The foreigners who ended up working in Romania offer us real lessons about our country. Sometimes we forget to enjoy what we have and get to lament for some things that are not so valuable in our existence. Ada Gonzalez, the tiny ballerina at the National Opera in Bucharest whom you can discover as Juliet, Giselle, Aurora…, is one of those expats who came to feel they found Bucharest the place they belong to.
She created herself a universe of her own in which she is feeling perfectly. She is not that kind of “city person”, preferring the tranquility of a park instead of the quotidian tumult. But she says that Bucharest, in its immensity, offered her the most important present: the ballet.
She has been living in Romania since she was 18. First, she lived in Sibiu, where she danced for three years within the Ballet Theatre. Since 2016, she moved over to Bucharest, and today she is one of the ballerinas of the National Opera in Bucharest.
“I was born in Barcelona and I attended ballet and any kind of dance classes since I was very young. Since I was four, I began to dance. At 12 years old, I had the chance to meet Roser Muñoz, a former prima ballerina that had returned home. Through her passion, she caused me fall in love with ballet. Upon leaving Russia and putting an end to their career, Roser Muñoz and Joan Boix, a partner of hers and a friend, opened up their own dance school. We’re talking about Centre de Dansa de Catalunya. For six years they were my maestros. Upon my graduation, I received an offer from Sibiu Ballet Theatre. So, I left my country and I came to Romania. I have been dancing with the squad in Sibiu for three years and that was a wonderful experience. Those people being a small company, I had many opportunities to dance and summon up courage on stage. My course changed very much especially after Ovidiu Matei Iancu became my main partner there. This way I had the opportunity to learn a lot from a ballet dancer with such an experience. In 2016 I became a collaborator at the Bucharest National Opera and I consider myself very lucky for the chances I was given, and for the fact that I work with great artists from whom I will always have a lot to learn. Ballet is my life; in any circumstance I would have chosen to be a ballerina. There is a very special magic on stage and I wouldn’t exchange that for anything in the world,” recounts Ada Gonzalez.
On the Bucharest stage she made her debut in the role “The Main Couple” in “Themes and Variations”, of G. Balanchine. “It is an extremely difficult piece of ballet and I have never believed I would be capable of dancing it. I’ve been struggling pretty much and up until today I am still not happy with the result I got, but one gets to learn from everything, and I feel I am a stronger ballerina after such an experience. I was a lead dancer from the first day at the company, and I had small roles that I enjoyed very much. Amoras in “Don Quijote” is one of my favorites, but the first main role that I have danced and I will never forget is Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet” of Renato Zanella. It is a role full of colors and every time I dance it, I find something new to feel, something new to add,” unveils the ballerina.
Romania Offered Me the Opportunity to Dance
I asked her why did she choose to leave her homeland, and the answer she gave me placed Romania and Spain in antithesis, clearing favoring our country.
“In Spain, ballet is not supported by the state, there are very few companies and with rather little activity. They do not promote it either, and there is not a lot of ballet-loving public. People prefer to watch football. For the ballet dancers it is a continual struggle, and I knew that if I were to make a livelihood out of dancing, I needed to go to a place where ballet was appreciated. Romania offered me that opportunity. It is very difficult to find employment in this occupation. There are very many ballet-dancers who look for employment and very few positions within companies. The audition process is very difficult, very disappointing, but I was lucky to find my place at 18 years old, at Sibiu. Subsequently, as I was prepared to go to a larger place, both I and my boyfriend inquired about Bucharest, and our chance was that The Bucharest National Opera was willing to work with me. I am very proud of the courage I had to leave a company in which I felt comfortable, and I’m glad to see the direction my career took after becoming a ballerina in Bucharest. And today you can find me in roles such as Juliet, Giselle, Aurora…, but it all depends on the schedule the directors work up for me. Now, in a more immediate future, I will be dancing Pasărea Albastră / The Blue Bird in “Frumoasa din Pădurea Adormită / Beauty of the Sleeping Forest,” Pas de trois, Mirese şi Lebede mici / Brides and Little Swans in “Lacul Lebedelor / Swans’ Lake,” and Clara in “Spărgătorul de Nuci / The Nutcracker,” underscores Ada.
The Impact of Life in Such a Large City
As she walked for the first time into Bucharest, she felt lost in the immensity of the city. Over time, she discovered Bucharest and realized that it has a lot of delightful places to her.
“I enjoy it is a city with plenty of parks to explore, there is a whole lot of vegetation in it, and it is wonderful to stroll around when it’s beautiful outside. But sometimes I feel overwhelmed by its immensity. I admit that I would rather live in a city in which I have everything at hand. I hate long distances. I don’t enjoy asphalt either. I am very short and I would rather wear high heels, but I need to be very careful on the street, lest I hurt my ankles. Because of my busy schedule, I could not enjoy this city as I should have. I need to confess to you that I am not the type of person that enjoys the city hectic life. That is why I prefer the more peaceful places, where I can relax. I have made a number of connections with people outside of the Opera, but it is hard to keep such relationships when one is on a busy schedule as ours. When we finish our rehearsals, we are too tired, and not everyone understands that,” adds Ada Gonzalez.
For these reasons, she created herself a universe of her own in which she is feeling very well. When home, she enjoys watching serial-movies. Even though she is not the best cook, she enjoys cooking and preparing food for the people close.
“I enjoy going to the movies. I believe once a week I manage to go with my boyfriend to the movies. But I have a lot of hobbies. Most recently I learned to make ballet tiaras. I also keep a diary in which I write and draw daily. I cannot say I get bored. And of course, I enjoy a good meeting with my ballerina friends. The time we spend together at the Opera is never sufficient. I confess to you that I have a little obsession related to order, and during the times I feel stressed out, you can find me within closets. I take off all the clothes, put them on the bed, and then put them back, by colors. Sometimes I get on the closets of my dressing room colleagues,” Ada recounts smilingly.
She says she can sympathize with the Bucharestians always complaining about their city, but she would point out to them that if the city is to be tidier, it also depends on them. “Blaming others doesn’t work, without you doing efforts to change something. Many times, my boyfriend would pick up something from the ground and throw it into the trashcan. How would Bucharest look like if all of us did that? One problem that I, for one, see in Bucharest is the fact that there are people who don’t use trashcans. Taking care of this city is something that is also in our hands,” points out the ballerina of the Bucharest National Opera.
The foreign tourists coming to Bucharest she encourages to taste “sarmale” / cabbage rolls and “papanaşi” / cheese pancakes. She also sends them to see the Parliament building that she sees as an impressive colossus, delighting her by its immensity. “And I would walk them through the Old Center, with a stopover at a famous bookshop in Bucharest,” underscores Ada.
The Spain-born ballerina is delighted by the fact that the public in Romania, and in Bucharest especially, appreciate art. To her, this is the most important aspect.
“My message to the Bucharestians is that they would come to the Opera as often as they are able. It’s their chance to forget for two or three hours about what’s going on in the real world, and it is also our chance to cause people to be happier. My message is that they would laugh with us, fall in love with us, fight with us, die with us, feel with us. It is for the purpose of bringing joy to people that we’re doing what we’re doing. We work so hard, and when even one spectator in the audience tells us he got thrilled, it is enough to give us, the artists, the sense of accomplishment,” Ada Gonzalez points out.
The story of the tiny ballerina come all the way from Spain to devote herself to the public in Romania shows us that facet of Bucharest in which art is at home, in which art is being appreciated, in which Bucharestians know to enjoy the opportunities they receive from their city.
