‘After ten years of living abroad everything is different, but Belgrade remains my home’: Jana Nenadović on the YDT stage for the first time
Former ballerina of major European stages, Jana Nenadović, today a drama student at the Academy in Novi Sad, speaks to Kurir about her first role at YDT and her return to her homeland after an impressive career
A little over ten days ago, the playThe Picture of Dorian Graypremiered on the stage of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, directed by Nataša Radulović, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic that brought together an ensemble of experienced actors, as well as a debutante with an unusual biography. Jana Nenadović, once a ballerina with an international career, a member of the ballet companies in Dortmund and at the Bavarian State Opera, is today a final-year acting student at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad in the class of Boris Lješević, and she stood for the first time before the YDT audience in the role of Sibyl.
Raised between Monte Carlo, Germany and Serbia, with ballet training obtained at the Princess Grace Academy of Classical Dance, the young actress and daughter of acting couple Nenad and Snežana Nenadović speaks to Kurir about the transition from ballet ensembles to theatre, facing the stage from the perspective of a beginner and encountering Belgrade again after more than a decade of living abroad.
It is your first time on the YDT stage. Were you nervous?
“I still haven’t graduated, I am still a student at the Academy in Novi Sad in the cohort of Professor Boris Lješević and this is only my second play in my life, so everything is a little mixed up in my head. However, the ensemble makes this situation much easier. They have shown great understanding for me and for the adaptation I have gone through. You know, they are all well-rehearsed like a machine, they know exactly how and what, and then a new person appears, like me, and they have to adjust. They welcomed me beautifully and together we managed to build something lovely. They helped me to be completely free and gave me space to make mistakes and learn.”
What did you learn working with much more experienced colleagues?
Have a look in the gallery at photographs from the play:
“A lot. This is a completely new experience, because at the Academy we had so much time to dedicate ourselves to something, and now suddenly you are limited to two months. We had many rehearsals, and I discovered a new magic in working in the theatre.”
Which inner conflicts of Sibyl did you feel most strongly while preparing the play?
“She is a gentle, fragile girl who symbolises beauty, purity, youth, truth and justice and steps into the world with that. However, the influence that Lord Henry has on Dorian is also transferred to Sibyl. That is where the conflict arises and the sense of reality that is happening at that moment is lost. All of a sudden she is thrown into a world that is debauched and decadent. She doesn’t really manage to adapt, but she still tries to remain that innocent and pure child. And she falls in love with him, and that is the moment in which we also see Dorian’s moral decline, when he rejects her, and from there the story continues. That conflict was extremely interesting to me and it was difficult for me to adjust to it.”
Was there a scene in which you had to forget your own emotions?
“That happened in the breakup scene. The moment when Dorian Gray rejects her and she is left broken. She decides she cannot live with that. It was very demanding. However, Joakim is a wonderful partner, and I am very glad we managed to build that relationship. But the emotional breakdown was really demanding for me.”
You spent most of your life abroad. Did you miss your homeland?
“Of course I did. At the age of 14 I received a scholarship to continue my training at the Princess Grace Academy in Monte Carlo, and that is how my, let’s say, ballet career began. I was alone, without my family, but I succeeded. Soon I received a job as a member of the ballet in Dortmund and at the Bavarian State Opera. The rest is history.”
Do you regret leaving your career as a ballerina?
“No, absolutely not. I had a great desire to try acting, at least to see what it is like, but I never had the opportunity. Circumstances took me abroad, and then I stayed to dance, because ballerinas retire early. At 33. However, I retired a little earlier and that is how the path took me to the Academy. I still have that sense of enjoyment on stage as I did in ballet. Nothing has been lost there, I have only added my voice.”
What does Belgrade look like through the eyes of someone returning?
“Different. Very different (laughs). This is my house and home, but everything is different after 10 years. Then I spent four years in Novi Sad, so I spent half my life away from home. Now that I say it out loud, it sounds like a lot (laughs). However, I am glad I returned to Belgrade. I missed it.”
You built an enviable career as a ballerina, and then made a turn. Are years an obstacle for a new beginning?
“Certainly not. At 24 I enrolled in acting, and I was much older than my classmates. At first the difference was noticeable, however Professors Boris Lješević and Milan Novaković managed to bring us together as a group and made sure we stayed united. We became a wonderful ensemble. Naturally, I was the ‘mum’ of the whole class (laughs). That is how my new life began.”