What My Teacher Taught Me: American Ballet Theatre Principal Skylar Brandt on Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky
Ever since I was 8 years old, I’ve worked privately on the side with various coaches. I’ve been with Irina and Max the longest out of all the coaches I’ve studied with; maybe seven or eight years now. I call them my ballet mom and dad. They have completely transformed my dancing. I grew up watching them, of course, because they were principal dancers at American Ballet Theatre, so it’s very much a full-circle moment. Irina and Max are very nurturing and are always available to me, which is beautiful because it shows they really care about me as a person; it’s not just when we’re on the clock that they’re helpful.
I meet with them every Monday, and if I’m on layoff, I’ll work with them five days a week. I have so many people that are like, “I don’t understand how you can be in the studio with both of them yelling things at the same time,” but it’s so helpful. It’s double the amount of information in the same amount of time. I love it.
Sometimes, Irina and Max say the same things, but they have different ways of verbalizing it. For example, one of them might say “You need to bring your leg up faster,” but for some reason that doesn’t click for me, so then the other will say “Think ‘toes first,’ ” and then it makes sense. They can almost translate for each other in their own way.
Personality-wise, Max is the funniest person on the planet. He has me hysterically laughing half the time. I think the ability to laugh at yourself is so important because all we do [as dancers] is focus on what we need to improve upon. It’s a very physically, mentally, and emotionally tough career, so to have the levity is wonderful and helps me take the pressure off myself. I also love to work with them because they are still physically so beautiful and can show me with their bodies what I’m doing wrong and how to do it right, [which is helpful] since I’m a visual learner.
Irina and Max have helped prepare me for principal roles. For example, for Giselle’s mad scene, it can be very easy to get lost in your own world. There’s a part where she runs across the stage. I remember running and they said, “Turn your head a little so we can see your face more and not just half your face.” Little things like that make such a huge difference. Also, during the mad scene, they reminded me that no matter what emotions you’re experiencing, you always have to be the most beautiful one onstage, so don’t contort your face. I don’t hear that feedback anywhere else, and it makes an enormous difference.
It’s so beneficial working with Irina and Max, since they did all the same repertoire that I’m rehearsing now, and they know the inner workings of ABT. Their teacher was also Irina Kolpakova [ABT Principal Répétiteur], so what they say is very complementary. I can go to my lessons with her feedback and if I don’t understand it, they can say, “Oh, what she means is…” They can help me interpret what she’s trying to tell me.
It took me a while to find my voice here at ABT and realize that I needed to advocate for myself, because hard work and giving consistently good performances aren’t enough to get me where I need to go. Irina and Max shared plenty of their own stories and helped bolster my confidence to advocate for myself.
What I appreciate about them is that they don’t try to make me the dancer they were. They will offer me 10 different options or scenarios and help me find what looks best on me, which I think is the sign of a great teacher and mentor. They completely remove themselves and have no egos. They just want to help me find my own identity within classical ballet.
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