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Starting afresh this season as a guest artist I felt almost exactly the same as if I'd still been a member of the company. I had a busy start to the season, beginning with rehearsals for The Four Temperaments in September, that it feels as though I haven't stopped. Although The Four Temperaments wouldn't be performed until November, September was the only time Nanette Glushak, from the Balanchine Trust, could come over. We had worked with Nanette before on Serenade; she notices every little detail when we are rehearsing, so she really does push us, which is good. For me, the rehearsals were even harder than for the rest of the cast, as I was the only one who hadn't danced it before. In spite of all the work, I enjoyed being able to put something of my own personality into this beautiful ballet - but it was really a tough start to the season and I was in shock.
There I'd been, thinking the early stages would be relatively quiet. I'd expected to begin with Stravinsky Violin Concerto (which I had performed before) while working, in my free time, with talented choreographer Alistair Marriott who was creating a new piece for me to perform at Sadler's Wells. But it didn't work out that way.
The idea was for Rupert Pennefather and me to finish the pas de deux of Alistair's new ballet before the company's performances began in October - and that we did manage, just, by putting together half an hour here or an hour there. Of course Rupert was incredibly busy learning lots of new roles, so he had an even harder time fitting in these sessions than I did. He was great - and it was such a shame that, after putting in so many hours, he wasn't able to perform the ballet due to injury.
As for The Four Temperaments, the company knew it within a week, having danced it a couple of years ago, but it took me about two weeks to learn it. Gary Avis, or should I say Superstar Gary Avis, was 'covering' the pas de deux as Carlos wasn't available for these rehearsals so I learnt the role with him. At the time, we didn't know that we'd also be working together in Chris Wheeldon's new ballet.
But before that came the Stravinsky Violin Concerto, one of the first roles I ever danced, partnered then by Wayne Eagling. It's an entertaining ballet and I enjoy the Russian character dancing that's one of its main themes. It's very difficult 'count-wise', however. This was the first time I had ever worked with Ed Watson and when the casting came out last season my initial reaction was that I'd look stiff next to him, as he is so supple. Ed was wonderful to dance with and the really nice thing about him is that he's such a hard worker in the studio. I also enjoyed having another chance to work with Karin von Aroldingen and Bart Cook from the Balanchine Trust.
Zenaida Yanowsky and I had a pact to help each other out in the Balanchine. She had danced The Four Temperaments before and helped me learn that role while I helped her with the Stravinsky Violin Concerto.
Then, as soon as we started performing Violin Concerto, we began on Chris Wheeldon's new piece and that was exhausting. When you start work on a ballet that's being choreograhed on you, you sometimes repeat the same bit about a hundred times and can be in the studio for as much as two and a half hours. The next day you can be so sore you can hardly walk. But it's only through hard work, of course, that your body learns the part.
When Chris first made our pas de deux, he wanted to include a short period of silence - and that silence would be free for us as regards timing - then the conductor would bring in the orchestra when we'd got to a certain part of the choreography. The composer, however, wanted the silence to last for a specific number of bars. I can understand why he wanted that, but this made that section much harder as we had to count all the way through and the change was made a week before the first night.
Chris really impressed me with DGV. He had so much material (and an amazing set) that I felt as though I were watching a three act ballet come together. I've been lucky to work with him quite a bit over the years, but this was the first time I'd been involved with such a big cast - and I really enjoyed that.
I really felt for Johnny Cope, though. He loves being involved in new work and this was the first time I'd worked with Chris without having Johnny as my partner and that felt odd. Johnny is so brilliant when creating new roles and I value his opinion so much that I tried to persuade him to come into the rehearsal studios. But it wasn't until we were on stage that he finally came to watch us and I'm pleased to say that he liked it. I was very lucky, however, in my new Wheeldon partnership: Gary Avis did a fantastic job.
Having four principal couples in DGV, though, meant that we were all slightly apprehensive - with everyone wanting to see what was being created on the other three couples, and wondering if their choreography was going to be better than our own! But Chris knew exactly what he was doing and each pas de deux was as different as our own personalities. His hardest job was to get our dancing together for the finale. I think the word he actually used to describe us at one point was horrendous! Principal dancers don't generally have to worry about what others are doing on stage as regards timing, but on this occasion we did - and we all had little quirks that needed correcting. However, I think Chris was meaner to me than to the others! When he did say something nice I had to ask the company if they'd heard it too, just to be sure. At one point I asked him why I was putting up with all the criticism and his answer was, "But you know I love you!" (So you can see we did have some good laughs during rehearsal!)
This was the first time Chris has had over four weeks to create a piece for us at the Royal Ballet and he must have been under a lot of pressure. When he comes into the studio initially you sometimes get the impression that he doesn't know what he wants... but he does. I hope to be able to work with Chris again if we can fit it into his busy schedule. Just now he is off to the Bolshoi to choreograph a piece for them.
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