“Wherever I went, I was learning something all the time”: Svetlana Zakharova about the audience, behind the scenes of the ballet and Coco Chanel

- Svetlana, thank you very much for finding time for us, given your busy schedule.

- I am very pleased thank you.

Indeed, the schedule is busy despite the fact that most of the world's theaters are closed.

We continue to work.

And now the conditions are not quite ordinary, only 25% of the spectators will be in the hall.

Before that, it was 50%.

But it didn't feel very much that the hall was half-empty.

Still, a certain number of people were present, and the energy was present.

Now it will be 25%, until mid-January.

Hopefully only until mid-January ...

- Do you pay attention to the audience during your performance?

- The auditorium is usually dark, and spotlights shine in our eyes.

Therefore, I can see the audience only during the intermission and when bowing, after the performance.

And so, in principle, I only feel them.

I feel their energy, their views and attention.

I feel when the viewer rustles, someone falls, the phone rang, there is some kind of inattention.

But mostly in the hall there is complete silence, full attention and concentration on the stage.

- When they rustle, is it more likely to distract you, or do you think: “Oh, the audience is there, watching”?

- I dont think about it.

It's just a human factor.

I don't want to think that someone is doing it on purpose.

Although there have been such cases in my life and in the lives of my colleagues.

Someone's phone may ring at the most dramatic moment.

And I had cases when in Paris I danced "Giselle" at the "Grand Opera", and during the action, during a scene of madness, someone shouted from the box.

I didn't understand what they were saying.

Then they told me that it was a Russian fan of some other ballerina who came to confuse me a little, to knock me out of my mood ...

Things like that temper, I guess.

Such moments, on the contrary, make you stronger.

And then you're ready for anything.

- If not the audience, maybe your colleagues in the shop, as they say, did some dirty tricks?

- In general, such things are typical for any environment, not only for ballet.

It doesn't even have to be art.

When a person is talented, extraordinary, when he draws attention to himself, when he goes on stage and the viewer loves him, naturally, many ill-wishers are born around who, mediocre, want to be in his place in any way ... But I can't remember something disgusting in my life.

- Broken glass in pointe shoes?

- Never.

I cannot remember that this happened to my colleagues.

Most of the artists, it seems to me, are believers.

Because it helps.

Sometimes a person cannot cope with himself, but forces help that we do not see, but only feel.

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- Your next performance will take place tomorrow (the interview was taken on November 27, 2020 -

- I think if I performed here tomorrow, on the stage of history, I would cancel all interviews today.

Because performing on the stage of history is a completely different concentration, different emotions ... Most likely, because there is history on this stage.

The greatest ballet and opera artists have performed there.

Of course, the responsibility is completely different.

- Apart from the emotions and atmosphere, are there any technical differences between the scenes?

- The size, of course, is different.

And the slope - we call it "slope".

The audience practically does not notice this.

There is such a scene that you put a ball - it rolls into the orchestra pit, does not even stand still.

There is a completely flat stage, no tilt.

And here, probably, everyone uses their own school, because there is already a different technique, different methods.

- That is, the audience does not feel anything, and your fingers ...

- Yes.

As a rule, the viewer wonders why the ballerina starts a fouette at one point and ends somewhere else.

This, of course, is also a lack of school, they teach this - how to keep your back on the slope, how to keep your back when there is no slope ...

We are working on these subtleties.

We also have slopes in the rehearsal room.

And so we need to do a rehearsal when we arrive at some new theater.

A must to try the scene.

- You mentioned that the New Stage saved the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater at the moment when there was a reconstruction, and helped everyone to keep their shape.

Now we have a crazy time, COVID-19, security measures.

This also became a big test.

What helped you stay fit?

- Everyone was at home.

Everyone has different conditions, and at first all sorts of jokes appeared on the Internet, when ballet dancers - not only Russian, but also foreign ones - showed how they were doing.

Someone is holding onto the stove, someone is holding the sink in the kitchen.

Someone on a small "patch" is trying to do something, to keep in shape in this way.

It was even funny at first.

But then, when it was all prolonged and extended, the tension grew terribly.

And I remember that the first month of quarantine, sitting at home and practicing at home led to some kind of mad fear.

- What were you holding on to?

- Thank God, I have good conditions at home in order to study.

And mirrors and ballet barre.

And at the Bolshoi Theater they gave me linoleum ...

- This is not the linoleum that everyone has in their kitchens, some kind of special one?

- Special linoleum, which is designed for performance.

Not necessarily ballet, now the whole dancing world is practicing on linoleum.

Starting in the second month, we all met together every morning on the Zoom platform.

The Bolshoi Theater teachers gave us morning classes.

But when you are sitting (on self-isolation. -

), you understand that the morning class is, as we sometimes joke, for digestion.

For a ballet dancer, this is not a burden.

Therefore, of course, I began to search the Internet for some difficult lessons, Pilates, Philates.

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- In October, the St. Petersburg premiere of the ballet Gabrielle Chanel took place ... This is a biographical ballet.

How difficult is it to fill such a role? 

- As it turned out, we know very little about the creator of the Chanel fashion house, Gabrielle Chanel.

To be honest, before I started working on this image, I had practically no interest in the personality itself.

Her brand and she are completely separate for me.

When I began to delve into her life, watch, read her memoirs, I went to Paris, visited her apartment, on the rue Cambon, looked at the situation there.

They drove me around, showed me - somewhere closer to the outskirts of Paris there is a huge center where the Chanel fashion house keeps large collections. 

- That is, for a ballet dancer, acquaintance with the character is also necessary.

- Sure.

Especially when you are dancing a living character that existed, it is very important to understand her, penetrate, feel.

When I read her memoirs, so many things turned upside down in my head!

I saw how, on the one hand, she was strong, purposeful, ready to go to any lengths to achieve her goal.

On the other hand, it was a small vulnerable woman who loved her all her life, fell in love, gave her love.

And in the end she came alone into this light, and from this light she left all alone ...

She loved Russian ballet.

I didn’t know that she sponsored Diaghilev’s entire performances, our famous Russian Seasons.

And she "dressed" some performances, made costumes.

In general, she was very fond of Russian.

The ballet was staged from scratch.

There was absolutely nothing - no libretto, no music, no choreography.

Ilya Demutsky specially wrote the music, Yuri Possokhov choreographed it.

And now, when everything was already beginning to emerge, when I already saw that the choreography was ready, I began to feel it all, to live it, and especially when I was already in character, in a suit, in this wig.

When I went on stage, I felt such pain at the moments of parting ... I just lived the life of Chanel. 

- Does Svetlana Zakharova have something in common with Gabrielle Chanel?

- I am very often asked about this.

And many people think there is.

In fact, it seems to me not.

The more interesting it was to me.

It is always very interesting to play a character, a hero whom you are completely different from ... When I dance in a performance, people believe me.

Many people wrote to me about this, said after the performance that they just saw Gabrielle Chanel live.

Let people think that she was.

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- You danced on the best stages, you have the title "Etoile" of the Teatro alla Scala.

Do you feel the difference when you look at foreign colleagues?

Is the Russian ballet school different?

Maybe other approaches, form, emotional fullness.

Do you have to adjust to it?

To master some new techniques.

- Yes of course.

When I was a younger ballerina, who was just visiting somewhere for the first time, I wanted to prove to everyone that I fit, that I had the right to dance at the Grand Opera.

After all, the French school is very different from the Russian one.

I wanted, without losing what I had been taught here in Russia, to learn something new from the French.

Therefore, wherever I went, I was learning something all the time

And during this time I already had such a baggage (appeared -

) that I was ready to go on stage with a completely unfamiliar partner almost from several rehearsals ... After all, you won't tell anyone that I fell a little bit because my partner knocked me down.

You have to take all the blame, and keep, and learn.

It was also a great school for me.

- Now I understand why such a status ... There probably is no higher?

- Today only two people have such a title - me and Roberto Bolle.

Moreover, I am a foreigner.

The first Russian to receive this status.

I love La Scala so much.

This is my native theater ... I come there as to my home.

And with the company, with absolutely everyone, I communicate with such love.

And they treat me very well there too.

- Do you have a favorite audience? 

- In general, the audience is amazing.

Sometimes you come to some country, to some city, to a theater, where you have never been, and there they are already waiting for you.

It's just incredible.

- Was there an audience that did not answer you at all?

- Anything happened.

But it always seemed to me that I was to blame for this.

Because the audience cannot be fooled.

If there is high art on the stage, if you give yourself completely, then whoever is sitting in the hall will eventually melt. 

- This year marks nine years of your charitable foundation.

Do you have time to follow the fate of the fellows?

In general, how much do you give to it?

- Our foundation pays out monthly scholarships to more than twenty students.

We are also holding a beautiful New Year and Christmas event ...

Children are very interesting to follow.

Let's say they say to me: "Your former scholar now works at the Bolshoi Theater" or "won some kind of competition."

Pleasantly.

I cannot say that I am in control of these children.

But some kind of human support is needed.

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- I would very much like to talk about children, about teaching ballet.

In particular, with your colleague Nikolai Tsiskaridze, we also closely communicated on this topic and raised the issue of the age from which it is optimal to start.

Nikolai Maksimovich is unambiguously of the opinion that not earlier than ten years.

As far as I have studied your biography, you also entered choreography at the age of ten.

But now we see a lot of schools when two, three-year-olds are given away.

What is your attitude to this?

- Nikolai Tsiskaridze is one of my favorite partners.

We communicate very warmly and closely.

He has colossal experience ... He has been running the Academy of Russian Ballet for so many years that he has already formed his own opinion.

I came when I was ten, because we had three classes in primary school, now it is four.

I think it's a little late after fourth grade.

That is, at the age of 11, it turns out.

Already there are quite old girls and sometimes very little boys.

Because boys develop later.

We take them as first grade, they are first graders.

And they are all grown up, experienced, they can do everything.

The child needs to be developed from the age of three.

It's probably too early at two.

The ligaments have not yet strengthened, there is absolutely no coordination.

But from the age of three, little topopeople, firecrackers, to listen to music, move to the music, dance.

Let it be a sport or something else, but the child must go to practice somewhere.

Let it be vocals, music.

And then, in each direction, there is a start of professionalism.

- The pandemic has challenged both stage veterans and experienced artists.

Maybe there will even be some kind of age hole?

- Yes, this is a very difficult period.

And the guys who graduated did not have a graduation concert, what they were going to - exams.

And, moreover, all this time they also worked at home, kept in shape.

It was very difficult for both children and teachers ... An artist, especially a child, must be looked at from all sides.

And when there is a small screen, there are 15 children and a poor teacher must keep track of everyone - it's just a disaster.

- This is not the first season you have hosted the Bolshoi Ballet TV show.

Do you think she succeeds in popularizing ballet?

And in general, is it necessary?

Still, ballet is a refined, refined art.

Should it be carried to the masses?

- I think it's worth it.

The fact is that many, having seen ballet on television, will simply be interested in this kind of art.

After all, not many cities in Russia have academic theaters with a professional troupe, where you will come and watch the performance.

In Soviet times, ballet was shown very often, concerts in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses.

There were broadcasts throughout the Soviet Union.

And then everyone knew who Galina Sergeevna Ulanova and Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya were.

Popularity does not happen by itself, it needs to be addressed.

Therefore, I really support this project, the Bolshoi Ballet, and there is also the Big and Small project, where children dance.

This, it seems to me, is very important ... They see you, they notice you, they pay attention to you, they talk about you.

You are being discussed, which is also important.

- Do you like it when you are discussed?

- I don't.

But at the same time, you know ... it doesn't matter what, the main thing is that they say.

I like it when they say something good, something pleasant.

When negative - I, of course, can be irritated, offended.

When I calm down, I can listen.

I begin to analyze why the person thought so.

And the next time I react differently.

In general, we have a profession - you study all your life.

There are always teachers nearby who teach you all the time.

On stage, you are a ballerina, a star, and in the hall you are a student all the time.

All the time you need to overcome yourself, look for something new, work out technical movements.

These famous 32 fouettés are not easy to come by.

They need to be wound every day so that you go on stage, and the work is not visible.

So that there was only dance and emotions.

And this is all work, rehearsals, hours, months, years spent in ballet halls.

See RTD for the full interview.