Photo credit: Sasha Gusov
Xander Parish "in conversation" with Mike Dixon
16th February 2023
The Chair of the London Ballet Circle, Susan Dalgetty Ezra, welcomed both Xander Parish and Mike Dixon to the evening’s conversation. Xander was the first British dancer to be employed by The Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg and is now a Principal with Norwegian National Ballet. Mike, a distinguished writer and critic, would lead the conversation.
Mike opened the conversation by saying that he had known Xander for some considerable time and a while ago had described him as the ‘greatest premier danseur noble these islands have ever produced’. He had predicted that Xander going to Russia would prove successful; in the event it had exceeded even his expectations. Nevertheless Mike suspected that his story was not well known by everyone and he invited Xander to explain how it was that he made the move to Russia.
Yorkshire born Xander had trained at the Royal Ballet School and in 2005 joined the company in the corps de ballet. He enjoyed this although maybe regretted that he had relatively few occasions to ‘shine’. At one point the company had Yuri Fateev, a guest teacher from the Mariinsky Ballet, taking class for two weeks. Xander was impressed by his extremely ‘hands on’ approach. He was inspirational, full of energy, and gave very personalised corrections. On his last day with the company Xander plucked up the courage to ask Yuri if he could show him some jumps. He watched Xander for around half an hour and appeared happy with what he had seen.
About a year later he received a message that Yuri remembered him and was inviting him to join class while the company was performing a guest season at the Royal Opera House, an invitation which Xander accepted. On the last day of their tour Yuri, who by this time had become Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Ballet, invited him to come to Russia and join the company. “Come to Russia! We’ll teach you Russian”, he had said, asking Xander to think about it.
Xander thought about the prospect a lot but decided that he couldn’t accept the offer. He very much appreciated the attention that Yuri had paid him but wanted to remain with the Royal Ballet. In August 2009 he discussed the situation with Dame Monica Mason, at that time Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet, who expressed some surprise at the unusual offer She wanted him to stay in London but suggested that maybe he might go for six months to see how he got on.
Mike asked Xander what in general he had learned from Dame Monica? That she was a wonderful, hands-on director, who paid attention to everyone on the stage. No part was so minor that she didn’t try to ensure that the dancer made the most of it, for instance with the positioning of arms and hands. She wanted the acting to be as natural as possible. Xander considered that he had learned a great deal from her.
Life in the corps was good, but Xander really wanted to dance rather more. There were so many talented individuals around him that he felt his own chances to progress were limited. Accordingly he contacted Yuri and indicated that he would like to accept the offer. He went to the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg in January 2010.
Mike then asked about the contrasting styles of teaching between Russia and Western Europe, for instance the corrections given ‘in heat’. On the Mariinsky stage, as soon as the curtain comes down, the director or coach will be there to work on whatever part of the ballet requires attention. So the dancers will be rehearsing in costume, immediately after the performance, without cooling down. Although British dancers might be horrified at the thought of rehearsing straight after performance, Xander could see the value in so doing.
In the Russian tradition there is an expectation that they will be able to perfect everything. In his experience the level of commitment of the dancers was greater than in Britain. There was no real distinction between work and personal life. In Russia, Xander said, “you work when you are told to”. One was never off duty, and he was fully focussed, living ‘a few seconds’ from the theatre.
Learning the Russian language was not easy, and Xander had ‘Post-it’ notes plastered all round his flat bearing useful phrases which he had to remember. Overall he did not really expect to succeed in his new venture, but he did survive. More than that, he actually experienced a steep upward trajectory in his career.
Yuri Fateev cast him in Chopiniana more or less as soon as he got off the plane. Xander knew nothing of the ballet and inquired which part he would be dancing before discovering there was in fact only a single male in the piece. He had just three and a half weeks to learn the part, which involved considerable style, strength, and elasticity. There was also partnering – which he had not done since leaving the Royal Ballet School – with some big lifts. All in all, it had been a steep learning curve.
He had also been cast in the Pas de Trois variation from Act 1 of Swan Lake. This is known to be an extremely hard role. Indeed, Xander reminded us of the saying that if you perform this role badly they will let you play the Prince instead! Accordingly, a video clip was then played showing Xander dancing this variation.
Mike asked if seeing this clip brought back memories? Xander responded that It had proved a key role in his development and he had danced it for the Mariinsky Ballet for some years as the first cast. It helped him to build strength and learn the Russian style.
Xander’s penchant for comedy was then noted. For instance, in Giselle he could sometimes generate laughter with the manner in which Albrecht tosses away a petal of the flower in the “he loves me, he loves me not” mime sequence. They agreed that a sense of humour was important although its use had to be appropriate; many roles were essentially tragic in nature. That discussion led on to the demeanour of the dancer. Both agreed that if you are playing a prince then the audience must be convinced of that from the very first moment you step onto the stage. That, Xander said, was not easy at the beginning of his career although he doesn’t have to think about it now.
Musicality is of great importance to Xander, and over the years he had developed good relationships with conductors. In particular, he cited close friends Gavriel Heine and Christian Knapp with whom he had shared an apartment building in St Petersburg. The former became the main conductor for his ballets and they would sometimes go through the dance steps in a corridor of their building in order to ensure that music and movement would fit together properly.
Mike recalled an occasion in which both he and Xander had climbed into the fly tower above the stage to watch the last act of Swan Lake. Up there, said Mike, was the very best place to appreciate the music. Although not entirely without risk, added Xander, who on another occasion had knocked himself out on an overhead pipe whilst in the flies!
Mike then referred to works such as Paquita and Raymonda, performed infrequently in Western Europe until recently. He said these roles suited Xander well because he was able to smile while dancing them – not a universal attribute. A video clip of Xander performing the Act 3 solo from Raymonda was then shown.
The discussion then turned away from dance to current events and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Xander said there had been some unease after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 although nothing untoward happened within the ballet world. The invasion of Ukraine was, however, clearly very different. A polarisation of views quickly developed; many of his erstwhile friends and colleagues were saying that Putin had done the right thing. Xander himself could not support the invasion.
He feared the closure of borders and the banning of external flights and realised that it was better to leave the country as soon as possible, not necessarily for ever but to see how the situation developed. He and his wife each packed a single suitcase and took a bus explaining at the border they were off to a holiday in Estonia.
Xander’s situation was complicated by the fact that he was now married. While he retained his British passport, his new wife Anastasia, also a dancer, was Russian. They went to Tallin for a few days while she applied for a visa for the UK. After four months in limbo they had to get out of the EU and were offered refuge in Georgia. It was a scary time; most of their possessions were back in Russia, their bank cards didn’t work, and they had no jobs or any chance to maintain their fitness. It took months to obtain a visa for her to visit the UK, and then only with some additional help.
Fortunately Xander had been able to secure a position as a Principal in the Norwegian National Ballet, with Anastasia joining the corps de ballet. In late Spring he would perform in Christian Spuck’s version of Sleeping Beauty, an interesting contemporary take on the classic, and very different from those versions he had previously known. When starting out on this project Xander asked if he could watch a video of a previous performance. The balletmaster refused, saying that Christian wanted the dancers to interpret the steps for themselves. A very different approach from Russia!
What was it like being a member of a small company after the Mariinsky? Like exchanging one sport for another completely different one, replied Xander. The Mariinsky had been rather like a ballet factory; their aim had been to mount a thousand shows every year. There was no down time. You put in the work and you get results. In Norway dancers had both Saturday and Sunday free, a situation unheard of in St Petersburg. And as for the fact that Norwegian was yet another language to learn? Not really a great problem, said Xander, because English is spoken nearly everywhere these days.
Mike went on to ask Xander about his involvement with the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts in Costa Mesa in California. Xander extolled the virtues of the Center as a venue; it was close to the beach which was great for sunbathing! Started by philanthropist Henry Segerstrom it had over the years hosted major foreign touring companies such as the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi ballets. Now, with the current sanctions due to the war, these companies could no longer visit.
Elizabeth Segerstrom took over the running of the complex after the death of her husband. As a Polish immigrant to the US, she wanted to help those dancers exiled from their home countries and Xander had got together a group of Ukrainian and Russian dancers to perform at the Center. In his opinion the audience there wanted Russian classic ballets. He was keen to support his many friends who were currently out of work because of the crisis, as well as to show unity for Ukraine. Elizabeth had offered to finance the venture, and the performances were sold out within ten days.
Xander emphasised that although they all wanted to show support for Ukraine this did not imply any hatred of the Russian people who he described as ‘very similar to Yorkshire people’. He loved the country of Russia. The problem lay in the dictatorship, the lies, and the suppression of truth for which the establishment was responsible. It was galling for Xander that one of the citations for the award of his OBE had been the furtherance of Anglo-Russian relations.
So back to ballet – Mike turned to the potential difficulties of partnering, citing the white and black swan pas de deux in Swan Lake. It is often said that the former is much more difficult than the latter, and it is true that the white swan variation has to be extremely subtle and nuanced. It is all about the ballerina, said Xander, and the male dancer must know when to make himself effectively ‘invisible’. It is a relatively long pas de deux which must be smooth and beautiful. When first performing the piece he used to stand nervously in the wings just beforehand but he reckoned that dancing it more than one hundred times he was now over the worst!
Xander also referred to an experience with the Mariinsky in which he had danced ‘Diamonds’ in Balanchine’s Jewels with three different partners in the course of one week. It had been great fun, but every girl approaches the role in a slightly different way, and accordingly makes different demands on her partner. Balanchine’s choreography was complicated but in Xander’s opinion made perfect sense, being built completely around the structure of the music.
Over the years he had danced with many partners and they all had different ideas as to the way in which a role should be performed. More than that, their individual coaches had their own ideas! And, of course, conductors also have their own ideas of the correct speed for the piece.
A member of the audience inquired about injuries and the support available in Russia. Xander responded that the facilities at the Mariinsky could not compare with the healthcare support common in Western ballet companies. Sometimes you simply took a paracetamol and got on with it. However, he also opined that dancers experienced fewer injuries than those in the West, for which he thought there might be a couple of reasons.
Firstly, dancers entering the company all came from essentially the same training background, and all had been very carefully selected before they even commenced training. Accordingly they were all of pretty much the same standard and would approach their work in the same way. And this standard was indeed very high, such that in Xander’s view every member of the corps could actually be a Principal in a different company. He believed this minimised the chances of individual injury. By contrast, European dancers came from a variety of schools and a wide diversity of backgrounds, and while standards were also extremely high their approaches to performance could be very different.
The second reason lay in the quality of the floors on which they all performed. Every dance surface he had experienced had been sprung to just the right extent and overall the facilities were excellent.
Xander was then asked about ex-Mariinsky choreographer Ilia Jivoi, and their continuing relationship outside Russia. Xander had been invited to the Origen Festival in the Red Tower on the Julierpass in Switzerland, and asked his friend Ilia to choreograph a new piece for him to perform there. They have gone on to collaborate and Ilia will be making another new work for Xander to dance in California.
Finally Xander was asked how he maintained fitness, for instance during lockdown and now when he was performing in fewer ballets. He admitted that he missed the volume of performance at the Mariinsky. He went to the gym; he cycled a lot, and just recently had taken up running which he found very enjoyable.
Susan Dalgetty Ezra, Chair of the London Ballet Circle, thanked both Xander and Mike most sincerely for giving up their evenings. As friends of long standing they were able to converse in a most fascinating and interesting manner which had been most enjoyable.
Written by Trevor Rothwell and approved by Xander Parish and Mike Dixon.
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