When Isabella McGuire Mayes, founder of the popular online training platform Ballet With Isabella, entered Russia’s Vaganova Academy at age 15, she was the first British girl to attend the school. Her experience, which she frequently recounts in fascinating detail on her YouTube channel, was both exhilarating and intense. During her four years there, she studied under Maria Gribinova and Irina Sitnikova, and as a foreigner she worked exceedingly hard to catch up to her classmates, practicing on her own after hours. Eventually she rose to the top of her class and went on to dance with two Russian companies—the Mikhailovsky Ballet and later Eifman Ballet. But injuries, and then disillusionment, interrupted her trajectory, and she eventually returned home to London.
Feeling lost, McGuire Mayes slowly turned to coaching and teaching—and found a new purpose. When the pandemic closed studios worldwide, she started teaching virtually. In the four years since, she’s developed a thriving business that includes BWI’s subscription-based online platform, a podcast (A Dancer’s Mindset), and her YouTube channel—where she hosts interviews and unlocks the mystery of life at the Vaganova Academy. She’s also expanded into hosting in-person intensives—the most recent of which, she says, sold out in 10 minutes.
In this exclusive interview, edited for length, McGuire Mayes talks to Pointe about her training and career in Russia, her reasons for leaving company life, and how success in ballet can take many forms.
(Read more: https://pointemagazine.com/isabella-mcguire-mayes-ballet-with-isabella/)
