Laysan Utyasheva about her show Bolero: Pasha was the first to support me
Laysan Utyasheva (32) is a legend of Russian gymnastics, who has repeatedly proven to herself and the world that there are no barriers to doing what she loves. In 2002, she received a foot injury, which resulted in serious problems with her legs, then she was told that the path to big-time sports was forever closed. However, Laysan not only returned, but also won another gold medal - in the team competition at the European Championships in 2004.
And now Utyasheva is preparing to conquer another peak: on October 1, the premiere of her first own dance show with elements of gymnastics, Bolero by Liasan Utiasheva, will take place in Kazan. And we were the first to come to the team for training and watch how the guys were preparing for the premiere.
Why Kazan? The thing is that it was there that Laysan was supported at the most important moment of her sports career - at her first performance after two years on crutches and six operations. “To put it mildly, I was not in the best shape,” says Utyasheva. “But Kazan greeted me very warmly, and this gave me strength. And now, on October 1, I will show my friend city my adult project, which we have been working on for so long. This will be my confession." They plan to bring Bolero to Moscow only in the spring, but after the premiere in Kazan, the Laysan team will fly to Minsk (November 5), in early December they will be in Cyprus, and then even get to Australia!
Few people know that in the mid-2000s Laysan was a soloist of the Imperial Ballet under the direction of Gediminas Taranda and danced Bolero choreographed by Androsov. “It was always not enough for me to dance in a classical production. I always had many questions for the Goddess: why is she so cruel that she hides? I always wanted to live her life in my own way and convey her emotions and experiences to the viewer. Bolero by Liasan Utiasheva is a modern version of that same story. The show will have a lot of dances, including elements of rhythmic gymnastics, the author’s style of Vogue New Way, High Heel, modern and much more,” says Laysan.
She assembled the team for 10 long years: “And now I was finally able to realize what I had planned with my beloved and, in the good sense of the word, crazy choreographers-directors Ekaterina Reshetnikova and Igor Rudnik and a team of dancers: Maxim Nesterovich, Ulyana Pylaeva, Nikita Ansimov, Anton Panufnik, Ivan Mozhaikin, Oleg Klevakin, Aikhan Shinzhin and Snezhana Kryukova.”
“Pasha (38) was the first person with whom I shared the idea of creating a show,” says Laysan. – And of course, he supported me. The husband became the ideological inspirer of the musical part of the Bolero show. It was he who introduced our entire team to musician Ryan Otter. He turned all our ideas into notes and it became a musical explosion. You can’t imagine what it means to rehearse every day for six hours to music that gives you goosebumps, that tears you apart from the inside, that forces you to show all of yourself. It turned out very modern and bold. The music is so original and inspiring that we are eager to share it and it will soon be available for download on iTunes.”
The costumes were also thought out in detail: a special image was developed for each character in the show. “Perhaps they will seem to some to be too bold a decision, but there is no other way to convey the modern solution of the production. We can only hint that at some point the viewer will feel like he’s at a fashion show,” laughs Utyasheva. And no less impressive, of course, will be the light graphics. In general, Laysan promises: “You will find it incredibly interesting. Just trust us." We believe!
We thank the dance department for their help in organizing the shooting.
Photo: Anastasia Zabavskaya. Style: Konstantin Koshkin. Stylist assistant: Anastasia Zabelina, Elvira Alimbekova. Makeup and hairstyle: Daria Emelyanova, Lidiya Alieva, Marianna Ridzanich. Producer: Angelika Purtova. Producer assistant: Irina Orlova
“I like to challenge myself”: Laysan Utyasheva about childhood dreams and the show “Bolero”
The meeting of Nizhny Novgorod spectators with the six-time winner of the World Cup in rhythmic gymnastics was supposed to take place in the spring. However, the show of the dance show “Bolero” (16+), the founder and producer of which is Laysan Utyasheva, had to be postponed. This is for the better, because, according to Laysan herself, now the performance lasts an hour and a half instead of an hour, which made it possible to make it deeper. On the eve of his arrival in Nizhny Novgorod, Komsomolskaya Pravda interviewed the legend of Russian gymnastics.
The “Dancing” project became decisive for Laysan Utyasheva as a dancer
“The “Dancing” project became decisive”
— Most people know you as a gymnast, but now you have your own dance show. Have you been interested in dancing for a long time?
— I think dancing inevitably had to appear in my life. At the age of four, I dreamed of becoming a ballerina and begged my mother to send me to ballet. I dreamed of dancing, and my idol was and remains Maya Plisetskaya. That year, enrollment was already closed, and instead of ballet, my mother took me to the rhythmic gymnastics section. Apparently, it was necessary to first go through this path in order to return to my very first strong childhood desire, but at a different level, with a certain experience and vision, knowledge of myself.
— Can we say that you had to “break” the gymnast in you to become a dancer?
— In order to realize myself in dancing, I don’t need to “break” anything in myself, redo it. This is another facet of me. After all, after leaving gymnastics, I first mastered the roles of announcer, TV presenter, commentator from scratch... Then - the roles of wife and mother. And a year ago I realized that I again had the free resource to try something new.
Part of the show "Bolero" Utyasheva plays herself
— What came first: the desire to create your own dance show or work in “Dancing” on TNT? If not for “Dancing”, would the show “Bolero” have appeared?
- Good question. I danced my first “Bolero” in a classical production under the direction of Gediminas Taranda. And this was 2007. Even then, the idea flashed through to talk about my reading of the main character. I didn’t know in what form to implement all this. So they took ten years from idea to implementation. It was during this period that the “Dancing” project arose. I think it was decisive. I met the best choreographers and dancers in the country. The puzzle has finally come together.
— What was your first thought when choreographers Garik Rudnik and Katya Reshetnikova offered you the script for “Bolero”?
— Their script was rebellious, daring... based on modern street dances with the inclusion of different elements. At first I was perplexed: how can I dance like this?! Me and street hip-hop? Dancing in Vogue style? But the passion for the new still won. I like to go beyond the usual boundaries and challenge myself.
The original version of the Bolero show lasted only an hour. On October 30, Nizhny Novgorod residents will see an hour and a half version of the dance project
“The most ungrateful thing is to give out labels”
— It’s no secret that the first person to support the idea of creating a dance performance was your husband Pavel Volya. Didn’t you really try to introduce censorship and say: “Like this, please don’t dance. Too erotic"?
— There is no vulgarity in our dances, we do not rely on scandalousness or excessive frankness. We brought the plot of the classic “Bolero” closer to today. Spectators see on stage a modern youth environment, the world of club culture, music, fashion and dope. But at its center is the same strong woman who wants love and strives to know herself. And sometimes dance and plastic arts are better than any words to convey the state of the heroine.
— The annotation for your performance talks about a certain author’s style. What is he like and what should the Nizhny Novgorod viewer expect?
— To give a definition, I think, is not the main thing. It is much more important to allow a person to experience their emotions, mood, feelings with us. In a single flow and impulse. What to expect? That the familiar world can turn upside down. That the boundaries of “bad” and “good” are quite arbitrary, and these are all parts of one life. And the most thankless thing any of us can do is give out labels.
— Your show turned one year old in October. What changes has “Bolero” undergone during this time?
— It’s great happiness that our team remained in its original composition. The best dancers and stage directors are still with us. The only thing is that we increased the time of the show and added depth. Now the production runs for an hour and a half instead of an hour. After the first performances, I analyzed each of our performances. It was a constant process of improvements: here we’ll change the costumes a little, here we’ll add new movements. As a result, we came to the understanding that we needed to include a few more scenes.
After leaving gymnastics, Laysan first mastered the roles of announcer, TV presenter, commentator from scratch...
"Time can be stretched"
— The whole country is watching the castings of the new season of “Dancing.” Have you looked for new dancers for the show?
— Of course, I celebrate talented participants. And they are all talented! The strongest and in many ways already accomplished dancers go through the selection process. I won’t reveal all my plans yet, but I don’t rule out launching my new projects in the near future.
— What are your plans for the Bolero show?
— Take it to the international level!
The “Bolero” show features stars of “Dancing” on TNT, including the winner of the second season, Maxim Nesterovich
— How do you manage to combine touring with raising children, filming on television, etc.?
— So far it’s working (laughs). For me, these are all facets of a single, united me. The more areas in which I can open up, the more energy and drive I feel from life. And energy always provides a resource for something new. When you set your priorities correctly, you can combine many things. And for this you don’t need to sacrifice anything: your career for your personal life or vice versa. And time, as quantum physicists say, is not linear and can be stretched.
— The dance show “Bolero” will be shown in Nizhny Novgorod on October 30. Have you already planned where you will go, what you will see? In general, how familiar is the city to you?
— I really love Nizhnevolzhskaya embankment. And in some places, wooden buildings have been preserved in the very center. An amazing combination of past and present: next to fashionable establishments there are two-story houses with carved frames. And you don't need any time machine.
The most important thing is to feel and get to know the city not from the window of an oncoming car, but on foot.
Laysan Utyasheva will bring a performance for adult minds to Voronezh
This Thursday, March 1, world champion in rhythmic gymnastics and famous TV presenter Laysan Utyasheva will present her first dance performance Bolero in Voronezh. In this show, rhythmic gymnastics will not appear as a sport of the highest achievements, but will cross that thin choreographic line between femininity and sexuality. The production combines several dance styles: modern, vogue and others.
Composer Ryan Otter wrote the music specifically for Bolero. The choreographers of the “Dancing” project, Ekaterina Reshetnikova and Garik Rudnik, choreographed the numbers for the performance. Also participating in the performance are “Dances” participants Snezhana Kryukova, Anton Panufnik, Maxim Nesterovich, Ivan Mozhaikin and others. The production is complemented by digital graphics, turning what happens on stage into an unforgettable performance.
In the production of Bolero, Laysan Utyasheva tells the story of the universe of a woman, the “Goddess,” whose secret is wisdom and weakness. Before the tour in Voronezh, the famous gymnast gave a quick interview “MOYE! Online".
— How difficult was it for you, after a long break from performing, to decide to make your own dance performance?
— There are a lot of stereotypes on this topic: gymnasts don’t dance, after a long break it’s impossible to return to art, and many others. I am trying to destroy a large number of these stereotypes.
— At the Imperial Ballet you worked with Gediminas Taranda and danced in his version of Bolero. How did working with him help you produce your own show?
— After finishing my career, Gediminas Taranda invited me to try out either in Bolero or in the production of Polovtsian Dances. I fell endlessly in love with the music of Maurice Ravel, and I was able to convey the character of the Bolero ballet. But the story of the goddess was always not enough for me. I always wanted to create it in my own way and see it...
— In your version, the Bolero artists have
unusual costumes, as if the play is taking place at a fashion show, and most of the images are in black and red. What inspired you to use this color combination?
— When creating the color scheme, we were inspired by the film “The Neon Demon” (a psychological horror film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn with Elle Fanning in the title role. — “Yo!”). The color scheme of this film is very powerful, and it is this that formed the basis of our colors.
—
Almost every city where you performed with Bolero was sold out.
Did you expect such popularity of the play? — Our performance is not for everyone; it is a very informal production for adult minds. The performance is intended for spectators over 18 years of age. We are very glad that our show is understood and read between the lines. Every move in Bolero matters...
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How did you have to change your lifestyle in connection with the preparation of Bolero and the tour of Russia and other countries?
— Now my days are completely unbusy. This is the smoothest period, if you remember how it was before. The children went to kindergarten ( Laysan Utyasheva and her husband Pavel Volya have two children - 4-year-old Robert and two-year-old Sofia. - “Yo!”
), I go to training, we pick up the kids in the evening, and now we’re all home together. Tours last one day, and we always know about them in advance and can properly plan the schedule together with my other half. There is always one parent at home so that the children do not get bored. Now they are also very busy - both children attend developmental sections and kindergartens. They love to communicate and are already making their own friends.
The dance performance
Event- concert hall of the Grad City Park. Starts at 19.00.
