Former ballerina makes a great leap of faith
Here to conduct ballet examinations at the Russian Cultural Centre, Oksana Karnovitch talks about why she chose to switch to teaching
Oksana Karnovitch knows that she made a leap of great faith when she chose to make a life out of ballet. “For us maybe 20 years of glory is as good as it gets,” she says reflectively. “That’s if you’re lucky.” In a world where to make it you must be willing to sacrifice everything you have, Oksana was one of the fortunate few who made it-and made it good.
Oksana Karnovitch. Pic by Indika Handuwala
Those two decades of dancing and touring with the Imperial Russian Ballet were a whirlwind for her; perhaps that’s why she decided a change was in order. Today, she teaches the discipline of Classical Ballet Heritage at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography. It’s not where she envisaged herself as an idealistic five-year-old learning her pointe work-but then again the best things in life are often unplanned, and for Oksana teaching is something that comes just as naturally as her innate grace and confidence does.
“I started dancing at five years of age,” she tells us. “And that was considered a late age to start training!” Most ballet dancers begin training at the age of three; to be an accomplished dancer you must train your body to move naturally in a certain way and for that training must begin at a very early age. Oksana was trained in classical ballet-known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique. “You must train and train every single day to be any good at this,” she says. “But it’s worth it.” The graceful, precise movement of classical ballet lends to its ethereal quality and this makes it perhaps the most revered form of the dance technique.
In 1982, aged a tender 10, she entered the Alma-Ata Ballet School, studying under the guidance of Tamara Kosova. In 1986 Oksana was transferred to the Novosibirsk Ballet School where she came under the guidance of distinguished instructor Alica Nikiforova. Starting 1989 she worked three years at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet, following it up with a stint at the State Theatre of Classical Ballet under the direction of Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vassilev.
In 1995, she joined the Imperial Russian Ballet under the guidance of renowned ballerina Maya Plisetzkaya. Oksana was with the company for five years, and says she was honoured to work with the legendary Plisetzkaya who danced professionally till she was a grand 70 years of age. “She’s one of the handful,” says Oksana. “I was privileged to have worked with her.”
As a troupe member she travelled far and wide, touring the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia; “I loved every single moment of it,” she smiles. Working under the direction of Nicholay Androsov, she also performed principal roles in Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’ and Rave’s ‘Bolero’.
As with anything, the trick to being successful is knowing when to step back gracefully. For Oksana that was in the latter half of the last decade, when she graduated in 2006 from the Institute of the Russian Theatre specialising in Pedagogy of Choreography.
In 2008 she graduated from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography with honours, specialising in History and Theory of Choreographic Art. In a testament to her enduring love for her craft she also authored the ‘Encyclopaedia of the Bolshoi Theatre’, a guide to the historic theatre in Moscow.
In Sri Lanka to conduct ballet examinations at the Russian Cultural Centre, Oksana is enjoying conducting workshops for the kids and says that while the young ballerinas have a long way to go they show great potential. And as for that choice she made to switch from professional dance to teaching, she has no regrets.
“It was a very difficult choice to make, to change my life so drastically. I’m very glad I did; teaching is the next best thing.”
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