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Apollo was great to rehearse and perform, it was just a shame we didn't all have the same amount of time to work with Pat Neary, who'd come over to teach us. Carlos and I had a week with Pat in November, when we taught him the role, then Pat came over in February for a week (when Carlos wasn't there, unfortunately), then she came back a couple of weeks before the first night. When Carlos wasn't around I rehearsed with Roberto who was dancing in the other cast - it was slightly easier working with him, since he'd danced the ballet before and we know each other so well. Carlos, however, was wonderful in the role and had an amazing debut. I had the best of both worlds, though (lucky me!), and got to do a performance of Apollo with Roberto after all. (Poor Jaimie Tapper was ill that night.) A documentary was being made of Carlos and some of the Apollo rehearsals were filmed - so look out for that in the future.
Apollo is a great favourite of mine; it is so brilliantly choreographed - and just a very special piece. I wish we performed more Balanchine in the company but I've been fortunate to dance quite a lot of his work, either here or when I guested in New York. During one of the rehearsals Her Majesty The Queen actually came in and watched us working on Apollo. She had a nice chat with Pat, who was thrilled, but it was unfortunate that The Queen, Pat and I were all wearing the same colour: dark turquoise. (Not something that was mentioned at the time, but it did make Pat and me smile afterwards.) The Queen was in Covent Garden to unveil a plaque at the Opera House in memory of Princess Margaret and officially open the new Royal Ballet School.
Offstage life has been pretty quiet. I attended the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards, held at Sadlers Wells, and presented the Best Male Dancer award to Thomas Edur. I mentioned in my speech that Thomas was the only one of the 3 dancers nominated that I hadn't danced with so, after I'd given him his award, he swung me around. (The other two men nominated were Jonathan Cope and Adam Cooper - both very strong contenders. Wonderful to see Johnny recognized for his great performances.) Thomas and I have known each other for a while as we toured together with Igor Zelensky in Japan a few years ago. It's such a shame that I can't get to see him and Agnes dance more often - they are gorgeous, lovely people - but conflicting schedules make it very hard to find the time. I also had a nice chat with Kristopher King from Derby at the awards (his story made the National Press when it was revealed that he was being bullied because of his interest in dance). I hope he'll be able to take up my offer to spend some time at the Opera House.
Marks and Spencer have also released more publicity shots for their sports clothes. You may also have seen Phoebe and me in an article published for Mother's Day in The Daily Mail. The photo shoot was very amusing as Phoebe didn't really want to do what the photographer wanted her to - she wanted to play with the balloons or stand at the back instead of at the front. She then decided she'd like to take off her socks and shoes, which gave the stylist a bit of a headache. The photo was eventually taken with a bit of help from my Mum, sister and Janine (from the RB press office), who were trying to amuse Phoebe from behind the camera. Phoebe, of course, keeps me very busy. She came up to the Opera House the other week as I had a few days of late rehearsals. She loved running around, seeing all the girls in their tutus and going into all the studios. Luckily everyone loved having her there and it certainly tired her out.
Thanks to everyone who has sent cards, letters and gifts to me at the Opera House; I really appreciate your support. Sorry for the delay in replying to some of them - I am still working my way slowly through the pile, so if you haven't heard from me yet, you will soon. Thanks also for the comments regarding this site.
I hope you enjoyed the newsletter. Please come back again to see what I have been up to.
Enjoy your dance.
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