Just 30 years old this year, prima ballerina Prisca Zeisel has loads of experience under her belt. At age 15, Manuel Legris invited her to join the Vienna State Opera Ballet where she quickly became a soloist. Now she’s a favorite prima ballerina with the Mikhailovsky troupe. Read on to learn more about her story.
You were born in Vienna, Austria and first studied with the Vienna State Opera Ballet school. Does your family have a background in ballet?
Yes, my mother was a dancer with the Vienna State Opera Ballet as well. It somehow happened that I also got into ballet. I started doing gymnastics (not rhythmic) because my older siblings did it too and we had to take ballet classes once or twice a week for that. Later when I was 10, I joined the ballet school at the Vienna State Opera. You had to audition but it wasn’t very competitive, and coming from gymnastics it was boring in the beginning. My sister started singing in the Opera children’s choir and somehow my mom said “let’s try”, and I went and was accepted. I continued gymnastics on the side for that first year.
Was there a moment you decided you wanted to become a professional dancer?
At the end of the first year of ballet classes, they had a student concert, it became interesting at that point. I never had that dream that I want to be a princess on stage, I just really enjoyed the work and improving each day, but that’s when I considered dancing professionally. My teacher there was Galina Skoratova with whom I prepared my very first solo variation while in school.
I also got a scholarship for the school in Monte Carlo. Since the vacations in Austria were quite long, I spent every summer from age 11 onwards in France, either in Cannes or at the Princess Grace Academy to keep training.
How long did you train in Vienna before joining the Vienna State Opera Ballet?
It’s supposed to be 8 years of school, but I joined the company when I was 15. And at that time Manuel Legris became the director at Vienna State Ballet and, not having many Viennese dancers, he didn’t want to lose one of the city’s people, so he offered me to join the company at that point. In Austria, they don’t have such a huge ballet culture as they have here in Russia, the opera takes precedence. And there hadn’t been an Austrian principal dancer in quite a while at that point, so there was a push to retain Austrians.
Basically, all the principal dancers were Russian, the last Austrian was Brigitte Stadhler who danced with Rudolf Nureyev and Vladimir Malakhov but that was some time ago.
What about academic school?
I did the curriculum offline and took the exams, but I was in the ballet company full time. For the first four months at the Vienna State Opera Ballet, I was an apprentice but then I was officially made a company member. The first program I was really involved in was actually a gala evening for the young talents in the company, so I danced the pas de deux by Jose Martinez “Delibes Suite”. He didn’t set it as he couldn’t come, but Manuel Legris knew the choreography as they were former colleagues. And the other was the premiere of “Don Quixote”, Nureyev’s version, and I danced the Act 3 Bridesmaid variation in the Grand Pas. I was in the corps de ballet, but I was entrusted in demi solo parts from the beginning because that was and is Maneul Legris’ philosophy, since he was accepted by Nureyev at a young age himself. That was very interesting for me and great motivation.
When was your first principal role?
I danced Effie in Pierre Lacotte’s version of “La Sylphide” when I was 16 or 17. We rehearsed a lot with Pierre Lacotte and Elisabeth Platel in person. It was crazy how it all came together, it somehow just happened to me. I chose to dance, but the timing for all of this was right to start my career when Legris joined Vienna as Director. It was a great time because it was like fresh air for Vienna, he really raised the ballet to a new level there. I was lucky to work with these legends from a young age.
You stayed in Vienna for 6 years and then left for Munich. Why?
It’s interesting to see different things and have a fresh environment. I came to the company as a child and I needed that change to be somewhere where I wasn’t seen as a child. By then I was a grown up and Igor Zelensky had taken over the company in Munich. So again I started where a new director had just come in. I really liked the way he and his wife Yana approached ballet. I needed to see something different and experience another style and another way of working. I feel that’s where I developed as a ballerina in terms of how I approached my roles and my work, there’s a lot of Igor and Yana’s influence there.
I was a demi-soloist when I left Vienna and joined Munich as demi-soloist too, but was promoted after six months there.
What was the mentality in Munich, how is it different?
They love working, and I also love to work hard and I think they saw and appreciated that. That’s why they chose me to work with them on new roles. I was very hungry for work at that time. I wanted to dance more ballets. In Vienna I felt I was waiting and nothing was happening. Sometimes it wasn’t even about waiting, I just wanted the change. Vienna had classical and a few neoclassical evenings. Munich was the same, but in Vienna there was more Nureyev repertoire because they had that connection via Legris. In Munich we had Balanchine, Grigorovich, Wheeldon but almost the same amount of neoclassical.
For each stage of my life, the right people were there for me. I’m very grateful to Manuel Legris as well as Igor Zelensky and Yana Zelensky. We spoke English in Munich, for the most part but I picked up some Russian while working with the two of them.
You started in Munich as a demi-soloist, but you seemed to progress quickly there as well.
Yes, in Munich, I was performing soloist roles and quickly became a soloist. I danced Myrtha in “Giselle” alongside Natalia Osipova and Sergey Polinin – they brought in these big names. Then I danced Aegina in Yuri Grigorovich’s “Spartacus”, which was the first big premiere in Munich. I also danced Gamzatti alongside Vladimir Shklyarov and Sergey Polunin.
Did you have a pedagogue in Munich?
Yes, I worked extensively with Yana Zelensky. At first her approach was “tough love” because she’s very demanding but I needed that and liked it. We both have a great deal of respect for each other and are still in close touch. I’m very grateful to her because she really shaped not just my dancing but my mentality. I appreciate the approach that after you’ve danced a role, the work really begins. It]s not that you’ve danced it and then you keep going and move on. I adhere to that idea of working to make it better and always improve yourself.
Was there a shift from the schedule in Vienna to Munich?
The schedule was different. In Vienna you work the whole day, but in Munich my workload was different, it was more intensive as we had to prepare bigger roles, and I had more responsibility. We had morning and evening rehearsals.
You joined the Mikhailovsky in 2022. Is it true that the workload here in Russia is greater?
(laughs) Yes, that’s definitely true! But it’s a good thing, because our profession is so short time-wise. But to be on stage — that’s why we’re doing this job. I want to get the most out of the time I have on stage, and that’s what I appreciate and love here. You don’t feel like you’re waiting for something to happen or wasting your time. In Europe the tendency was to have fewer and fewer ballet performances because opera is more important there, it’s regarded more highly.
There’s also a tendency there to want to reinvent things and have more modern and “new” classical ballets, but personally I love classical ballet, which is not to say I have no interest in modern works. But having 3 or 4 Swan Lakes and a few casts of ballerinas, that’s not much for a ballerina to dance.
Was there any culture shock moving to Russia?
No, actually there wasn’t. At first I was so immersed in my work that I couldn’t experience a culture shock, and to be honest I really enjoyed the winter here. I guess I haven’t experienced anything bad, of course it’s slippery, but otherwise I enjoy not having to go anywhere (laughs).
I’m very happy here because I feel Russia has a greater respect for the art form. I don’t want to discredit the other companies, but here everyone understands this is your life and what we’re living for at this moment.
What about the language?
I speak mainly in Russian in the company, there are a few foreigners here and with them I do speak in English. But I tried to use Russian from the beginning because that’s the only way to pick it up and I think it’s also respectful, I came here, and it’s respectful to speak their language.
Did you have to adapt anything stylistically here?
I think that comes with time, because here there’s more focus on the upper body and acting on stage. But that happens naturally if you work with new teachers. They tend to have fresh eyes and see new mistakes or new approaches because they’re not used to you yet. They may also have different taste.
Do you have a specific pedagogue here?
Yes, I work with Elvira Khabibullina who was a principal dancer here. We work on all of my roles together. I think it’s important because somehow you grow together and get a sense of how to work together. I like having just one pedagogue, she becomes very important to the dancer. Of course onstage it’s my responsibility, the light is on me, but I know the performance is a product of at least two people working on the performance. I arrived here as a developed dancer so maybe our relationship is slightly different, we don’t have a mother/daughter relationship, but there’s definitely a warmth and respect for each other.
Do you manage to relax while on vacation? Have you gone back home?
Last year I wasn’t in Austria, but I returned to Europe during vacation. In Europe when I worked there we had longer vacations so I would use half the time to relax and the other I would work. But this year I had less time off, just a month, so I relaxed at the beach. You have to take care of your body and not get completely out of shape because then it’s so much harder to get back into shape.
Do you do cross training?
I used to do Pilates and go to the gym often, but here I don’t. I’m trying to do Pilates again because I miss it. And I try to listen to my body, I will do Pilates exercises by myself for example, so I guess there is cross-training there.
Do you have a favorite ballet in the Mikhailovsky repertoire?
Not really, I love to dance everything.
What is the best part of your job?
Having a variety of ballets and the possibility to be another person every day and act out scenarios onstage that you can’t live in everyday life, or that you haven’t lived yet.
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
Showing up no matter what.
Would you ever want to teach?
In a way, yes, I have some interest, but I’m not sure. When I see something doesn’t work in a rehearsal, I want to help and share my knowledge and make things easier, to help develop the new generation. But it’s not my place. I haven’t really thought that far ahead yet.
What advice would you give to young dancers?
Don’t give up, keep working. Listen to yourself and your teachers, and relax. Don’t be so worried.
Does becoming a ballerina depend only on talent?
No, I think mindset is very important, as well as your character and the desire to work. Because talent only gets you so far, and there’s a great deal of work behind being on stage and delivering a good show.
What are your dreams for the future?
I want to be able to do what I love for as long as I can with very high quality. I am a person who lives from day to day. Of course there can be big aspirations, but I’m not a big planner.
Do you believe in Fate?
Yes I do. Because now I feel very at home here. I am where I’m supposed to be, doing what I’m supposed to be doing.
Photos courtesy of the Mikhailovsky Theatre.