Vadim Muntagirov 2024

Vadim Muntagirov

Principal, The Royal Ballet

Interviewed by David Bain
American International Church, Thu 05 Dec, 2024

Vadim had just returned from an injury, so he explained to us how it happened. This was his second serious injury. The first occurred in 2018 during rehearsals for the Royal Ballet and Opera performance of “La Bayadère”. At the same time, he was rehearsing “Sleeping Beauty” and during one of the rehearsals he landed awkwardly, damaging his left knee. The next day he was due to fly to Rome for a guest appearance in “Sleeping Beauty” with Marianela Nuñez at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Naturally, he ignored the golden rule of NOT googling one’s symptoms, and managed to scare himself into thinking that this injury may well mean the end of his dancing career. Nevertheless, he flew to Rome to meet with Eleonora Abbagnato, the Director of Ballet at Opera di Roma and had the difficult task of telling her that he would not be able to perform. His knee did not feel good, and he was in pain. Moreover, the stage was very raked which would have put a great deal of pressure on his knee and his whole body. This was all the more embarrassing because it was his first time at Opera di Roma and the first time meeting her. He flew back to London the same day, and, in retrospect, he realises that the decision to say no and go against his natural desire to be accommodating was one of the best career decisions he has made. Back at the Royal Opera House, the medical team worked with him and helped him to recover in time to perform in “La Bayadère”. In fact, most people did not even realise that he had been injured because he did not miss any performances in that season.

His recent injury happened in August whilst he and Fumi Kaneko were performing the “Sleeping Beauty” pas de deux with Cape Town City Ballet to celebrate their 90-year anniversary. He landed awkwardly after performing the double manège during his solo and immediately realised that something was wrong because although he was not in much pain, he had lost some sensation and could not feel the floor. He completed the solo and even continued to dance the coda and finale with the necessary smiles. His natural reaction was not to make a fuss and just quietly return home but, fortunately, once again he went against his nature and approached the physiotherapists who organised an MRI scan for him. This showed that he had a 12mm tear in his plantar fascia, a band of tissue on the sole of the foot. There are worse injuries, but it prevented Vadim from doing any ballet at all.

He spent two weeks recovering in Cape Town (there are worse places!) and had to wear a medical boot for a whole month. Because the blood circulation was good, the injury would heal on its own without the need for an operation. He was contacted by several dancers who had also had this injury, and they all reassured him that he would recover, but that it would take a good amount of time. They told him that he should allow the time because coming back too soon may result in another tear. In fact, he has been away for almost three months. He will attempt his first jumps tomorrow, something he is looking forward to.

The time off has allowed Vadim to reflect on the need to allow the body to recover and rebuild and not to continue to push oneself, ignoring minor injuries and pain. It is important to acknowledge the problems and seek help to fix them as quickly as possible. He actually had the problem with his foot for over a year and danced through it because after a warm-up and during performances he no longer felt the pain.

The downside of being injured was having to call the several ballet companies he was booked to guest with and cancel. It was noticeable that no-one enquired how he was but only wanted recommendations or contacts for replacement dancers – a sad reality of the professional world. On his return to London, he asked for two more weeks leave as it was too soon to start rehab, and he joined his sister in Alanya in Turkey. This holiday was very liberating because it was the first time that he didn’t have to worry about staying in shape or have to think about upcoming shows. He went for walks and simply enjoyed them without worrying about over-exertion.

The rehab team now have a great deal of experience with plantar fascia injuries and began slowly with upper body workouts, only gradually putting load onto to calves, knees, hamstrings and thighs. In the last two weeks, Vadim began coaching with Brian Maloney, doing ballet movements, something which he finds much easier and more natural than working with weights in the gym.

His first performance will be in “Romeo and Juliet” at the beginning of March 2025. Before that he hopes to guest with the Ballet of the National Theatre, Brno, performing in “La Bayadère”. This is a ballet that suits Vadim’s style and technique. Whereas most dancers would prefer to dance Romeo than Solor, he prefers the latter because big jumps are easier for him than MacMillan’s steps which are not practised in ballet class, whereas those of “La Bayadère” – the assemblées, turns, manèges – are techniques that are part of everyday ballet class and come as natural to dancers as “brushing their teeth”.

David asked Vadim whether he would be able to persuade Kevin O’Hare to add “La Bayadère” back into the RBO’s repertoire. Vadim agreed that it is a beautiful ballet, loved by many, but feels that he may have missed the opportunity four or five years ago when Kevin invited him to request a ballet that he would like to perform.

Although it has not yet been announced, Vadim believes that he will be making his debut with Fumi Kaneko in “Onegin” during its second run in the summer of 2025. He also believes that, in lieu of a big tour, some dancers will go to South Korea at the end of the season, while others will go to Italy. At the end of last season (2023-2024) Vadim and Fumi Kaneko also went to the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma to perform “Swan Lake”. After a short holiday, he returned to Opera Di Roma to perform Benjamin Pech’s “Swan Lake” in Barcelona. This may have contributed to his injury because he would have been practising and performing on very hard floors. So many countries have hard flooring. Japan, in particular, is known for this.

Vadim began last season dancing in Maina Geilgud’s “Don Quixote” with the Cape Town City Ballet, then the RBO’s season opened with “Don Quixote,” followed by another production of the ballet in Johannesburg. So, for the first two months of the season, all he danced was “Don Quixote.” In Johannesburg the floor was slippery, and they were also at altitude which affected breathing. This made him appreciate the sprung flooring, good lighting and temperature of his home stage. During one of the performances, in his act I solo, he had a strange out of body experience, feeling that he was watching himself perform from above and realising, sadly, that one day he will no longer be able to do what he was doing, so he should enjoy it while he could.

David asked Vadim how much the different productions of “Don Quixote” varied because, for example, Carlos Acosta requires the dancer to dance as fast as possible whereas the Opera House orchestration is much slower than others. Vadim replied that orchestras are very accommodating to dancers and comply when they request the music to be faster or slower. Usually, the difficulty is with the choreography as different things are required depending on who is producing. The main solos tend to remain the same, but the smaller solos or scenes between the main solos can vary from production to production. He has danced roughly 20 different versions of “Swan Lake” and has probably seen all the possible differences.

Last season, Vadim performed the role of Des Grieux in “Manon.” It was challenging because, at the same time, he was rehearsing “Swan Lake” for 2 casts, one with Marianela Nuñez and the other with Fumi Kaneko. In addition, he was learning the role of Leontes in “The Winter’s Tale”. It was Fumi’s debut in “Manon” and, as he had experience with the ballet, Vadim felt that he was in a position to help her. Fumi, in turn, was very accommodating and tried to help him at times but, as he explained, when a ballerina tries to help the male too much, it can become more difficult for him. For example, the first pas de deux with Des Grieux and Manon is all about Des Grieux manipulating her. So, if the ballerina is too cooperative, the manipulation does not come across and he had to persuade Fumi to do less even though that made things seem harder for Vadim. “Manon” is a beautiful ballet which gives dancers the opportunity to be actors, thinking less about technique and more about playing the character.

He and Fumi did not discuss their roles much but, during the first rehearsal, things were tense, especially as she was new to the role and needed more time and effort and probably because Vadim was tired. Their coach, Alexander Agadzhanov, commented on how difficult it sometimes is when real-life partners work together. This was a wake-up call for Vadim, and he realised that his behaviour was out of character, so he vowed that they would never “fight” again.

Also, last season, Vadim played the Sugar Plum Prince in “The Nutcracker.” The pas de deux requires a great deal of stamina and costume and make up take at least one hour. That said, Oberon in “The Dream” takes even longer! After all that effort, the dance lasts only approximately nine minutes. However, the beautiful set, costumes and music make it all worthwhile. The additional challenge is to stay healthy as there is a huge number of performances plus it is winter and there are always colds and flu circulating.

In a previous run of “The Winter’s Tale,” Vadim had played Florizel. The role is technically very difficult, but, in Vadim’s opinion, it is not major enough for the ballet dancer to feel that he is getting the credit for his efforts. On the other hand, the role of Leontes immediately gave him satisfaction through both the music and choreography. Even though Leontes’ character is diametrically opposite to Vadim’s, he knew that he could portray him and do the role justice. He was keen to explore the character and learn something new from it as it was not simply about the steps and technique. Their coach was Ed Watson who was the original Leontes. Portraying the character was as challenging as portraying Prince Rudolf in “Mayerling” because of the range of emotions the dancer has to go through: happiness, suspicion, jealousy and sadness. It was mentally harrowing to repeat this every day, and it posed physical challenges too. During this run there were a few ‘new’ Leontes: Nicol Edmonds, César Corrales, Vadim. After performing in their first shows, they all agreed how difficult the role was as the physicality and the mental turmoil the character undergoes were exhausting. The reunion of the family in Act III was enjoyable and the whole ballet made Vadim think about real life and how one should appreciate more the people around you.

He shared an amusing anecdote with us about his and Fumi’s rehearsal method. On the way home they had been going through the counts and actions together and arriving home they were still doing this as they reached the communal area in their small block of flats. Some of their neighbours who were also in the communal area could hear them saying things like “5,6,7 – I grab the baby, I try to strangle it – 5,6,7 – then you stab me…..”, a conversation which naturally shocked and scared the neighbours until they explained that they were simply running through some ballet movements.

Performing Prince Rudolf in “Mayerling” posed similar challenges because of the angry mood of the character and the ballet also has a large number of pas de deux. When returning to the dressing room after performing Act I, his colleagues remarked that he had turned purple because he was hardly able to breathe afterwards. It seems to be a characteristic of MacMillan ballets that Act 1 is particularly difficult and if you can survive it you will manage the rest of the ballet as the effort required diminishes through the following acts. Many dancers say that the character of Leontes is dark and hateful; not enjoyable to portray. Vadim did not feel this way and his portrayal did not involve wanting to hurt other characters but rather needing to fight his own personal demons. This approach was more in line with Vadim’s nature than the crazy and scary behaviour others depicted, and he felt that the audience observing would have empathy with his Rudolf rather than being scared of him.

They were coached initially by Irek Mukhamedov who seriously underplayed the difficulty of the role making it seem like a walk in the park. That approach was useful, as being constantly told how hard a role is does not necessarily help one. Other coaches were Ed Watson, Leanne Benjamin and Alexander Agadzhanov. Having so many different coaches can create problems if they have different opinions on how the steps should be done because it is hard to know whom to please as the styles may change from one day to the next. However, when you are finally on stage, which approach you take is down to you alone. The most important thing is telling the story and portraying the character, and the dancer needs to do what works best for him or her. Vadim’s preference would be to have one coach so that there is a more consistent approach.

One of his favourite coaches is Laura Morera who is an expert in MacMillan and Ashton. He recently worked with her on “Danses concertantes”. It is a short ballet which many didn’t take very seriously, and, in fact, Vadim was the only principal who danced it. It was challenging for him in the sense that he is more used to solo dancing than group dancing and he has more autonomy in solos. In group dances he has to stay focused and concentrate on the counts. When doing solos, he can “switch off”; this is not possible in an ensemble. Moreover, there was very little time to learn the ballet as rehearsals were also taking place for other ballets like “Manon” and “Swan Lake”. After the performance, Laura wrote him a nice letter saying that they would have had even more fun if they had been dancing it together. They both miss dancing together.

As stated above, Vadim has danced almost 20 different versions of “Swan Lake”. One production that he feels very at home with now is Liam Scarlett’s, though it did take him some time to get used to it. Another is the Derek Deane production which was the first version he danced at the English National Ballet. Most productions are very similar with Acts I and IV having the most differences. Probably the most original production, and another favourite, is Rudolf Nureyev’s which Vadim danced in Vienna. It is technically challenging with several solos, and Rudolf obviously choreographed it on himself while he was still dancing because the level of difficulty increases gradually. Quite often choreographers incorporate challenging steps right at the beginning. The Black Swan adagio is also very different with not many lifts. (Vadim thinks that Rudolf may have been tired at this stage, so he did not want to incorporate too many lifts).

During one of his performances of “Swan Lake” with Marianela Nuñez, Vadim suddenly felt very tired during the Act II Lake scene, and he felt his legs giving way as he was running around looking for Odette. This was just before the scene where Odette begs von Rothbart not to shoot Prince Siegfried. As the orchestra was coming to the end of the phrase, they began to make mistakes and then they suddenly stopped playing. Marianela and Vadim stood there staring at each other, not knowing what was happening. The audience began to clap, and Vadim made eye movements to Marianela to encourage her to exit the stage. This she did and he followed. It transpired that the lights in the orchestra pit had failed so the musicians could not see their music. The curtain was brought down, there was a 20-minute break while they solved the issue and then they carried on with the performance. This was a godsend for Vadim because he had the chance to rest and build up his energy again and he went back on completely revitalised. David wondered whether Vadim has somehow managed to pull the plug out for the pit lighting!

The last performance of the season was Oberon in “The Dream”. It was a debut role for Vadim, though he was meant to have danced it 15 years ago during his final year at the Royal Ballet School. He was due to dance with Elisa Badenes but he was unable to perform because he had twisted his ankle. At that time, he had some coaching with Anthony Dowell, so he was familiar with the steps and music. This made the process of learning the role last season quicker and easier. Anthony Dowell also coached them this time for about one month. He is an excellent coach who does not restrict the dancers and allows them a great deal of freedom; he does not insist that things are done the way he did them in his day. He is also very encouraging and makes you believe that you can do the difficult steps. As with all Ashton ballets, “The Dream” is relatively short but extremely difficult. The start is slow, but the technical difficulty builds up till you are very tired at the end. In the last pas de deux with Titania, Oberon has to do three sways. Anthony Dowell would tell them that he was so tired at the end that he could only manage one. Vadim was surprised and felt sure that he would be able to manage the three. When Vadim did it for the first time, he was so tired that he could not even manage the one!

Vadim comes from a ballet family and both his parents are ballet dancers, as is his sister. They still live in Russia, so for the last 3-4 years they have been meeting up in Turkey as Russians do not need a visa to visit Turkey. An additional attraction for Turkey is the good weather, the sea and lovely beaches which is a huge contrast to the mostly snowy, dull and grey weather in Russia. Although they have visas for the U.K., due to the current travel restrictions for Russians, they would have to fly via Turkey to get here. Also, as they live in Khanty-Mansiysk in the north of Russia, they would have an additional transfer via Moscow, making the overall journey extremely long. Vadim is keen for them to come to England because his father, who is his number one fan and supporter, has never seen him dance live. His mother, however, has seen him dance in “Manon”, “Marguerite and Armand” and as Florizel in “The Winter’s Tale”.

As a young boy in Russia, his training seemed pretty brutal with teachers screaming at him, smacking and slapping him if he did something wrong. Thinking about class the next day caused him many sleepless nights as he was so scared of failure. In retrospect, however, he is grateful that he was pushed so hard because he would never have achieved what he has done with a soft approach. The really tough style is not possible today and many young dancers have been traumatised by harsh criticism. In Vadim’s opinion, they are too young to realise that the teacher is trying to help them, not harm them. Looking back on his time at his parents’ ballet school he remembers having lots of fun and camaraderie. There was bullying but there was also community and students held together. Nowadays, with the advent of mobile phones and other technology, students tend to be more isolated.

During his time at the Royal Ballet School, Vadim enjoyed the end of term performances, although in his last year, he was unable to do much as he was injured. It was also enjoyable dancing on the enormous Royal Opera House stage where he could show off and try and copy the techniques, turns and jumps of his ballet heroes such as Carlos Acosta and Julio Bocca. He even admired these more than dancers like Anthony Dowell or Rudolf Nureyev because they were so much more athletic. As he felt that the Royal Ballet School training did not incorporate enough jumps, at the end of his training sessions, he would watch the year 2000 Boys’ Vaganova graduation DVD and copy the 17 or so jumps from the solo extracts. He was not alone in this as other students like Benjamin Ella would join him.

Unfortunately, due to his injury, Vadim did not experience Julio Bocca’s recent three-week coaching session at the Royal Ballet. Vadim has met him before and though he is such a big star, he is very shy and modest. His approach is different, and he likes to spend a long time at the barre and much less time doing the central group work with jumps which some dancers prefer. It is, however, good for dancers to experience these different styles of class.

David informed us that Julio Bocca’s career was celebrated at a Cuban gala with appearances by the Cuban partners that he had danced with at festivals over many years.

Upon graduating from the Royal Ballet School, Vadim was accepted by Wayne Eagling into the English National Ballet. At the ENB he simply enjoyed his time because he was young with nothing to prove and not really aware how famous the London Coliseum was. The fact that, at such a young age, he was playing big roles like Albrecht in “Giselle” went over his head. He just focused on delivering his best and did not put any pressure on himself as he did later when he was at the Royal Ballet, thinking about his achievements so far, the fact that he would be performing in live cinema relays or for DVD recordings etc. He created a nightmare for himself. But his time at the ENB was simply joyous. He was partnered by Daria Klimentova who was extremely professional and taught him a great deal. At that age he was still very shy and at the first “Giselle” rehearsal, she insisted that he look her in the eye and focus on her as his dancing partner rather than be scared of her. With her, he was able to relax and be himself. Everything was new to him. At each debut, the dancer receives a bottle of champagne and for the first 3-4 years everything Vadim did was a debut, so he ended up with about 20 bottles of champagne. Wayne Eagling treated him well and, even though he was so young, he saw Vadim as a professional dancer giving him big roles and also allowing him to guest abroad. Vadim is very happy that he started at ENB. During his four and a half years there, he had no particular aspirations to move to the Royal Ballet.

He eventually decided to leave ENB after Tamara Rojo took over simply because his ability to guest abroad was restricted and the repertoire was still the old Wayne Eagling repertoire which was performed in blocks of three months. This meant that over that period you would perform the same ballet over and over again. As a young dancer, you seek more challenges which a varied repertoire offers so losing the permission to guest abroad was significant. Even as he was planning to leave ENB, he had no thoughts of the Royal Ballet. The timing of the move, however, was perfect for him. He is very happy at the Royal Ballet but feels that he would not have liked to start his career there. His start at the ENB was perfect for him and he would change nothing.

An audience member asked how a ballet dancer remembers which version of the same ballet they are performing when they are close together. Vadim responded that it is very difficult and puts a great deal of pressure on the body. A dancer needs about three weeks to get used to rehearsing more than one ballet a time. It is easier with ballets you know well but with new ballets it can be nightmarish. For example, when he was learning “Month in the Country”, neither his body nor his head would retain the steps. He almost gave up and wanted to pull out of the performance. After a few weeks, however, things started to come together, he began to enjoy rehearsals and now it is one of his favourite ballets.

A second question was about his book, “From Small Steps to Big Leaps”, and his collaboration with Linda Gainsbury. Linda was a ballet fan and good friend of Vadim’s. He first met her and her husband Michael at the ENB stage door. Their conversations were brief as both parties were shy and, as fans, Linda and Michael did not want to take up too much of his time. So, it was a long-standing relationship. During COVID both Vadim and Linda were alone (Linda’s husband, Michael, had died) and, knowing that it would be a difficult time for her, Vadim texted her and told her to call him if she wanted to chat. This was a difficult thing for him to do as he is not confident talking on the phone. He did not expect her to accept his offer, but she did call him the very next day. Initially, Vadim’s responses were monosyllabic, and Linda did most of the talking. Eventually, however, Vadim became chattier and Linda suggested that he could tell her his stories about his background over a Zoom or phone call and she could write them down. This would be a great distraction for her from her grief and lonely situation. There was no initial intention to write a book. They spent almost two years on the “project” and it started out as more of a COVID diary, describing how Vadim was coping with not being able to perform. But then they began to delve into his childhood, so it eventually became a book. In Vadim’s opinion, Linda did everything; all he did was talk! She even managed to write the book in Vadim’s style of speaking, acknowledging the fact that his English is not perfect. So much so that some people assumed that Vadim had written the book himself. This is something that Vadim is very happy about. Linda is no longer with us and Vadim as well as many other dancers miss her greatly.

Report written by Herma John and edited by Vadim Muntagirov and David Bain.

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Vadim Muntagirov 2024

Vadim Muntagirov

Principal, The Royal Ballet

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