Musical Interlude… Intellectual Break….Because we all could use one.
Sergei Polunin was born in Kherson, Ukraine. From the age of 4 to 8, he trained at a gymnastics academy and then spent another four years at the Kyiv State Choreographic Institute.His mother Galina Polunina moved with him to Kyiv while his father Vladimir Polunin worked in Portugal to support them.
After Polunin graduated from the Kyiv Choreographic Institute he joined the British Royal Ballet School at the age of 13 in 2003, sponsored by the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation. He became a first soloist at the Royal Ballet in 2009. In June 2010 Polunin became the Royal Ballet’s youngest ever principal. After two successful years, on 24 January 2012, Polunin announced his resignation from the company with immediate effect. He said he had become so unhappy that, “the artist in me was dying.”
Several months later, in summer 2012, Polunin was invited to Russia by its famous ballet dancer and an artistic director of ballet of the two Russian theatres Igor Zelensky, and became a principal dancer with The Stanislavsky Music Theatre and Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. In early April 2013, it was reported that Polunin had walked out on the Schaufuss Ballet’s performance of Midnight Express just days before its opening night.
Polunin has received numerous awards, including the Prix de Lausanne and Youth America Grand Prix in 2006, and in 2007 was named the Young British Dancer of the Year.
The New York Times described Polunin as “a fabulous dancer, with a steely technique and beautiful line” in its review of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (2011) when he danced as the Knave, who doubled as Alice’s romantic interest. He was first shown in the international spotlight in the role of Slavemaster/Sheppard in the 25th Anniversary The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall. Polunin was shortlisted as the best male dancer for the 2014 National Dance awards in the U.K.
In 2014 Polunin started his collaboration with a famed American photographer and music director David LaChapelle and took part in his new projects including dancing video “Take Me to Church”, music by Hozier presented in February, 2015. [Source Wikipedia]
I happened to catch his performance on Ellen yesterday. He said that this was intended to be his final dance, but the massive amount of attention on YouTube (Over 10 million hits and counting) has brought more interesting opportunities to him, so he is going to explore some new avenues. He seems very temperamental and angsty. I’m going to allow myself to believe he is straight simply for, um personal reasons. What he’s 25! That’s legal in all states. 🙂
You’re such a gifted writer. I honestly enjoy everything you scribe
Beautiful, he’s a work of art .
I agree! He is dancing is breathtakingly beautiful.
Very impressive.. Love the setting. Empty church in the woods. Just a beautiful boy! Thanks for sharing.
STUNNING!!! Thank you for sharing this TT!!
Thank you for this.
Beautiful!
Wow! He can really dance & is very physically fit!
He IS yummy. There is nuthin’ finer than a dancer’s body 😉
Awesome! Culture and Eye Candy all in one. Thank you for a welcome change.
Dance is my first true love. This dancer took my breath away. Thanks for the post, Tamara. Was an unexpected treat. All there is left to say is…Amen!
Thanks TT I desperately needed that today!! ❤️
This video, and he, are gorgeous.
Thank you for sharing.
Amazing and to think he probably has no idea who Abby Lee Miller is.
I was thinking the same thing! I’d rather watch him in nude tights than Maddie and Shia any day. That was truly beautiful!
Gotta love a temperamental Ukrainian….so long as he doesn’t turn into an Oksana Baiul.
Wow! He makes it look so effortless and natural. Just like we breathe, he dances. So fluid and my goodness, those leaps, breathtaking.
That was super sexy! OmG!
I have tried the “if you can’t find a good man,raise ya one “route. It didn’t work well for me. Maybe you will do better TT
Thank you TT. Beautiful. A feast for the eyes. I could watch him dance for hours.
I was trying so hard to enjoy the beauty of the dance but the beauty of the man kept interfering. I think it had something to do with those nude pants…
need a cigarette
Simply stunning.
Brilliant!
Beautiful. Almost like time stops at certain points in that dance. And, yeah, it is amazing to see a body in that sort of shape.
Reminds me of Nureyev, who had so much animal magnetism. Polunin is not as good as Baryshnikov, but he has the same angelic beauty. Hope he keeps dancing while he can.
Wow, thank you. I would have never seen this if you had not posted. Just beautiful and passionate.
This is so powerful and beautiful, I keep coming back to watch the video again and enjoy it more each time. I am in awe.
Being repeatedly told how to dance and rehearsing for hour upon hour for days would begin to hinder an extremely talented and creative dancer. Being given the freedom to dance unchained, so to speak, to dance with freedom and joy provides the viewing experience with that unfettered joy. He dramatically interprets a beautiful song in a way that touches hearts. I have watched this video since it’s debut, and it gives me chills each time I’ve watched. He deserves the freedom to interpret musical scores as he feels if it means we have beauty such as this!
I’m mesmerized by his performance, so much so that I have played it @100 times and made people at work watch it too. It is beautiful. I pray he finds happiness in his great gift.
Also Tamara, I read he usually has a ballerina girlfriend.
The lyrics to his number seem reminiscent of yesterday’s tragedy even tho unintended. He seems bothered and conflicted with the piece and it spoke to the current events. If you hadn’t shared this as a mental break link, I’d of thought it was an artist commentary to a very delicate moment.