Vanessa Gherbavaz: At the age of three, I decided to be a ballerina for the rest of my life

Vanessa Gherbavaz was born in Verona, Italy. The city of Juliet and Romeo could not fail to become a place of manifestation of a beautiful art like ballet. That's what Vanessa does. The girl told Drive Music Media about this.

Interviewer: You once said that the floor is your canvas and you are the brush... quite a poetic expression. You paint pictures with your dances. At what age did you start ballet? Do you remember how you felt at the moment of your first lesson?

Vanessa:  I started ballet at the age of 3. Very very young. It’s really incredible I still remember the feelings I had at my first lesson. Even I was a child I felt something magical inside of me when the music started playing. Something beautiful. And, believe or not, at the age of 3 I decided what I wanted to do in my life. At the end of the class I said to my mother while hugging her "I wanna be a ballerina".

Interviewer: Ballet is not an easy form of dancing. What difficulties do you have to face? What does this world look like behind the scenes of the beautiful swan dance?

Vanessa: Ballet is very hard. You work with your body for 5 or 8 hours everyday. And it’s not just hard for the daily routine but also you have to face so many challenging moments. You have to be mentally and physically strong. Ballerinas are graceful but very strong!

Interviewer: You tour a lot. Tell us about your experience, which country do you remember the most? What production did you perform?

Vanessa: Thanks to ballet I travel a lot and I love it! I had the chance to live in a lot of beautiful countries around the world. The country I remember always with joy is so far away from home… China. In China I had my first job in a ballet company. Has been an amazing experience. There’s another country I remember with gratitude, the UK. There I had an experience in a neoclassical company. Wonderful time there! Really wonderful.

Interviewer: Can you tell more about experience in UK, what's about that company?

Vanessa: The neoclassical company name is "Fantastic Ballet Creations" in Liverpool. I really enjoyed the experience cause I danced in different roles and styles.

Interviewer: Tell us a little about your childhood. Where are you from, maybe a little about your family?

Vanessa: I was born in Verona, Italy, and grew up in Trieste. You may notice my surname is not Italian at all. In fact Gherbavaz is an Hungarian surname cause my grandfather is from Hungary.

Interviewer: You have also acted in films. Remember that time for us.

Vanessa: I like art in every form. I also like acting and I’m happy I had the chance to do it. The thing I love about acting is that you live a different life. You become a different person. You say goodbye to yourself for becoming someone else.

Interviewer: Is ballet a career for you or is dance your life? At what point would you leave the ballet, what is the goal for you - you did everything you wanted. When would you say it's time to leave? Or do you plan to dance all your life?

Vanessa: I think I’m gonna dance all my life… in a way or another. I will always need a place where I can express what I feel inside. Like teaching or becoming a choreographer. I also would love to have one of the acting roles in ballet companies. You know like the queen in swan lake or Carabosse in the sleeping beauty.

Interviewer: What projects are you currently working on?

Vanessa: Currently I’m working with two Italians theatres so this year I will stay in Italy. But in the meantime I have many auditions for a lot of ballet companies around the world. And one of them is my dream company… fingers crossed!

Interviewer: Can you share with our readers about you dream company or is it secret?

Vanessa: The dream company is the Metropolitan Ballet in New York. I would love to live an experience in the USA! Years ago I've been exepted in 3 ballet companies there: New York Dance project, American repertory ballet and Ajkun Ballet. Unfortunatly never been there because when I've got accepted in the american companies I had a contract signed in China.

Photos from Instagram of Vanessa Gherbavaz