The new self-confidence of pregnant ballerinas

Hymns of praise for the men, the women relegated to a side note? That doesn’t happen very often in ballet. At the end of March, when the biographical resurrection of the legendary dance rebel was celebrated at the Berlin State Ballet with “Nureyev,” the male cult overshadowed the secret stars of the performance: the top ballerinas Iana Salenko and Polina Semionova, both 40 plus. Their performances as Nureyev’s historical dance partners Margot Fonteyn and Natalia Makarova were enchanting. The duo portrayed their predecessors with glitz and glamor and made them shine in a way that their younger colleagues could hardly achieve. Because for this to happen, the expression of inner maturity must come together with external sovereignty and career-related composure. Salenko and Semionova represent an enlightened and enlightened generation of women who no longer have anything to prove to themselves or to the world – not even the compatibility of family and career.