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Recently, most of my time recently has been taken up with Tryst, the new Christopher Wheeldon ballet. Chris choreographed his new work in just 4 weeks (all the time we had, as he's in such demand all over the world); that's very fast work for a piece that includes so much dancing for the corps de ballet. I love working with Chris (he is a seriously nice guy) and have known him since we were at the Royal Ballet School. Not surprisingly, quite a few of the cast have known him for years, including Jane Burn, Belinda Hatley and Jonathan Howells. Johnny (Cope) and I have been lucky to dance in the other two ballets Chris choreographed for the company. And I know that if Chris comes back to do another piece, I'll be first in the line asking to do it.
The style of dancing called for in Tryst is very different from the classical style Chris has used before. The music (by James MacMillan, who also conducted the work) was very hard for the corps. They basically had to count the whole piece - and they did so well. Johnny and I would have liked to count too, but Chris didn't want us to do that: instead he gave us specific places where he wanted us to be at different points in the music, so there was a lot of scope for us to play around with the timing of steps. He also choreographed our pas de deux to a CD of the music, so when we did our stage call with the orchestra the music sounded totally different. Johnny gets very passionate about a new pas de deux - it has to be very original. At one stage he was worried that the corps de ballet would outshine us and some strong opinions were expressed while we were developing ideas. (One thing I have learnt is to keep quiet now when Johnny and Chris are having one of their discussions. It's hard to get a word in, anyway!) The first night was really nerve-wracking: knowing Chris so well, we all wanted to do our best for him.
Performing Romeo and Juliet with Roberto Bolle has been glorious. Since we first started working together, in December 1999, his dancing with the company has become more and more confident - and that has been wonderful to see. Guesting with other companies can be hard. No matter how friendly the dancers are, there are times when you can feel really isolated - especially if the majority of your dancing is pas de deux work. Both In the Middle and Romeo and Juliet, however, have allowed Roberto to get to know the other dancers. His confidence has soared and he was much more relaxed in our two performances. It's great when that happens, as it enables you to concentrate much more on your own role. (Which you can't do if you're worrying about your partner!) I know our partnership will develop further next season when Roberto is scheduled to dance Swan Lake, Manon and Beauty with me.
By the time you read this I will be in Australia for our tour. We're performing in 3 cities: Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. I have the honour of opening with Swan Lake in all 3 cities and will also be performing Giselle and Tryst. Gael Lambiotte will now be partnering me in Giselle as, unfortunately, Inaki Urlezaga has not recovered from his injury and won't be able to tour with us. Gael, a principal at Boston Ballet, was over for a couple of weeks, so we managed to slot in a few rehearsals before he had to fly back to Boston to pack. Gael will be kept quite busy as he'll also be dancing Swan Lake with Tamara Rojo. For me the tour will definitely be a family affair. Phoebe will be there, of course, as will my Mother, who'll be acting as Nanny for the trip. While Angus will join us for part of the time as well. Who knows, we may even get a chance to relax a little as a family, though the schedule is very tough. While we are out there, I'll also start rehearsing Don Quixote for the summer season. Other members of our family live in Melbourne and Sydney so we will be catching up to with them. Phoebe will be able to meet her cousins for the first time which will be really nice.
Taking care of a young child is a full time job in itself, as any new Mother will tell you. Added to that, all the work of putting on a new ballet, not to mention a really busy season, has meant that I really haven't had the time or energy for a social life. (If I ran on batteries, I think it would be time to renew mine.) I did, however, attend 2 functions. The first honoured Philip Treacy, the hat designer. While the second, given by Her Majesty, The Queen, was a celebration of the arts and took place at the Royal Academy. I was surprised to see myself in the press coverage of the event the next day, especially when there were so many illustrious people present. Looks as though the dress Jasper Conran lent me for the occasion was a success - he was astounded by the coverage, too. (Jasper had also designed the awards given to the 5 winners.)
If you haven't visited the site for a while you may notice a few new items. We've recently added an interview with Marianela Nuñez which I hope you'll enjoy reading. And we've been able to add new performance photos in Gallery 1 , thanks to the generosity of photographer Robbie Jack. (We hope to add more in the future.)
Thanks for the questions that have come in so far for the FAQ page (in the Fan Club Section). It will take a bit of time to go through them, so expect to see the updated version after we come back from the tour. Closing date for questions is June 30th, so if you have an interesting question then send it in on an e-mail. A selection will then be included on the page. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you understand, I can't give out personal advice.
I would like to thank 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 slowly working my way through the pile, so if you haven't heard from me yet, you will soon. Thanks also for the comments regarding this site.
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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