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Romeo is a brilliant part but there is too much to go wrong! He is always frustrated at the end, never feeling it has gone as well as he would have liked. It's too hard, the steps awkward and difficult, it just pushes you to the edge. The amazing balcony pas de deux will really finish you off especially after the solo beforehand. And at the start you are worrying about whether you got enough sleep the night before or ate the right things. He wishes it were easier to do. Manon isn't so difficult. That's because there isn't as much jumping; it was choreographed on Anthony (Sir Anthony Dowell) who is more of an adage dancer. (Manon not so difficult?! My brain reels at the thought that anyone could speak so lightly of such a taxing role.)
What about Nutcracker, I ask. Well, he doesn't like that quite so much, it appears. And he dislikes Sleeping Beauty intensely; he will never dance it again. The Prince is an awful part.
But Jonathan enjoys new ballets as well as older ones. He'd like to see some new choreographer come along and do something completely different. (Though he doesn't, unfortunately, think modern pieces suit him.) He loved guesting with Sylvie in Paris and Helsinki, dancing Albrecht in trousers and boots in Guillem's own new version of Giselle. "It was a new experience working with her in boss mode," he says. And he likes new partners, too. He'd enjoy dancing more often with Tamara (Rojo); he's doing Song of the Earth with her and would have been willing to take over as Albrecht when Inaki (Urlezaga) was injured!
Actually, playing the 'good guy' (which he does most of the time) is fine, but he's always wanted to be the villain. To dance Hilarion - just once - would be terrific. (Though he doesn't think he'd be very good.) It would be great just to swagger onto the stage and not have to
point your toes.
He enjoys working with new choreographers, but likes it best when choreographer and dancer work together - when the choreographer is receptive to the dancer's ideas and input. He doesn't like control freaks. Mentioning no names, he talked about how in some ballets the dancers come out looking just like the choreographer. He has had it with that kind of thing. It is just an ego trip! He's done some choreography himself and would like to do more. But at the moment he just loves to be on stage.
That wasn't the case when he left the Royal Ballet in 1990 for nearly two years. He'd been going through a bad time just after finishing Prince of the Pagodas - which was not easy to put together - and things were starting to bug him. "I was on stage all the time; the critics hated me because all they got to see was me!" But it didn't take long, after he'd left, to realize how mundane life outside the Opera House could be - while, "live theatre - there is nothing in comparison!" So he came back to ballet with a new 'mindset' and new confidence in his own ability. He no longer cares what the critics think. (A pity, since they like him more and more.) He'll go on dancing so long as people want to watch him.
And what of dancing with Darcey? The first major thing he did with Darcey was Prince of the Pagodas (ch. Kenneth MacMillan - the two principal roles were choreographed on Darcey and Jonathan). She was very young, saying yes to everything Kenneth asked her to do. If he'd told her to do a back somersault, followed by a flip and three turns she would have done it. "That's how she ended up with five of the most difficult solos you have ever seen in your entire life."
Darcey didn't understand that you sometimes have to say no to a choreographer. You have to say, "What about doing this?" Kenneth was just seeing what she could do, he explains. After about the second solo Jonathan took her aside. He told her she had to be firm. She had to
say: no, I can't do that. And then change it to something that she could do. You have to remember that it's one thing to dance a first night when you're in top form. But later in the run you'll get more and more tired. And then you'll be doing a Monday matinée for a School
Performance and you'll suddenly find that it's impossible.
Has she changed? Jonathan shakes his head. She's, "always the same, very down to
earth. And she doesn't live entirely for ballet; she does have a life outside - not your typical bun head ballerina." He thinks that Darcey could survive without ballet as her outside interests are strong.
"She has her head screwed on now," he says, and knows exactly how to deal with choreographers. She is easy to partner and has the strongest technique ever! "She has the face, the body, the technique; she's got everything." But the problem is that she doesn't necessarily believe that herself. (Though she and Jonathan did fight when they were creating the pas de
deux in Wheeldon's piece - and both gave as good as they got, he thinks. Fighting between partners is good, he adds. They should be able to express their ideas freely, but there should also be a spark between them. It's like a good marriage.) Darcey is such a nice person, but what she needs is to be a little less nice. She needs to say to herself: "I have
it all!" ...... to come on stage and think: "I am Darcey Bussell. You've all come to see me. Let me show you how brilliant I am!" But sometimes she's thinking: "Oh my God! I'm Darcey Bussell. You have come to see me! Please, God, let me be good!" After the baby is born, he hopes she'll
find she has more belief in herself, that she'll come out on stage and knock us dead. That she'll remember what she has and what she can do.
And what of his own future? He has reliable friends, he tells me, who will speak up when he's no longer looking as good as he should on stage; and that will be the time to go. I tell him he's dancing better than ever. He's pleased and admits he feels that himself! He lives to be on stage. He would like to be on every night if he could; he's happy to do extra shows. Some nights he can hardly wait for 7:30. And when the first act is over, then he can't wait for the next.
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