During the holiday season theater-goers saw several traditional ballets-cum-fairy tales: The Nutcracker, The Night before Christmas, and Buratino and the Magical Violin. The last performance, staged by Viktor Lytvynov, has one vivid female character-the Hostess of the Tavern, who is played, according to the ballet master’s design, by a man. Every time this «monumental» woman comes on stage she raised a storm of applause. One of the actors who play this part is Maksym Motkov, People’s Artist of Ukraine. He typically plays character roles, so this part was absolutely unexpected for the audience, showing the wide spectrum of this actor’s artistic talents.
Motkov played a number of characters on the Kyiv stage, including such notable ones as Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet), Crassus (Spartacus), Von Rothbart (Swan Lake), Basil (Don Quixote), Perelisnyk (The Forest Song), Drosselmeyer (The Nutcracker), Prince (The Little Mermaid), and others. As a ballet dancer, Motkov has the gift of plastic and dramatic transformation.
He has been performing in the National Opera for over twenty years. Motkov is admired by the audience and respected by his colleagues. He is continuing an artistic dynasty: his mother, Valentyna Kalynovska, was a renowned ballet dancer and was at the summit of glory in the 1960s through the 1980s. His father is also a dancer, as well as a teacher and a ballet master.
As a vivid, elegant, and technically perfect dancer, his mother had command of the entire classical and contemporary repertoire. Kalynovska won the audience with her expressiveness, stage temperament, and sincerity.
She is now passing her experience to the young dancers and is proud of her son’s successful career. Incidentally, in order to play the Hostess of the Tavern, Motkov was made up and in this makeup he bore close resemblance to his mother, which became the topic of good-hearted jokes among his colleagues.
Maksym, was it a friendly caricature of your mother?
“Rather a loving one. I wasn’t planning this on purpose. When I came on stage during the final dress rehearsal it became clear that I looked like a caricature of my mother. This inspired me even more. Thankfully, my mother has a good sense of humor. She laughed together with our colleagues, watching me clumsily move around as the hostess.
“You know, comical parts demand from the actor even a greater command the entire arsenal of artistic and technical skills. Furthermore, it is always interesting to seek something new for and in yourself. And the audience’s sincere laughter is so rewarding. Now that I have a son, children’s joy reverberates in me with especially warm overtones. As Viktor Lytvynov says, ‘a performance for children is a challenge for adults.’”
Not so long ago you received an award and an honorary certificate at the Anatolii Shekera International Ballet Festival. You worked under the guidance of this excellent choreographer. Could you tell us about this experience?
“I am grateful to the commission of the Anatolii Shekera Fun for selecting me out of several contestants. Indeed, I knew Shekera both as a professional and outside his work environment. It is especially nice that I received precisely this award, for it is thanks to Shekera that I began to grow as a soloist, dancing in his famous ballets Romeo and Juliet and Spartacus. Not every actor receives a chance to perform in these types of ballets at such a young age. I played Mercutio when I was 20 and a year later-Crassus.
“At the rehearsals Shekera told each performer what, why, and how acting was supposed to be done on stage. You know, it is one thing when the Maitre de ballet is involved in stage production, where his presence is expected. Shekera, however, had control over entire performances; he introduced new actors and worked meticulously with the youth.
“I found myself in a predicament when we were staging Romeo and Juliet. According to the plot, Mercutio is the oldest one of the three friends. I made my debut when Romeo’s part was played by Mykola Priadchenko, who is 18 years older than I am, and Benvolio was played by Ihor Pohoriely, who is 13 years my senior. I had to be the leader among them and the one they looked up to. Thanks to my partners and Shekera’s instructions, I coped with my part. Shekera gave me the conviction that my biological age is not important on stage if, of course, I am a real actor.
“Shekera’s premature departure is a great loss to our theater. Because of this such excellent plays as Prometheus, Olha, and A Legend about Love are no longer staged. I was involved in them as ‘his own’ dancer.”
Did you have to overcome certain distrust on the part of your colleagues?
“There were all kinds of experiences. In the theater you always have to overcome and prove something. For example, I had to overcome the shadow of my mother’s glory. I had to prove that I have a place in the theater for what I am worth, rather than as the son of People’s Artist Kalynovska. I had to prove this on stage rather than behind the stage. The audience cannot be deceived.
“I believe that every soloist has to go through the corps de ballet school and dance all the different parts so that later he or she will feel right at home in any play. I was in a corps de ballet for four years. I participated in competitions — this is another must, because this is where you test your guts and your ability to overcome the fear of the empty stage and full house.”
You received the title “People’s Artist” at 40. Is this early or late?
“I received this honorary title while I am active on stage. When you receive it after retirement, even with such early retirements as we, dancers, have-it is too late. Actors are like little children: you need to praise them at the right time to stimulate them to work.”
What are you dreaming of?
“Now my main dreams involve my family. Now when my career has been built, I am thinking about how I can shape my life for the sake of my wife (ballet dancer Oksana Sedelnikova) and our son. He is two but we already need to think about his future.”
Do you think that your son may follow his parents’ and grandmother’s path?
“It will all depend on his talents and desire. If he is to continue our dynasty, he will have to be a soloist. My mother says: ‘If you want to be a dancer, you must be the best!’ To be just one of them is not for our family. While our son is still little, I do not want to deprive him of childhood experiences, which my wife and I did not have. We have practiced since we were 10, from 9am until 9pm, without any holidays and usual entertainments. Unfortunately, there is no other way to success in the ballet — it is attained only by hard work.
“I must confess that not everything was so smooth in my life. At one point, when I was 14, I found myself on the verge of being expelled from the choreographic college. There was a revolt and neglect and, as a result, I got a D in my major. Fortunately, my teacher Volodymyr Denysenko persuaded the administration to give me another chance. Denysenko gave me six months to change. And I did. Each year I improved my grade by one point and so got from D to A by the graduation time.”
Who else of your fellow students has reached success?
“Zhenia Kaihorodov, who now has the title “Honored Artist of Ukraine.” We have been friends since we met at the age of 10. We had a lot in common: our parents were ballet artists and both of us have become soloists. We thwarted any attempts to split us fairly easily: when we were facing a conflict situation with appearing in a particular play, we simply agreed that each one would turn down the offer. But we kept our friendship.
“The audience enjoyed watching us perform in Spartacus and Romeo and Juliet, which involve battle scenes. In life Zhenia and I are friends, but on stage we are often archenemies. By the way, theater people would always come to watch our dancing duel behind the stage.
“I had good teachers who taught me not to confuse life and play. It is with gratitude that I am using the skills and knowledge I acquired from Hennadii Baukin, Valerii Kovtun, Robert Kliavin, and Dmytro Kliavin, who was a very young teacher at the time, and we were his first class.”
Do you feel you have a penchant for teaching?
“Yes, and this makes me very happy, because when an actor leaves the stage, oftentimes he or she has nothing left to do. I know for a fact that I will not be a ballet master. However, looking at my efforts in the choreographic college, I can see that they bring good results — both at concerts and in competitions.”
Is there something you are dreaming of in terms of performing?
“Dreams will always remain, even if they cannot be realized. I have never been a classic dancer in the strict sense of the word, but in my line of characters I played all the parts available in our theater.
“It was very interesting for me to be involved in the last two premieres-The Master and Margarita and Zorba the Greek. Working with David Avdysh and Lorka Miasin, I managed to open some new doors inside of me. The highly dramatic characters that require an absolutely specific image with all the personal traits are, perhaps, the field that I have not fully explored. It would be interesting to work along this line. Until you transform yourself into your character, you can forget about all the technical details. But once you are there, they are easy to overcome.”
In both performances your partner was the wonderful ballet dancer Olena Filipieva. To the audience you look as if you are made for one another.
“For me Olena is an ideal partner. She is simply wondrous. It is easy to work with her: she has her own rhythm and powerful energy pulses that are synced with mine. There are situations when we are standing on the stage back to back, and yet I can foresee every move she is about to make.
“It often happened that the soloists’ traumas caused them to withdraw from performances. One rehearsal was enough for Olena and me in order to come onto the stage with confidence. For the scenes involving character roles, such as Aegina and Crassus, Carmen and Jose, and Raymonda and Abderakhman, it is especially important that the partners danced “eye to eye.” Then it is life and the audience is spellbound.
“Zhenia Kaihorodov and I were breathless when, as teenagers, we would sneak into the theater and watch the Carmen Suite and especially Escamillo played by Lytvynov. We imagined ourselves precisely in that role. However, later I was attracted by the multifaceted nature of Jose’s character: a mere soldier at the beginning, then a lyrical lover, and a murder in the finale. It turned out to be the most challenging task to convey all the metamorphoses and the passions in a one-act play.”
Can we say that if you had not become a ballet dancer, you would be a dramatic actor?
“Perhaps. There is one fact that I am proud of and that is a confirmation here: Bohdan Stupka, a great actor, praised my rendition of Zorba the Greek from the point of view of the drama. He was present at the performance, and for me this was the highest praise from a professional.”
Are you now at the peak of your dancing career?
“I am not going to leave the stage as yet, although the ballet is the art of the young, and it is unfortunate that experience and artistic skills come with years. If I sense that I cannot dance as before, I will leave immediately, but I hope it will be a long time before this happens.”
