|
What about partners? Well, she has danced with her three dream men, she jokes: Carlos Acosta, Roberto Bolle and Jonathan Cope. 'With the three of them you can really feel secure...I have been very lucky with partners.' But she also expresses a desire to work with Johan Kobborg, whose dancing she really admires; unfortunately, she doesn't think she'll ever have the opportunity to work with him as they would not match very well.
As well as watching Friends' videos Marianela relaxes away from ballet by watching movies, often in the company of Alina Cojocaru or Mara Galeazzi. She enjoys reading, too, mostly in Spanish, although her first English book was Darcey's autobiography. ('I'm not just saying that!')
'One of the things I love about Darcey is that she is just so normal,' Marianela says. She first saw Darcey dance in Sleeping Beauty (Marianela was 15 at the time) although she had seen pictures and articles in magazines before that. She vividly remembers seeing the poster ('it was stunning ... it was just so perfect') advertising The Sleeping Beauty and thinking that Darcey was so beautiful. Then, after seeing her dance, she thought, 'Wow, she's pretty AND she's amazing'. After joining the Royal Ballet School, Marianela said it was strange at first to see Darcey just walking down the corridor. 'Oh it's Darcey Bussell ... wow what's going on here!' she'd think. But she soon got used to it. She and Darcey have been working together quite a lot in the last few months. They were in the same cast in Beyond Bach and were learning the same role in In the Middle. 'There was one combination we were having trouble with and I was like - "Darcey I can't do it!" But she was fantastic.'
She loves being in rehearsal with her, although following Darcey and Roberto Bolle in the last pas de deux of Middle was a bit intimidating. She and Nathan Coppen were watching open-mouthed, wondering, 'How are we going to do that?' But they decided that, 'We have to just go for that - just like they had done.' One thing Marianela admires about Darcey is that she always 'goes for it' no matter what! On stage, 'you never feel nervous watching her. You can relax and enjoy her performance.' Marianela adds, 'She never holds back...that is why it is so exciting to watch her. And you think you can't get better than that - but she does get better. It's scary. It is hard to believe...as she was already amazing ... but there is something even more special about her. It is hard to say what has exactly changed about her. I don't know what it is. Can she go further? I don't know, but she IS Miss Bussell. She is stronger than ever'.
And what of the future? - Marianela is looking forward to her first visit to Australia on the coming tour. She has vivid memories of touring in Belfast as a beggar in Manon - and suffering, 'because I had to be on the floor every night. My knee was bleeding every single night!' (She would much rather have been the Harlot. 'Everyone was having so much fun.') Of course, there are still roles she would love to dance: Giselle, Manon, Juliet, Odette/Odile. Certainly, if Marianela's present progress is anything to go by, she ought to be dancing those roles very soon. And when the next big part does come along, we can only hope that it won't cause her Mother to 'freak out' all over again.
|
