Polina Semionova / Lucy van Cleef People

RESUMEN: Since moving to Berlin from Moscow seventeen years ago, Polina Semionova has worked with three artistic directors, become a mother (her son turns two this month) and received the title of Kammertänzerin, Staatballett Berlin's highest honour. She concedes that the city of Berlin, with its theatres, has become her home. This season, working with Alexei Ratmansky on his reconstruction of Petipa's La Bayadère has led the international ballerina to reexamine her artistic motivations. On a busy morning between class and rehearsal, Lucy van Cleef spoke with the ballerina about cultivating a new onstage partnership, the process of delving deeper into favourite roles and how she discovers new emotional possibilities onstage.