Darcey Bussell

 

 

Darcey Bussell was en pointe during her 60 minutes at China Exchange. The audience at the sold out event was delighted to hear about her experience becoming a principal ballerina and honouring the work of great composers and choreographers. She spoke of her desire as a student to impress her teachers and reaching the relatively late age of 13 before deciding that ballet was “it”. Darcey talked about the differences between the purity of classical dance and the creativity of contemporary work. The audience asked about her involvement in the Olympic closing ceremony – she shared that it took 6 months of training to prepare for the once in a lifetime experience. Reviewing a video showreel of dances, she shared that the sugarplum fairy is one of the longest solo dances to master and that kissing in the Romeo and Juliet pass-de-deux was hard work after such intense movements. It’s difficult to kiss when out of breath! Young dancers in the audience sought advice on nutrition (as much protein as possible, lots of dried fruit and oats) and on pursing a career in dance.

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