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After a pretty quiet start to the season, it's been all go lately. I've had Sylvia, Manon and Tanglewood with the Royal Ballet and more performances of Manon in Turin with La Scala. I really enjoyed dancing with La Scala, although it was hard work performing Manon three nights in a row. (When I first agreed to attempt this, I'd been under the impression that Roberto did that sort of thing all the time; it was only after I'd arrived that he told me he had never done three shows in a row.) I was hoping, then, to have a sleep during the day, but that turned out to be impossible. Turin is hosting the Winter Olympics in February 2006 so there was lots of noise from road works and construction.
I had a stage call (in full costume) a couple of hours after arriving in the city. Thankfully, I just had time for a quick rehearsal of the pas de trois with Alessandro Grillo and Gianni Ghisleni who played Lescaut and Monsieur GM. I was using Marta Romagna's costumes (she dances with Roberto quite a lot). Fortunately, as she's my height and has a similar build, her costumes didn't need to be altered for me and that was fantastic. The production had been set by Monica Parker so it was basically the same as ours; there were slight differences but nothing major. Having an English conductor was a help, too. In the adage I had a really lovely guy to do the main lifting and the company were fantastic with me - I speak very little Italian so I was especially grateful for their kindness.
That first stage call went surprisingly smoothly and I then had a day off. The performances themselves went well, too, and our audiences gave us a wonderful reception. I would love to go back, but not to do 3 shows in 3 nights! I had massages every day, as Manon is so tough on the body - I am thrown around quite a bit and my body was pretty sore by the last performance. It didn't help that I'd scraped the skin off my hip on a buckle while coming down from a lift during the first rehearsal and then, of course, it got worse every time we practised. By the first performance it was actually bleeding - which made the death scene quite effective - but it was so painful I had to have it strapped for the last performance and still have a scar on my hip.
Having performed Manon in Turin, it seemed natural to continue dancing it in London. With Roberto it felt so easy. We knew exactly what we were going to do and we could test each other and really go for it. We did have one little problem: my hair got caught in Roberto's shirt button while I was in a back bend - agony. Roberto had to tug his shirt off my head. It's disappointing when something like that happens, as it takes away from the atmosphere and mood. Roberto was very disappointed; he always wants the performance to go well but it's really hard to achieve perfection for the whole of a three act ballet.
It was also good to be dancing Sylvia again. I really enjoyed the shows a lot more - maybe because I felt much stronger for this run than the last. I probably won't dance Sylvia again, as they're not bringing it back next season. (It's so hard on the body, I'm not sure I'd be able to dance it in the season after that - though you never know. It would be lovely to perform it again.)
As you may be aware, the BBC were recording my last two Sylvias for a broadcast to be put out on Christmas Day. The crew - who've been following me around for a couple of months - were filming during our stage call and were also in the wings during the first performance to be recorded. I'd got so relaxed about having the cameras around during rehearsals that I didn't realize exactly how nervous it would make me to have them in the wings, especially before my first entrance. There's a lot of pressure: you want as much as possible to go well in that first filmed performance - then there'll be less pressure during the second one.
Our last show was a bit of a drama. I'd managed to come down with a bad cold and had quite a high temperature. As you can imagine, I wasn't feeling on top form. Monica suggested that I just dance Act II (they had had some problems with lighting for that act during the previous filming) while Roberto was saying I had to do the pas de deux with him. I'd been given something to stop my nose from running, but that meant my throat was so dry that I couldn't swallow. It was a horrible feeling, as you don't want to do a bad show and let everyone down - and there was also the need to do a good job for the second night's filming. (I'd seen the run-through from the previous show and, of course, there were some things I wanted to improve.) I was feeling pretty rough that night and it didn't help when we had quite a few problems with props. My bow broke, a tissue - that I'd been told to stick down my costume in case I needed it - fell out and my skirt got caught in my quiver. I'd thought of trying to take things a bit easier for this show, but Sylvia is such a demanding role that you can't really do that: you just have to go for it. Fortunately, the lighting was much better in Act II for the second recording so at least that was better. I'm sure the finished product will look good after some editing. Oh, and by the way, despite what you may have read in the press, I was thrilled with all my bouquets! (It seems sad that a newspaper can print something completely untrue and be believed by
many of their readers.)
I've also been dancing in Tanglewood, which was very enjoyable to perform. I wish I could have been involved in more than one section, but that, unfortunately, was impossible with all my commitments (Sylvia, Manon and the documentary). I've known Alistair Marriott for a long time and he has a great talent for choreography - with such a good eye that he can see patterns even before they happen. Now that's foresight!
I think I mentioned our performance at Buckingham Palace in the last newsletter (it was in aid of the Royal Ballet School's new development fund for White Lodge) but you might be interested in hearing a bit more. Our changing rooms ran along the main balcony - the one on which the Royal Family appear on special occasions - and if you went to the window you could see tourists looking up at the balcony! We performed on an elevated stage in the ballroom and, although it felt a bit too high, it was very effective. It did feel strange to see the audience looking up at us, but the pas de deux (from the last act of Sylvia) went well and, of course, it was great to dance with Johnny.
I'm off to South Africa next to film a pilates DVD for my book (published earlier in the year). I'm hoping to have a bit of a break with my family while I'm there and relax for a while, as my next shows aren't until February. In March I'm off to dance again with La Scala, this time to take a part in Le Jeune Homme et la mort, a one act ballet by Roland Petit. Then I plan to appear in a film of the same ballet during the summer in Japan with Teddy (Tetsuya) Kumakawa. (Teddy originally asked me about this when we were on tour last summer, but it was impossible to fit it into our schedules then.) It's a very dramatic role so we hope that will come across well.
Thank you again 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 but unfortunately I'm unable to offer any personal advice.
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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