I spoke to Jonathan Cope in his dressing room at the Royal Opera House during a break between Class and a Firebird rehearsal. The room was small (though surprisingly neat), the chairs were hard and I couldn't
help noticing that Jonathan's ancient practice clothes were practically falling to bits. Despite the holes in his shirt, however, this is a seriously good-looking man.
He is also a very successful one. A principal dancer of the Royal Ballet who regularly partners Sylvie Guillem, he has been dancing with Darcey for years. His solos exude power and energy, but it is his partnering (skilled, secure, strong, yet also sensitive) that has caused him to be so much in demand amongst ballerinas. He is, in fact, at the very height of his career. He's a show off, he tells me: "You have to be. That's what it's about
really!"
Why don't I know that much about him then, I ask. Politely, he explains that he's not very interested in publicizing himself. Although invited to lots of PR functions, he rarely accepts. "I'm quite happy with my own company and my family's company." It's not that he doesn't enjoy meeting people; he does. But when the performance is over he wants
to go home to his beautiful wife (still involved with dance, I was delighted to hear: coaching and judging) and two children. Asked to do a lot of publicity when he was younger (he refused most of that as well), he feels that, "Now I'm quite old, so I don't think really the press are
very interested."
Occasionally, however, he makes an exception, and did a photo shoot for Ducati motorbikes the other week (to be published in The Tatler) - but that was mainly because he wanted a chance to ride their bikes. He reminisced about the time he was hit by a car two nights before the revival of The Prince of the Pagodas. One of his ribs was cracked and the Opera House management weren't at all happy about it. Fortunately, there is still
nothing in his contract about motor bikes, so he's been able to carry on. London traffic can be very frustrating, though.
He started dance at the age of six, when he joined his sister's ballet class. (Quite a few male dancers begin their careers in this way, apparently.) Then his sister gave up, but he went on, though he'd never really seen ballet before he started learning. Even as a boy, however,
he wasn't much interested in publicity. He never entered competitions, but just trained with his teacher, going on to White Lodge and then into the Royal Ballet.
He's always enjoyed physical activities and likes to be outside. A big fan of skate boarding and snow boarding (two more pastimes much frowned upon by the Royal Opera House), he hopes to do a lot more of that sort of thing when he stops dancing. When he was about twelve, he
came second in the South Wales Junior Skate Boarding Championship : "My claim to fame .... I was proud of that one." He still has the newspaper clipping to prove it, though he doesn't keep articles about his ballet career.
Like many others before him, Jonathan never really made a conscious decision to embark on a ballet career. But after all those years at the Royal Ballet School, he suddenly realized that that was what had happened. He was a dancer. The choice had already been made. Though of course, he adds, if you didn't get a job with a major company then you would have to think again.
His first major role was Swan Lake with Pippa Wylde. Derek Deane had been meant to be dancing Siegfried but Jonathan had the chance to take over and grabbed it. (That doesn't seem to happen much to young male dancers any more.) How did it go, I ask, and he tells me he loved
it.
It's hard to say which ballets he likes best. Favourite MacMillan ballets are Gloria, Manon, Mayerling, Requiem, Song of the Earth (he's just learning this and really enjoying it - the music is superb). He also likes Different Drummer. Of the Ashton ballets he particularly
enjoys dancing A Month in the Country. And then there's Cinderella which he feels works well as a ballet at Christmas. And Duato's Remanso, which he loves. These are all ballets with really good music. Of the classic roles, he still likes Swan Lake and Giselle, in spite of having danced them so many times. And of course he'd love to do Cranko's Onegin, but that hasn't been cast yet.
I notice he hasn't mentioned Romeo. Why not? Go to part 2 to find out.
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