Prince Of Ballet, Sergei Polunin

For EuroNews

by Elena Karaeva   25/10/2016

Sergei Polunin picked up the crown of the ballet prince many years after she fell out of the weakening hands of the dying Nureyev. Like the legendary defector, completely changing the classical ballet for several decades ahead, Polunin reluctantly fits into the framework of the troupe and creative decisions that do not belong to him. Gifted with plasticity and extraordinary physical strength (he was engaged in gymnastics before deciding to devote himself entirely to the art of Terpsichore), at the height of his career, he decided to try himself in an adjacent theatrical art and become an actor.

“It seems to me that it makes sense to try myself in different spheres of art. Including, and then to be more precise in the work, when you are working on the creation of new choreography. ”

This clip, a collaboration of Polunin and the famous photographer David Lachapelle, became the record holder in the number of views of a ballet composition.

“I wanted to make a video for this composition of Hozier. I wanted to go to Hollywood to study there in an acting school. It was very difficult for me, I cried almost half a day. I was completely emotionally wrung out, at the limit of physical strength.”

There is a documentary film dedicated to Polunin called “Dancer”.  Its main theme is Polunin’s rebellion against the rules adopted in today’s ballet.

“In a large company, you at the very best a repeat someone written before you. This is the maximum for which so strangely understood creativity is calculated today. Dancers are reduced to props, to costumes, to scenery. I do not want to put up with this any longer. And I’m talking about it directly and openly.”