Smiles and music. Talking to Alexander Zaitsev
Stuttgart is unexpectedly hot under the June sun. I meet Alexander Zaitsev in the afternoon, the day before his promotion to Principal, being fully unaware of the upcoming event ready to bring this Russian dancer to the highest honour in the ranks of the Stuttgart Ballet. The Company has more than one Alexander: for everybody, Zaitsev is Sasha. Sascha joined the Stuttgart Ballet in 1996; he is blond, has widely deep eyes and the rare ability to talk creating an empathy which goes beyond the apparent courtesy. Smiling frequently, but not so often as look false or superficial, Sascha warmly unbosoms himself to a strange connection as soon as we have introduced, unexpected but natural consequence of an immediate liking.
Imagine the sound you would make if somebody gave you the exact thing you'd wanted your whole life. That's the sound Sascha makes when he smiles before or after speaking. He talks to me about the work on Cranko's Onegin and Romeo and Juliet, while he guides me along the passages of the Stuttgart Opera House. Through the terrace overlooking the new Staatsgalerie we come into a large studio. As we sit down, "Don't worry about the time" he says, "I am not in a hurry".
My first important role was here in Stuttgart… I think it was Notations, a creation Uwe Scholz made for Vladimir Malakhov. It is a solo of twelve minutes. I danced it during my first season here at the Stuttgart Ballet, and it was very nice to work on this creation, because I prepared the ballet with Uwe Scholz in person… and I have to say it was a great success! It is a contemporary creation and I did like it very much… But I loved also dancing Lenskij in Onegin, many works by Glen Tetley as The Rite of Spring and Pierrot Lunaire…
I have been lucky enough to work almost with all the best contemporary choreographers, as Forsythe…
Actually, Lenskij is an amazing role to dance…
Yes, it is a dramatic role I love… the dance, the acting…
… how is it as far as the technique?
It is quite difficult, all the pirouettes have to be quite slow, following the music, and you have to show the emotions through the steps. And it is hard… but it is also an incredibly interesting character to work on, as you can show the technique and much more.
And did Reid Anderson give you specific suggestions about the way to prepare it?
Also as far as the technique… Yes… as you know, he worked with John Cranko and he learnt from him exactly what a dancer has to show. But to me the role is special also because I am Russian, and Onegin is a novel written by a Russian author and the story is set in Russia… Anyway, Reid Anderson gave me many nice corrections… he always does, particularly when we work on a Cranko ballet. I prepared this year also The Taming of the Shrew, I had my première in September or October.
The Stuttgart Ballet uses to work a lot on the ballets by Cranko… Onegin, and also in this season, Romeo and Juliet… do you like John Cranko and his creations?
I don't think I am able to tell how the Cranko's style is… I can't explain it, but… I mean, when I see his ballets I recognise him, I understand it. I like it very much.
And which is the style you prefer? A more contemporary one, as Glen Tetley, or…?
I love Glen Tetley, I love to dance his ballets. I did many creations of his, I have been liking him as a person since the day I met him for the first time, long time ago… he is always very nice to me. But, you know, some of the contemporary pieces are far more harder for the body, because you are moving non-stop! There are lots of modern creations I like, anyway. Kazimir's Colours by Mauro Bigonzetti has a beautiful music and a beautiful pas de deux.
And as far as the repertoire?
Oh, I remember Don Quixote by Maximiliano Guerra… a very difficult production, the technique was all tricks. But I did enjoy it, it is a nice ballet… we have no Don Quixote here in Stuttgart.
Is there something you would not do again?
I have to say, some creations by John Cranko were really hard for me… particularly Initialen R.B.M.E. with music by Johannes Brahms, created for Richard Cragun, Birgit Keil, Marcia Haydée and Egon Madsen. I danced the first part, Richard Cragun's one, and it was incredibly hard. That was probably the hardest thing to do for me, as far as the technique, so… I don't know if I would do it again!
Yes, it is. Of course there's not only the technique, on stage. Here in Stuttgart the audience is very sensitive to the acting, the performance, the expression of emotions. Lots of Cranko's ballets are difficult also because of this… and it is beautiful to dance them here, in the Opera House of Stuttgart, because they were created here, and here people saw them when Cranko was still alive, and here we learn them and dance them again.
Can a dancer reach the perfection?
It is always different… every time. I mean, you can think "Oh, this dancer is perfect", but for other people he might look not so perfect. Everybody is different, especially as far as the classical ballets: you can see a nice body, nice legs, nice lines… but the character a dancer portrays can look good for somebody, and for somebody else totally the opposite; you can find good actors and actors you don't like.
What do you do to stay healthy? You know, you always hear around dancers do eat nothing…
I love sweets, I have to say…! Particularly chocolate… I never do diet. Actually, I had a few problems only during the school years… they wanted to throw me out because I was too fat…
Were you…?
Yes, and I was not very tall. But I was able to go on with the dance school, I worked hard, and something changed with me… and here I am!
Has Alexander Zaitsev any other passion… besides dancing?
Of course, but sometimes in the evening I am so tired… and it is not easy to find the time! I don't go out so often. I like to stay at home, you know, because I spend all my day in theatre. I love reading… I love books, in Russia I used to read so many books! During the summer, you know, I like going swimming somewhere, and I also like diving.
You danced Pierrot Lunaire with Mara here in Stuttgart… your first experience together. How had been to work with her?
It was fine, because we were all waiting for her, you know, when a guest arrives… So I came to rehearsal the first day and I saw her with a great smile; she is a very nice person, and all our work went on always with a smile. And it was very easy to dance with her… you know, she's not very tall, and there were no difficulties in the pas de deux, or with the lifts. We keep in touch, the way we can… with an email, or a text. Our relationship is really good, it was very nice to dance with her.
So you found no difference between a Royal Ballet ballerina and the Stuttgart Ballet ones…
No… I mean, Mara is quite small, as I have said we had no problems. The whole work was easy, the partnership worked.
And your experiences in London?
I was guesting with the Bolshoi Ballet in London, some years ago… I saw a performance there, Sylvie Guillem was dancing… you said you like her, don't you?
Of course I do! I love her…
Yes, it was a marvellous performance, I remember… There was Mukhamedov still dancing.
He did dance a lot with Mara… also his farewell Mayerling.
It was the first time I saw him… ten years ago, or maybe even more! And then I saw some performances of the Royal Ballet only in video… something like Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardée.
Did you ever dance La Fille?
I did, yes… we did it here in Stuttgart some years ago.
Do you have any favourite dancer to see when you go to the theatre as a part of the audience?
Actually, I am not so often in the audience. Yes, sometimes I watch some galas, but I use to watch most of the performances here in Stuttgart in the wings… and it is completely different. The biggest emotions, of course, come from new dancers, artists I don't see performing every day. But frankly I don't like that much to stay and watch one person dancing…
… so do you prefer to be on stage and dance?
Yes… sometimes yes, I do! I usually don't go to see ballets. When I am on stage, it's ok… there I am. But if I have no performance… I prefer to stay at home, or to do something else.
Do you prefer Sylvie Guillem or Darcey Bussell?
Actually, I haven't seen the Royal Ballet Principals dancing that much, but I think I prefer Sylvie. Look, I like so much also Maria Eichwald, when I see her dancing: she is always amazing on stage, always able to portray different characters. She is excellent in every creation, dancing the neo-classical, or something like Voluntaries by Glen Tetley… a pure, clean way of dancing. I danced my première of The Taming of the Shrew with her.
Reid is incredibly good in choosing dancers for a ballet, realizing what they can do and the way they can play a character… and Tatjana can be everything but an easy role for a ballerina. Sometimes it happens Reid chooses a person, and you do not understand how that person can dance that role; but in the end everything works… and the dancer works as well. Onegin is a ballet able to give strong emotions to the dancers, you know… the story and that music! It is beautiful.
What is your approach to dance? Rational or instinctive?
I always try to feel and follow the emotions a role is able to give me. When I was young I wanted to be an actor, probably that's why I use to feel a role emotionally. I like acting roles… characters to play, making them live and telling their story to the audience.
When we say goodbye Sascha doesn't hide his spontaneous disposition, and he even urges me to enjoy that evening performance (Onegin with a superlative Elena Tentschikowa dancing Tatjana). The morning after, while I am going up the stairs of the Stuttgart Opera House to attend the daily lesson of the Company, I am told Reid Anderson has just announced the promotions, and Sasha has been Principal since that morning. When I see him in the same studio where we have talked the day before, he is quietly receiving congratulations from his colleagues, smiling almost embarrassed. He sees me only when the lesson is beginning, but when he reaches me during the break my immediate reaction is to congratulate in my turn enthusiastically: hughes and kisses and his serene glance, with a "Thank you" wholly devoid of conceit which reveals again the crystalline personality of this new Principal at the Stuttgart Ballet.
Alessandro
All the images are by courtesy of the Press Office of the Stuttgart Ballet.