Ballet Central Diary

Christie Duncan's Introduction

4th November 2003

Hello everyone!

My name is Christie Duncan and I’m a new diarist for ballet.co.uk which I’m really excited about! I am a third year student at Central School of Ballet and also a member of Ballet Central.

I come from Fareham new Portsmouth where I lived with my Mum and Dad until the age of eleven when I went away to White Lodge. This was such a great shock and change for me as I’d been used to just one ballet lesson a week in my local church hall with Elizabeth Hamer. It was also a surprise as I was so small, just 4’4”, when I began in September 1996, which is why I thought I’d only be there for one year. However, despite only reaching just over 5’, I stayed for all five years at White Lodge.

At the age of 16, I joined Central School of Ballet and received the Gable Scholarship, which is a great honour. My time here has passed so quickly and now that I’m in the third year I’m looking forward to starting the tour in March 2004.

Although it is only November, just a few months into the third year, so much has already happened. September brought about the Bloch Genée International Ballet Competition, a prestigious event that three students from Central, including myself, entered. It was held at the Birmingham Hippodrome which was very exciting, and we rehearsed and took class in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s studios.

The competition was a fantastic experience where I met lots of other dancers, all striving for the same goals and all making the most of the week. This was great as it meant that generally everyone was really supportive of everyone else – something I found was comforting in such a competitive environment. It was also a brilliant opportunity to be coached on variations as well as have a solo choreographed on us by Christopher Hampson. This meant we could work with the staff individually in preparation for the semi-finals. These took place over two days and consisted of the demonstration of class work, our 19th century variations (I danced La Bayadere Act III, 2nd girl) and Caprice, the commissioned solo by Christopher Hampson.

I was delighted when I reached the finals and thoroughly enjoyed all three variations that I had prepared for the big day. I performed La Fille Mal Gardée, Fanny Essler pas de deux – Lise, as well as the other two solos that I danced at the semis. Although I was nervous before I went on stage, I wanted to do it all over again as soon as I came off!

Now I’m back at school and already preparing for the Ballet Central tour. I’ll let you know how this develops and any other news I have.
Bye for now, Christie

Posted by at November 6, 2003 05:31 PM