So here I am in Perm, it’s April but there’s still snow. At a beautiful Opera House, but my dance has already been danced. The only thing I have to concentrate on is my husband’s dance. Not sure if I’ve mentioned my husband before, but he’s a choreographer as well. He had made a beautiful duet back in November for a gala performance, and he decided to use that duet for the competition. He used the same dancer as in my dance, and his ballerina travelled with me just to dance his dance.
After arriving at the theatre, we watched bit of the second round backstage and then headed to the studio to rehearse. It’s always a nice feeling to be in a new studio and watch new dancers rehearse. We were given 40 minutes, but during that time my dancer had to rehearse his two variations for the third round if he would make it. So we rehearsed, and they got a feel of the dance again after ten days of not having rehearsed it. Larisa then went to watch a bit more of the second round and I stayed to watch Sasha rehearse his variations. He had gone to the competition without a teacher, and it’s always difficult to be your critical eye.
After the rehearsal there was nothing left to do except watch the second round. I did meet several people I knew. The ballet world is a small world, and there are always common friends. I met some choreographers from my St. Petersburg State Conservatory days who were also taking part in the competition. Some of the dances I had already seen for the choreography exams at the Conservatory. So it felt a bit like being back at the Conservatory.
Here is a picture of the inside of the Perm State Opera House.
After watching the second round we had a dinner at the cafe of the Opera House, and headed back to the hotel. The following day Larisa headed to ballet class, and I wandered around the Opera House, waiting for our stage rehearsal at 1445. The first half of the choreography round of the competition started at 12, so I sat in the theatre to watch it. Then was our stage rehearsal, where I was told that Larisa had gotten a cold, and had a temperature of 37 degrees. Still every performance has to have their problems, and as they say “the show must go on.” We rehearsed onstage, and then Larissa went back to the hotel to rest for a few hours before the evening. They were dancing close to the end, so she had plenty of time.
Meanwhile, I met up with a friend and we went for a walk around the city. My friend showed me the building where Sergei Diaghilev had lived, and then we headed to the Perm State Choreographic College. At the door the security guard asked who we were there, and when we said we were foreigners who just wanted to have a look at the school, the guard arranged for a private tour. My ballet teacher Olga Tozyiakova had graduated from Perm State Choreographic College and danced at the very theatre where the competition was taking place. It meant a lot to me to be walking in her footsteps.
We then headed back to the theatre for the evening round of the competition. I watched the first half, then stood backstage and waited with my dancers. Finally it was their turn to dance, and I stood in the wings nervous, and was glad that I wasn’t the one dancing. All I can say is that they danced beautifully. The dance is called “-3 Years Celsius” and was choreographed by my husband Aleksandr Höglind. Here are some pictures.
They danced beautifully, and after it was all over we headed to a restaurant to have a glass of champagne and wait for the results. We waited until 2300, and still there were no results on the internet, so we headed back to the hotel.
The next morning I headed back to the theatre where I read the results. Neither I nor my husband had won anything, but Larissa was awarded a diploma for best interpretation of a contemporary dance. So a small win, nevertheless, and not a waste to have taken part.
Larissa and I were picked up later that morning and driven to the train station. Another six hour train ride back to Ekaterinburg, and while reading on my iPad I started to feel sick. Never knew one could get train sickness. I made it back to Ekaterinburg without throwing up, and Larissa’s husband picked us up and dropped me off at Ekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. I headed straight to the dressing room to drop off my suitcase, and then rushed to see my husband where we were both so happy to see each other. I was still in my jeans, and didn’t look my best, still I watched the evening’s Dance Platform from the wings. I happily watched my husband’s new dance, and the guest dancer from Mariinsky Igor Kolb, but the rest of the time I was eager to talk to my husband and catch up. Two days we hadn’t seen each other, and yet we had a lot to say. Our world is ballet, and so we had a lot to say.
So we didn’t win, but the audience had really liked my husband’s dance, and as for my dance… There’s always room for improvement, and I knew it wouldn’t win, but hope to have more time to work on it now.
davinciballet 