Maia Makhateli on motherhood, raked stages and truth

She is fighting to stay in shape in this difficult pandemic period as she has always fought her battles when she was a ballet student, with brave determination and iron discipline. Now, with new challenges ahead such as doing homework in Dutch with her son, the superstar of the Dutch National Ballet can’t wait to be back performing for a live audience and looks back at her training years without regret. Here she tells everything to ALESSANDRO BIZZOTTO

I have known Maia Makhateli for years, yet every time her energy surprises me somehow. She is indisputably a queen of ballet today. A Principal dancer with the Dutch National Ballet, she is a ballerina in demand – she is often on a plane to guest abroad, in Rome, Vilnius, Ljubljana, Naples among others, when she has not performances in Amsterdam. A few years ago, she also became a mother (her Instagram video of herself pregnant and balancing en pointe became viral and was shared even by actress Jennifer Garner), but she shows no sign of slowing down.