Ballet Arizona stalwarts take their last bow
They call themselves Ballet Arizona’s “old married couple,” but in12 seasons of pairing onstage, Paola Hartley and Astrit Zejnati never thought about making their relationship romantic. Well, there was that one time … “We got in a fight during ‘Romeo and Juliet’ when he kissed me for real,” Hartley says. “It was right after the balcony scene, in the open studio (a rehearsal with an audience), and he just totally went for it. So I went up to his girlfriend, who was in the company, and said, ‘Your boyfriend just stuck his tongue in my mouth!’ ”
Zejnati says he got caught up in the moment — and it was just one of many memorable moments they have shared as two of the Phoenix troupe’s brightest stars.
On Sunday, May 3, they paired together for the last time in the company’s “All Balanchine” program at Symphony Hall, earning standing ovations from patrons who have cheered their dancing lead roles in such iconic ballets as “Swan Lake,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “Don Quixote.”
Hartley and Zejnati will retire at the end of this season, both at age 41 — well past the time most ballet dancers hang up their shoes — along with fellow dancers Tzu-Chia Huang, Ilir Shtylla and Michelle Vagi. This month they will perform in one final program, “Innovations,” which will feature new choreography by company dancers.
“It’s the end of an era at Ballet Arizona,” says Natalia Magnicaballi, another longtime star with the company.
“I’m actually a little bit in denial that they’re not going to be here next year. The other day I was watching them rehearse, and I had to leave the studio because I started crying. They’re like my family. I spend more time with them in the studio than my actual family.
“What I love is to see them interacting. They are like this old couple who knows each other. They will fight, but with love.”
Hartley came to Phoenix in 1998 after dancing at Ballet de Santiago in her home country of Chile. Zejnati, who is from Albania, joined the company in 2003 following stints with Pacific Northwest Ballet and Miami City Ballet.
They made an immediate connection in the rehearsal hall, Hartley says.
“He’s just a very bubbly guy and he’s always making jokes, so you felt like you could relate on a personal level,” she says. “The first thing we did together was ‘Swan Lake,’ and the minute we walked into rehearsal, we were both in the mood. I was the swan, he was the prince, and we just clicked.”
“Paola is like a great actress,” Zejnati says. “She reacts to moments very well, so I love that, because then I can counterreact. It’s like a basic back-and-forth, but it’s actually very difficult to find that. There are many people that are great (performers), but if you dance with them, it’s like dancing with the wall. It doesn’t work if you don’t have that emotion that comes back to you.”
Outside of dance, Zejnati says he spends his free time doing “guy stuff” such as playing poker and pool and cruising on his Kawasaki motorcycle. After retiring, he plans to return to his native Albania, where he is in negotiations to become artistic director of the national ballet company.
Hartley says she will stay in the Valley, where she plans to teach and to start a family with her fiancé, a local businessman.
“This is my home now. I consider myself a native,” she says. “I think it’s a beautiful city. The people are so much more relaxed than in most urban cities like New York or Santiago, for that matter, where everybody’s busy. I think it has to be the sun. People smile at you in the supermarket and talk to you, and I like that.” Reach the reporter at kerry.lengel@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4896.