As a dancer, one of the most enjoyable things for me is being a part of a brand new production. Although sometimes nerve racking, it is always exciting to be on stage with a new set, choreography and costumes.
I was lucky to work with many prestigious choreographers during my time at school such as Christopher Hampson, Michael Corder and Irek Mukhamedov, and being involved in the premieres of their ballets left me wanting the same experience as a professional. It just so happened that when I joined the Vanemuine Theatre in April 2008, the ballet company had begun working with the renowned Swedish choreographer Par Isberg on his brand new production of Sleeping Beauty. This was a very exciting introduction to the company for me and was the beginning of a year in which the company would be premiering 3 new works.
This is a photo of Hayley Jean Blackburn and Steven Melendez as Aurora and the Young Man in Par Isberg's adaptation of 'The Sleeping Beauty'. Photo taken by Ranno.
It is a great feeling to have a role created for you, especially when the choreographer is able to play to your strengths, although it is also good to be challenged technically. I like the intense rehearsals and working hard on new steps, and I find the ideas and thought processes of a choreographer intriguing and very interesting to watch.
Alongside the work in the studio there is also the new lighting, set and costume design which I am always excited to see and which contributes to the feeling that I am part of something special. I always feel motivated when working on a new piece and I hope I will be able to enjoy more opportunities to work in new productions in the near future.
Here's a clip of the Folk dance from one of the new works 'Kevade' choreographed by Ruslan Stepanov.......great fun to dance! This was performed in a stadium for a ballet Gala in front of an audience of 8000 people.
I also have a passion for a particular ballet which I love to watch and which never fails to inspire me. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ has to be one of my favourite ballets because, for me, it seems to have everything.
Throughout the ballet, the principal dancers have to portray a mixture of innocence, love, happiness, hatred, anger, anxiety and complete despair making it one of the most artistically challenging and emotionally intense ballets to dance and one of the most inspiring to watch. I have seen a couple of different versions but choreographically the one that stood out to me was Kenneth Macmillan’s adaptation set to the wonderful Prokofiev score. The choreography and the music complement each other so beautifully that the story is clearly depicted and easy to follow as well as extremely moving. It is a rare occasion that I can watch this ballet without becoming tearful or crying by the end.
Here are two legenedary dancers of the Royal Ballet, Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev dancing the balcony pas de deux in Kenneth Macmillan's 'Romeo and Juliet'.
I have to acknowledge that a lot of what makes this ballet so special is the music. Having performed in this production as a member of the corps de ballet I found that Prokofiev's score allowed me to be absorbed in the character I was playing and it was easy to feel the different emotions I had to portray. I love listening to it as I think it is one of the most beautifully crafted pieces of music for ballet that I have heard to date.
It is often the thought of getting to play Juliet that motivates and inspires me to work harder; it is definitely the one role I would love to dance.
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