The last few months have been incredibly busy and it's been quite a while since my last newsletter. I remember talking to you then about our rehearsals for Pavane. Johnny and I both enjoyed performing that again: we felt more confident and the ballet seemed easier, though it had been a while since we'd danced it. Perhaps that had something to do with having more rehearsal time. It also helped that my costume had been changed from trousers to a skirt - which gave the ballet a better look, I think. The shape of the original trousers had been distorted in storage and new ones would have had to be made. So, after discussions with Chris (Wheeldon) and the designers, it was decided that a skirt would move better and give a better line.
Symphony in C was anything but easy to dance, mainly because the orchestra played the adage very slowly, which made me very conscious of the timing. Another difficulty was dancing with different partners: Thiago one night and Johnny - who had picked up some extra performances (lucky me) - the next. The problem with changing partners is that you get used to one guy handling you in a certain way and then you have to adapt to someone else; the timing of the turns and balances for the adage all depends on you and your partner. Thiago and I haven't danced too much together and we had little rehearsal time (he was also having to adapt to dancing with different partners) but he is a strong guy and I hope we do more together.
I have always loved dancing Elite Syncopations (and was hoping Monica might decide to bring it back this season). It's such a fabulous upbeat ballet and I wanted it to lift people's spirits at the Tsunami Gala (held at the Opera House on Easter Sunday). The guys certainly had fun rehearsing with me, but it was such a shame that the lift wasn't quite as smooth as it could have been for the performance (it had been perfect in rehearsal of course - typical). It'll be interesting to see how it comes across on TV (we're hoping it will be shown on Boxing Day). The most important thing of all, though, is that the Gala was sold out so we raised a lot of money for the Tsunami appeal.
After the Gala I danced Giselle with Roberto Bolle in Gagliari. I really enjoyed the shows as the company was lovely to work with and it also involved learning different mime. In Act 2 they had a larger veil that was attached to a wire. So, instead of being pulled off by the Queen of the Wilis, the veil flew up into the air. It was attached by a little loop to my finger, which was a little nerve-wracking as the veil was supposed to come off when I straightened my finger (so I kept wanting to use my other hand to make sure of things. But, of course, I couldn't do that!) Fortunately, the effect worked very well and was impressive.
After feeling so good during rehearsals for Swan Lake I managed to nip the cartilage in my hip joint four days before my first show (while practising fouettés too many times!). It was so frustrating as I was feeling good about Swan Lake and really excited about performing it. I rested for a day and then tried again but it was not to be - which was so disappointing. I did manage to perform the last of my scheduled shows but I didn't feel on top form as I had rested for a complete week. I also had to change the fouettés because of the pain. I ended up doing the Russian version (where you take your leg straight out to second instead of rond de jambs) and which I have always hated. (I've always wondered why Russian dancers perform them like that as they can do the other versions so well.) It was suggested that I could miss out the fouettés altogether (Act 3 has been done without them many times before), but I felt it wouldn't be Swan Lake without fouettés. Not having been able to practice them until the day before the performance (and not liking them!), I was glad to get through them. The show went well, although I felt I was a bit cautious at times.
It was a lovely (and very challenging) to dance Month in the Country. It seemed significant that the whole cast were Royal Ballet School trained and I felt that the difference in age between Rupert and myself worked well in the context of the ballet. With Anthony Dowell and Sandra Conley coming in to rehearse the cast, I really felt part of a team.Having Sandra as a kind of personal coach was a very special experience as she danced the role so beautifully and naturally. Thanks to Sandra's memory and footage of Lynn Seymour's performances, we were able to reincorporate steps that had somehow been lost from recent interpretations - and that makes me feel proud. When you cut bits it makes a lot of difference, so it was good to do the ballet justice. I hope Rupert and I will be able to perform it again, as he was pretty nervous for his first performance. (In some of my early shows I can remember being so terrified I couldn't feel the floor.) It didn't help, either, that the cloth was quite slippery and there were so many props. It's a challenging piece even when you're not nervous.
After Month it was off on tour to Korea and Japan, where I picked up some extra shows of Cinderella when Alina was unable to dance. I'd been a bit worried about the tour as I knew how much I would miss the girls. Fortunately Zoe did come out for a couple of weeks, but it was a long time without them.
We had a very bad first night in Korea where the set nearly collapsed on stage. Isabel and I were on stage and there was a miscue - mainly because of the language barrier - and one set of staging came down before the other had gone up. This made the staging buckle and nearly caused a serious injury to one of the crew. They had to bring the curtain down for about 30 minutes. The rest of the show went well although we were slightly nervous. I also danced Cinderella with David Makhateli for the first time (with only one hour's rehearsal!) and we managed to put on a good show. Japan was really good as Roberto came over to dance Manon with me and the audience gave us a standing ovation on the first night, which was very special. I would like to thank all the Japanese fans who gave me presents for the girls - that was far too generous of them and they are much appreciated.
At the start of last season I'd wondered if I would be able to make it through the year, but I did, only missing those 2 Swan Lakes (which was so disappointing). After that, it was time for a holiday - where all I did was rest.
To find out what I have been doing this season click here .
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