Tatyana Shemetovets: The Mind is the Most Important Tool in Ballet

Tatyana Shemetovets joined the Belarusian ballet in 1979 and graced the stage until 2005. Seasoned ballet enthusiasts remember her for her brilliant interpretations of roles such as Carmen, the Harlot, Anna Porphyrogenita, Zarem, Myrta, Bathilde, the Fairy Carabosse, and the Chosen Maiden. Although she has not performed on the stage of the Bolshoi for over a decade and a half, ballet lovers continue to cherish her roles and admire her talent, charisma, and the enchanting beauty of this ballerina and captivating woman.

An Evening Dedicated to the Artiste

Hundreds of enthusiastic admirers of her art attended the creative evening dedicated to the artiste, which took place last autumn at the Bolshoi Theatre. Today, Tatyana Shemetovets is our guest. We will try to understand the secret of her personal success and the enduring love of the audience that has lasted for more than a decade.

Dedication to the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus

The Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus has been the centerpiece of four decades of your creative and personal biography. Let’s talk about these years. The 1980s were a time of youth and formation. Soviet art was not a commercial category. A ballerina in the literature, painting, and cinema of those years was a fragile, refined, exquisite personality, soaring in high spheres, somewhat otherworldly, and beyond the everyday life. What were you like?

Immersed in the World of Art

If I am honest, I was also completely beyond the everyday life, filled with an inexplicable light of love for the profession. Even before entering the choreographic school, from early childhood, I often visited the Ahremchik School of Arts, where my mother worked. This school was attended by future musicians, sculptors, and artists—talented children from all over the republic. I touched the atmosphere of art and was filled with impressions. And when I started studying at the choreographic school, I felt the same aura of beauty. My mother was well-versed in my profession, in me, and in the people around me. She always noticed everything subtly and made very accurate remarks, helping me in everything.

The Beginnings of a Stage Career

At school, we studied music as a mandatory subject, visual arts, of course, and all special disciplines. We studied almost all day, with only a small part of the evening free. Considering that I started ballet at the age of 10, and the school was located in the theater building in those years, I have dedicated not forty years to the theater, but forty-eight.

From Corps de Ballet to Leading Roles

The theater was like a dream. It was prestigious to get here, but only the best were accepted. When I came to the theater, I saw that there were completely different requirements here, a different world. All the tempos were much higher, and I had to think, act, and move very quickly. It was here that I met my beloved teachers who influenced my formation. A whole world opened up for me; I was filled with inspiration and enlightenment, walking around and simply glowing. And I wanted to dance so much!

Gradually, some small solo roles appeared, then more serious parts that were given to me and my classmates with great effort. We spent days and nights in the theater, never counting how many hours we worked or how much time was left until the end of the rehearsal…

Today, as the head of the ballet troupe, I must strictly observe all the breaks for the artists. Of course, their work is very difficult and many hours long, and they are entitled to hours of rest and minutes of breaks under their employment contracts. But this applies more to the corps de ballet artists. Our leading masters have an irregular working day: if they need to rehearse, then they need to, and none of them counts how much rest they are entitled to, for example, during the preparation of a premiere performance. The soloists and leading artists are an order of magnitude different from the corps de ballet artists in their endurance and professionalism. They are people of very tough sports training and physical fitness.

The Essence of a Ballerina

Externally, they should look fragile but possess good physical qualities. The thinner and more graceful, the better the ballerinas look on stage. But behind this fragility must lie an iron character. And this is not for everyone. For example, sometimes you have to repeat some ballet steps a hundred thousand times, as well as think and analyze.