Sergei Polunin in Men in Motion

I’ve written about the young star Polunin before (see links at the end of this article): His surprise departure from the Royal Ballet, January 24th, the possible reason (or reasons) for his departure and now, Sergei Polunin in Men in Motion as James Dean.

Sergei Polunin in Men in Motion

He had been compared to Nureyev and Baryshnikov by critics and was made the Royal Ballet’s youngest principal dancer at 19. Then he stunned the dance world by quitting a week before he was due to appear on stage.

Now, in an interview with the Guardian, the Ukrainian Sergei Polunin has revealed that the gruelling demands of ballet, the boredom of rehearsals and a hankering for a more normal life mean that he intends to give up dance entirely by the time he is 26.

By quitting the Royal Ballet in January, Polunin, now 22, lost his right to work in the UK, but he is back with a new visa that doesn’t tie him to a specific company, and is about to dance in Men in Motion, a celebration of male ballet, with his friend Ivan Putrov.

Men in Motion includes the first dance he has ever choreographed, a piece about James Dean.

“I love movies and there’s something close to me about James Dean – I always wanted to do choreography on him,” says Polunin.

“First of all I saw James Franco play James Dean [in a 2001 TV movie] and I loved the character, the way he impersonated him. I went and got a tattoo of James Dean on my shoulder without actually seeing him in any movies.”

For more from Alex Needham’s article from The Guardian, follow link.

…Polunin commissioned his former colleague, Royal Ballet First Artist Valentino Zucchetti to choreograph a piece based on the actor James Dean.  Polunin, who resigned from The Royal Ballet on January 24th this year, had long been inspired by Dean, and Zucchetti accepted the challenge of researching and choreographing the piece in little more than a month, for the re-run of Ivan Putrov’s highly praised celebration of male dancing, Men in Motion, which you can see at Sadlers Wells this week (13 – 15 March).

James Dean is a five and a half minute solo, with Polunin raiding his own wardrobe for the requisite white t-shirt, jeans and jacket.  He even has a James Dean tattoo. What you’ll see is a very honest, direct piece of work with no subtext.  What you see is what you get and Zucchetti hopes that with this approach, the audience will immediately “get it.”

Read the entire article from Ballet News here.

I would really like to attend a performance of Sergei Polunin in Men in Motion, but since I don’t live in London, I’ll have to wait until the reviews come in tomorrow. I will be reporting on his performance for you to read.

If you happen to live near the London area, you can call the ticket office at 0844 412 4300, or visit the Sadler’s Wells (London’s Dance House) site here.

Come back again to catch up on this young dancer’s life and career!

In the meanwhile, if you enjoyed this article post, please help spread the news by “Sharing” and “Like”ing below.

More about Sergei Polunin:

• Sergei Polunin Abruptly Leaves Royal Ballet
• Why Did Sergei Polunin Quit?
• Truth Surfaces: Why Sergei Polunin Quit