A young Californian boy completed his training at the Vaganova Academy and joined the Mariinsky Ballet not long ago. We met with Kian Manghise and discussed his career trajectory and what it’s like to dance in Russia.
Kian, how did you start dancing? It’s a pretty classic story, my sister was dancing in a winter show in California, where I grew up. The school needed toy soldiers for the production and said, “if anyone has a brother or cousin, bring them in.” I really didn’t want to go at all, and I was about 10 and thought ballet was just for girls. Typical. They forced me to go after a long conversation, and I ended up really liking it.
My sister is now 26, and she left ballet a long time ago, she was just doing it for fun, for exercise.
I started taking classes at Bayer Ballet and studied there for 3 years, then by age 13 I started to attend classes at City Ballet School in SF with Nikolai Kabaniaev, that was a more serious school and that was when I decided I wanted to proceed. It was also an hour long drive for us, as we were in Los Altos, so it was a big decision for all involved. It was a big switch for me because it was the first time I was in an all men’s class, and Nikolai is a real Russian men’s teacher. It was similar to the Academy since his style is the same. During my first summer intensive with him I knew immediately that this was where I needed to be if I wanted to be a professional dancer. During the summer we worked on variations, that first summer I did Nureyev’s “Swan Lake” for fun, it’s slow and artistic. The second year I actually danced James from “La Sylphide”, and it’s funny to look back, because that was my first solo role here at the Mariinsky. And my last year there I danced the Pas de Six from the Bolshoi version of “Le Corsaire”. It was tough because I was the youngest in the class and there were only 5 of us, and there ended up being just 3 at some point.
I studied with Nikolai until I was 17 and then attended the Vaganova Academy for 2 years. But on March 18th of 2020, we got the call that we’re all going on quarantine for 2 weeks due to the pandemic. So we were stuck there at the Academy for two months doing nothing. We couldn’t leave and couldn’t even go outside. Then I flew home in May hoping I could come back to Russia, but no one was sure due to the visas and flights at the time. But I returned and had one full year there.
The first year at the Academy I studied with Mansur Nikeev, and I asked to switched to another pedagogue during the second year, then transferred to the class of Fethon Miozzi. Fethon is very detail oriented and more personal as a teacher, which I really liked, I feel like he really cared personally about every one of us. He was very hands on, always speaking during the classes. I think that in America they can be “hands off” because they are worried of causing any problems or getting sued.
How did you learn of the Vaganova Academy?
It all happened by chance, there’s an intensive called Russian Masters of Ballet and they had their first intensive in Russia in the winter of 2018 and I attended just for fun. I had no intention of coming to the school, and I’m from California so it was an impossible thought. The first day of the intensive, I had a private lesson with Alexei Ilin, who also teaches at the Vaganova Academy, and he asked me if I had ever thought about studying here, or auditioning. I said no, not really, that’s impossible. I didn’t think Americans could come here. During the middle of the course, the head of the intensive asked if they could film me during a random class at random points in class, I wasn’t dressed specially or anything for it, and send it in. On the last day of the intensive we had a big dinner. The director, Asya Lukmanova, who is Russian but lives in Spain, stood up and announced that one student was accepted into the Academy and it was me. I wasn’t even expecting that I would try! When they told me, I immediately felt that I would attend and that it was the right thing to do, although I had had no previous intentions of doing so. About half of the internationals at the Academy stem from this program.
What were your thoughts of Russia prior to moving here?
All I know is what’s in the movies. You don’t see photos of St. Petersburg, which is a beautiful city. In California there’s no reason to hear about it, so you just think it’s a cold wasteland and there’s nothing here. Then I arrived here and it is so beautiful, there is so much history, museums everywhere, and the art and architecture is so special. The Russian people also are very warm, there is a stereotype that they are cold but they are completely different from what I imagined. And I’m still here, five years later.
Every summer I go back to California and actually my first year here at the Academy was my first time living away. So my mom actually came and rented an apartment by the Academy for the whole year and she got stuck here during Covid too. So she was here that whole time. It was very nice. We had someone on the outside who could help us because the students were left in the Academy and could not leave to buy anything. She comes to visit often now and stays for a couple months at a time and watches every show she can, she likes to come just to see me.
What was the schedule like at the Academy?
During my second year: I had ballet class at 8:30 a.m. which is very tough, especially in the winter, you’re at the barre doing warm up and it is pitch black outside. That lasted until 10:45 a.m. and then lunch and then the Russian kids would go do schooling and we’d have our secondary classes from 3:45 until around 6 p.m. So we had technical and then duet, acting, character. And in the evening we’d rehearse from 5:30 to 7 p.m. or later. That was a typical day. Every now and then the internationals had a separate training for the gala, and that was very late, around 8 or 9 p.m. for whomever could make it. But I couldn’t go very often unfortunately.
How is your Russian?
I studied Russian language for two quarters at a community college before I came here, which helped a lot because they crammed it in. Then I came here, and the first year Russian course was easy as I had already learned the material at home. So halfway through the year, I moved to a higher class. But at some point the Russian class I was in was at the same time as my ballet class, so I couldn’t do both. I felt like I was learning better just living here and it was teaching me more just being around people than going to a class.
My Russian now is pretty good. My mom also knows basic Russian as she took that community college class with me. So she can get around here easily.
Where do you live?
The theatre gives me housing in the dormitories across the street. I only have to pay for utilities and it’s a generous setup.
What was the hardest part of your training here?
I would have to say the schedule and doing class so early and rehearsing every day. When I had Konservatoriat, we rehearsed that every night for months. And the final exam was the hardest thing I’ve probably ever done, physically and in terms of the nerves. Miozzi started in December and for four and a half months we only focused on the exam, all leading up to this one hour that would decide your future. So it was a lot of stress.
Did you expect to be offered a position at the Mariinsky?
I really hoped so, but this was the year after Covid and they told us they don’t want to take internationals and issues with visas would be difficult. So I was not banking on it. After the exam they put up the list of people invited to audition here and I was not on it. The list is the individuals they are really serious about and want to hire. The list came out and there is a line at the bottom, “if you want to audition, talk to this person.” I was thinking, “they don’t want me, so what’s the point.” Luckily a friend of mine pushed me and said “why not, what if?” So we went to sign up and they added us to the list.
On May 25th 2021, a month and a half after our exam, we went to the audition. I was doing it for fun honestly, I had no expectation. There were about 24 people — about half women and half men. They ended up accepting about 8 of us. We started to work at the Mariinsky in the summer immediately, at the end of the company’s season to become acclimated.
What was it like?
At first you see these artists who you have been looking up to, Kimin Kim, Oksana Skorik and Vladimir Shklyarov, these are stars and it’s a bit intimidating. But the guys here are very friendly. I never felt any toxicity towards being new, they were very welcoming right away, which is nice to feel because I was quite scared to come here. It is a big company, 250 people, and I thought I would just get lost in the sea of dancers.
You’re injured right now. How do you cope with the physical workload?
It is much heavier than what we had at the Academy. It’s hard because we only have one day off per week so I try to make the most of that, mentally and physically. I really try to relax on my one day off. But sometimes it doesn’t feel like enough after a week of intense work.
Your coach here now is Nikita Sheglov, but at first you didn’t have a personal pedagogue, correct?
Yes, he’s good at letting me rest if something hurts, he doesn’t force me to dance on something if I don’t have to. During my first month with the company, I didn’t do a single show. The second month I did a few small roles. Then it gradually ramped up. I think halfway through the first season, Anton Osetrov and I noticed on the schedule that we were listed in a rehearsal with Sheglov. No one told us, we were shocked. I think Yuri Valerievich (Fateev) just decided we had potential.
With injuries — they hurt but you get on stage, you get warm and the adrenaline is there and you don’t feel it. But mood-wise, sometimes you just feel like you can’t relate to the role well, that can be difficult to perform if you feel it isn’t you. But at that point you just have to do your best. That’s our job. You can’t pick and choose everything. There are some roles which I’ve done a million times and still stress me out as much as the first time. So you just have to get through it.
I saw you in “Miraculous Mandarin” with Nadezhda Batoeva. What were your impressions of that production and dancing in it?
It is difficult, because you come on and stay on stage, you dance until the end. It was tough also because I haven’t done any serious partnering at this theatre, aside from Nutcracker adagio which is difficult but this is uncomfortable weird positions, a modern piece. But I quite like modern, so it was nice to move away from classical, because I pretty much only dance the classics here. It was nice to have something different and it was tough preparing for it.
When they sent out the cast list and I was listed but with no partner the entire time because it was Kimin and Stepin rehearsing so I thought “I’m not going to dance this”. I was in the studio but mostly watching. I thought “these are two of my favorite dancers, two stars, I won’t get a chance to do this,” but it was a good thing I was there because I knew the whole thing, I knew the nuances of what Possokhov wanted, so that helped.
Do you have a favorite role among your current repertoire?
I’d have to say James in “La Sylphide” is my favorite, it’s not just like you are offstage and come on and then leave, as that can be stressful and a bit boring. But here I’m living through this story, I really feel the character and for some reason it’s easy for me to step into his shoes. It is a nice ballet, and it was my second leading role after Nutcracker, which is mostly dancing and not as much acting, which is something nice I get to do in Sylphide. We spent most of our time in rehearsals focused on the acting portion rather than the technique, and I enjoyed that. The Bournonville is tough, but since we danced Konsrvatoriat in the graduation performance, that helps a bit with the style, so it wasn’t such a hard transition. It’s very quick, small movements, technical, the port de bras is different of course.
Do you have a dream role now?
I really like to do Giselle, Albrecht, it is a step up from Sylphide, a lot of acting and a similar character. It feels like it would be a nice stepping stone, it’s a nice ballet. We had just started preparing Giselle before I get injured, for whenever in the future it might happen.
How are new roles assigned in the theatre?
Sometimes after a performance, Fateev will say “start rehearsing X role”. I remember after Nutcracker he told me, “you have Sylphide on this day, coming up” and I hadn’t even started preparing it. He usually mentions this about a month in advance. I still have a lot of other work during that period, rehearsals for other performances, which can be stressful and tough to balance. You have something to work towards versus preparing it in advance.
I just prepare new roles as they come. Every time I receive a new role, I go to our archive and watch all of the videos, every single person who has done it. I will sit for an hour and watch to see how people do it differently. There are some things I like and some I don’t, and I try to take inspiration from all these videos. It’s a great resource we have, all the videos in the archive, to just go there and watch them. A month is a good amount of time for a role. After a certain point it sort of plateaus and you get tired of working on something for too long, so it’s good not to work on it for years.
So you prefer the classics?
I do, but in a way classical can be more stressful because you’re exposed, so it can be nice to do modern and something more contemporary and have fun with it. But here I tend to do more classical stuff.
Advice for students who want to follow in your footsteps?
I would say go ahead and don’t be scared. Most people have no idea about Russia. Especially Saint Petersburg, it’s a great city. I say go for it! I could have just not gone to the audition, and maybe I would not have gotten in, but sometimes it pays off.
What are your dreams or plans for the future? I tend to not think too much about the future. As a dancer, the future is the end of your career, they are intertwined, but I do think about what I want to do. I guess I’d like to become a teacher but that’s pretty far away right now. I’m not sure, I try to live in the moment and not stress about the future.
Photos courtesy of the Mariinsky Theatre.