphanages and in city events. But after a while Druzhinina told me that I needed to continue to study the art of ballet in a school and become a professional. Hearing this, I couldn’t restrain myself and I told my parents to take me to audition in Perm. I passed all three rounds of the audition, but when the committee members found out that I was only 9 years old and not 10, they refused to take me into the school since they accept children only from the age of 10. But I was invited to join the next year. Of course I went again the next year, and although I didn’t need to go through all three rounds of the audition again, my parents wanted me to do it again. So I began to study in Perm and I spent four amazing years there.
Were the classes strict there?
Of course studying there was not simple, the pedagogues are strict and demanding, and when you’re studying ballet professionally you have to grow up early, especially if you’re living in the dorms. You have to be self-sufficient despite being so young. Washing your clothes – at that time we didn’t have washing machines and hot water was a huge rarity. Adhering to the schedule for cleaning the rooms, we lived three or four girls to a room and the housemistress checked the cleanliness of the rooms and graded us on it. We did all of our homework and lessons on our own. As for the pedagogues, they were all strict and didn’t coddle us, even the little children. They spoke to us as if we were adults. You had to tolerate pain, fatigue, at times there were hurt feelings and tears, but there are no compromises in the art of ballet, either you overcome everything and move forward or you change professions.
Who was your pedagogue there?
It turned out that while I was studying at the Perm school, we changed pedagogues for classical ballet each year or even more often, but Lidia Grigorievna Ulanova, who took our class during the fourth year of studies was able to impart to me that this is a profession for your entire life; she me to taught correctly and thoughtfully use my abilities. That year changed a lot in me, both in my personality and in my life in general. Even when I left to go study at the Vaganova Academy in Petersburg, I missed Ms. Ulanova a great deal.
How did you end up at the Vaganova Academy?
At the Perm Choreographic school I received the highest grades (Editor’s note: 5 on a scale of 1 to 5) and in classical ballet I received high grades as well, 4+, since grades of 5 were not given in the middle classes. My father, seeing how well I studied, gave me a gift, sending me and my mother to Moscow to watch the International Ballet Competition. At the competition I saw Andrey Batalov, my fellow countryman, for the first time (he won the Grand Prize in this competition) and he was fantastic. I could not even dream that I would some day dance with him on stage the Mariinsky Theatre. But much later we danced the pas de deux from “Le Corsaire” together (Medora and Ali), from “Don Quixote” (Kitri and Basil), from “La Bayadere” (Gamzatti and Solor) and so forth. When Andrey Batalov completed his career at the Mariinsky Theatre, he chose “Don Quixote” for his last performance and invited me to be his partner (Kitri) for it. For me this was a huge honor and I still remember that performance.
In Moscow, my mother and I lived in the Hotel Rossiya on Red Square, the view from our window onto the Kremlin was breathtaking. After breakfast one day, we were in the elevator along with a woman who turned out to be Tatiana Dzuba, a pedagogue-rehearsal coach at the Eifman troupe who, looking at me, knew I was studying ballet and expressed her desire to look at me. She came to our room and gave me some exercises to do, after which she invited me to come to Petersburg and try to join the Vaganova Academy in the 5th class (year). This was August and the Academy was holding an additional audition to fill out the classes. They took only me from the entire group of 100 girls. After the exam class, I was changing clothes so slowly that all of the girls had already left and I got lost in the long hallways of the Academy. When I finally found the hallway where everyone was awaiting the results, they were congratulating me with my acceptance to the Academy. Soon they took me to Igor Dmitrievich Belsky’s office (artistic director of the Academy). He congratulated me on my acceptance and introduced the pedagogue with whom I would study for the next four years: Marina Alexandrovna Vasilieva. Mr. Belsky made an extraordinary impression on me, he was quite a big man, elderly, he walked with a cane and had an incredibly kind, soft smile. The first year at the Academy was not an easy trial for me in terms of survival: my relatives were far away, again I was in the dormitories, it was a new class, and all around me were people I did not know and the large city of Saint Petersburg with its harsh climate and high artistic standards. But despite all this, I was able to finish the Vaganova Academy with a red diploma (Editor’s note: honor’s diploma) and during my studies I was awarded a presidential stipend, a diploma for excellent studies from the governor of Saint Petersburg V.A. Yakovlev and I became the winner for my performance in the main role of “The Fairy Doll”.
You graduated in 2001. How did you decide to join the Mikhailovsky Ballet first?
When I graduated from the Vaganova Academy, I received two invitations: to the Mikhailovsky and to the Mariinsky. At that moment I chose the Mikhailovsky since they’d accepted me immediately as a soloist, I had all of the leading roles scheduled in performances for the coming year and I was included in all of the theatre’s tours. But the desire to dance on the Mariinsky stage was always inside me, so while working at the Mikhailovsky, upon a personal agreement with N.N. Boyarchikov as of 2004, my rehearsal coach became Liubov Kunakova, a leading pedagogue rehearsal coach of the Mariinsky Theatre [Editor’s note: Former Kirov ballerina]. I auditioned for the Mariinsky in 2008. Makhar Khasanovich Vaziev (artistic director of the ballet troupe) invited me to join as a soloist. But unfortunately he left soon thereafter and the theatre underwent changes. Makhar Vaziev was forward-looking, possessing the rare instinct of a director, he’s a person of the theatre. I’m grateful to him that he trusted me and opened the doors of the Mariinsky Theatre to me.
Both you and Liubov Kunakova are bright, positive people. Your role as Gamzatti in “Bayadere” is exceptional, you’re like champagne!
Liubov Kunakova is an amazingly radiant personality and selfless pedagogue. She dances through life. Ballet is everything to her. Together with her students she experiences every happy and sad moment. I’ve been working with her since 2004 and am grateful to fate for our meeting.
How do you keep your body in shape aside from class and rehearsals? Especially in the summer?
This is the personal responsibility of each ballerina. I don’t take long breaks from class because the body has to constantly be tightened and in working shape, but short breaks are needed since rest is a crucial component of a healthy, beautiful body. Above all, it’s a regimen and that regimen contains: nutrition, sleep, rest, class, massage, gymnastics, rehearsals, and so forth. It all works together. In the summer I try to swim a lot in salt water.
You received the Gold Medal at the International Competition in Seoul, Korea in 2009. In 2011 you received the title ‘People’s Artist of the Udmurt Republic’. You’re also the holder of the highest theatre award of Saint Petersburg, the “Golden Sofit” for the best female role in 2019 and you were nominated again in 2024. Do these awards affect how people relate to you or your artistic path?
All of the awards are of course very gratifying, but also entail a great responsibility. The public that attends performances reads under my last name the pedigree bestowed upon me and naturally expects an exceptionally professional performance, even more than that, of each of my roles. Understanding that, I can’t allow myself to let them down.
Do you teach now?
I started to teach when I was 23 years old. It began when the Mikhailovsky went on tour to Japan and in addition to performances, I was asked to give ballet master classes to talented young students. After that I began to give master classes almost everywhere that we toured, Spain, France, Italy, China, Switzerland, etc. In 2022, Alexander Mikhailovich Polubentsev invited me to teach at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory where I give classes and teach future baccalaureate and master’s degree recipients in other professional disciplines.
Would you like to become a pedagogue?
I am dancing on my beloved stage and for me that is the most important thing. What will happen next, and what life choices I will have to make, I don’t know.
How do you manage to do it all – class, performances, rehearsals, and also find time to teach?
Currently I’m dancing, teaching and studying, it’s quite labor intensive, but it all gives me a vivid experience of life and art. And while I have the strength, desire, interest and most importantly, the health, I’m going to continue on this path.
Do you believe in Fate?
Yes, I do. But I also believe in human beings, their spiritual essence and in the strength of the soul. We must try to do everything that is both possible and impossible. Life always gives us a choice and we should not afraid of making choices and taking responsibility for our further steps.
Do you have any pre-performance rituals?
No, for me those are conditional.
What do you think about emploi?
I haven’t quite answered this for myself yet, but I can say that when learning roles, plunging into the choreographic text and working on my heroines’ characters, I always sense the presence of some sort of emploi, that is, an understanding within the level of plastique of the character’s image, an image which I aspire to create.
Do you have a dream role?
Yes, all of the roles that I haven’t yet danced.
Is there a particular one?
Carmen in the ballet “Carmen” by Roland Petit, “Manon” by Kenneth Macmillan, and Tatiana in “Evgeny Onegin” by John Cranko.
Do you have an overall dream?
To simply be happy and enjoy every second.
What advice do you have to young people who want to repeat your path?
I have just one piece of advice: don’t repeat my path! I wish for you to create your own unique artistic path that doesn’t resemble anyone else’s.
Photos by Natasha Razina, Valentin Baranovsky and Mikhail Vilchuk, (c) Mariinsky Theatre.