Lynette Wills Diary

White, White and more White...

I can't believe how quickly this year is going, how much we've done since my last entry and how soon we'll be in London. To update you a little I'll go back to when we finished Swan Lake in Brisbane.

The company flew home to Melbourne and first up was a free outdoor performance of divertissements. This is put on by our major sponsor Telstra and is hugely popular. Families come early afternoon to snap up the best spots with their picnic blankets and the kids run wild, waiting for us to start warming up so they can get some autographs. I performed the Black Swan pas de deux with fellow principal Robert Curran and we loved it - they were an amazing audience to perform to.

Lindy Wills in a publicity shot for the new Aus Ballet White Bill.
Photographer is Jeff Busby ©

La Sylphide opened a few days later and after 12 shows it was straight to Sydney for 21 shows of Sylphide. We immediately started working on the next program, the White triple bill. It's an evening of white tutu's starting with Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadère, a new work Relic by Adrian Burnett and Suite en blanc. We opened this a couple of weeks ago and it's going really well. I hadn't performed Nikiya before and am finding it both scary and enjoyable. I think the mental hurdle is as big as the physical one.

In case you think we are due for a rest, think again! We are currently learning four Jirí Kylían ballets for the season just before London. I love his work so much that this is no chore. There is such wonderful musicality that you can't imagine any other steps working so well to the music - a genius in my mind.

Of course even though we have two more seasons of White and the Kylían program to go, London is never far from our minds. In a way it's the goal we are aiming for. It's very exciting for the company to be touring again and to bring a work that we are so proud of and something new for you all to see. I am very much looking forward to revisiting the character of Baroness von Rothbart. I think every time I come back to this role I do it a little differently. Some nights I try to get the audience to have some empathy for MY character and other nights I'm happy to have them hate me. This is my prerogative. I'm a woman after all. Make no mistake, as Rothbart I'm not a witch or a fantasy character - I'm part of a messy royal love triangle and am the very real other woman... sound familiar!!!!! I won’t give it all away. You'll just have to come and see it.

Posted by Bruce at June 12, 2005 11:18 AM