The importance of mentorship
Through different years of company life, I finally arrived at the point where I am lucky and grateful to work with one of the greatest Prima Ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater :
Yulia Makhalina.
When I joined the company, I always dreamed of having a personal coach that could help me grow.
Though, it didn't happen. As I join the company after school, I quickly understand how alone I will be in my work and how little feedback I will get daily, so how little improvement I will make if I didn't constantly seek it for myself.
Being someone passionate, I can't hide the struggle and torture of being unable to get wisdom from the incredible pedagogue that has this company, simply because I was officially a corps de ballet member, not a soloist.
I want to share today my experience, and why I believe having a mentor is the most beautiful gift you can receive.
As with any other master, he/she can show you the path toward your highest self.
A mentor is someone with knowledge and experience in your sphere who is willing to share this knowledge to help you achieve your goals. Ideally, a mentor will have achieved the level of success you hope to achieve for yourself and will be able to challenge and push you in ways others can't, knowing like no one else what it requires to achieve this level.
Having a mentor is more than just setting and achieving goals; it's about having someone extraordinary who can provide incredible knowledge, constant valuable feedback, push and support to help you grow by surpassing your current limits, which in the long term should irremediably help you to advance in your career.
The success of this exchange depends not only on the mutual understanding of this relationship, but also on the ability to find a balance between honest, demanding guidance and caring support.
It requires a commitment from the mentee's side, as well as full trust and active learning from the student's side, which means it's a full two-sided exchange. And depending on someone's psychology, it's very important to find a teacher who can connect with you on all levels.
I notice how working with a mentor transforms my work, not only during our rehearsal but also in my personal work (like class, for example) just because I have constant new keys, or I could say "homework". In every step, I remember the corrections made by Yulia, and I understand where I need to focus to improve in this present moment. Of course, you can learn to become your own master and mentor. But I believe that it's possible only after you received the golden teachings of a real mentor.
To sum up, having by your side in your daily work a mentor, personal teacher, and pedagogue mainly will:
Offer you true wisdom, knowledge, help and guidance to develop
Help you understand better, acknowledge and develop your strengths and weaknesses.
Help you set smart goals
raise your confidence and show you that everything is possible with work if you simply believe in yourself.
I believe it's the keys to success.
Our meeting with Yulia seemed to be like destiny.
She saw me for the first time when I was in school and noticed me as a student with a unique, specific depth. As she was in her school years, I was also lucky to be the student of Marina Vasilieva, a renowned teacher from The Vaganova Ballet Academy. Among her students, we can name Evgenia Obraztsova, Olesya Novikova, Viktoria Tereshkina...
I joined the theater and lost contact with Yulia. For five years, she was nearly fully absent from theater life due to personal, difficult events. She still followed my steps, and one day we met again. Our first official work in the theater was on the adagio of Scheherazade; after that, we continued our work, thankfully possible due to the director's permission.
Working with her is a daily moment of gratitude, and I have such an infinite respect for her that I inside feel the duty to give myself entirely to our rehearsal process.
She believes in me; I start believing in me; I start destroying all my limited beliefs that have been created by the social theater, by the opinions and judgement of others, and I hope, as this dream is coming true, that one day another dream will come true on the Mariinsky Stage.
