Yulia Makhalina


Very few careers in the recent history of the Kirov Ballet have been characterized by such curious twists as Yulia Makhalina's. Makhalina was propelled to stardom at hardly twenty, yet not even ten years later, when at the peak of her artistry, the Kirov seems to have ran out of opportunities for her. Her case is of course not without its precedents in this company, although it often distracts from the fact that we are considering here one of the most intriguing Kirov ballerinas of the last decades.

Considered by some as one of the best ballerinas in the world, Yulia Makhalina is in any case one of the most criticized and disparaged Kirov dancers of her generation. By her physique, tall and long-limbed, and even more by her performance style, frequently challenging stylistic boundaries in the classics with outsized extensions, flexible lines and wayward approaches, Makhalina, initially, often irritated critics and audiences, first in Russia, then in the West. However, few could have predicted that she was in fact nothing less than the harbinger of the now generally cherished and acclaimed type of Petersburg ballerinas.

Yulia Makhalina is usually mentioned as one with Oleg Vinogradov, who was Artistic Director of the Kirov Ballet from 1977 until 1995. Although Vinogradov undoubtedly played a crucial role in her development, overemphasizing his influence is altogether underestimating Makhalina's own talent, intelligence, dedication, and uncompromising persistence. Makhalina is a workaholic and a perfectionist, and the results could be seen after a few years in a definite transformation of her plastique and a constant improvement of her technique. In any case, her rapid rise to the top of the Kirov, culminating in Vinogradov's uncomfortable and short-sighted hype of his 'prima ballerina' in the early nineties, was a poisoned gift, causing jealousy and backlash. Once Vinogradov had left the building, Makhalina has been progressively sidelined in favour of younger colleagues.

Yulia Makhalina was born in Leningrad in 1968, studied at the Vaganova Academy (then the Leningrad Choreographic School) and graduated in 1985 from the class of Marina Vasilieva. She joined the Kirov Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet, but singled out by Vinogradov and under the guidance of Olga Moiseyeva and later Gennady Selyutsky she was quickly preparing and performing principal roles like Myrtha in Giselle, and already during her second season, Medora in Le Corsaire, and Odette/Odile. In 1988 Makhalina was made a principal.

With the now rather typical neglect of emploi, Makhalina's repertoire soon encompassed the whole gamut of classical roles. On the other hand, her curiosity and affinities for contemporary choreography have so far been mostly overlooked (except maybe by Vinogradov, who sent her to guest with the German Opera Ballet in Berlin in 1991), and are in fact within the Mariinsky doomed to remain unfulfilled. However, unlike some of her predecessors, until now Makhalina always preferred to stay in her theatre.

With her physical qualities, a gracious, regal bearing, and the aplomb of a superb technician, Makhalina is unsurpassed in roles like the Lilac Fairy, Raymonda, Paquita, Odette-Odile, and Nikiya. Her portrayals of the Swan Queen and of the Bayadère gained in time a striking combination of physical and emotional intensity, making them among the finest in the Kirov. Makhalina is also perfectly at home in the magical atmosphere of The Firebird, while her rendering of Mekhmene Banu, Grigorovich's tragic queen in Legend of Love, remains a highlight in her career.

By working constantly on her characterizations, Makhalina also successfully deepened the less obvious roles. In spite of her physical and stylistical incongruity, her Giselle is touching and intriguing by her sincerity and honesty; likewise, her Kitri is lively, funny and energetic.

At the outset of the 21st century it is hard to predict in which direction Makhalina's career will turn. In any case it would be a great pity to see a talent like hers stay deprived of the artistic possibilities of a career outside the Mariinsky.

Yulia Makhalina has been touring worldwide with the Kirov. Her dancing partners include Andris Liepa, Konstantin Zaklinsky, Alexander Gulyaev, Igor Zelensky, Farukh Ruzimatov, Alexander Kurkov, and Evgeni Ivanchenko.

At the Kirov she has mainly been working with Olga Moiseyeva, Gennady Selyutsky, and Yelena Yevteyeva.
She is a recipient of the Gold Medal at the International Ballet Competition in 1990, in Paris (with Igor Zelensky). In 1998 she received the Benois de la Danse prize in Moscow for her interpretation of Mekhmene Banu.

Marc Haegeman


Her repertoire includes:

  • Myrtha in Giselle
  • Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote
  • Medora in Le Corsaire
  • Odette-Odile in Swan Lake
  • Gamzatti in La Bayadère
  • Kitri in Don Quixote
  • Grand Pas Classique
  • Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty
  • Nikiya in La Bayadère
  • title role in Giselle
  • ballerina in Paquita - Grand Pas
  • Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty
  • Masha in The Nutcracker
  • Theme and Variations
  • Terpsichore in Apollo
  • Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux
  • 2nd movement in Symphony in C
  • Mekhmene Banu in Legend Of Love
  • title role in Raymonda
  • title role in La Sylphide
  • title role in Anna Karenina (chor. Prokovsky)
  • Maria in The Fountain of Bakhchisaray
  • Zobeide in Scheherazade
  • The Dying Swan
  • Marie Taglioni in Pas de Quatre
  • 3rd movement in In The Night
  • title role in The Firebird
  • Countess of Elba in Goya-Divertissement (chor. Antonio)
  • Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
  • title role in Carmen (chor. Petit)
  • title role in Manon (chor. MacMillan)
  • soloist in Yulia, a dancer's life (chor. Miroshnichenko)
  • soloist in Faust Tango (chor. Miroshnichenko)
  • the Siren in Prodigal Son (Balanchine)
  • the Chosen in The Rite of Spring (Nijinsky)
Copyright © 2000-2005
Text and photo of  Yulia Makhalina Copyright © 2000-2005 Marc Haegeman. All rights reserved.