„It is no coincidence that actors are trained only as adults”

I saw him in several performances at the Hungarian Dance Academy, then he was contracted to a foreign company, he returned home for a short time, and then he threw himself into the whirlpool of international dance life again. It has been a long time since I first met ballet artist István Simon for a university project, but recently, thanks to the social media, life has brought us back together again. I was curious about how he got into a freelance career, why he went back to school, and what he thinks about the attacks on the art world?

You have a very colorful repertoire, you’ve been to a lot of places before, and you’re constantly training yourself. Were you so persistent and interested as a child, or is it more due to your success?

I was very determined and persistent as a child, sometimes too much. I worked a lot beyond the obligatory tasks and tried to outperform in all areas. By now, I have learned that quality of work is more important than quantity, and I keep in mind to be as efficient as possible and to accomplish what needs to be done.

*Sleeping Beauty, Melbourne National Theatre, Evgenia Obraztsova and István Simon*

I pretty much follow your work, but readers don’t necessarily. Would you summarize how you got from the Hungarian Dance Academy to the University of Lüneburg? An artist doesn’t necessarily train himself further, he doesn’t have time, or he gets everything on the stage. You are learning artistic and cultural management. When did you feel or why did you decide to return back to school?

After graduating from university, I signed for the Dresden Opera, where I had the opportunity to reinterpret classical ballet as a performer in a very progressive approach and to work with the most outstanding choreographers and ballet masters of our time. In the early years, there was a democratic and inclusive atmosphere in the company that had a big impact on me. I also performed as a guest artist at the Hungarian State Opera House several times, dancing Romeo and the Prince in Nutcracker, and then I was a member of the Hungarian National Ballet for a season. In addition, I have built an international freelance career. So far, I have performed as a guest artist in 43 different theatres in 21 countries, including the Paris Opera, the New York City Center, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Moscow Kremlin, DeSingel in Antwerp, the Théâtre Champs-Elysées in Paris and other prestigious institutions.

I have always been interested in other areas of knowledge than dance, and I have had the pleasure of building relationships and collaborations with artists, musicians, photographers, for example, but I’m also open to science. I work with several universities on research programs. These collaborations have always encouraged me to learn, train myself and get to know as much of our world as possible. I first obtained a pedagogical MA degree at the Hungarian Dance University, and then I was selected for an experimental cultural management master's program at the University of Lüneburg. I am currently working on my PhD, which is based on an ArtScience Fusion project, and is supported by a professor of the University of Melbourne. In a way, I have never stopped learning.

I have experienced and continue to experience my career in dance in Dresden, Budapest and internationally as a learning process. Thanks to being born in Transylvania and my first five grades in Târgu Mureş (Marosvásárhely), I still speak Romanian, I have taken a C1 language exam in German, I do most of my management and administration work in English, and read and converse on my mother tongue on a daily basis, but I want to be much more accurate and selective. Lifelong learning is essential in our world today. Everything around us is changing very quickly. I have learned that curiosity and a desire to gain knowledge can help us have better chances for fulfilment in our lives.

Last summer, news erupted that harassment was taking place at the Hungarian Dance Academy. Regardless of the statements, what was your own experience at the Academy?

I have not been able to put my experience completely in place yet, I am in this process and I do not believe that media or the public can be at help with that. Within the framework that has been given to ballet education in the past, a wealth of paradoxical expectations have been formulated. Star artists were expected to be unbridled, charismatic, unpredictable, to experiment with their own psyche, to blaze - the “sacred monster” was applauded by the audience, put on a pedestal. How could such artists suddenly transform him or herself into the cheerful, predictable, and balanced teacher who a teenager needs?

If someone has failed as a ballet master, I don’t think it’s his or her individual responsibility. We also think differently today about how to treat a child, our standards today cannot be held accountable retrospectively. But I think changes are needed, in ballet education in general, everywhere in the world, the problems are not local concerns and cannot be linked to institutions but to the genre. Today’s European art life is for adults, and it is no coincidence that actors are trained only as adults. But ballet education starts very early because of the specifics of the genre, and it’s an almost insoluble conflict to which no one really has an answer yet.

There have been and still are many attacks on the art professions, at least as far as Hungary is concerned. Since you have danced both at home and abroad, have you experienced a difference in the operation of foreign dance companies?

There are problems that are global, companies that are not affected by them are exceptional. Many in our profession tend to abuse power (they don’t even teach our leaders how to use it anyway), and most ballet directors and ballet masters don’t learn management, leadership techniques, or conflict management while exercising such kind of power over 100 people that is unthinkable in the business sector.

All this is on top of a rigid tradition, which, by the way, has many positive aspects and protective factors, but they are pushed into the background by short-term interests. Maybe there are people who are surprised by this, but in many areas, I have found that the situation is better in Hungary. Hungary's dance life has special qualities on which is possible to build: our community consists of relatively small but cohesive people with strong roots, diverse collaborations and people who know each other well. Hungary, therefore, could be a pioneer in developing solutions and a model for other countries.

*Winterreise, Oslo Opera / Photo: Jørund Langeggen - Juliane Banse, Alexander Krichel, István Simon*

In most cases, inadequate communication or a complete lack of communication leads to problems, does not matter if it is a company, a teacher-student relationship, and so on. Have you had a bad experience with communication too?

I think this is only one part of the problem, and the simpler part, because communication is a profession that can be learned and developed. This would also be needed in arts institutions and arts education. But the bigger problem is more about narcissism, the domination of the ego, the explicit rewarding of childish and unstable personality traits: this is the basis of a lot of problems, especially when it is intertwined with the huge power difference that is typical in theatre, e.g. between a dancer and his director, or between a ballet master and his student. The toxic environment is unfortunately very common and I have worked in many, but of course there are counterexamples, and it would be worth learning from where the community has created a serene, helpful, honest atmosphere.

During spring of 2020, you created the Praetorian Non-Profit Art and Health Consulting program, which focuses on the mental health of artists and the prevention of harassment. Tell me a little about this! Where did the idea come from?

I think it would be needed and I hope we find partners, institutions, schools that are open to productive change. Éva Duda first indicated to me that she was interested in working together.

*The soul of the rose, Sarah Lamb (Royal Ballet London) and István Simon at the National Dance Theatre Budapest / Photo: Lívia Czank*

So far, we have been talking about your profession. But I wonder how the epidemic affected you as a person in everyday life?

We got a community garden because we thought that if the lock down stays longer, we need a little piece of nature, and in these gardens visiting is allowed during the lockdown as well in Germany. Gardening had a very good effect on me. I call my friends regularly, now I had more time for that too. It was an interesting experience that my wife and I lived in complete isolation for months, we used to travel for work, we spent much less time together. Luckily, I got married very well, I wasn’t bored for a minute and I had a really nice time during these months. My wife is a very serious person during her work, but at home she is an entertaining partner, we can talk for hours and she cooks very well.

You deal with a lot of things. How do you usually relax? How do you spend your free time?

I love traveling with my family, seeing the world, but that hasn’t been possible lately. It is a pleasant pastime for me with my foster son to study the stars, to walk with my dogs. One of our dogs is disabled and I spend a lot of time doing special exercises that strengthen his legs.

(Cover photo: Darja Stravs Tisu)

Hungarian translation here.