Honest dance
The other day, a reporting concert of the dance studio has been held, where all the elements met, uniting the history of each dance into a great feeling of beauty, kindness and honesty. Varvara Vitalievna, who we talked to immediately after the concert, explained about the plexus of the elements.
- Fire is a drive, energy which the audience does not sit still from. Water is the author's choreography, plastic, fluidity and depth of each movement. The earth is powerful mass dances, a rhythm that you feel with your body. The air is the lightness, the flight, the moments when the dance hovers over the stage.
Varvara, congratulations on your triennial studio and a worthy reporting concert. The journey at the age of three took place in the Cultural Centre “Mir”. We watch day after day how the team develops. And you, as a head, how do you evaluate this period in terms of creativity and the step taken forward?
- Thanks for the congratulations! For three years, the number of students has grown several times and each of our groups - from kids 4‑5 years old to the senior staff and the team "We are" only have won competitions. I have grown up as a head, but the main thing is that the children have grown up: from a timid "I can't" to a confident "I'm a dancer" and today, they know that honest dance always wins. We are already accustomed to each other, we are comfortable creating together and the Cultural Centre "Mir" has become a real home for us, where they always wait us.
You called the reporting concert "Everything is honest". A very clear meaning sounds in it. Will you tell me why is it so?
- I called the concert "Everything is honest" because it is important for me that children understand what they are doing on stage and not just repeat movements. We teach to be honest with ourselves and the audience. Today, there are a lot of dances where everything is beautiful but fake and through this concert, we wanted not just to show the dances, but to acquaint the audience with the philosophy of our studio and with such an art form as dance, as with honest conversation without words.
Let's, please, explain for the parents of your future pupils - how is training in the dance studio built, at what age is it advisable to start training and up to what age can the children perform in the team?
- Of course! Previously, it seemed to me that children should start at 5 years old, when the body is already ready for stress and discipline. But today, I see that the earlier a child is in a dance environment, the more natural movement, rhythm and scene becomes for him or her. Our kids come to study at 3 years old and already perform. At the same time, there is no rigid framework for me: anyone who is ready to work and loves dance, can dance in the "The Fifth Element”.
How do dance classes affect children? What do they give?
- Dance classes give children discipline and the ability to work in a team. Dance brings up character: our children are not afraid of mistakes. And most importantly, they become more confident in themselves, learn to express emotions without words and get great joy from movement when the body becomes the voice of the soul.
I wonder what is more important in dance art - talent or hard work?
- I believe that hard work is more important, because talent without difficulty is just a beautiful spark that quickly goes out. But if at least a spark of talent is added to hard work, real art is born. Therefore, I teach children not to choose between talent and work, but to work honestly and believe in themselves, then the result will definitely be.
How long does it take to stage a dance?
- On average, the staging cycle is three months. The first month is spent on drama and vocabulary, the idea and drawing of dance are born. The second month is spent on "running in" the material: work on technique, ensemble and acting. We give the third month to grinding, selection of costumes and light score so that the number breathes as a whole. Three months is the minimum time in which the student stops performing movements and starts dancing.
What important achievements, events in the life of the "The Fifth Element" would you like to celebrate?
- For three years, the key event for me was the production of the first reporting concert-performance "Everything is fair. 3 years” built as a dramaturgically integral action based on five elements. It was an honest conversation with the audience and with myself, where four classical elements (fire, water, earth, air) were united with the fifth - dance, my main element as a choreographer. I am proud that we managed to create not just a concert, but an artistic statement, where each performance worked for a common idea, and the audience left not with an impression of the performance technique, but with a feeling of inner truth.
Varvara, what would you advise those who want to achieve success in this art?
- Those who want to achieve success in dance art, I advise, first of all, not to be afraid of the stage. To tell the truth in every movement, because falsehood is visible immediately and to love your work so that you cannot breathe without it. And of course, to come to our studio "The Fifth Element". Together we will learn to dance honestly, and this is the main secret of success.
Interviewed by Member of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation Eleanora YAMALEEVA,
Photos by Dmitry SOLOVIEV