How a Fairy Gets Her Wings: An Unexpected Chance to Fly

Working with the ballet legend Peter Schaufuss to recreate his La Sylphide.

With the premiere of Peter Schaufuss‘s La Sylphide at the end of the week, things are really coming together and getting exciting. We had a few dress rehearsals last week and I had the unexpected chance to dance the Sylphide.

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A beautiful painting like picture taken during a dress rehearsal (Photo: Flavio Salamanka)

Originally being the third cast for the main role and just coming back from injury, I was not expecting to be dancing it for a while. But things changed when Peter asked how I felt about giving it a go in the next day’s run through. I was feeling good and knew the role pretty well so why not. With this ballet, there is surprisingly no pas de deux choreography so it is very easy to mix up the casts. Peter told us he wanted to change the dancers around so we all had the chance to dance and he also had the chance to see us in each role.

After the run, they were happy enough to give me another chance to rehearse it again the next day on stage. This rehearsal also went well and it was beautiful to dance with the live orchestra, which always brings another depth to the piece. I was then surprised last Monday morning when Peter set the cast for the first dress rehearsal and I would dance the Sylph. Continue reading “How a Fairy Gets Her Wings: An Unexpected Chance to Fly”

The Beginning is the Most Important Part of the Work

First week of work…check.

I am back to my normal routine of a ballet dancer, with morning warm up followed by ballet class and a day full of rehearsals. It has been a week of meeting new colleagues and learning new steps, laughing with friends and learning more steps. My muscles have ached and my toes have hurt, but I have to admit it was not as bad as it could have been, as most days the work load was manageable. Continue reading “The Beginning is the Most Important Part of the Work”

Dancing into the New Season with the School of Russian Ballet

With my summer holidays coming to an end, I had a lovely opportunity to finish it off on a dancing high. In a small studio, along with some young aspiring ballerinas and a wonderful teacher, I was back to ballet training and ready to work.

During the previous summer I spent a week here with my parents and manage to find a small dance school called The School of Russian Ballet, where they were nice enough to let me join in some classes. I was there once again this summer sharing the studio with the girls and their teacher, Regina Zarhina. Continue reading “Dancing into the New Season with the School of Russian Ballet”