A few years ago, the TODES dance school entered the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest network of dance schools. And this year the Dance Theater TODES turns 5 years old. On the eve of the anniversary, we talked with the founder and artistic director of TODES, Alla Dukhovaya.
Psychologies: How do you manage such a big structure: ballet, touring, theater, the biggest dance network in the world. Now it’s probably easy for you to be a leader, you have experience, an understanding of what needs to be done. And when everything was just beginning, what was the most difficult thing: discipline within the team, competition, bureaucracy?
I think the main thing is to love what you do and work hard. These are the people around me. First of all, I respect our team for their work, I respect those people who are completely devoted to this business. For many, the clash of two concepts becomes a test: “work” and “sympathy”. I can easily share all this, because everything is simple: we went into the hall – we work, I treat everyone equally objectively. I consider myself a strict but fair leader and do not disregard any direction. Music for our theatre, festivals, a workshop where costumes are sewn, the creation of collections of our branded clothes TODES WEAR – I do literally everything.
Dance Theater TODES will soon be 5 years old, the first anniversary. Will you celebrate somehow?
It will be a surprise for everyone, we will not disclose all the details in advance. For us personally, it is most pleasant to celebrate this anniversary at rehearsals and on the stage of our TODES Dance Theater together with the audience, whom we always try to please.
Studio schools celebrate their 20th anniversary this year, they are located in different cities and countries and are even listed in the Guinness Book as the largest dance network in the world. How, where and when did the first school open? How did you come to its creation and what did you teach then?
When TODES began to be invited to perform in different cities and countries, the question of expanding the troupe sharply arose before us. Then in the 90s, modern choreography was not taught anywhere, there were populists, people from ballet and even athletes, and we developed our own unique style. Then we realized that we need to grow our own shift, and the dance school is an excellent way out, and immediately with a reserve for the future.
This is how the first studio schools appeared, first in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Riga. Now 127 of our schools teach both children and adults with any figure and data. The main condition: age over 4 years old and a desire to dance. We believe that everyone can dance! Parents bring their children to us and often sign up for classes themselves. No wonder we call each other family.
There are places where your schools do not yet exist, but you are striving to open an educational institution there?
Our country is vast, so we still have much to strive for. We receive a lot of emails and comments in our accounts about when the studio will open in a particular city. We keep covering more and more places. For example, we recently opened in the wonderful city of Khabarovsk. So the TODES family is growing rapidly.
Remember the emotions when you learned about the Guinness Book? Surprised?
Of course, we were very happy about this, but it was not some kind of end in itself, it happened, and this is very honorable, very pleasant. For us, all the same, one thing is at the head – work. Now we are filling the TODES Dance Theater with a repertoire. At the beginning of this year, we presented the audience with a new musical performance “See you in a fairy tale.” At the same time, we are touring, improving the technique of the guys, creating something new, developing. As you know, the path to perfection is endless.
Of course, such work is exhausting both physically and mentally. If the body needs sleep to recover, how do you restore mental strength, especially in winter?
Dancing and creativity, what else! This is my strength and my inspiration! In addition to work, I really like to travel, I try to bring something memorable from each trip, for example, glasses, of which I already have a whole collection. I love new places, there is something amazing in getting to know every new corner of our world, touching everything with your hands. In addition, every day before work I walk around Suvorov Park for about an hour. Everyone knows that I do Nordic walking, for me it is a great recharge before work.
What is the current relationship in TODES? You say that TODES is a family. In the truest sense of the word, do your dancers create families within this team? Doesn’t this interfere with work? Especially when talented girls go on maternity leave.
Yes, we really are a family. We have children, their mothers and even fathers! Inside the touring cast, ballet and theater artists, we also spend a lot of time together, and inside the team, love makes itself felt. We have a lot of married couples, many already have children. Our artists find each other, the magic of the stage, training and dancing does its job, and their love stories are really great and inspiring. At the TODES Dance Theater you can see some performances where husband and wife perform as a duet. That’s very beautiful.
On March 3, the Kremlin will host a concert dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Todes studios. What can viewers expect? Who will come to congratulate you?
Preparations are in full swing! The “Big TODES Concert” in the Kremlin will show the audience the best performances of our team, as well as performances by Russian pop stars. Mot, Kristina Orbakaite, Valery Leontiev, the Pizza group, Artik and Asti and many others will come to congratulate us on the anniversary of the TODES studio schools. We will do our best to make this concert unforgettable.