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Hello everyone, just by way of clarification I'd like to make sure you know I will be performing next season with the Royal Ballet - as a Principal Guest Artist - although I'm not dancing in as many shows. I'll also be guesting with other companies.
Since my last newsletter I've been pretty busy. If you managed to see Sylvia on television at Christmas, I hope you enjoyed it. The BBC used a slightly different format from the way ballet is usually presented and the introduction was more from a dancer's point of view: how we got ready for the show and how the stage was prepared for each act, a perspective members of the audience don't normally see. Unfortunately I didn't actually catch the broadcast myself, as I was out in South Africa filming for my Pilates DVD
, but the BBC said the audience seemed to like what we'd done. Having to stand in a sound booth doing the voice over for Sylvia seemed strange and a little scary at the time, but it was a good experience. I was also glad of the practice since I had to do voice overs for the Pilates DVD.
I was actually quite apprehensive about bringing out the fitness DVD - since a dance DVD might be a more obvious choice for me - but it seems to have worked out well. Having had my children and seen my body shape change so drastically, I wanted to show how much Pilates can help your body - and that a return to fitness isn't just down to ballet. I didn't realise however, how long it would actually take to film the DVD.
While I was making the DVD I was also rehearsing Ballet Imperial, which is such a hard ballet. It's like doing a 3 act ballet in one act. It has every step in it and it's a stamina killer. Rupert did really well, especially as he's a little inexperienced. Pat Neary - a real taskmaster - soon had us all in shape and we were running the ballet 2 weeks before we performed it; that's unusual but necessary with this piece. Although I last danced it 12 years ago, I remembered parts of my role and also parts of the pas de trois, as that was the first role I danced. There are a couple of different versions of Ballet Imperial and we used the one Balanchine choreographed in 1970's. In New York the girls perform it in chiffon skirts instead of tutus which changes the look of the piece completely.
For a piece that demanding you need to be really warm before going on stage, so I was in the studio for at least an hour beforehand, making sure I was fully warmed up and ready to go. Having two weeks between my first two shows was a bit longer than I wanted - but, of course, no matter when you have the mid-season break, it's really hard to fit it in the schedule. Fortunately, the shows seemed to go well and I was pleased to get through them.
During the break I went over to Milan for 4 days to learn Le Jeune Homme et la Mort with Roberto Bolle. We were taught it by Luigi Bonino, Roland Petit's long-standing assistant, whom Roland calls his shadow. Luigi still dances in Roland's ballets, but also teaches and directs them. He was fantastic to work with.
After rehearsing Romeo and Juliet
for a week, Roberto and I flew out to Milan on the Friday and had 4 days of rehearsals for Le Jeune Homme with both Luigi and Roland Petit. It was great to work with Roland and, as Luigi had already taught us the ballet, it was more a case of showing Roland what we had done and developing it further.
Then we had a pretty crazy schedule for a week, flying back and forth between London and Milan to fit in both shows. Our first night of Le Jeune Homme was on the Wednesday and then it was back to London first thing Thursday morning and straight to the Opera House for a rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet. Thankfully, we could get everyone we needed for a rehearsal - we hadn't had a full call the previous week and there's quite a lot of interaction with other characters, especially for Romeo. Even though I've been dancing Juliet for a long time, it was four years since I'd last performed it and, ideally, it would have been great to have a rehearsal on stage. That wasn't possible, however. For our first show, on Friday, we even had a new conductor, Martin Yates, who had never played for ballet before. He's a very nice gentleman and told me after the show that he thought he'd spent more time watching us on stage than concentrating on the orchestra. What a nice thing to say.
It was then back to Milan on Saturday for Le Jeune Homme that night. I had a bit of a scare when I got to the hotel and they said I wasn't booked in. With so little time, between arriving and doing the show, all I wanted was to get to the theatre, do class and get ready. Thankfully, the hotel did eventually find me a room and I was able to head to the theatre.
So it was definitely a relief to arrive at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi, which is on the outskirts of Milan. Le Jeune Homme was the second ballet in a mixed bill with La Strada: both pieces are about death and very dramatic. I suppose that makes them sound depressing, but they are so good, despite the subject matter, that both ballets were very well received. There are lots of props in Le Jeune Homme, which means there are lots of things to go wrong. And for two non-smokers it was a bit of a challenge to smoke on stage and not cough or splutter. During rehearsals I'd kept blowing out the match that Roberto had to use to light my cigarette. Fortunately, however, the shows went well. And I hope, if everything goes to plan, I'll be performing Le Jeune Homme in London this November.
On Sunday it was back to London for our final Romeo and Juliet on Tuesday. I just loved performing Juliet. I had a bit of a downer after that last show because I'd enjoyed them both so much. The shows went well, apart from a very slippy tomb (which I very nearly slid off in the final scene on the first night - banging my head but managing to hang on). It was also sad to think that I will probably never dance that role again with the Royal Ballet, although I may perform it as a guest at some point.
Click here to go to part 2 where you can find out what else I've been up to.
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