A

fer being introduced by David, Olga said she

realised she was preaching to the converted in the
love and knowledge of dance but wanted to say before
starting that she fnds it difcult to talk about what she
does teaching, coaching and setting ballets as it is
about movement and not words and its about the end
result which is the performance. What the public sees
or feels or senses or what excites or angers them is what
its all about. Also its not just about one days work but
a long process, day by day, class by class, week on week,
year on year which gives the fnal outcome.
Olga then told us about her background and how
she got into ballet. She was always dancing to the radio,
and her parents said she should go to ballet school when
she was three and a half years old. Her family back-
ground was more in the academic world though her
maternal grandmother danced and there was a dancer,
a singer and a violinist on that side of the family. Her
paternal grandfather, a historian by education, had a
good voice and sang as an amateur. His cousin, how-
ever, was a well-known theatre author and director (N N
Evreinov). Eventually for Olga ballet became an obses-
sion and she wouldnt consider doing anything else.
She comes from a Russian family who emigrated
afer the Revolution and Olga was born in Prague. Tere
she danced and did competitions and was accepted into
the national theatre. Olgas mother eventually wanted to
fnd out if she was good enough to be a dancer and as
she was going to Moscow for a conference she decided
to knock on the Bolshoi ballet school door to ask if they
would assess Olga to see if she was sufciently talented.
Te only way to do this was to go through all the audi-
tions which lasted a whole week afer which she was told
she was talented, but badly trained. First of all she had to
remove the awful galoshes (thick black leather shoes)
which she was wearing, and change into canvas. Afer
three years she moved from Moscow to the Vaganova
in Leningrad, so Olga was lucky to experience both
schools.
People talk about the Russian style but if you are
on the inside you see a huge diference and there is also
a big diference between teachers particularly those who
teach from the middle school onwards. Tey have dif-
ferent ways of explaining and insist on a correct way of
doing things. Ten if you transfer from one teacher to
another, suddenly what was black becomes white and
vice versa! She was lucky enough to have several wonder-
ful teachers and the opportunity to observe others. Her
Moscow teacher was the best for the beginners, and the
one who made the biggest impression. Olga Iordan, an
exceptional dancer of her generation, was an early pupil
of Agrippina Vaganova, like Ulanova and Dudinskaya.
Vaganova taught for about 30 years, the last of her pupils
being Osipenko and Kolpakova. When Iordan walked
into the room, Olga and her best friend said that was
what they would aspire to. She infuenced many oth-
ers including Woytek Lowsky, a wonderful teacher and
dancer in his younger days. He and Olga were both keen
on teaching dance and in the course of conversations
they later discovered they had the same experiences and
it was the same teacher who inspired them both.
Later in Leningrad Olga was chosen for
Dudinskayas class. Company classes were taken in the
school studios at lunch time and they would watch
them, including those of Pushkin who taught the boys
and the mens classes. Tey also had a wonderful charac-
ter teacher who became director briefy of the Kirov, and
a wonderful mime teacher, an extraordinary Russian/
Greek woman who ran the school museum and was
like a fountain of energy and information. She had a
cupboard which was kept closed but occasionally she
Olga Evreinof
GUEST TEACHER, THE ROYAL BALLET
interviewed by David Bain
Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, London, 20 Septermber 2012.
ballet the association
if you transfer from one teacher to
another, suddenly what was black becomes
white and vice versa! She was lucky enough
to have several wonderful teachers and the
opportunity to observe others.
2
opened it to show pictures of Rudolf Nureyev, who had
defected by then.
Olga went back to Prague and started dancing not
in the National Opera as she was too tall, but in a sec-
ond company. She loved dancing but things were not
easy and less than two years later in 1968 the Russian
occupation took place and the family lef for Paris, and
then Canada which was where she began teaching. She
went to company classes and Celia Franca said she was
good but couldnt use her. Betty Oliphant was Director
of the School and, fnding Olga very intelligent, asked
if she would be interested in teaching and she agreed
she would be. Looking back now, Olga felt it must have
been disastrous as shed had no formal teacher training.
You rely on what you know to a degree, but it was her
frst close contact with the Western style. Troughout
the frst few years in Toronto she ended up working
with a wonderful teacher to whom she owes almost
everything. Daniel Seillier was a French teacher from
the same generation as Jean Babile. Hed been in the
Cuevas Company and not in Paris Opra because he
was small born in miniature like a little Napoleon!
Many of the National Ballet of Canadas dancers, such
as Karen Kain, now its Artistic Director, say they owe
everything to him. Olga asked him to come and watch
class and give her suggestions, criticisms etc. He said
shame on you, you mustnt copy what you see but you
must use your own schooling and develop it here. Tey
worked together for a year or more going through the
French system and terminology to which theres a solid
logic. You have to absorb ideas and regurgitate them in
your own way. You have to be sure of what you are try-
ing to achieve, what the steps should look like and where
the movement comes from and where its going. He had
a wonderful vision and was critical of the system in
Canada, where you learned something perfectly before
moving to the next step. When you learn languages you
have to learn several words at the same time and though
you forget some, others will stick.
Its hard to teach and Olga has discussed with
many people the difculties involved. Lots of people
agree its impossible to teach someone to be a dancer
its something youre born with. You can learn to be a
good dancer but you cant learn that special something.
With those lucky ones you have to guide rather than
teach. It is so hard to teach people the ultimate goal but
you show them the road so that then they can follow it
themselves in their own way. It is the same responsibility
but in a diferent way when teaching in school. You cant
insist a dancer does a role precisely one way: you ofer
guidelines but there has to be a certain element of free-
dom. Tey can sense the stylistic boundaries and while
the steps might be fne they can mean nothing. Tere are
many aspects which are very important to make a whole
from the way you point your foot, through musicality
to style and drama.
Asked how she moved from teaching in school to
teaching the company, Olga said Celia asked her to teach
the company and for a while she was doing both in tan-
dem. Her special teacher, Daniel, said she should dance
as well so she took a contract in Norway to dance and to
teach a group of dancers who came from very diferent
schools. In contrast to Toronto, for the frst time she had
no system behind her and then she understood what her
teacher had meant about looking for what was impor-
tant and understanding the essence of the movement
and the steps and variations. Several years later she was
invited to come to New York as a guest to teach the ABT
Junior Company class. One day Mikhail Baryshnikov
took the class and asked her to come to teach the main
ABT company the next day. Everybody, including Erik
Bruhn, John Taras, Georgina Parkinson and Kenneth
MacMillan came to watch and she was ofered the job
pretty much on the spot. She couldnt move to New
York permanently as she had three children, but she
did become a permanent guest teacher for eight years.
Misha asked her to rehearse a particular dancer whose
interpretation he found rather dry so Olga tried to help
her understand the style and found she loved the pro-
cess. Ten they put on one act of Raymonda and best of
all she rehearsed Les Sylphides, which Misha considered
sacred among all ballets.
She was with ABT again some time later when
Natalia Makarova came as a guest dancer. She did class
and watched Olga rehearse and then called to ask if
she could put on Swan Lake as she was mounting it for
London Festival Ballet. It was a problematic produc-
tion partly because of the sets which were unbelievably
bizarre! To Olgas mind that frst production also lacked
a certain balance. It isnt by accident you have the group
numbers and little character dances. Natasha said they
couldnt do it and the only character dance was Ashtons
Neapolitan. Ten years later Natasha said she wanted to
put it on in Brazil and Olga said they should think about
putting back the character parts in Act III to make the
balance right. Tey were the dances Olga had performed
so she knew them well and eventually this was the pro-
duction they mounted in Russia and in China.
Afer Swan Lake Natasha said she wanted Shades
from Bayadre for Festival Ballet. She began with just
the Shades and then did the whole thing (due to be pre-
miered in Sweden) which was her frst full length ballet
One day Mikhail Baryshnikov took the
class and asked her to come to teach the
main ABT company the next day.
Everybody, including Erik Bruhn, John
Taras, Georgina Parkinson and Kenneth
MacMillan came to watch
3
and from which she learned a great deal. Shed worked
with Rudolf Nureyev in La Scala, and also Misha
Baryshnikov and they both taught her a lot but with
Makarova she had and still has her longest collaboration.
If Olga said she couldnt do something Natasha asked
her to do because she had a contract elsewhere, Natasha
would say but this is more important, otherwise who
will do the Makarova style! Olga knows exactly what
Natasha wants and can see the production through her
eyes. She carries a vision of her own way of dancing
which Olga respects even if she may not always agree
with it. But it is her job to deliver the best possible pro-
duction as visualised by the author. Although the pre-
miere was due to be in Sweden and the Royal Ballet the
following season, MacMillan became ill at that time and
Pagodas was postponed by a year so Natasha told the
director of the Royal Swedish Ballet that Olga must go
to London immediately to put it on there. When he pro-
tested, Natasha said that London was more important!
Olga few back and forth so when Natasha was there she
could be here. John Lanchbery changed the music, reor-
chestrating and making cuts so the Maryinsky version is
quite diferent. Te day afer the premier in Stockholm
there was a Shades rehearsal here, and she had to re-
teach the Makarova version. It was difcult to do right
away but afer maybe three repetitions it was much as
she wanted it. Dancing with props is difcult and has to
be done in a certain way so Olga fnds ways of describ-
ing and demonstrating how it should be achieved. Te
Company had previously had Rudis Shades. Tere were
minor diferences but for Natasha they were big. Olga
uses her own shorthand, like many do, rather than
Benesh notation. Natasha changes little things all the
time and then changes back again. Her version has been
mounted all over the world mostly by Olga (Argentina,
Japan, Hamburg, Milan and the Royal) though in Poland
it was Cynthia Harvey and Susan Jafe, and in Finland
the notator from Stockholm started with Olga coming
in for the last few weeks.
Olga was at La Scala as ballet mistress for a brief
but intense period during the directorship of Robert
de Warren. Rudi was at Paris Opera at the time but was
like an artistic adviser for La Scala where they did many
of his productions. Rudi always came to her class and
sent all the boys he cared about to her class as well. His
vision was completely diferent from Natashas but she
learned so much. His temper was difcult, he would
throw chairs in rehearsals and swear badly in Russian
and other languages but he had so much passion and
warmth in him. If he hated someone it was with passion
and if he liked someone he would challenge them and
provoke them into doing their best. Tey put on his Don
Q, Beauty, Swan Lake and Nutcracker but not Romeo and
Juliet which was the Cranko version.
Olgas life now is a mixture primarily of teaching
and coaching and then of mounting Natashas ballets.
She set Auroras Wedding for Monte Carlo Ballet 20 years
ago. In Argentina she did Act III of Napoli, Paquita,
and Raymonda. From the years 2000-2010 she regu-
larly put on classical ballets in Arizona. Te Director,
Ib Andersen, a wonderful Danish dancer in his day,
asked her to be part of the project there as he believed in
performing the repertoire the correct way and thought
it was important both for the company and the public
to get to know it and he knew Olga was closer to the
Russian style.
With the Royal Ballet she began with Bayadre and
now her role has developed. Monica Mason was taking
care of guests when Anthony Dowell was director and
asked her to teach regularly. Over the years its become
more concentrated and for longer periods so now its
two or three times a season. It takes time to get to know
dancers, to build trust, to get to know their strengths
and weaknesses and the Company style which must be
respected. As a teacher and coach you are a guide but
you can also learn because you absorb what you see
and are infuenced by it. Olga has grown to love this
Company so when outsiders query it, she says its a very
young, international and multi-facetted Company. She
loves the dancers and respects them particularly as their
working life is so hard and short, demanding a huge
amount of discipline, strength and many other special
qualities. You cant give your best if you dont respect
people and like them. You can criticise but they will take
it if they trust that you love them and know its not a
put-down or trying to take away something from them.
Tis time (September 2012), it is easy shes teaching
class and helping with Swan Lake rehearsals. Shes only
here for a month so wont see Swan Lake to the end.
Also theres a new ballet mistress and assistant and it is
important that they take on full responsibility so Olga
meanwhile can help dancers who are guesting elsewhere
and will rehearse ballets that are not included in the cur-
rent repertoire.
Recently she was in Japan where shed been asked
to stage/coach/teach for the 13th World Ballet Festival,
an extravaganza which could only happen in that coun-
try. Tere were 13 performances, plus fve open general
rehearsals in all, of fve diferent programs, two of which
were full length ballets, in less than four weeks. Many of
the best dancers in the world were there from New York,
France, Russia, and Stuttgart, including Tamara Rojo,
Steven McRae, Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg from
With the Royal Ballet she began with
Bayadre and now her role has developed.
Monica Mason was taking care of guests
when Anthony Dowell was director and
asked her to teach regularly.
4
the Royal. It was insane. Tey worked on a wide variety
of rep almost without exception unbelievably hard with-
out missing a day. Tokyo Ballet provided the corps. Afer
a manic time it was lovely to be back here.
She will return in March afer spring break for
Bayadre. Asked if she has any infuence on casting, Olga
said she discussed it with Kevin OHare and Jeanetta
Laurence but Natasha has to give the fnal OK, which
shes done with some very minor changes. Olga sees
Bayadre through her eyes so knows and respects what
Natasha wants. When there are new people Natasha
wants to know who they are. Many of the dancers have
worked with her before, either here or elsewhere. Alina
has just been with her in New York. Olgas days will be
very full normally about 10 hours. Tis time there will
be quite a few new people to get to know. Te frst few
rehearsals involve setting or resetting or re-teaching.
You teach the parts separately and then put them all
together, starting with the big classical chunks. Other
coaches will be there too and as regards the Corps, the
ballet mistress is in charge. Ten you work on Demi-
solos and then the Principals. Tere are normally sev-
eral casts for this ballet (few companies have so many
casts) so she cant do everything herself but she will stay
here for the duration of the performances.
In thanking Olga for a fascinating evening, David
asked her to return and continue on another occasion.
Olga fnished by recounting a funny anecdote about
when she was putting on Bayadre in Argentina: When
I arrived frst to Teatro Colon and was asked what I will
begin with, I responded in Italian (which I speak fu-
ently, and which I supposed everyone understood).
I said that, of course, I will begin with LE OMBRE!
(which is the shades in Italian). But ombre means
man in Spanish, of course. When asked how many
she wanted she said 24 plus 3 of course and the man
was fustered and said that wasnt possible as they didnt
have that many. Olga retorted that if there werent 27
then they wouldnt do the ballet. Later she went into the
grand studio to fnd it full of male dancers ranging from
the school to those who were retirement age and prob-
ably hadnt done a class in years! She had learnt enough
Spanish while in Buenos Aires, where she had been
at least four times setting classical ballets, that soon
enough the dancers voted that she should speak her
Italianate version of Spanish!
Report written by Liz Bouttell corrected by Olga Evreinof
and David Bain Te Ballet Association 2012.