Marija Simona opens up about physical and psychological abuse: Complaining was impossible

For ballet audiences, the stage suggests fragility, grace and perfect control. Marija Simona Smolskienė says that image concealed a far harsher reality: daily injuries, exhausting workloads and psychological pressure that young dancers often faced alone.

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We are no different from Olympic athletes, absolutely no different. There are injuries everywhere, medication and drugs everywhere, because it is practically impossible to live without pain.

In an interview on the television programme “Gyvenimas yra gražus,” the prima ballerina said dancers endured conditions comparable to those faced by Olympic athletes. She described nine-hour daily workloads, medication used to manage pain and extreme discipline needed to cope with stress. As children, she said, some dancers bit their cheeks until they bled to redirect their thoughts from what they were experiencing in the studio.

Smolskienė said the most painful experiences began early in her professional training. She described a ballet education system in which physical and psychological abuse had become almost inseparable from instruction. She recalled furniture being thrown at students and said bruises or blows to the face could be treated as the least severe outcome. Complaining, she said, was not an option because students could be expelled, leaving them to shut themselves away and suffer in silence.

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As children, we bit our cheeks until they bled, so that physical pain would redirect our thoughts from what we were experiencing in the studio.

Her account also extends beyond the ballet school. At 19, despite successful performances and strong evaluations, Smolskienė left the stage of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. She said the decision reflected both her professional choices and her refusal to accept backstage rules, including demands for “envelopes” in exchange for contracts. She chose to pursue her career abroad instead.

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The psychological abuse came first. And the physical abuse? They would throw a bench at you. If you were hit in the face or left with bruises, that was still the easiest scenario.

Her husband, Erlandas, appeared on camera with her for the first time. The couple have been married for 12 years and jointly lead the Baltic Ballet Theatre, an independent company whose performances have travelled to France, Germany, Monaco and the Netherlands. They describe their experience in Lithuania’s cultural sector as a “fight against the cultural mafia and complete injustice.” The theatre receives no state funding, making each new production a financial challenge. The couple continue to pursue independent work while considering a possible move to Australia.

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It was a fight against the cultural mafia and complete injustice.