Nadya Timofeyeva: The Show Must Go On

In ballet, everything can change in a second—one injury, one flight cancellation, one rocket overhead. And suddenly, a performance months in the making hangs in the balance. We spoke with Nadya Timofeyeva, Artistic Director of the Jerusalem Ballet, about a recent string of setbacks, stories of resilience, and why the stage still waits—no matter what.

— Nadya, you mentioned that recent events have shown just how much the outside world can intrude on art. What happened?

Just a week before our long-awaited performances in Haifa and Afula, one of our principal dancers, Misha Botsok, fell down a staircase and may have suffered a fracture. His leg turned blue and swelled up badly. Suddenly, his performance was in jeopardy.

— Did you try to find a replacement?
We urgently tried to bring in my beloved student, Yuval Cohen, from the U.S. But a chain of unpredictable events—from a rocket strike near Ben Gurion to a new injury in Philadelphia Ballet—wrecked those plans.

— How did you solve the situation?

Misha, despite the pain, came to rehearsal to try reworking the choreography. Because the show will go on. Because it must.

— It seems that for a ballet dancer, the body is everything?

Absolutely. In our profession—whether ballet or sport—everything depends on the body. Injuries can ruin plans in an instant. Especially in Israel, where male dancers are critically scarce, and multi-role artists are rare gems.

— What helps you cope with situations like this?

Since childhood, my mother, Nina Timofeyeva, taught me: the most valuable person in the company is the one who knows every role and is ready to step on stage at any moment. And His Majesty, Chance, will always offer a moment to those ready for it.

— Did your mother ever experience something like that herself?

Of course, more than once. She graduated from the Vaganova Academy as one of its best students, but in the theater, she found herself at the back of the corps de ballet. Only because of an injury to the lead ballerina one morning did she get a chance to dance Odette in Swan Lake. That was the start of her great career.
Later came The Stone Flower with Grigorovich. Nikolai Dorokhov danced Danila, and my mother was the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. During the variation, Dorokhov fell and tore his calf muscle—or so I remember; in any case, the injury was serious. After my mother’s solo came Danila’s monologue. What happened next? My mother began to improvise—she danced his part too, right after her own, until intermission. During the break, a replacement was found, and another dancer took over as Danila for the second act. My mother was publicly thanked for saving the performance.

— Have you had similar stories in your company?

Yes, I’ve encountered many such cases in my own experience. For example, in Israel, just before Othello, one of our dancers was hit by a car on his way to the theater. We had only a few hours to decide: cancel or save the performance. Alon Stroer learned the new role in a few hours and saved the evening.

— So, you’re confident the upcoming shows in Haifa and Afula will go on?
Despite everything—yes. Because ballet is a passage to a parallel world — one that lets us escape reality, if only for a moment.

Upcoming performances of Houdini: The Other Side will take place on Sunday, May 18, at Rappaport Hall in Haifa, and on Thursday, May 22, at Heichal HaTarbut in Afula. Tickets available here.

Photos courtesy of the Jerusalem Ballet