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"Let's talk about Darcey! I love Darcey - you know that!"
"I know that," I reply.
"And I'm sure she does, too."
Igor Zelensky seems very happy and relaxed. Looking at him, you would never guess that it's the end of a long summer season with the Kirov in London, or that he's had the general rehearsal for Schéhérazade that morning. Or that he's flying off to Greece the next day. We're in the artists' café at the Royal Opera House. Igor's wearing a T-shirt, dark trousers and trainers.
Born in Georgia, Igor studied at the Tbilisi Ballet Academy (under Chabukiani) and, later, at the Vaganova School in St. Petersburg. It was his Mother, however, who started him off on his career by sending him to a local school. Igor had never seen ballet before. "I never wanted to be dancer. When you are a kid you don't want to do ballet... It wasn't serious in the beginning with three lessons a week." But, "then it was more and more." He has no regrets about becoming a dancer. (He could have been a 400 metre runner after all. "Yes I was a good runner," he says, then adds, "they have even shorter career than mine!") There is always a challenge in ballet, he tells me. "Our business is very, very difficult. You know, it's a really hard job. You have to be athletic, you have to be athlete, you have to be this, you have to be that." He goes on to say, "These days you don't just want to do the tricks on stage, you have to be athletic, but you also have to be an actor and take care of yourself."
The first time he danced with Darcey was in Toronto about seven years ago, he says, when Darcey was already a star. But he had seen her dance many times before on video tapes. "I heard from the people as a kid that Darcey is a beautiful dancer..." He was particularly struck by her portrayal of Gamzatti in La Bayadère (in Makarova's production with the Royal Ballet, starring Altynai Asylmuratova, Irek Mukhamedov and, of course, Darcey. This video, unfortunately, isn't available in the U.K., but can be purchased abroad.) He'd also seen her dance the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux (Balanchine) with Zoltan Solymosi at the Nureyev Gala. After their first performance together, Igor and Darcey went on to develop their partnership at the New York City Ballet (she appeared as a guest). Then, naturally, they wanted to dance at Covent Garden, but it was a long time before that could actually be arranged as, "I was busy with New York City Ballet every time Anthony called to ask me to come over." Since then he has taken time out from NYCB, giving them more time to work together.
What is she like as a partner? "She is very special for me." Though every partner is, of course, different. Why special? "Because she's a nice person. I like her. I mean she's strong..." (a grin) "...and she's bossy." He loves her personality and they just "clicked" from the beginning. Their proportions fit, too and, "I didn't have to rehearse with her like crazy because it was just there." He is really looking forward to dancing with her again. "We are waiting to see how things turn out...and we are ready to rock and roll." And is Darcey ready to rock and roll, I ask. "I hope so. She'd better be." Romeo and Juliet and La Bayadère are possibilities.
What other ballets would he like to dance with her? They've already done most things together, but he'd especially like them to do Giselle. They were scheduled to dance this a couple of years ago, but it didn't work out, as he was busy at NYCB. Then he'd love them to do Diamonds (Balanchine), Schéhérazade(Fokine) and Le Jeune Homme et la Mort (Petit). And it would be wonderful to have some new work choreographed on them, but there are big time constraints on that. He'd love to work with Forsythe or Kylian. And there's Wayne McGregor, whose work he's just seen and enjoyed. Fitting it into his busy schedule will be the problem, but he seems very aware that time is passing and that there are a lot of new young dancers coming up. "You have to do as much as you can because you don't want to see old men in white tights running around on the stage - right?"
He sees the Kirov very much as his home company (he never actually left them, in fact, even while he was working for NYCB), although he is treated more like a guest. He is paid per show, is treated very well and gets good roles. "It's not a bad company to perform with..." he says jokingly, "and to be around that corps de ballet is like...my God!" A big sigh.
He went to NYCB to do a different repertory, not because he'd had disagreements with anyone at the Kirov. (He swears this!) "I tried to go nice way...I always like to communicate with people." He had a good time there, but with a lot of very talented dancers in the company it was hard to become a star. And now...he still loves dancing with the Kirov. Even when they change his shows, I ask him. (This London summer season has seen many cast changes due to injury.) I wondered if that had been frustrating for him; so many fans had booked to see him and weren't pleased when they ended up watching someone else. "Of course they are not supposed to treat you like that but, I mean, I understand them too." Other companies don't do this, though: "only in this company." Nowadays, as well as dancing with the Kirov (for four months a year) he guests all round the world: with the New York City Ballet, the Royal Ballet, Munich Ballet...and then there is Japan.
But if he travels so much, where does he call home? Home, it appears, is wherever Igor is at the moment. He has beautiful places in New York and Russia but seems to spend very little time there.
When I ask about favourite roles, he says he has no favourites: 'All of them my babies. All of them my babies,' he proclaims, hand on heart. They are all in there...even after two hours of rehearsal. What, even the prince in Sleeping Beauty, I ask. (Jonathan Cope has said he hated this part, so I wondered if other male dancers felt the same.) Igor agreed that it's a part with one solo. "I can skip it," he says, but he enjoys the challenge of staying in role. Which of the two versions of Manon does he prefer, I enquire. Another grin. He "can't be bad boy" and refuses to compare them, but admits to being glad to have danced it with the Royal Ballet.
Why is be going to Greece? What is happening there? He is putting on his own production of Raymonda. "It's hard and it's also, you know, too much pressure because first time I have done and I keep jumping off stage and have to go back to the audience to see how it looks like in the costumes! Of course I keep Petipa" (that is, he's kept most of the original choreography). And he's dancing most of the shows himself. It's a huge project that is getting bigger than its original concept. They have 45 dancers, 25 extras, a 40 piece band and 210 costumes. He is taking the production on to Athens after opening in Olympia, "even though they haven't seen the show, but they want to bring it out over there as it has sold out already," he says proudly.
Has he ever tried his own choreography I ask, recalling a piece called Improvisation for his own show last year. He looks at me. "You know it's not really choreography, I can't call myself a choreographer...it was like a piece for 25 minutes," he says.
Whether Igor Zelensky becomes a choreographer or not, remains to be seen. What he has become is a dancer of international fame, one of the best male dancers in the world today.
What a good thing for all of us, then, that his Mother sent him off for those first few ballet lessons.
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