Diana Vishneva

2023 Author: Henry Pass | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 12:31

Diana Vishneva could easily write a ballet encyclopedia, and the definitions in these two or three volumes would be the most accurate and honest. Because she lived through each one: movements brought to the canon by thousands of repetitions, classical blockbuster ballets that Diana began to dance while still being the best student in the class at the Vaganov Academy, the names of the most important choreographers of two centuries, who staged their ballet experiments especially for her. From these very names, she made up a whole collection - an invaluable personal collection of choreographers, which none of the modern dancers can boast of. “I immediately understood that it was the choreographers who made a student with a strong education and potential a person with a name,” explains Vishneva, whose international career started thanks to one such person. In 1994, the diligent student Vaganovka was invited to the Le Prix de Lausanne competition. During the winter holidays (the time when heating and light are turned off in the rehearsal halls) Diana prepared a program, culminating in the miniature Carmen, staged for her by the then artistic director of the Academy Igor Belsky. This performance was seen by the art director of the Monte Carlo Ballet Jean-Christophe Mayo, who headed the jury, and Vishneva won the gold medal, which had not been awarded to anyone for 14 years in a row at that time. Since then, the rising star hasn't given Mayo a single reason to be disappointed in her choice. And in 2013, they even managed to work together: for Diana's solo program Grani, the French choreographer invented the ballet Switch.which culminated in the miniature Carmen, staged for her by the then artistic director of the academy Igor Belsky. This performance was seen by the art director of the Ballet of Monte Carlo Jean-Christophe Mayo, who headed the jury, and the gold medal, which had not been awarded to anyone for 14 years in a row, ended up with Vishneva. Since then, the rising star hasn't given Mayo any reason to be disappointed in her choice. And in 2013, they even managed to work together: for Diana's solo program Grani, the French choreographer invented the ballet Switch.which culminated in the miniature Carmen, staged for her by the then artistic director of the academy Igor Belsky. This performance was seen by the art director of the Ballet of Monte Carlo Jean-Christophe Mayo, who headed the jury, and the gold medal, which had not been awarded to anyone for 14 years in a row, ended up with Vishneva. Since then, the rising star hasn't given Mayo a single reason to be disappointed in her choice. And in 2013, they even managed to work together: for Diana's solo program Grani, the French choreographer invented the ballet Switch. Since then, the rising star hasn't given Mayo any reason to be disappointed in her choice. And in 2013, they even managed to work together: for Diana's solo program Grani, the French choreographer invented the ballet Switch. Since then, the rising star hasn't given Mayo any reason to be disappointed in her choice. And in 2013, they even managed to work together: for Diana's solo program Grani, the French choreographer invented the ballet Switch.

Another performance included in that project was the poetic Woman in the Room, composed by the American Caroline Carlson, under the impression of Andrei Tarkovsky's Mirror and the poetry of his father Arseny Alexandrovich.

THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON TO ME GIVEN WILLIAM FORESIGHT BY REMOVING ME FROM THE PERFORMANCE ON THE DAY BEFORE THE PREMIERE

The work on the production did not start easily: Carolyn asked the prima of the Mariinsky Theater to forget about sterile academic training, relax and start improvising. "Improvise? In the classical school, no one gives such freedom, the ballerina notes. - Since childhood, we have a fear of taking the wrong step. You will be immediately criticized, and you will fall into a psychological pit, from which you will then get out for a long time. " But Diana tried - and she succeeded. It couldn't fail. She loves experiments, has long been accustomed to doing what she thinks is right herself, and never ignores her inner voice. Perhaps it was he who prompted her to agree to Bazaar's offer to entrust the shooting of the cover not to a well-known fashion photographer, but to the legendary master of reporting, Georgy Pinkhasov, the only Russian member of Magnum Photos.still looking for the beauty of a random moment, as co-founder of the agency Henri Cartier-Bresson bequeathed.

In general, Diana understood the importance of her inner voice long ago. “The most important lesson in this sense was taught to me by William Forsyth, who removed me from the Steptext play the day before the premiere at the Mariinsky (March 2004 - approx. HB). For me, it became something like an earthquake. We rehearsed for a month with his assistant, everything was fine. But when it came to working with the choreographer, I realized that something completely different was required. It is impossible to discuss all the nuances with him directly, as it was not accepted in the theater - only through the administration or an assistant. Whatever status the dancer has. In order for the body to begin to move in a new way, the brain must change the program. Forsyth regarded my stupor as a manifestation of star fever. And I have never suffered from it,”recalls Vishneva, who after the rehearsal stood at the great American's office for four hours, waiting for an audience. When she explained to him what had really happened in her then very basic English, he was surprised. But he did not return the premiere to Diana: after all, another dancer had already begun to prepare. “I'll come anyway,” the ballerina insisted. "How? I took you off,”the choreographer retorted. “To the auditorium with flowers,” she laughed back. Before leaving, Forsyth arranged a separate rehearsal for Diana, and then flew over to her performance. They are still friends. “He showed me that there is a more independent way, when you yourself can choose and negotiate with choreographers who seem closest to you,” says Vishneva.“I'll come anyway,” the ballerina insisted. "How? I took you off,”the choreographer retorted. “To the auditorium with flowers,” she laughed back. Before leaving, Forsyth arranged a separate rehearsal for Diana, and then flew over to her performance. They are still friends. “He showed me that there is a more independent way, when you yourself can choose and negotiate with the choreographers who seem closest to you,” says Vishneva.“I'll come anyway,” the ballerina insisted. "How? I took you off,”the choreographer retorted. “To the auditorium with flowers,” she laughed back. Before leaving, Forsyth arranged a separate rehearsal for Diana, and then flew over to her performance. They are still friends. “He showed me that there is a more independent way, when you yourself can choose and negotiate with the choreographers who seem closest to you,” says Vishneva.who seem to be the closest to you,”says Vishneva.which seem to be the closest to you,”says Vishneva.

She never left this new path, although everyone around was perplexed: why is the main star of the Mariinsky and the prima of the American Ballet Theater contemporary dance? But Diana confidently bent her line.

"SHAKHEREZAD'S BALLET DIDN'T JUST TOUCH ME - PRESSED"

“I did all modern projects in parallel with the performance of classical parts. Each new performance expanded my horizons, and with it the possibilities of my body. Working at the Berlin Opera and the NDT (Netherlands Dance Theater - approx. NV) gave me confidence,”says the ballerina, whose enthusiasm sometimes puzzled the choreographers. Especially at the very end of the 2000s, when the world of classical dance was still perceived by progressive companies as something parallel and too ideal. These lines almost did not intersect, and the way the situation has changed is the merit of Vishneva. “Previously, a ballerina standing on pointe could not get into the NDT,” she explains. - Paul Lightfoot (choreographer and artistic director of the NDT with Sol Leon from 2002 to 2020. - Approx. NV) studied at the Royal Ballet School and for this reason knew the classics well, but Salt had never even seen Giselle. When I came to them in 2011 with an offer to work together, they reacted something like this: "You are wonderful, but why and what should you do here?" Actually, they came to the meeting only out of respect - to politely refuse. " Then there was a two-hour conversation, and after that the choreographers took Diana to the hall: they showed her the ballet Subject to Change and said that they wanted to see her in it. “Although they didn't even really know how I was moving. They just found a like-minded person in me. All of this helped me to be bold. "they came to the meeting only out of respect - to politely refuse. " Then there was a two-hour conversation, and after that the choreographers took Diana to the hall: they showed her the ballet Subject to Change and said that they wanted to see her in it. “Although they didn't even really know how I was moving. They just found a like-minded person in me. All of this helped me to be bold. "they came to the meeting only out of respect - to politely refuse. " Then there was a two-hour conversation, and after that the choreographers took Diana to the hall: they showed her the ballet Subject to Change and said that they wanted to see her in it. “Although they didn't even really know how I was moving. They just found a like-minded person in me. All of this helped me to be bold."

But back in 2020. The pandemic overtook Vishneva in St. Petersburg - a couple of days before Alexei Ratmansky's native Mariinsky Theater appeared on stage in Anna Karenina. At first, she even liked the quarantine - she could not even dream of such an amount of time with her two-year-old son Rudolph. But then the lockdown began to resemble a siege, the Tokyo Olympics, which Vishneva was supposed to open together with Aurelie Dupont with Ohada Naarin's ballet B / olero, was postponed, and the June program of the Context festival simply was canceled: among other things, we never saw the long-awaited "Inspector" of the Canadian superstar Crystal Payt and the Playback cabaret show by the same Naarin.