INTERVIEW | Alexander Zhembrovskyy (37 years) is known as a soloist for the Dutch National Ballet. Since 2012 he works as a dance teacher at his own (beautiful!) dance school in Amsterdam. Studio Zhembrovskyy is so popular that he is opening a second location in the city. The secret to his success: great teachers and the ballet-inspired workout ZhemFit for amateurs. Do you want to know more about this successful dancer and entrepreneur? Read the interview!

When did you start dancing?

I was 7 years old. My mother took me to ballet class, which was close to our house, so it was easy. I barely passed the physical test, and, to be honest, I think my parents bribed someone. They found a ‘Ukrainian way’ to get me into the school, because It was better for me to be busy with something such as ballet, than to be on the streets running around. The streets were not safe at that time in Kiev in the Ukraine, where I grew up. I resisted ballet at first, but luckily kids are easily programmed. They grow into anything you give them.

Why did you become a dance teacher?

As a ballet dancer I have always had a ‘difficult body’, which became worse as I got older. Injuries, pain, this and that. I compensated for this on stage with my personality, but at some point I lost the inspiration and motivation to keep up. I had been with the Dutch National Ballet for 10 years and had danced what I wanted to dance. I did not see the point in taking more painkillers just to continue dancing.

So I decided to start teaching, because I had already done that a bit here and there. I chose to mainly teach adults, because I am not very patient, and with kids you need a lot of patience!

But I had no clue where to begin. As a dancer in a company you are constantly pampered, like a baby. They arrange everything for you. So I had to learn how to be practical. I started by simply googling ‘how do you open a business?’ and took it from there. In the beginning I did everything myself. I also wanted to do everything myself, it was more symbolic. So I printed flyers and in the evenings, after dance training, I biked around Amsterdam to put them in people’s mailboxes. I tried Facebook ads. Everything I googled, I did.

Fortunately Ted Brandsen, the artistic director of the Dutch National Ballet, helped me in the transition from dancer to dance teacher. I am so grateful for his support.

What is it like to have your own studio?

I am very happy to run my own studio. It is much better to have your own thing. You are free! You decide what to do, you make your own mistakes. There is nobody that tells you what the schedule is. You create your own things. I decide to open a new class? I open a new class. It’s so cool!

This is very different from working for big ballet companies where there is a lot of structure and bureaucracy. Especially in the West. In Russia, as a soloist, you have more freedom to decide your own schedule. They hire and respect you as an artist. You don’t have to be present eight hours a day, because you are paid for those eight hours. You can go home and rest, which sometimes is much more productive.

What is the secret to the success of your studio and the ZhemFit classes?

Because the classes were good, people started to talk about them! That’s why.

I created ZhemFit because I wanted to give adults some physical training to prepare them for dance class. Because I had injuries so often, I had spent a lot of time in the gym with personal trainers and pilates instructors. Yet I find that ballet itself offers so much as well. So I took the best of both worlds by combining all these approaches and started to give ‘ballet fitness’ classes. I wanted it to be effective, because I don’t like wasting time. I observed my students to see what worked and what didn’t. Soon the classes became very popular.

At the time I didn’t know that such a thing, like barre classes, existed - at least not in Holland. So I created it myself! That’s one of the reasons why I named it ZhemFit. I also train other teachers now in my method.

I think the studio is also successful because we offer high quality training and work with good teachers. Many of my teachers were professional dancers and have a lot of expert knowledge and a ‘good eye’.

Although that is not enough to be a good teacher. Amateurs need a different approach than professional dancers. People come here to get inspired, motivated, new energy. They want a bit of a ‘show’, some humor, and a decent workout. It also does not always work to tell what the body should do, like ‘stretch your knee’. You need to play a game of associations, give them an example from daily life that they can relate too.

That’s why I personally select all my teachers. I meet with them to see what their personality is and what energy they bring. Then I ask then to come and watch some classes and I explain them how we work in my studio. Then I give them one ballet class to teach and I observe them. If the teacher is confident and knows how to communicate with the students, I train them to teach ZhemFit classes and see how they do. I also ask feedback from clients, to find out what they thought of the teacher.

I am very involved in coaching my teachers and pay them well!

Volg Zhembrovskyy op Spotify!

How do you stay fit yourself?

I listen better to my body. Before I had no choice. If I had a rehearsal, I could not miss it. Now if I feel a spasm, I take it easy. I don’t push myself like I used to. Teaching the ZhemFit classes keep me in shape and I like to lift weights for upper body strength. I’m in shape! haha.

Which dance teacher is your role model?

Teachers should never forget they are raising artists! Sure, good technique is important to compete internationally, but ‘why’ we dance is just as important. Dance is a form of expression, a language. I am greatly inspired by the famous dance artists of the previous century, such a Baryshnikov and Nureyev, who combined excellent technique with their interesting personalities and charisma.

My favorite ballet teacher taught me at the ballet school in Kiev. His name was Valeriy Parsegov. He was a great old generation dancer. A Sinatra kind of guy. He wore a suit every day in the ballet class, even smoking cigarettes. Very old school! He was intelligent, smart, gentleman, womanizer. He was the first dancer from the Soviet Union to win the International Paris Classical Dance Festival in 1964. A big sensation.

What I liked about him was that he was so developed in many ways. He knew about engineering, he could paint, knew about opera. He always told us: “If you want to be a great artist, you have to develop your personality in multiple ways because the stage is like the palm of your hand, you see everything.” He taught me how to be noticed on stage and the technique of the male dancer, that energy.

He was also never beating the same point in class, but always found a different way to explain something. You have people who teach like that, all the time repeating the same cue. Valeriy did not do that.

Tijdschrift Dance Europe nomineerde hem als ‘outstanding dancer of the year 2010’ voor zijn optreden in Hans van Manen's Sarcasmen.

What achievement are you proud of?

One of my students is now a student at the Vaganova Academy. She is even the best student there. I took her from ‘zero’ to where she is now. She was a daughter of a friend. She started training with (only) me when she was six years old. She got accepted to the Nationale Balletacademie, but soon got bored there because she was so good already. So I encouraged her to apply to the Vaganova Academy in Russia and she got accepted. Of course it helps that she has a Russian passport and speaks Russian, but still, it’s a big achievement!

Though I am equally inspired by the achievements of my regular students. I always enjoy seeing their progress. It gives me energy and inspiration. But the thing with teaching is that there is always something that goes ‘wrong’. Then I find it challenging to stay patient and not get frustrated. Even if you think you explained it so well, you cannot expect everyone to immediately get it. In a professional dance environment you are allowed to ‘fall out’ and show your frustration, because there are different expectations there, but at a commercial studio you cannot do that. It’s a business, people pay money. I take that seriously. We try to create a friendly working atmosphere. We’re ambitious, but respectful.

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Jacqueline de Kuijper

Danswetenschapper Jacqueline de Kuijper is de oprichter en hoofdredacteur van Dansdocent.nu. Ze studeerde danswetenschappen aan Mills College in Californië. Daar kwam ze in aanraking met progressieve theorieën over educatie. Naast het aansturen van de andere redacteuren, is ze verantwoordelijk voor de artikelen ‘Dansdocent in the spotlights’.

In the spotlight: ballet dancer, teacher and entrepreneur Alexander Zhembrovskyy