The big fear with interviewing her was that I'd be repeating questions she's asked continuously. However she has the knack of making each question sound as if it's reasonably new, which is a huge relief to any interviewer. With the Royal Opera House closed for refurbishment, and the Royal Ballet going through a homeless phase, she's taking the chance to make guest appearances with other companies, most famously with the Kirov in St. Petersburg.

Working with the Kirov was strange. The basic work regime - class and then rehearsal - was identical, but even the floor proved treacherous. The Maryinsky stage is a wooden rake, as are all the studios, and company class proved to be an exercise in adapting to the floor rather than a preparation for rehearsals. Throw in a strange production of La Bayadere, with concerns about placings, entrances, exits and an entire new pas de deux, add a good mix of worry about the ability to pull off moves on a different plane, not to mention changed eye levels, and it all adds up to a rather worried ballerina. A rather worried ballerina thrown into the middle of a strange company, that speaks a different language, who is acutely aware that existing principals are leaving because they aren't getting enough roles. Darcey's dominant feeling about the Kirov was that she needed to prove herself in this company.

Other guest opportunities have proved a lot more welcome. In particular she was looking forward to a guest appearance with the National Ballet of Tokyo at the end of May, with Jonathan Cope. She has never guested in Japan before, and Tokyo's new theatre seems to be a major attraction for her. When asked where she would most like to guest, she says "La Scala". She has already had to turn down two offers to guest there, including a performance of Apollo, but early next year, finally gets to visit Milan, dancing in La Bayadere with Roberto Bolle.

Currently the Royal Ballet is taking the opportunity to start early rehearsals for its Coliseum season in July this year, and to work on its de Valois season at the Barbican. It's an opportunity that Igor Zelensky, Darcey's current partner, is welcoming. Rehearsals for Manon have started, and for once, Darcey says, Igor has the opportunity to work on a role after learning it, rather than being thrown on stage in the thick of things. When asked if he's likely to join the Royal Ballet, she is initially definite that he won't, explaining that he "very much likes his freedom" and that "he loves New York". Zelensky is definitely a globetrotter - at the time of the interview he was in Brazil. But, she adds, maybe when the Opera House reopens, he'll change his mind.

Before then, Darcey is dancing Svetlana Beriosova's solo in Birthday Offering, and for the gala performance on 15 June, is performing the Black Queen in Checkmate. It's a role she's done before, but this time, Dame Beryl Grey is teaching her, she says with a note of awe and delight in her voice. Monica Mason is teaching Birthday Offering, with the help of videos and notation books.

One thing Darcey comments on is that "people remember Madame very vividly", in particular as she continued coaching until quite recently, and there is a direct connection to her coaching. So Darcey is being taught the de Valois works by people who learnt directly from Dame Ninette herself. It makes a big difference, because, as she explains "Madame would change things to suit you".

Birthday Offering, is of course, Ashton, and a slightly inarticulate discussion of dancing Ashton turns into a near-perfect description of his choreography. A chain of words "very pure - not fussy - stems from classics - more feminine, more clever" and onto a description of how head and shoulder movement are essential does sum up Ashton's style beautifully. At the end, she asks "am I making sense?", aware of how disjointed her description has been.

The Royal Ballet's other major choreographer, Kenneth MacMillan, was an obvious major influence. He dramatically jump-started her career by casting her as Rose in Prince of the Pagodas when she was 19, a nerve-wracking experience. The delay in the production, due to MacMillan's illness, proved a blessing in disguise. She had joined the Royal Ballet as a soloist, and the six-month delay meant that people in the company got to know her before her debut. The structure of the company was intimidating, but the six month's grace gave her a breathing period.

MacMillan's main gift was towards her was that he "gave me confidence early on". Previously the Royal Ballet had only cast shorter dancers as Juliet, but "Kenneth got me to do Juliet" - now one of her favourite roles. She obviously misses him a lot - the only time she has ever gone blank on stage was during the first performance of Mayerling following his death. She completely forgot what steps she should have been doing.

"It seemed like a long time, but it must only have been half a second or so. I felt it was like Kenneth had prodded me to make me forget, saying 'go on, see how you handle this'." Her career on stage however, seems to have gone without any major disasters - at least none that she's admitting to. The worst that ever happened to her was blacking out on stage when she slipped while dancing Gamzatti. More frightening still was going back on stage immediately, unable to feel one of her legs.

For all the fact that she's famous in the classical roles, she claims that her less favourite roles are the main classical ones, or as she puts it "anything exhausting where you can't feel your feet". It doesn't seem to matter how many Rose Adagios you've done - it's still a nerve racking experience. Despite that, the role she wants to dance is Kitri in Don Quixote - probably because it's the one main classical role she hasn't done yet. It seems that Darcey Bussell doesn't always get to do what she wants.


Reproduced by kind permission of Ballet.co.uk