Ekaterina Kukhar and Alexander Stoyanov: the incredible love story of the most beautiful ballet couple in Europe. Ekaterina Kukhar spoke about her personal life

Prima ballerina Ekaterina Kukhar trains 6 days a week.

Sleep in the afternoon helps her restore her strength. However, long periods of forced rest, like flying in an airplane, are hard to endure, says Ekaterina, reports

How do you recover after intense physical exertion on stage?

I work 6 days a week. Our working day begins with a classic lesson at 10 or 11 am. On the eve of the three-act performance, the rehearsal lasts 12 hours. After that, I come home and feel so squeezed by a lemon that I need to eat and sleep so that my body is in good shape again by the evening. On a working day, the body simply requires a break for sleep. In the morning, I used to plan a lot of things, and I come back from rehearsal and feel like they pressed the "off" button in me.

Perhaps you eat everything, just a little?

I can afford absolutely everything now, but in reasonable quantities. I can, if necessary, stand on my own throat. In Switzerland, six months ago, I lost so much weight that a nutritionist friend took me to her Geneva apartment and put me on cream with airy meringue for a week. Said, "Your tutu is already dangling and walking apart from you." Weighed then 41 and a half. I have a personal barrier. If I weigh less than 42, I feel thin. On vacation, I got a little better. I think 43 and a half is small. Although my husband likes it better. Our German friend calls Sasha and me elves. He said: "When I saw you for the first time, there was a feeling that you would break if you touched."

When I got pregnant, I went to the doctor for an ultrasound. I say: "It seems to me that I am in a position." He gave me an ironic look: “Girl, you don’t have fat for pregnancy. Go gain weight first. And then come back.” When I found out that I was really pregnant, I was very surprised.

How do you cope with physical stress and excitement on the day of the performance?

On the day of the performance, I eat carbohydrates for lunch. I love spaghetti very much. You need to draw strength from somewhere. I can even drink tea with chocolate candy.

I always get nervous before a performance. And on the native stage is much stronger than abroad. Home is a big responsibility. In addition, the stage of the National Opera has a feature - a large slope, slope, so that the viewer can see better. When invited artists come to us, they are all in shock. Because of the roll, the dancer is forced to hold the body in a completely different way. We are taught to keep the body slightly above the legs. If you stand on our stage like that, you will fall. We have to tilt the body back.

Is there an optimal height in ballet?

The main thing is the correspondence between the growth of the partner and the partner in the pair. I have a small height - 62 meters. But from the stage it seems that I am tall. Spectators who come up after the performance are very surprised. All the performers on stage seem taller than usual.

My husband is not much taller than me. But he has long legs and a beautiful foot with a high instep. Somehow he was invited to the next tour. Before that, Sasha had only been seen on stage. They picked him a very tall partner - 80 centimeters. The couple often performs a pirouette from under the arm: the ballerina stands on pointe shoes, raises her hand, and the partner from above must give her his hand to spin it. Sasha danced with her, but her height really bothered him.

She became the main character of the new issue of the Caravan of History magazine (November 2018).

Ukrainian star world ballet starred in a fashion photo shoot and gave candid interview, in which she spoke about the cruel ballet education, vanity, ex-husband and the reasons for their divorce, the loss of their first child, the beginning of an affair with the current chosen one and the birth of their common daughter, about jealousy, flirting and attitudes towards infidelity, as well as about their plans for retirement.

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It turns out that Katerina met her first husband in the theater, where she went to work immediately after graduating from the ballet school. He was also a ballet dancer, but just then he decided to leave the theater to go into business.

“He tried to take me away from the ballet, too, because ordinary person living with a ballerina is difficult, you need to love her very much, understand and appreciate what she does. In fact, put your life at her feet, says Kukhar in an interview with Caravan of Stories. “He didn’t want to let me go on tour, but I wanted to show myself abroad and gain experience.”

“We spent many years together, very difficult. In some ways we are different, but in some ways we are similar - we light up easily, like two matches. I loved him too much and choked him with my care and affection, I did not want to let him go from me even for a minute. A woman cannot afford such feelings. After we parted, I realized and learned the most important rule: live and let live to others, ”admitted the ballerina.

Katerina also decided to talk about the death of their first child:

“I still can’t think about it without crying. I was twenty-four, the child was very desirable and long-awaited. Girl. But the lungs did not open. The reason seems to be that I got the flu shot the first month before I knew I was pregnant.”

• The full text of the interview and rare archival footage from the personal archive of Katerina Kukhar are in the November issue of Caravan of Stories

Photo: Roman Zubarev
Style: Masha Sivyakova
Hairstyle: Alexander Kutin
makeup: Julia Frolova
Producer: Irina Gaidaenko
Photographer's assistant: Dmitry Franchuk
Stylist assistant: Daria Balabueva

The prima ballerina spoke about the main tragedy of her life.

The ballerina of the National Opera and the judge of "Dances with Stars" Ekaterina Kukhar, who, for the first time, spoke about her painful daughter, says in "Secular Life".

A lot of time has passed since then, but the pain of the loss remains. According to Catherine, this tragedy turned her whole life upside down and changed her as a person, taught her a lot.

Katerina Kukhar

“The loss of the child was because her lungs did not open. And when Alexander (Ekaterina’s husband – ed.) was offered to help Okhmatdit a year ago and purchase an artificial respiration apparatus, it was like a sign from above,” Kukhar said with tears in her eyes.

This child was desired and long-awaited for the ballerina.

The ease of flight on stage and a number of trials in life - the path of Ekaterina Kukhar to recognition and popularity was thorny. About the main tragedy of her life - the loss of a child - she cannot speak without tears. Together with the troupe of the National Opera of Ukraine and in a pair with her husband Alexander Stoyanov, Ekaterina toured France for almost two months, and completed her tour in Belgium. There, Ekaterina Osadchaya met with Ukrainian stars, looked at the preparations for the final performance of the tour, and also asked about personal questions.

"When this tragedy happened, and it happened on later dates, when they are almost giving birth, I could not get out of bed for about a month. I used very strong antidepressants, sleeping pills and cried, cried, cried. In life, probably, each person is sent his test and his cross," Kuhar said.

Katerina Kukhar

Catherine admitted that after the tragedy she even wanted to leave the ballet forever. The teacher brought her back to life. She invited Kuhar to prepare a new part and play Juliet.

"When I went on stage, I was able to pour out the pain of loss, when Juliet loses Romeo, when she realizes that he is dead, into the auditorium," the ballet star added.

November 22 on the stage of the National Opera of Ukraine - the ballet "Sleeping Beauty". The roles of Aurora and Prince Desire are performed by prima Ekaterina Kuhar and Yong Ju Choi, premier of the Dutch National Ballet.

Ekaterina Kukhar and Yong Joo Choi

After the frosty streets, the rehearsal hall at the Kyiv Opera House seems like a tropic: there are at most ten people here, but the passions are serious. The soloists of the ballet "Sleeping Beauty" Katerina Kukhar and Yong Ju Choi are working hard on their pas de deux. This is, perhaps, what impresses the most - the synergy and return of the artists during the rehearsal, when no one is looking at them, except for the reflection in the mirror. For both Katerina and Yong, this is far from the first experience with Sleeping Beauty. Jong danced the part for the first time at the Dutch Theater in Amsterdam in December 2017. Since then, he has sung the role of Prince Desire four times. Even at the rehearsal, one gets the impression that this part was created just for him. Premier of the Dutch Ballet Choi is an artist of incredible grace and, it seems, innate nobility, while he looks very courageous and stately. His repertoire includes almost all classical parts, as well as productions by real stars - William Forsythe, John Neumeier, Benjamin Millepied. "I get a lot of pleasure playing the part of Desire," the dancer admits.

The Sleeping Beauty is a masterpiece and one of the most beautiful ballets; everyone famous history love based on the fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault to the music of Tchaikovsky. The Ukrainian star of this performance is Ekaterina Kukhar, one of our most famous ballerinas, who is well known in Europe. Kuhar's performance schedule is from Paris to Tokyo. Sleeping Beauty is her signature ballet. For the first time she danced Aurora on the stage of the National Opera six years ago, and how many times since then - you can’t even count. "This is the most difficult performance. This is what my teacher, prima Tatyana Tayakina, always said. There is a huge exercise stress and variations in a variety of styles. In Sleeping Beauty, the whole ballet is built on a cascade of jumps and spins, for me this is a big responsibility," Kukhar shares.

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At the rehearsal was Ekaterina's constant partner both in life and on stage, the premiere of the National Opera Alexander Stoyanov. Ekaterina says that it is easiest for her to work with him: “He knows me thoroughly, my body and all the nuances in any of the pas de deux.” I ask how she found contact with Choi: "Working with new partners is always interesting, it's a touch to another duet ballet school, you grow and develop. And working with Yong is a pleasure. He is a very attentive partner and an incredible artist who literally soars in the air."

She talked about how she manages to maintain such an ideal physical shape. Read about it in the Clutch article.

The main thing that Ekaterina has been doing for many years is starting the day with a glass clean water. After that, the prima eats tasty, healthy and balanced food.

ballerina breakfast

A sprig of grapes, cheese, whole grain bread with nuts and dried fruits is one of the famous ballerina's breakfast options. At the same time, Kukhar believes that the morning meal should be mandatory, because it is he who should start all the processes in the body.

Meals on the road

During the flight, Ekaterina Kukhar can not only get enough sleep, but also treat herself to something tasty, for example, a light dessert. Kukhar can afford it, because in her life there is a constant physical activity.

Gourmet Preferences

Dinner must be delicious.

At home, Ekaterina loves to dine with seafood. In a restaurant, she can enjoy a glass of wine along with a tender steak and salad.