Daniel Jones Diary

Swan Lake on a Lake

Swan Lake on a Lake

My Ballet I.D. Photo © Daniel Jones

English National Ballet's final performances of the 2006/07 season were three open air displays of Swan Lake, on a Lake. The backdrop for this unique ballet event was the Chateau of Versailles and the beautiful fountain of Neptune.
We arrived in France on Tuesday July 24th and almost immediately the swans began their rehearsals for the shows. My role during the performances was the Lead Czardas which was grandly described in the programme as Danse hongroise (Czardas) - Danseurs principaux. Nice.

The Swans prepare for the challenge. Photo © Daniel Jones

Ballet vs Nature

The opening night principal cast was New York City Ballet's Sofiane Sylve and Fridemann Vogel from Stuttgart Ballet. Both had performed with the company at the Royal Albert Hall in the round and were now with us once more as English National Ballet prepared to perform at the impressive, but challenging venue.
Outdoor performances rely on the weather, and as we all know the recent weather has not stuck to the scheduled seasons that it's supposed to. However, we were also performing in the middle of a lake and nature had it's way of creating problems and reminding us why it's safer to perform ballet in a theatre. As the evening came and the temperature naturally dropped, condensation created a damp mist that floated across the stage and almost instantly turned the lino into an ice rink. This natural event seemed to happen around midnight and our shows were scheduled to finish at 11.30pm. However, during the final performance the mist decided to come early and there was no way to stop it. Incredibly the dancers survived and completed the performance to a standing ovation and stamping feet. It had been a wonderful show, but also an incredible dance survival test.

Washed Away

I can't believe it didn't rain. Throughout the week the sky was dark, there were thick angry looking clouds hovering over Versailles, but they just didn't let go. If it had of rained the show would have been cancelled and it would have been terribly sad, but somehow the rain never came. Not until the day after our final show, as the stage was being packed away the heavens opened and washed away the traces of pointe shoes that had floated so elegantly on the magical stage.

And then came the rain. Photo © Daniel Jones

Au Revoir Mr Wall

David Wall. Photo © Daniel Jones

After each performance the company was treated to a barbecue hosted by an eccentric french chef. This took place next to what was nicknamed 'Camp ENB' (An area of tents and portakabins where the dressing rooms were situated). After the final performance there were some sad farewells to be made to members of the company that were moving on. One such farewell was to David Wall, who has been the ballet master at English National Ballet for the last 12 years. The Artistic Director, Wayne Eagling, gave a lovely tribute speech to a man who he had looked up to for an amazing amount of years. David Wall then shared some final words of wisdom to the company. "Share your experiences." he said. Ok Mr Wall.