News
21.07.2016
Irina Perren: once, twice… three times a Juliet
A major event of last season was Irina Perren’s debut playing Juliet in the production by Nacho Duato. It opened on 1 June, but there was quite a long back-story leading up to this day for the ballerina."This is already the third version of Juliet for me. I have danced in three productions by three different choreographers working with Prokofiev’s score. I’ve been fortunate to have been involved in these three different versions at my favourite venue, the Mikhailovsky Theatre. My first outing in this role was in the wonderful production by Nikolay Boyarchikov. When I hear Prokofiev’s music, especially the scene in which Juliet first appears, I can still see his choreography in my mind’s eye. I later danced in Oleg Vinogradov’s production. He was also the artistic director of our company, but this was before I graduated from the Vaganova Academy. And now I’m involved in a third production, this time it’s by Nacho Duato. I was on maternity leave when the Spanish choreographer staged his version of Prokofiev’s ballet at our theatre in 2012. The premiere took place on 13 December and my daughter Eva was born the following day. Six months later, I danced in the premiere of the ballet Invisible; Duato created it with specifically me in mind. I believe he dedicated it to his mother. She’s a real character; she brought up his nine brothers and sisters.
"My daughter was three-and-a-half years old at the time of my debut in Romeo and Juliet and she really inspired me with her mischievousness and spontaneity. That’s probably why I am so into this work, it’s familiar territory. I rehearsed the role of Juliet with Zhanna Ayupova. I rehearsed with Alla Osipenko for Vinogradov’s version and with Larisa Klimova for Boyarchikov’s. In my opinion, Romeo and Juliet is one of Duato’s best ballets. You can sense the rhythmical thought of the choreography, and yet, the ballet is not like The Sleeping Beauty or The Nutcracker, there is a different aesthetic going on. Juliet, along with the female part in White Darkness, is now one of my favourite roles in Nacho’s productions.
"Boyarchikov’s Romeo and Juliet has a wonderful choreography in terms of design and visuals. His version of Romeo and Juliet is the longest, as he used the full version of Prokofiev’s three-act score. By way of comparison, in the production by Vinogradov — who also has his own style and many interesting directorial moments — the musical version incorporates cuts and is more dynamic, in two acts. Duato’s version of the ballet has two acts as well, but the story is told in a different way. His characters have become even more true-to-life. My Juliet Capulet comes from a noble family, but one that is very Italian, close to the nature of their living Earth. The Montagues are essentially portrayed as a family of farmers, so they dance with pitchforks and baskets of apples.
"Not many people remember that there was yet another version of Romeo and Juliet at our theatre — a one-act ballet by Boyarchikov, set to Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy Overture. The music is astounding! I rehearsed for that production when I first came to the Mikhailovsky Theatre but, to my great regret, I didn’t dance in it in the end. It only went on tour once, to Japan. The fact that it has been forgotten is a real oversight in my opinion. I want to get my hands on the video recording, watch it again, and perhaps recreate the performance somewhere. We listened to the music being performed in Japan, at a New Year’s concert. As I sat there in the auditorium, I had tears in my eyes because of the incredible power of Tchaikovsky, and I could still picture the movements of the role I never got the chance to perform.
“I have also performed in three different versions of the ballet Le Corsaire. The first version was by Pyotr Gusev, the next was by Farukh Ruzimatov and the current one is by Mikhail Messerer. I performed in two versions of Swan Lake, one by Boyarchikov and one by Messerer, and in four versions of The Nutcracker, by Vainonen, Boyarchikov, Gregorovich, and Duato. Although I have performed in three choreographers’ versions of Romeo and Juliet, my dream is still to dance in one of my favourite productions, which I have only seen on video. I am referring to the production by Jean-Christophe Maillot: I was really impressed by it. I love the ballerina Bernice Coppieters, who danced the role of Juliet; she also performed many times with our theatre at the gala concerts of ballet stars in Japan. I recently met her in person in Monte-Carlo — we even had our photo taken together and I got her autograph. Apparently, Alessandra Ferri recently performed the part of Juliet at The American Ballet Theatre, at the age of 52. Margot Fonteyn also took on the part of Juliet when she was well into her forties. There was an age gap of almost 20 years between Margot and Nureyev, he was 27 and she was 46. I’m only 36, so I have many years ahead of me.
“The other thing I’ll remember about this season is working with Ivan Vasiliev on his ballets. It is brilliant to see that this young dancer is already full of ideas as a director. He is a very emotional partner, and it was great to feed off his energy. He came along with some pre-prepared outlines, but some of the movements came about during the rehearsals, the creative process was a very lively one. Two of the most beautiful adagios from Blind Affair were staged in the auditorium within 50 minutes. All that was left to do was to get it on film and then review it and amend a few parts. My husband, Marat Shemiunov, is set to make a debut himself next season — Ivan has promised to give him the part of my partner in Blind Affair. We have already had the chance to dance these duets, at Denis Matvienko’s recital evening; it was a great success and we were given an impassioned reception.”