Having joined the Vaganova Academy in the tumultuous 1990s in Russia, Alexei Nedviga has witnessed the shifts of several generations of dancers in St. Petersburg. This experienced dancer has performed in works ranging from Forsythe to the entire Petipa repertoire, and 7 years ago returned to his roots – at the Vaganova Academy – where he began teaching the next generation of young male dancers. Now dividing his time between giving company class at the Mariinsky, monitoring rehearsals, and racing to the Academy to teach younger students the “ABC”s of the classical canon, Nedviga is a little-known well of talent in the country’s northern capital. VaganovaToday sat down to learn the details of his story which we’re sure you too will find inspiring. The Russian original of this interview can be found here.
As someone blessed with near-ideal traits for classical ballet, the first question is, do you come from a ballet family?
It’s actually interesting, because my family isn’t balletic at all. My mother is a doctor and my father was in the military. He didn’t serve in St. Petersburg, but beyond the Lake Baikal. When I was six years old, he began attending the Military Academy here, and my family moved. I have a younger sister, she was born just before we moved.
In childhood I was a very active boy. It seems to me that at that time all children were that way, were were constantly in motion, always outdoors. Once my mom lost me and she came looking for me at the construction site, holding my sister in her arms. It was a typical childhood – before today’s “gadgets”.
Because I was so active, my mother sent me to various children’s classes, including dance classes at the Palace of Pioneers. As often happens in such dance groups, there were very few boys. At one point there was a concert, and I performed a Russian dance, and they gave me a solo to perform. I had a solo entrance onstage, audience applauded me, and something in me clicked. I knew at that moment I wanted more of it, I wanted to dance professionally.
I started to attend the preparatory classes at the Vaganova Academy in the evenings. And when it became time to leave my primary (academic) school, I had to make a choice: either go to the math “gymnasia” [a more challenging primary school] since I was good at math (although it’s hard for me to believe that now), or continue training at the Academy. I chose the second option.
They put me in the first grade at the Academy. At that time the selection process was different and it turned out I was one of four people who had attended the prep classes, three girls and me. Although they didn’t accept the three girls, they accepted me. I remember thinking at the time, “This means I’m doing the right thing, I need this.”
It’s interesting for how parents do not ask their children, especially boys, if they want to dance or attend the Academy. But my parents – a military officer and a doctor – wanted to know my opinion. And I chose ballet.
At that time there was a selective process for boys entering the Academy but today as a rule there are not enough boys, the boys are becoming fewer and fewer. Even fewer than we had back then.
That was 1993. In Russia, the ’90s were a difficult time, but if you were accepted into the Academy, it meant you’d have the chance to study at a good school, inside the walls of the former Imperial Theatre in city center. It was a true accomplishment. My parents understood that ballet was a serious profession and always supported me.
When my mother saw it was difficult for me, she worried and wanted to take me out of the school. But my father said “No, he can handle it,” and she didn’t take me out.
Who was your first teacher?
Our first pedagogue was Ludmila Leonidovna Melnikova. She taught us the first two years. Ludmila Leonidovna was strict, she always came to the classes in a long skirt and high heels. For us she was like a grandmother but she always looked very well-kept, no tennis shoes like we wear today. At that time it wasn’t so easy, and Ludmila Leonidovna kept us under strict watch.
But I was drawn to her because her strictness was correct, and I understood why she was that way. It seems to me that she was the one who gave us the most important components of the basics. I don’t recall her exact lessons, but I understand now that it was very simple: you have to establish the foundation, the basis that she gave us. It was boring, difficult work.
Did you like her classes?
We knew that you could only do things the way she said to do them. She could be strict with us, pinch us, but we understood that she was cultivating us according to the principles of her generation.
But before this, during the preparatory courses, hadn’t you already learned the basics?
My traits were not bad at all: I could sit in the splits, I had good extensions, decent turnout, I could jump relatively high, I was flexible and coordinated. After attending the Palace of Pioneers they advised me to go pursue dance professionally.
During the third grade (class), our pedagogue was Peter Anafasievich Silkin who taught for one year. We were afraid of him since his teaching methods were different, but his discipline was at a high level and we tried not to disrupt it.
Then Andrey Ivanovich Garbuz taught us, he was a soloist and pedagogue at the Mariinsky Theatre. He taught us from the fourth grade through our graduation. Andrey Ivanovich gave lessons, rehearsed solo parts, duets and trios, and us.
What was he like as a person?
He was very calm. Maybe we were already prepared and maybe he impressed us that we had fallen into the hands of a teacher from the Mariinsky Theatre. For us he was an unquestionable authority. He immediately said, “I’m never going to shout at you.”
For you, with your traits and talent, were the classes difficult?
Character dance was a challenge for me. We worked on classical movements constantly but in character I had to open up my internal world and extend emotions through the dance. At first that wasn’t easy, but by the end of my studies I felt more confident in it.
Duet, or partnering classes, were the hardest for me. I wasn’t especially strong, and they did not put me in pairs with the most talented girls. They usually place the best boys with the best girls. However, despite that, we had 3 years of partnering classes and each year we had a new pedagogue. That was not simple, but during the final year Konstantine Zaklinsky taught us – a soloist from the Mariinsky Theatre, and the husband of the director, Altynai Asylmuratova. We were his first class and for me he was the best teacher over those 3 years.
It seemed like the duet work was difficult for me, although I myself taught it for 3 years at the Academy, and only this year I’m not teaching it due to my workload. But I watch video recordings, and as a student I was lifting the girls fine, I did everything that was asked. My memories differ but it seems that a good training basis had been established.
Did you dream about joining the Mariinsky?
Actually I understood what I wanted in the 5th grade (class), but I feel that was already too late. Prior to the 5th grade I tried to do what was asked. Only during that year did something click in my head, and I knew that I want to be the best, I want to join the Mariinsky Theatre. After that I started working differently. I thought then that I was working intelligently, but I see the videos of our old examinations and it seems everything was horrible.
At that point in the theatre there was a policy: the theatre took only the best students, literally a few people, from each graduating class. We knew about this. At that time there were not all these other stages like the Mariinsky 2, 3 and 4 as we have now. We knew that Makhar Khasanovich Vaziev [Editor’s note: the director of the ballet at the time] would select a few people from our graduation class and our goal was to be one of those no matter what the cost. It was not easy, but maybe I was lucky because during our graduating year they took many people. Prior to that they had never taken a lot of dancers.
So it happened, but not without a dose of good luck, that’s for sure, because I was not the best in our group. Maxim Zuizin, Fedor Murashov, and Artyem Yachmennikov were all in our class. At that time I thought they were all better than me, maybe stronger or smarter.
Now I’ve come to realize that although school remains the foundation, you can achieve a lot in the theatre. Even if you’re not a soloist, you have not been assigned a personal pedagogue, and you just work in the corps de ballet, that doesn’t mean that progress stops. In school, the pedagogue monitors your work, gives you corrections, guides you and corrects you. In the theatre, you’re an adult who answers for your work yourself. It’s good if the pedagogue gives you a correction but not mandatory like in the Academy. In the theatre, it’s your personal responsibility and even under those conditions you can make good progress.
During the first year in the theatre, a psychological approach helped me in many aspects of my work. For example, during the first year I didn’t perform any classical ballets, only character roles and dances in operas. And when they finally cast me in a ballet, it was a genuine achievement, a true event.
During the second year, I was invited to perform the waltz in “Swan Lake”. White tights and white classical ballet slippers, it was a big deal! I waited for that for a full year! For a year I had dreamt of performing the classical waltz alongside dancers whom I had previously looked up to, although they were simply in the corps de ballet, but they were already performing classical roles.
I appreciate the value of what I achieved more since it was hardest of all.
Over the course of the 25 years you’ve been performing at the Mariinsky, you’ve had roles in ballets by Forsythe, Petipa, and many other productions. Does something stand out that you particularly enjoyed?
Since we have a classical education, I always wanted to perform solo roles and the classics. Even when I performed in the corps de ballet, it was always a great pleasure to be there. But I always loved modern and contemporary dance because I have good coordination and a flexible torso. It seems I’m capable in modern dance. We’re lucky that we had those productions at that time. Today the guys in the company don’t have that chance.
I really loved the Forsythe ballets, especially “The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude”, that was the hardest ballet that I danced in my life. The harder it is, the more interesting it is.
In terms of the classical repertoire, my favorite is “Romeo and Juliet”. I adore it because it’s dramballet, a separate form of art. I always enjoyed the acting, and when that’s interwoven with dance, it’s an incredible combination. I danced Mercutio, and that’s my favorite role. You have a variation, acting, and a separate death scene. That was my most cherished dream.
This is my 25th season. I understand that (Ekaterina) Kondaurova and (Viktoria) Tereshkina are still dancing, they’re from my graduating year. I decided that the time had come to shift the focus from the stage to teaching. And that the process would be gradual and painless because it is gradual. Like with a scale, one side tips in one direction, the other tips the other direction. I’m already aware that I’m slowly letting it go.
This year, 2026, is your seventh year teaching at the Academy. What do you try to give to the new generation?
My first group were students from grade 3 and they studied with me until the 7th year, that is 4 years without interruption. I taught them both classical ballet and partnering. That was up until 2025. Now I have the second grade. That’s difficult due to “gadgets” – there is a lack of attention span and focus in the children and they’re already 11 and 12 years old, but there’s a problem. They listen, you show them what to do, and one time they will do it, but they do not do it repeatedly. Their attention can be focused at a concrete moment but it’s very difficult to fixate it and hold it. I have 8 boys in my class.
There are numerous components in ballet: physical traits, discipline, and energy and the desire to dance. What is the most important for men in ballet?
For boys the specifics are different than for girls. Boys are stronger, they have to jump. Jumps are highly valued among the men. There used to be the concept that men “jump and turn” and that’s it. Today everything is important.
With the years, the requirements become higher and higher and I try to teach my students that everything is important: lifting your leg high and placing your foot correctly and how you bend your back and turning and jumping – all of this has to be developed equally.
But the most important is discipline. Today you may want to [take class] and tomorrow you won’t. Discipline is what forces you to continue doing what you don’t feel like doing. So discipline is the most important in ballet, it seems. Both the overall or general discipline in class and your personal discipline as a student.
You’re still teaching in the theatre?
Yes, I’ve practically completed my dancing career in the theatre, and Andrian Gurievich Fadeev offered me work here. Last year I started giving morning classes and this year I refused the partnering class in the Academy. Due to that, Andrian Gurievich gave me a greater workload in the theatre. Last year I didn’t just teach but I participated in the production with Slava Samodurov, where I rehearsed the corps de ballet. This year I rehearsed the waltz from “The Nutcracker” and Andrian Gurievich entrusted me to work with the classical corps de ballet, something I’ve always aspired to do. For me that was a huge honor, and I understand that he trusts me and I’m very grateful to him for that. So my shift from dancing to teaching is very smooth and gradual.
Do you want to continue teaching in both places?
When I started teaching, it helped me to be in both places. Because when you are dancing you’re constantly thinking about the details, and you apply all of that to your students. Then when you work with them, you look at them, notice something and apply it to yourself. It works both ways. When you stop dancing, you teach differently. Unfortunately some sensations become forgotten when you stop dancing and you look at it differently, from the point of view of the rules. The sensation become harder and harder to teach.
Last year, I was performing, but a lot less. Two years ago I was dancing a bit more. So gradually it’s stopping.
I like combining my work at the Academy with that in the theatre although it requires a lot of strength. My teacher, Andrey Ivanovich, for example, immediately after his classes went to the theatre. Gennady Naumovich Seliutsky worked many years in the Academy in parallel with his work in the theatre. This is why I say: when you dance and teach, you give them more and you yourself receive more in return. So I would like to keep the connection between the school and the theatre inside myself, I’d like to preserve it. Andrian Gurievich really values that I have the teaching experience at the Academy and I’d like to continue working in the Academy too.
What’s the difference between teaching professionals in the theatre and students?
A class for professionals needs to be constructed in a way that it is helpful, not too difficult, and does not overload them. There’s a lot of work in the theatre now, and the dancers do not always manage to recover between performances. Even if they do, they still come to class tired.
Everything you’ve experienced – your classes at the Academy, work in the theatre, coaching with various pedagogues – all of that affects your own classes. It’s not always clear which connections and combinations you took from this or that pedagogue, because it’s your experience and you combine it in your own way. I’m not shy about using combinations that I saw my teachers give, because they were and remain very competent in their work.
Is the work of a pedagogue a talent or a skill?
As in any other line of work, in order to become a pedagogue or a professional dancer you do not have to have outstanding natural capabilities. However if you have the desire and you infuse some effort into it, you can succeed. And that success is not always the result of huge effort or overcoming difficulties. A teacher or coach may not be the most talented but he has to have great experience. That often is more important than natural abilities.
What’s the hardest part of your work now?
In the Academy, they know that I work in the theatre and the only time I can give class is from 9:00 to 10:40 a.m. The earliest lessons at the Academy begin at 9 but I start earlier, at 8:30 so that I can reach the theatre to give the 11:00 a.m. class. However, that’s not the most difficult part.
At the Academy we work 6 days a week, with just one day off, Sundays. What usually happens on Sundays in the theatre? Two performances a day! So the hardest is when, on my day off from the Academy, Sunday, we have two performances in the theatre, and I have to be there.
You have two daughters, do you want them to become ballerinas?
They’re already studying at the Academy, and that was their choice. Unlike my family, where my dad is a military man and my mom is a doctor, in our family both parents are associated with ballet, our children’s choice was quite predictable. However, the fact that the parents are dancers themselves does not mean that their children have an easy time in this field — they have a hard time.
My wife and I try to talk a lot with our daughters. My parents were not involved with ballet and could not give me the necessary knowledge and skills. But my wife and I know how the ballet world works, and we can share this knowledge with our daughters. Even small tips that seem insignificant to us can help children in their development.
I consider it my main task to help children understand the complex world of ballet, to explain how important it is to work and what is worth paying attention to. I didn’t have that understanding, but I want my daughters to have it. I strive to instill in my students as early as possible the awareness of how much effort it takes to succeed. The sooner they realize that they need to work hard to realize their dreams, the more opportunities they will have to achieve their goals. In addition, we set aside time to develop our daughters‘ musical abilities.
You collaborated with Diana Vishneva, including participating in the recording of her “Giselle“ with Mathieu Ganio (Paris Opera Ballet). What kind of experience did it give you?
I worked with Diana Vishneva for many years. At first, we danced in her band “Le Parc“ as gardeners. Then she invited me and several young people to join her project “Beauty in Motion.“ It was an unforgettable time. We went on tour to Moscow, the Mikhailovsky Theater, and abroad. Diana Vishneva is an incredibly hardworking and dedicated person. She is ready to fully devote herself to work, both physically, mentally and psychologically. Her efficiency and dedication are impressive. When you look at her, you realize that you can achieve more too.
What is the most enjoyable moment in your work?
Now I see myself as a teacher. For me, the most pleasant moments are the successes of the students at the Academy or high-quality performances at the theatre.
Do you have a favorite dish?
I really like to cook. My children enjoy eating my casseroles for breakfast, and I also bake cottage cheese waffles. I love all Italian dishes, because they’re a quick and delicious choice. I especially love pasta.
Do you believe in God?
I believe, but not like many people do. I believe that God should be inside each of us. Unfortunately, I don‘t often go to church, but I try to follow principles that are in tune with the church. It‘s so important to be honest with yourself.
Do you have any superstitions before going on stage?
No, I don‘t believe in such things. I know some people do, but it doesn‘t affect me.
What advice would you give to young dancers?
This is probably the most difficult question. I wish them great desire, because if it is real and sincere, then everything will definitely work out. You have to really want to dance.
Do you have a dream? I don‘t have a specific dream, but I want the world to be peaceful and safe.. I want my children to be able to travel, as we once traveled. Like any parent, I dream of a better world for my children. That‘s all.
Photos courtesy of Alexei Nedvшga’s personal archive. Studio shots taken at the Sirius studios in Southern Russia.