David Hallberg in front of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow
David Hallberg, 29, a native of Rapid City, S.D., is the first American ever to be named a principal dancer at the Bolshoi Ballet.
He arrived in Moscow two weeks ago and was given an apartment a few steps from the theater. He has, he says, “no social life to speak of” — just his work and a book he is reading — and is still struggling with jet lag. On Friday, he will make his debut at the Bolshoi Theater as Albrecht in“Giselle.”
EB
What is it like to prepare for a debut?
DH
Debuts are never my best performances, to be honest, because there’s a lot of external energy going on. A lot of people wishing you good luck. A lot of expectations. A lot of nerves. Not really nerves in a very useful way, I find — it’s a lot of wasted energy. My better performances are always really after debuts. The second, third, fourth show of something.
I’ve performed at the Bolshoi before, I’ve danced in galas here. I’ve been to Moscow many times, but this is the first time, you know, I’m like a permanent fixture. I’ve always wondered whether they know what they’re getting themselves into. Whether they have even seen me dance enough to know what kind of a dancer I am.
EB
Do you get the sense people here are waiting to see you dance?
DH
I can feel the expectation. The head of press walked by me the other day and said: “I got a call from the presidential office. The president’s wife I think is coming to your debut.” And I said, “O.K.”
You say hello differently in Russia than you do in America, I think.
Sometimes it’s just a nod. I smiled at a woman in an elevator today and she looked at me twice. And then she sort of gave me a nod. So I’ve adapted to that.
EB
Is it weighty to know how much this ballet company means to Russians?
DH
I do feel a sense of responsibility as a foreigner, really. But the audiences here know me a little bit, and I have felt a sense of warmth from the Russian audiences already, which is nice. You become a part of its history and you know its importance. So, yeah, I think it goes beyond borders of being a foreigner or being a Russian. It’s just that when you’re a part of the Bolshoi you feel a sense of pride.
EB
How did you make the decision to come here?
DH
It was harrowing. It was. I mean it was really difficult, because I knew, or I envisioned kind of the responsibility of it and the sacrifice, and the wait, the pressure — all of the above. And it’s not that I questioned whether I really wanted it. It was more of a question, am I up for this?
EB
What did your closest friends tell you to do?
DH
Some of them thought I was crazy. Some of them still think I’m crazy. Some of them don’t support it. They wanted me to stay. They have their own kind of vision on where someone should go, what someone should do.
EB
Is there an idea that it’s going to change the way you dance?
DH
That’s one of the main reasons I did this — because a lot of people’s critique is that I’m not Bolshoi style. I’m not a Bolshoi dancer.
EB
If someone says, you are really a Bolshoi dancer, I can see it in this performance — will that be a compliment? Is that what you want?
DH
I will never be a Bolshoi dancer. And I think that’s part of the — that was part of the offer. That they’re bringing someone in who has a different view on things. But I will have hopefully picked up some of the Bolshoi style. But again I have another style that I can’t get rid of — I can’t shed. So I’ll have a mixture, which is totally fascinating to me.
EB
Is there any particular mark that you’re putting on “Giselle” tomorrow night?
DH
The most prominent change that I’ve made in “Giselle” with the Bolshoi Theater is that in Act II Albrecht, my character, is begging for his life. Myrtha, who is the queen of the Wilis — I’ve come into her forest and she’s going to make me dance to my death. And I’m begging for my life. There’s a scene in what we call the coda, where he comes out in a diagonal — a shooting diagonal, begging — doing these things called brisé. And you do a set, and then you run back and you do another set. So, there’s that version.
But there’s another version that’s done primarily through Europe and in America, where the Albrecht comes out center stage and he does these beats — a series of beats called entrechat six.
And you do 24 or 32 and you do them over and over and you just keep going and going. And it’s really hard and it’s really tiring. And that’s not the Bolshoi version. And that’s what I will do.
By ELLEN BARRY, in THE NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpBNdRoeqJs
