Pogovor z asistentko koreografa najnovejše predstave Dunajski večer, nekdanjo balerino, ki opravlja svoj poklic z neizmerno strastjo.
Draga Alessandra, zelo sem vesela, da vas je naš umetniški vodja, Renato Zanella, povabil v Ljubljano kot svojo asistentko pri nastajanju naše nove baletne predstave Dunajski večer, ki bo doživela svojo ljubljansko premiero 26. 8. v Cankarjevem domu in je sestavljenega iz dveh delov: Opus 73 in Vsi na valček. S svojim visoko profesionalnim delom, pozitivno energijo in iskrivim karakterjem ste očarali naš ansambel, katerega del sem tudi sama, zato vas želim predstaviti bralcem Parade plesa širom Slovenije in tudi izven nje. Nam lahko najprej na kratko opišete svojo umetniško pot, kako ste se odločili za baletno umetnost, kako in kje je potekalo vaše šolanje, pozneje aktivna plesna kariera, ki ste jo nadgradili v poklic baletne mojstrice in pedagoginje. Sem morda še kaj izpustila?
Najprej bi se rada zahvalila za tako prijazen uvod. V veliko veselje mi je sodelovati z baletom SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana in po dolgih tednih trdega dela sem bila resnično navdušena, ko sem ob prvih vajah na odru lahko končno videla rezultat. Seveda upam, da bo tako kot jaz uživalo tudi občinstvo! Imam veliko srečo, da lahko opravljam delo, ki ga imam tako rada, saj mi opravljati poklic baletne mojstrice predstavlja drugo največjo strast, prva pa še vedno ostaja moja aktivna plesna kariera.
Prihajam iz dokaj majhnega mesta Bolzano, ki leži v v italijanskih Alpah, od katerega je bil pravi balet oddaljen prav toliko kot morje! V tamkajšnjo baletno šolo sem se vpisala pri osmih letih, ker je bila učiteljica prijateljica moje mame, vendar me nasprotno od večine deklic niso navdušili baletni tutu kostumi, baletni ‘špic’ copati in pravljični videz balerin, temveč strogi, skoraj vojaški treningi. Po igri naključij me je opazila angleška učiteljica baleta, ki je staršem predlagala, naj se preizkusim na avdiciji za Elmhurst Ballet School, profesionalno šolo v Angliji, ki svoje učence izobražuje v smeri vseh uprizoritvenih umetnosti: ples, petje in igra. Tako so se začela štiri najtežja leta v mojem življenju, ki jih je zaznamovalo neverjetno domotožje po družini in domu, kar je okrepilo mojo odločitev postati baletna plesalka po končanem šolanju, saj nisem hotela, da bi bilo moje trpljenje zaman. Pot, ki me je pripeljala do profesionalne plesalke, je bila vsekakor večkrat težavna, polna izzivov in stisk, vendar ko se obrnem nazaj, lahko rečem, da je bilo vredno.
Po času opravljanja avdicij v več baletnih ansamblih po Evropi, ki se mi je zdel kot večnost, sem bila končno sprejeta v balet Dunajske državne opere. Šele takrat se je razcvetela moja prava strast do baleta. Večkrat sem imela čast nastopati na znamenitem dunajskem novoletnem koncertu, ki se še danes v živo prenaša po vsem svetu, ansambel je izvajal širok repertoar, ki je vseboval dela Nurejeva, Macmillana, Kyliana, kot dela sodobnejših koreografov, predvsem Renata Zanelle, ki je bil tedanji umetniški vodja dunajskega državnega baleta. Na Dunaju sem plesala dvanajst let, ki so predstavljala najintenzivnejše obdobje moje plesne kariere, pozneje pa me je Vladimir Malakhov povabil, da se pridružim baletnem ansamblu v Berlinu, kjer sem uživala svoja zadnja plesna leta. Imela sem srečo, da sem lahko plesala do svojega 40. leta, in imela sem še več sreče, da sem dobila priložnost postati baletna mojstrica v lastnem ansamblu!
Vsekakor je izredno zahtevna izkušnja nenadoma prevzeti odgovornost za plesalce, ki so bili še pred nekaj meseci tvoji kolegi, vendar me je to naučilo tudi pomembnosti psihološke plati našega poklica: nenehna uporaba diplomacije in občutka človeškosti, kar je včasih, ko se ukvarjam z mnogimi ljudmi hkrati, bolj potrebno kot poznavanje samega baleta.
Štiri leta pozneje, ko je ansambel prevzel Nacho Duato, sem žal izgubila pogodbo baletne mojstrice, saj je Duato s seboj pripeljal svoje asistente. To je takrat zame pomenilo pravo tragedijo, vendar kot pravijo: ko se zaprejo ena vrata, se odprejo druga. Odločila sem se, da bom kot mednarodna gostujoča baletna pedagoginja poskusila svojo srečo v evropskih baletnih ansamblih, in danes lahko s ponosom povem, da sem redna gostja v Kraljevem baletu v Londonu, La Scali v Milanu, Dunajski državi Operi, če omenim le nekaj pomembnih destinacij svojega dela.
Seveda nas vse zanima zgodovina vašega sodelovanja z g. Renatom Zanello, če se ne motim, je bil tudi vaš umetniški direktor na Dunaju, ko ste še delovali kot aktivna baletna plesalka. V Ljubljano ste prišli na njegovo povabilo, saj dobro poznate obe njegovi koreografski deli, ki jih bomo (upam) kmalu uprizorili pred občinstvom v živo. Kako je prišlo do tega sodelovanja in kako se počutite med ljubljanskim ansamblom? Tudi sama predstavljam del ljubljanske ekipe asistentov in upam si trditi, da vas imamo resnično radi v svoji sredini in cenimo vaše delo.
Tako je, Renato Zanella je bil moj direktor deset let v času moje plesne kariere v Dunajski državni Operi. Bil je mlad, živahen direktor/koreograf, ki je baletni ansambel preoblikoval v mlajšo, aktivnejšo, mednarodno uveljavljeno skupino. Zaposlil je odlične plesalce, izboljšal naš repertoar in organiziral turneje po vsej Evropi. S svojo neutrudno energijo je spremenil ugled ansambla v plesnem svetu. Bil je zahteven vodja, a najboljše, kar se nam je takrat lahko zgodilo. Pod njegovim vodstvom sem plesala v 50 različnih baletih! Oba sva leta 2005 zapustila Dunaj, vendar sva ves čas ostala v stikih. Leta 2010 se mu je ponudila priložnost, da svoj balet Alles Walzer uprizori z grškim državnim baletom in takrat me je prosil, naj mu asistiram pri tej nalogi. Bila sem na samem začetku svoje poti kot baletna mojstrica in nikoli še nisem prenašala tega baleta na drug ansambel, vendar je bila ta izkušnja v Atenah zame izrednega pomena. In zdaj, deset let pozneje, z izrednim veseljem pomagam pri postavitvi predstave Alles Walzer z ljubljanskim baletnim ansamblom, prvič pa prenašam tudi koreografijo Renatovega uspešnega baleta Beethoven, Opus 73.
Pravkar ste se vrnili iz Madrida, kjer se je ansambel pokazal z različico prihajajoče premiere, izvedeno z zmanjšanim številom ansambla. Kako je potekalo gostovanje v vroči Španiji, ste zadovoljni z rezultatom oziroma so plesalci uresničili vaša pričakovanja?
Turneja v Madridu je bila za vse nas velik izziv zaradi velike vročine! Še vedno ne vem, kako je plesalcem uspelo nastopiti na prostem, kjer je bila ob 23. uri temperatura še vedno 38° Celzija, v kompaktnih kostumih in pod žarečimi reflektorji! Bili so fantastični! Navdali so me z izrednim ponosom, saj so izpeljali tri čudovite predstave. Splošno vzdušje je bilo takšno, kot da bi želeli premagati vse izzive, ki so jim jih prinesli nov oder, nastopanje ob pozni večerni uri in suha puščava, ki jim jo je predstavljala vročina. Bili so neverjetno profesionalni!
Ste v Ljubljani prvič? Kako vam je všeč življenje v našem mestu in njegov utrip? Ste našli kakšen kotiček, ki vam je posebej pri srcu?
Nikoli prej nisem bila v Sloveniji, in že ko sem skozi okno letala pogledala navzdol na zeleno podeželje, se vedela, da mi bo tukaj všeč. Ljubljana je absolutni dragulj in že med mojim prvim obiskom v marcu sem med korona zaprtjem poskušala raziskati čim več tega mesta: povzpela sem se do Ljubljanskega gradu, šla v botanični vrt in obiskala Plečnikovo hišo. Zdi se mi, da so Slovenci neverjetno prijazni in jih na splošno zanimajo turisti, ki prihajajo iz drugih držav, česar ne morem trditi za druge države. Vsekakor je Ljubljana mesto z visoko kakovostjo življenja in upam, da se bom lahko vanjo še vrnila v prihodnosti.
Italijani ste znani kot gurmani, narod s slastno kulinariko, dobri kuharji in dobi jedci, čeprav si vas glede na vašo vitko postavo težko zamišljam v tej vlogi. Kako vam je všeč slovenska hrana, morda kakšna jed posebej izstopa? Žal ste prišli v žalostnem vovid-19 obdobju in tako niste mogli doživeti Ljubljane v polnem sijaju, pa vendar so zdaj restavracije in ostali lokali večinoma odprti. Upam, da ste dobili vsaj približen vtis našega mesta, morda tudi drugih kotičkov prelepe Slovenije .
Če sem iskrena, sem v prvih tednih bivanja v Ljubljani jedla predvsem hrano iz supermarketa, saj je bilo vse drugo zaprto, zdaj pa poskušam jesti vsak dan na drugem mestu in doslej sem okusila samo odlično hrano.
Kam vas pelje pot po končanem delu pri nas. Imate nekje svojo stalno delovno bazo ali se večinoma selite po svetu kot gostujoča baletna mojstrica?
Po premieri v Ljubljani se bom za nekaj dni vrnila v svoj dom v Berlin, nato pa začela z naslednjim projektom, baletom Pepelka, ki ga bo postavil Vladimir Malakhov na Poljskem. Zatem bom kot gostujoča učiteljica gostovala v angleškem Kraljevem baletu in v Nemčiji. Čeprav veliko potujem, vedno poskušam nekaj dni vmes preživeti doma, kar mi vedno pomaga pri ponovnem zagonu za naslednji projekt.
Po čem ste prepoznavni, kako si predstavljate, da vas vidijo drugi?
Na to vprašanje je zelo težko odgovoriti. Upam, da me ljudje vidijo kot nekoga, ki vedno ostane človek, tudi v najbolj stresnih situacijah. Naš poklic je težak in zlahka je izgubiti nadzor, vendar večkrat opomnim sama sebe, da biti umetnik predstavlja posebno čast in da bi zato moralo biti veselje stalni spremljevalec našega dela. Nikoli nisem razmišljala v smeri, da plešem ali poučujem za denar, ker imam tako zelo rada to, kar počnem.
Naj nam vsem skupaj zaželim srečno premiero, pljunem čez ramo: ”Toi, Toi, Toi!” kot to počnemo v našem baletnem svetu. Želim si, da vas g. Zanella še povabi k sodelovanju, saj verjamem, da čutite topel sprejem celotnega ansambla. Osebno se veselim ponovnega sodelovanja, saj ste nam ponudili toplo energijo in ogromno znanja, ki ga tako plesalci kot tudi mi, asistenti in pedagogi, avtomatično posrkamo vase. Izkušnje so znanje, celo življenje se učimo in znanja nam ne more nihče vzeti. Upam, da so občutki vzajemni, da si tudi vi želite ponovnega sodelovanja z nami.
Občutek je več kot obojestranski. Tukaj sem doživela resnično topel sprejem od vseh: plesalcev, baletnih mojstrov in drugih zaposlenih. V resnici nisem vedela, kakšen ansambel lahko pričakujem, a sem kmalu spoznala, da je plesalcem kljub njihovi različni starosti in izkušnjam skupna želja plesati in biti na odru. Še posebej sem navdušena nad glavnimi solistkami, ki so odlične in neustrašne na odru! V teh tednih skupnega dela sem neizmerno uživala in še posebej se zahvaljujem tebi Claudia, Viktorju in Mojci, ki so mi kot baletni mojstri brezhibno asistirali.
Na koncu še morda vprašanje, ki se morda sliši kot kliše, pa vendar to nikakor ni. Kaj vam pomeni baletna umetnost oziroma kako je ta zaznamovala vaše življenje?
Verjamem, da bo velik kliše predstavljal tudi moj odgovor: balet je moje življenje, moj namen in moja izpolnitev. Moj obstoj na tem svetu bi bil brez le-tega dolgočasen in prazen.
Draga Alessandra, hvala za vaš čas in odgovore. Zdaj pa naprej na delo v baletno dvorano, naproti skupnemu cilju, prihajajoči premieri Dunajski večer, ki bo prva premiera za naš ansambel po dolgi koronski pavzi, zato se bo gotovo zapisala v naša srca na prav poseben način.
Moja pot me bo kmalu popeljala v druge kraje, a brez dvoma lahko povem, da ima baletni ansambel SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana prav posebno mesto v mojem srcu! Na nek način mi vzbuja občutek drugega doma, ki si ga bom zapomnila kot kraj, na katerega sem bila ponosna. Najlepša hvala Renatu Zanelli, da me je povabil sem, in upam, da se kmalu vrnem!
Dear Alexandra. I am very glad that our Artistic director, Renato Zanella invited you to Ljubljana as his assistant during the creation of our new ballet performance Dunajski večer (Vienna Evening), which premiere in Ljubljana will happen on August 26 at Cankarjev dom and is consist of two parts: Opus 73 and Alles Walzer. With your highly professional work, positive energy, and sparkling character, you enchanted our ensemble, of which I am also a part, so I want to introduce you to the readers of the Parada plesa throughout Slovenia and beyond. Can you first briefly describe to us your artistic path, how you decided to go in Ballet art, how and where your schooling took place, and later your active dance career that you upgraded to the profession of Ballet master and Teacher. Maybe I forgot to mention something else?
First, I would like to thank you for this very kind introduction. It is a great pleasure for me to be working with the Slovenian National Ballet and after many weeks of hard work, I am thrilled to finally see the result on premier night. Of course, I hope the audience will enjoy it too! I am very lucky to be able to do a job that I love so much and being a ballet mistress is the second biggest passion after my active dancing career.
I come from Bolzano, a fairly small city in the Italian Alps and ballet was as remote from there as the sea! I joined the local ballet school aged 8, because the teacher was my mother’s friend, but on the contrary to many little girls I was not fascinated by the tutu, point shoes, and fairy like appearance of ballerinas, but by the rigorous and military like training.
A combination of coincidences brought me to the notice of an English teacher who suggested to my parents I should try to audition for Elmhurst Ballet School, a professional school that prepares their students to all the performing arts: dancing, singing, acting. And there began the 4 hardest years of my life, marked by an incredible homesickness for my family and home, which made me even more determined to become a ballet dancer once the school was finished, so not to have suffered in vain. My path to becoming a professional dancer was definitely not without difficulties, challenges, and hardship, but looking back it was all worth it.
After what felt like an eternity spent auditioning in several companies around Europe, I was finally accepted at the Vienna State Opera Ballet. This is where my real passion for ballet bloomed. Several times I had the honor of performing at the renowned New Year’s Concert, which is televised live worldwide and danced a wide repertoire which included works by Nurejew, Macmillan, Kylian, to more modern pieces mainly by Renato Zanella, who was the director of the company at the time. My 12 years in Vienna were definitely the most intense, but later I was also invited by Vladimir Malakhov to join the company in Berlin, where I enjoyed the last years of my career. I was lucky to dance till the age of 40 and was even luckier to be given the opportunity of becoming a ballet mistress in my own company! It is definitely the hardest school to have to suddenly be in charge of dancers who, till a few months earlier, were your own colleagues, but that taught me also the psychological side of our profession: the constant use of diplomacy and knowledge of the humankind, which sometimes, when dealing with many people at once, is more necessary than the knowledge of ballet itself.
Four years later, when Nacho Duato took over the company, I unfortunately had to lose my contract to enable him to bring his own personal assistant. That was a tragedy for me, but as they say: when one door closes, another one opens. I decided to try my luck as an international guest teacher around the ballet companies of Europe and now years later, I’m very proud to say I am invited regularly to the Royal Ballet in London, to La Scala in Milan, to the Vienna State Opera, just to mention a few.
Of course we are all very interested in the history of your cooperation with Mr. Renato Zanella, if I am not mistaken, he was also your artistic director in Vienna when you were still working as an active ballet dancer. You came to Ljubljana at his invitation, as you are well acquainted with both Zanella’s choreographic works, which we will (hopefully) soon perform in front of the live audience. How did this collaboration come about and how do you feel about the Ljubljana ensemble? I also represent a part of the Ljubljana team of assistants, and I dare say that we really love you as a person and appreciate your work.
Yes, Renato Zanella was my director for 10 years at the Vienna State Opera Ballet, when I was a dancer. He was a young, vibrant director/choreographer who transformed the company to a younger, more active, internationally acclaimed company. He hired good dancers, improved our repertoire, and organized tours all over Europe. With his tireless energy he changed the reputation of the company in the dance world. He was a tough director, but the best thing that could have happened to us at the time. Under his directorship I danced 50 different ballets! We both left Vienna in 2005, but always kept sporadic contact. Then in 2010 he was offered to bring his “Alles Walzer” to the Greek National Ballet and asked me to assist him with this task. I was at the very beginning of my journey as a ballet mistress and had never set a ballet, but this experience in Athens was a great one for me. And now, 10 years later, I have the incredible joy to set “Alles Walzer” again here in Ljubljana and, for the first time, also another of his successful ballets: “Beethoven”
You just got back from Madrid, where the ensemble showed up with a version of the upcoming premiere, performed with a reduced number of the ensemble. How was the tour in hot Spain, are you satisfied with the result, did the dancers fulfill your expectations?
The tour in Madrid was a big challenge for us all due to the great heat! I still do not know how the dancers managed to perform open air with 38° still at 11 pm, in thick costumes under the blaring spotlights! They were fantastic! I felt so proud because they delivered three wonderful shows. The general atmosphere was that of wanting to overcome any challenges that the new stage, the late schedule, or the dry desert like heat gave them. They were incredibly professional!
Are you in Ljubljana for the first time? How do you like life in our city and its pulse? Did you find a place that is especially close to your heart?
I had never been to Slovenia before and already from the airplane window I looked down on the green countryside and I knew I would love it here. Ljubljana is an absolute jewel and already in March during lockdown I tried to discover as much of the city as I could: I walked up to the castle, I went to the botanical Gardens and visited Plečnik´s house. I find the Slovenian people to be incredibly kind and generally interested in tourists who come from other countries, which is not the case usually elsewhere. It definitely is a city with a high quality of life and I hope to be able to come back in the future.
You Italians are known as gourmets, a nation with delicious cuisine, good chefs, and eaters, although seeing your slim figure I find it hard to imagine you in this role. How do you like Slovenian food, is there any special dish that stands out? Unfortunately, you came in the sad Covid 19 period and so you could not experience Ljubljana in its full glory, but now the restaurants and other bars are mostly open. I hope you got at least a rough impression of our city, maybe also other places of beautiful Slovenia.
To be honest, during my first weeks in Ljubljana I mainly eat food from the supermarket, as everything was closed, but now I try to eat every day in a different place and so far, I only had excellent food.
Where do your plans take you after finishing work with us. Do you have your permanent work base somewhere, or do you mostly move around the world as a guest ballet master?
After the premier in Ljubljana, I will go back to my home in Berlin for a couple of days and then start the next project, which is to set Vladimir Malakhov “Cinderella” in Poland, then I shall be guest teaching at the Royal Ballet and in Germany. Although I travel a lot, I always try to have a couple of days at home which give me always a good start for the next project.
How are you recognizable, how do you imagine others to see you?
This is a very difficult question to answer. I hope that people see me as someone who always remains human, even in the most stressful situations. Our profession is a tough one and it is easy to lose oversight, but I always remind myself that it is an honor to be an artist and that joy should play a huge part whilst doing it. I’ve never thought of dancing or teaching for money and that is because I love what I do.
Let me wish us all a happy and successful premiere, by spitting over our shoulders: “TOI, TOI, TOI!”, as we do that in our ballet world. I wish Mr. Zanella will invite you to work with us again, as I believe you feel the warm welcome of the whole ensemble. Personally, I look forward to working with you again, as you have offered us most warm energy and a huge amount of knowledge that both dancers and we, assistants, and teachers, automatically absorb. Experience is knowledge, we learn all our lives, and no one can take away our knowledge. I hope the feelings are mutual, that you too want to work with us again.
The feeling is more than mutual: I was welcomed here from day one in such a warm manner by everybody: the dancers, the ballet masters, the staff. I didn’t really know what kind of company to expect, but I soon realized that although there are dancers of all different ages and backgrounds, they all have one thing in common: they want to dance and be on stage. I am especially impressed with the female principal dancers of the company, who are excellent and fierce on stage! I enjoyed these weeks of working together immensely and have a particular big thank you to Claudia, Viktor and Mojca, who assisted me impeccably as ballet masters
In the end, there may be a question that may sound like a cliché, but it is by no means. What does ballet art mean to you, or how has it marked your life?
I believe the answer will be a huge cliché as well: Ballet is my life, my purpose, and my fulfilment. My existence would be very dull without it.
Dear Alessandra, thank you for your time and answers. Now let’s go back to work in the ballet studio, towards the common goal, the upcoming premiere of Vienna Evening, which will be the first premiere for our ensemble after a long Corona break, so it will be written in our hearts in a very special way.
My journey will soon take me to other places, but I can say with no doubt that the Slovenian National Ballet and Ljubljana hold a very special place in my heart! It feels a little bit like a second home, and I will remember it as a place that made me proud. I thank Renato Zanella very much for inviting me here and I hope to be back soon!
