Maria Khoreva - You Have to Love What You’re Doing With All Your Heart (Ballerina Artist)

Maria Khoreva
Svetlana Avvakum

Born in St Petersburg. Graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy (class of Professor Lyudmila Kovaleva) and joined the Mariinsky Ballet in 2018.


Maria Khoreva
Svetlana Avvakum


1. Tell us about your background and journey?

I come from a non-ballet family, but my parents have always really loved performing arts and they went to the theatres at least four times a week. They loved Mariinsky and thought that maybe someday they want their daughters to be associated with ballet. 

But when I was 3, mom and dad decided to send me to start doing rhythmic gymnastics which I ended up doing for almost 7 years. Then one day we were walking past the building of Vaganova Ballet Academy and saw there were auditions in a couple of days. 

This brought up our family’s wishes to try doing ballet and we came to our common decision to try auditioning. I was lucky to get accepted, studied at Vaganova for 8 years and then started working at the Mariisnky Ballet.


2. What inspired you to pursue Ballet as a Career?

Watching the performances at the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky theatre ever since I was 3 years old when I visited my first “Nutcracker” with my family. And watching performances of the incredible ballet dancers from all over the world in the Internet, admiring their ability to tell touching stories and share their emotions and execute all this with the perfect technique.


Maria Khoreva
Svetlana Avvakum


3. What is your daily routine like?

Waking up and breakfast, one-hour ballet class at the Mariinsky at 11am, rehearsals at the theatre for a couple hours (it may be 1-2 hours or 6-7 depending on how many role I am preparing). Lunch hopefully in the middle of my working day (sometimes it doesn’t work and I’ll have to just grab a quick snack). 

Then coming home, relaxing, reviewing the day and making notes for tomorrow not to forget all the corrections of my coach. Having a great nutritious dinner and having at least 8 hours of sleep. Some days I’d be having performances at night starting at 7-7:30pm. 

These day I most likely won’t be rehearsing, I’d be coming home after the morning class, relaxing for a couple of hours, then coming to the theatre 3 hours prior to the show. The performance would be ending around 11pm. Every week I film one or more fitness workout. 


4. What is the most challenging part of being a Ballet Dancer?

Being mindful about your body, dealing with injuries and staying fit during the breaks. I’m trying to make the third moment easier for myself by doing workouts and posting the videos of them on my YouTube channel.  

I know it is much easier to exercise together and whenever I am filming a video I feel like I do a workout with my subscribers and it makes me push harder and be more consistent about the work I do for my body.


5. What inspired you to write a book and what is it about?

Most interesting things in life happen unexpectedly, but inevitably, linking together previously independent parts of life. By the time I got a call from a publishing house with the offer to write a book, my quarantine life was already calm and rhythmical and it felt like I got used to the new reality. 

“That’s absurd”, - I thought for the first half an hour. What can I say? - another half an hour. “But what if…” - next 15 minutes. I came up with a name, half done! - the last 15 minutes. An hour and a half later, I knew exactly what the book would be about, what its plan was and how it would look. So it seemed to me then. 

The next few months changed not only my understanding of this, but my whole life. I was writing the book page by page and each sentence changed the reality around me, bringing a new understanding of the world and myself in it. After its release, the book suddenly became very popular. Now I think it might be worth translating it into other languages? I don't know how to do it yet. Maybe you know?


6. Who inspires you the most and why?

My family who is always supporting me no matter what. My amazing mom, dad and my little sister who are there for me in the most difficult situations. They are the kindest, the most giving and loving human beings in the entire world. 

Actually my sister is so supportive she even agreed to participate in a few videos on my YouTube which are now my favorites. She brings such lively spirit to them! 


7. What tips would you like to give to aspiring ballet dancers?

You have to love what you’re doing with all your heart. That is the most important thing and that is what going to make you push to and over your limits which you have to do everyday if you want to achieve your goal. 

If you truly love the art of ballet, if you constantly and mindfully keep working hard and if you carefully listen to your teachers, soon you will be able to do anything! Believe in this! 


8. Which is your favorite book and why?

I can’t name my favorite book because I take immense inspiration from each one I read and they are all so incredible it’s impossible just to pick one! But the most recent book that made me so emotional was “The Ladies’ Paradise” by Emile Zolia. A truly inspiring story and loads of intricate details about a fashion store in 19th century Paris. So captivating!


Maria Khoreva


Repertoire includes:

La Bayadère (Nikia); choreography by Marius Petipa, revised version by Vladimir Ponomarev and Vakhtang Chabukiani,
Swan Lake (Pas de trois); choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, revised version by Konstantin Sergeyev,
The Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora); choreography by Marius Petipa, revised version by Konstantin Sergeyev,
Raymonda (Raymonda), choreography by Marius Petipa, revised version by Konstantin Sergeyev,
Le Corsaire (Medora, Trio of Odalisques); production by Pyotr Gusev after the composition and choreography of Marius Petipa,
Don Quixote (The Queen of the Dryads); choreography by Alexander Gorsky after motifs of the production by Marius Petipa,
Jewels (Diamantes), Apollo (Terpsichore), SerenadeA Midsummer Night’s Dream (Pas de deux from Act II); choreography by George Balanchine, 
The Nutcracker (Masha); choreography by Vasily Vainonen,
Seven SonatasConcerto DSCH; choreography by Alexei Ratmansky,
Paquita (Paquita); choreography by Yuri Smekalov, reconstruction and staging of Marius Petipa's choreography (Act III Grand Pas) by Yuri Burlaka,
The Pioneer Suite; choreography by Alexander Sergeev.

Repertoire also includes
Concertino bianco; choreography by Dmitry Pimonov,

Closure; choreography by Juliano Nunes.

Interviewed By - Serene Ingle