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Apologies that it's been so long since my last newsletter - I've been busy rehearsing and dancing.
Johnny and I were really enjoying rehearsing Winter Dreams so it was disappointing that he had to withdraw from the performances because of a back injury. Inaki Urlezaga, down to cover the role, replaced him and did a wonderful job. Despite being a 'cover', Inaki hadn't actually made it into any of our rehearsals since he was rehearsing another work at the same time (from which he later had to pull out). That meant he had only 5 days to learn the role before the dress rehearsal. Inaki said he didn't mind missing out on his other show as Winter Dreams was much more challenging. It's quite a difficult piece to learn, but the part seemed to come naturally to Inaki and suited him really well I thought. Sometimes it can be hard to learn roles choreographed on other people and Irek Mukhamedov, on whom the part was originally made, has a very individual style.
Quite a few of the original cast appeared with us in Winter Dreams and it was great to work with them all again. Nicola Tranah, one of the originals, gave her last performance with the company in our last show. Having created the role of Masha, I was interested to watch the other cast to see Sylvie's interpretation. I can't say it was a surprise to find that Masha had changed - Sylvie likes to be different!
Manon, with Roberto, was just fab - he was on great form and I think he is just made for the role. It really suits his personality. His physique, the quality of his dancing and his interpretation all made for wonderful performances. Even Anthony mentioned how good he was. And Roberto, who really was phenomenal, is asking when we can dance it again.
Next to make it to the stage was the new production of The Sleeping Beauty - and, considering the problems with the set, the first night didn't go too badly. This was the third version that the Royal Ballet have performed since I joined the company, but some parts of the choreography weren't changed. Natasha had been over working with the company on and off since before Christmas. To say that there were a lot of rehearsals would be an understatement - and I'm sure if Natasha had had her way we would have had a lot more! Of course if I'd only been working on Beauty it wouldn't have been too bad; but I was also rehearsing Apollo and Manon so my schedule was packed. The pressures of performing the first night of a new three act ballet are immense, though most people don't realize this. I actually offered the first night to all the other girls dancing Aurora, but nobody took me up on my offer. I was much more nervous for the Washington premiere of Beauty in 1993: different country, different stage and, of course, those steps to come down. But now, being more experienced in the role, and being at our home base, I was always going to find it easier than that.
The most disappointing aspect of Beauty was that I was really suffering with my foot. My foot has been sore since January and, from experience, I know that when I'm rehearsing a 3 act ballet I really do have to pace myself. Unfortunately with all the rehearsals scheduled for Beauty - and all the other rehearsals - pacing myself was out of the question. The first night of Beauty was at the end of a long week; I had danced Manon on Tuesday, the general (dress rehearsal) of Beauty on Thursday - while continuing to work on Apollo and rehearsing Beauty every day. Something had to give - and on opening night my foot became very sore during the second act. There were other Auroras in the wings and Marianela Nuñez was on standby. I managed to get through most of the show, apart from the final part of the coda when Marianela had to step in. My foot and calf muscles went into spasm and there was no way I could dance that last minute. It was a shame that the press went to town and made such a fuss, especially as I've heard some people hadn't even noticed.
It was good, however, to dance a different version of Beauty even though the rehearsals were pretty intense. There were actually a lot of changes in the studio and still more changes when we got the production on stage. Choreography can look totally different when you move from studio to stage, so there were quite a few last minute changes that - speaking as a dancer here! - you don't really want. Dancing a different production really makes you think. The Rose Adage was totally different, as was the act 2 solo. I always say that Sleeping Beauty is very much like taking a class - straightforward and technical exercises. It was lovely dancing it with Roberto and we feel very comfortable together. Unfortunately a week off wasn't enough for the muscle to relax fully, so I had to pull out of my second show. Despite changing quite a few of the steps in the next show to compensate for my foot, I was still having problems so I had to pull out of my final scheduled performance. Injuries are, unfortunately, a part of a dancer's life.
Click here to go to part 2 where you can find out what else I've been up to.
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