How I spent New Year’s Eve. Chronicle of Alexandra Trusova

You might be interested in reading My New Year Holidays!

From December 28 to January 3, I performed in the show “Snegurochka”. This is a new production that Nikita Mikhailov and Sergey Filin worked on.

The show was quite difficult for me. It lasted 1h20, I skated 1h10. As planned by the director, I flew and danced on pointe and, of course, skated a lot. There were paired numbers with Dmitry Mikhailov and Konstantin Gavrin. I learned how to do a double release and different lifts!

It was not easy to change clothes in a minute and a half. I had to take off my skates, change my dress, put on spikes, let my hair down and run on stage! Two girls from synchronized skating and Lydia Toropova (mother of Sofya Titova) helped me, thanks to them I managed to do everything.

There were some funny moments during the premiere. During Ivan Kupala’s vacation, according to the plot, Ivan puts a wreath of pink and white flowers on the Snow Maiden’s head. So, after the melting of Snow Maiden, Ivan remained in her hands with … a scarlet crown. The thing is, when I was dancing around the fire, the wreath fell off my head and flew across the ice. Mark was looking for it for a long time, but he didn’t find this one – white and pink. I took what I had and went to cast my number. But I don’t think anyone noticed. But in the future, she always put the crown directly into Mark’s hands and only then jumped over the fire.

There were eight performances in total. On December 28 and 29, a show took place. December 30, January 2 and 3 – two each.

When the audience dispersed, we started rehearsals for Swan Lake, a show that opened January 4 in St. Petersburg. On the evening of January 3, after the final performance of The Snow Maiden, we went by train to St. Petersburg. The first rehearsal took place on January 4 at 9:30 a.m. on the ice of the Palais de Glace.

It was easier for me to play at Swan Lake than at Snegurochka. There were fewer outings, I didn’t change my clothes and I didn’t fly. But I tried another dance support, and at the last rehearsal – a triple throw! Of course he fell. But I really wanted to try. Skated five “Swan Lake” shows. On January 4 and 5 there were two shows a day and one on January 6. “Black Swan” as an image was easier, it suits me very well.

“Snow Maiden” is something else. I got used to the role of Snow Maiden, even though it was difficult and unusual. That’s probably why it’s so interesting. Sometimes it seemed to me that it was me and the whole fairy tale was about me. “The Snow Maiden” is perhaps more of a children’s New Year’s depiction of good and evil, of love and miracles, of dreams that will surely come true. And I’m kinda sad that it’s over.

I had a lot of fun performing in the New Year’s shows. It was a new and necessary experience for me. After all the performances, Mark and I decided to stay in St. Petersburg for three days. On the night of January 7, we celebrated Christmas with friends. It was, as always, great fun!

On January 7, we went to the General Staff Museum and the Mikhailovsky Theater. In the theater they watched the ballet “The Nutcracker”. Yana Rudkovskaya invited us to the Tsar’s box. Everything was very beautiful and solemn. We also managed to get behind the scenes of the theater and get to know the amazing artists Anastasia Soboleva and Viktor Lebedev, who played the main roles. Many thanks to them for the gift of pleasure. The sensations are unforgettable!

On January 8, we visited artist Maxim Im’s studio and the Mariinsky Theater, where we once again watched the Nutcracker ballet. We planned a trip to the theater in advance. Mark invited me to Moscow and I was waiting for this special day. I like ballet very much, so I attended two performances with great pleasure. Two great theaters and two different productions.

On January 9 in the morning, we had lunch in a restaurant, packed our bags and went to the station. It was the New Year’s vacation I had. Very rich, varied and interesting!