Unur Gunaajav

Written by Elizabeth Parsons
Photography by Doug Miller 

Unur Gunaajav is a long way from his hometown of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The 37-year old dancer, who in September took the reins as Roanoke Ballet Theatre’s (RBT) Head of School, has been working since he was a child. His prolific career has carried him around the globe; he’s graced some of the world’s most renowned stages in Russia, Germany, China, and the United States.

Initially, Gunaajav planned to follow in the footsteps of his composer/conductor father. But when the latter heard about an audition to the prestigious Perm State Ballet School in Perm, Russia, he suggested his son try out. Gunaajav was just 12 years old.

“I asked my dad, ‘Ballet? Why ballet?” he recalls. His father encouraged him and the child was intrigued. With no previous experience, he passed the audition and was accepted to the school on a full scholarship. It was the beginning of a grueling eight-year period in which the young man would return home only during the summers.

It was also the beginning of a consuming and lifelong obsession. “I’ve given all my life to dance,” says Gunaajav thoughtfully. After graduating from the Perm State School, he spent the next six years alternating between companies in Mongolia and Russia. In Mongolia, he was a principal dancer in the Academy Opera Ballet Theatre and in Moscow, he danced with the prestigious Russian Ballet 21st Century and the Renaissance Ballet Theatre Company.

What then brought this grand artist to a sleepy mountain town in Virginia? After a short stint in Philadelphia, Gunaajav sought quieter surroundings. He felt the hectic city was not the right place to work on his language skills (although Gunaajav has made great strides, English is an ongoing challenge). With a brother-in-law in Roanoke, he packed his things and moved the same year.

The first thing Gunaajav did was search the Yellow Pages for a ballet school. “That’s how I found RBT. I came for a class—I needed to practice—and [former RBT director] Jennifer Davies invited me to stay and teach.” The following eight years he juggled a string of menial jobs in order to augment his income as a teacher and artist.

With his recent promotion to Head of School, Gunaajav feels he’s finally made it.

“I talk to dancer friends in Russia and some of them are running schools, too. They always ask me, ‘What else are you doing to support yourself?’ And I tell them, ‘Nothing—this is my only job.’ They can’t believe it.”

To an outsider, a dancer’s life may seem glamorous, but Gunaajav knows the truth; his path has been anything but easy. Gunaajav was separated from his wife Nara Dondong and daughter Suvd for four years as he pursued his dream. When he arrived in the United States in 1998, he didn’t speak a word of English and struggled to adjust to a culture starkly different from his own. For eight years, Gunaajav worked in factories, restaurants, and construction sites while adhering to a strict practice schedule, attending rehearsals, auditions, and starring in performances.

In Roanoke, however, Gunaajav has finally realized a life-long ambition. Today, he’s no longer piece-mealing a living and is pursuing ballet fulltime.

“Back home you can work seven days a week, 24 hours and day and it’s still not enough to support a family. That’s why I came to the United States.” But as is the case for most artists, finances are a secondary consideration. “The most important thing is that I dance,” he adds.

It may not be Moscow or Ulaanbaatar, but Gunaajav loves his adopted hometown. The first thing he noticed upon arriving was how friendly people were—”they actually smiled at me on the street!” he laughs. “I felt like I was on vacation.” Wife Nara—also a talented ballerina with a formidable resume—and daughter Suvd joined him in 2002.

Besides, “If you find a good company, it doesn’t matter where it is,” Gunaajav says. “Russia, Japan, U.S.—it doesn’t matter.”

This dogged dedication to the dancer’s life—the unquestioning submission to go where art takes you—is necessary for the dancer. Unlike other art forms, the professional dancer cannot undertake it as a part-time occupation. It’s all or nothing. After five or six years of serious study, a dancer must make a decision: continue on—and if he’s lucky, get hired by a successful company—or leave dance behind to pursue a more stable path.

Neither choice is easy. Like any athlete, injury can crush a career. Competition is cutthroat. Age is another factor: although there is an ongoing debate about the proper age for retirement, a ballet dancer traditionally retires from performing in their early to mid thirties.

Enterprising dancers continue the work they love by teaching. Six, sometimes seven days a week, a typical “day at the office” for Gunaajav begins at 8 am and wraps up around 10 pm. He spends five solid hours of this time practicing and teaching, in addition to his administration duties. Pay is just enough to get by. Despite such a demanding schedule, Gunaajav loves his job and wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The money was good [in previous jobs], but I didn’t feel it was mine. A dancer finds the same happiness in the studio [making little money] as he would if he were making a million dollars a day.”

Gunaajav is applying his enthusiasm and dedication to his position at RBT. Under his leadership, “The RBT school is growing,” he says. He wants to improve existing offerings to students and to make performances even more professional.

Soon, Gunaajav plans to launch classes for boys. Like the life-changing opportunity he received 25 years ago, the school will offer several full scholarships to promising young men.

Gunaajav’s is one story of an intriguing and often overlooked creative scene in Southwest Virginia. Outside of its dedicated circle, few people know that the area is home to over a dozen companies and schools—among the most prominent, the Virginia School of the Arts in Lynchburg, Southwest Virginia Ballet in Salem and RBT in Roanoke. The Hollins Masters of Fine Arts program in Dance, now in its second year, is currently working with New York City-based dancers Daniel Clifton, formerly of Nicholas Leichter Dance Company, and Antonietta Vicario, who premiered at Dance New Amsterdam (DNA) in January. Shani Collins is also a classmate—she was awarded the coveted Bessie award for her body of work with the Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE company. A Bessie is the dance world’s equivalent of the Oscar.

All this is good news for residents interested in the arts, and for professionals such as Gunaajav. City looks forward to what the scene and its talented members have in store for its community.

 

Posted: February 1st, 2007 under Visions.
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~Elizabeth Parsons’ passion for culture and the arts has earned her a degree in Anthropology and stamps on her passport from places as diverse as Ecuador, Turkey and the European Union. Recently working as a Writer and Event Planner for the Grammy Music Awards in San Francisco, CA, she returns to her hometown of Roanoke to pursue her M.F.A./Creative Writing at Hollins University. Elizabeth can be contacted at 540.345.6300 or elizabeth@citymagazineonline.com.