0:00:02 > 0:00:05I wouldn't be here today, doing what I do, if it wasn't for him.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10His legacy is originality,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13invention and forward-lookingness
0:00:13 > 0:00:18in an art form which is very backward-looking.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21When Peter came to the studio, the whole studio lit up.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23ROCK & ROLL MUSIC
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Peter Darrell was the founding Artistic Director
0:00:40 > 0:00:42of Scottish Ballet.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45He died 25 years ago.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48That's better. No, that's better. I can see you thinking.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51Under his leadership, the company went from strength to strength
0:00:51 > 0:00:54and gained a worldwide reputation.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56I'll give you one more eight, and at the end of the eight,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58we're ready for the other side.
0:00:58 > 0:01:04Long leg and in. Long leg and brush, and brush and down.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08His choreography was dramatic, innovative, ahead of its time...
0:01:08 > 0:01:11but he and his ballets are in danger of being forgotten,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14despite having inspired some of our best-known
0:01:14 > 0:01:17and most successful choreographers.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26My discovery of Darrell is connected with my discovery of ballet itself.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30So it's quite a significant moment for me.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35I loved dance from a very early age, but had never seen a ballet.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38And what happened to be playing at that time
0:01:38 > 0:01:40was Scottish Ballet at Sadler's Wells...
0:01:40 > 0:01:42in Darrell's Swan Lake.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45I bought myself a ticket, at the very, very top...
0:01:45 > 0:01:48of the upper circle.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51I'd had a couple of glasses of wine, I remember, beforehand -
0:01:51 > 0:01:55not quite sure why, but I remember I was quite merry, a little.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58And then watched this
0:01:58 > 0:02:00incredible story unfold...
0:02:00 > 0:02:03to this amazing music.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05MUSIC: "Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky
0:02:09 > 0:02:10I didn't know how radical it was.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22My respect for Darrell was there right from the beginning.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30To a lot of people, including myself, I thought ballet
0:02:30 > 0:02:31was all about princes and swans...
0:02:31 > 0:02:34not reality.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39And I think Peter wanted to make work about the time in which we live.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41That's my definition of an artist -
0:02:41 > 0:02:43that you make work that reflects your time.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47I think that's what he wanted to do and what he achieved.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50I always will think he's a brilliant choreographer...
0:02:50 > 0:02:54and nobody will ever take that away from me.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57And I think, seeing his ballets, they've got to see he was
0:02:57 > 0:02:59a brilliant choreographer.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04He used the art of ballet to say...
0:03:04 > 0:03:07things you couldn't express in any other way.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11And it's a great shame they're not being produced now.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Exclusively for this film, Scottish Ballet are re-staging
0:03:15 > 0:03:18the pas de deux from Darrell's ballet, Cheri.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Based on a novel by the French author, Colette,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23it was a ballet he fought tirelessly to get off the ground,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26and a story that touched him deeply.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29And...
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Arabesque in, turn.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40Paul Tyers and Noriko Ohara have danced these roles
0:03:40 > 0:03:43and are passing on their knowledge to a new generation.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50After kiss, you're almost... "Oh, that's it."
0:03:50 > 0:03:51You've just given up.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55- I don't think so. You look at him, keep looking at him.- OK.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Just have a quick embrace and that kiss,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00so we can see what's happening.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03You've got the final kiss...
0:04:03 > 0:04:05You've got it.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08You feel Owen turn his head,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11so, Owen, you just turn your head away until you feel the emotional...
0:04:11 > 0:04:13as she pulls away.
0:04:13 > 0:04:14I come to Cheri totally new.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17I didn't see the full production that Peter had created.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22I've been in some rehearsals, and been so enthused to see that Peter
0:04:22 > 0:04:25was about writing text.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28It's almost like a play.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30Not too fine.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33I find that quite stimulating as a choreographer, myself...
0:04:33 > 0:04:38to see how Peter invested the story right there into the movement.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40I think that's wonderful.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42OK. Brian, you OK?
0:04:42 > 0:04:45And... THEY PLAY PIANO
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Cheri is a passionate story of betrayal, fear of aging
0:04:50 > 0:04:52and being alone.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57Lea, an older courtesan and Cheri, a beautiful young man,
0:04:57 > 0:05:01fall in love, but the relationship is destined to fail.
0:05:07 > 0:05:13Peter was passionate about doing the ballet of Cheri...
0:05:13 > 0:05:17simply because it...
0:05:17 > 0:05:21resonated with Peter's own psyche.
0:05:21 > 0:05:22In his choreography,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25and particularly for the girls,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28he had a marvellous empathy...
0:05:28 > 0:05:33and it was the feminine side of Peter's psyche...
0:05:33 > 0:05:35that made it work so well.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39- Claire, I think you too much hang on to...- OK.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41It's not good. You just pass him.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44He tries to sort of stop you.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Right. OK.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51It's very special to have the original dancers
0:05:51 > 0:05:54come and coach us in these roles.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57They've been there first-hand, working one-to-one with Peter.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00I can learn so much from them.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04Claire! Your right hand goes everywhere.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06You just go almost...
0:06:06 > 0:06:09He's telling you a story, so every step...
0:06:09 > 0:06:12is emotionally-driven, not technically-driven.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14I think I was thinking, "Port de bras...
0:06:14 > 0:06:17- You were thinking, "Port de bras". - .."Step, step, turn out." HE LAUGHS
0:06:17 > 0:06:21What is the most challenging in this is trying to convey emotion through movement.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23Yes!
0:06:23 > 0:06:27Trying to have the subtle nuances of...
0:06:27 > 0:06:30love and guilt and shame and lust.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35Trying to clearly portray them to an audience that is readable.
0:06:42 > 0:06:43PIANO MUSIC
0:06:43 > 0:06:47I feel like I want to be able to portray the character the best I can.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49There's obviously a lot of challenges,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52cos many great ballerinas have performed this role.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59To me, it was one of the brilliant ones to dance,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02and at the end of it, you were absolutely totally drained.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Absolutely totally emotionally drained.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08The amazing thing about Peter was...
0:07:08 > 0:07:11he gave you the base, he gave you the core.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15And then you used that core,
0:07:15 > 0:07:20and it was wrong, then you'd go back again and mould it - do it WITH him.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Good. There's something technically wrong, you know, about...
0:07:24 > 0:07:28the end of the kiss - of when you look.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30What are you actually thinking, Paul, there?
0:07:30 > 0:07:33You go into the kiss without thinking, obviously.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35As an artist, he made me,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38by giving me the confidence and allowing me to grow.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41I had a feel for the stage
0:07:41 > 0:07:46and delivering what I believe Peter wanted to be delivered.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Remember that everything up to here is building,
0:07:49 > 0:07:50up to that kiss.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55We have to think, "When are they going to kiss? "When are they going to do it?"
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Trevor, where can we pick that up? PIANO PLAYS
0:07:59 > 0:08:02Make sure you're not hiding those eyes.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Who else would have the...courage just to do that,
0:08:08 > 0:08:10to say what he wanted to say?
0:08:12 > 0:08:16Just a simple bourree round, Cheri, and it says it all.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19He didn't need all these great, grand gestures
0:08:19 > 0:08:21and legs up round your ears...
0:08:21 > 0:08:23huge leaps and things.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25A little bourree round him says it all.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32And how young we looked.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46Peter Darrell was born in 1929 and brought up in London.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49From very early on, he was interested in the stage.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56At the age of 15, he started his ballet career. He trained
0:08:56 > 0:09:00with John Cranko, Frederick Ashton, and Kenneth MacMillan,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04who all went on to become some of the foremost choreographers
0:09:04 > 0:09:05of the 20th century.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11I was a student at the Royal Ballet with Cranko and MacMillan -
0:09:11 > 0:09:12we were all there together.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17In fact, we were original members of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet,
0:09:17 > 0:09:18as it then was.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20We were a great influence on each other.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24All three of us were great friends.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28His father used to drive up on a Saturday night
0:09:28 > 0:09:31after the last performance, to Sadler's Wells,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and into his car would pile
0:09:34 > 0:09:38Ashton, MacMillan, Cranko and Darrell.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42I can remember his father telling me...
0:09:42 > 0:09:44He often wondered,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46supposing he's had a smash.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49The whole of the choreographic talent of the country
0:09:49 > 0:09:51would have gone.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Darrell gave up dancing to pursue choreography.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02He freelanced for several years, creating ballets
0:10:02 > 0:10:04and working on West End shows and musicals.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11His big break came in 1957 when friend and colleague
0:10:11 > 0:10:13Elizabeth West approached him to set up
0:10:13 > 0:10:17a company together in Bristol... Western Theatre Ballet.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24The beginning years were really nice. They were super.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27We wanted to do something different then, and it WAS different.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31We started a classical company with contemporary themes.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35And it was gloriously exciting.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38OK, kids. Can you come over a minute?
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Now, then, you know the difficulties at this stage - you were here
0:10:41 > 0:10:43last year. It's a bit small,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45not as bad as some we've been on.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47We better have a run-through for positioning.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50There's Peter, looking absolutely lovely.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55- There we are doing class... the Ballet.- That's me!
0:10:57 > 0:11:01- We loved Peter. He was such a lovely man.- He was, yes.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04- And such a talented man.- Yes.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08We absolutely worshipped his choreography and his talent.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11- It was a pleasure to work with him, wasn't it?- It was.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Tremendous fun we had, remember?
0:11:13 > 0:11:17We were doing very innovative things, new in the theatre,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20because we were part of the whole new scene that was happening.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23There was musique concrete, there was John Cage,
0:11:23 > 0:11:24there was Harold Pinter,
0:11:24 > 0:11:26there was John Osborne -
0:11:26 > 0:11:29all these things were happening in young theatre.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32We were kept together because we felt it so vital.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34APPLAUSE
0:11:36 > 0:11:39We all worked for each other, had the same aims.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42We were desperate to make this company work.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43It was hard,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46because there were many times when we were out of work.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Do you recall the touring in Scotland?
0:11:48 > 0:11:51- The one-night stands? - Taking little coaches.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55Yes, the lack of washing facilities,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57- the lack of food.- Hot water.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Lack of hot water, yes.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03You played in Stornoway and you were changing in the ladies' loos
0:12:03 > 0:12:05- at the town.- That's right.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08They closed them and that's where you changed.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11A really hand-to-mouth, wasn't it, existence, really?
0:12:11 > 0:12:14ROCK GUITAR MUSIC
0:12:22 > 0:12:25The Beatles had just come up at that time.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27- And they were hugely big.- Huge.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30And he cleverly set a ballet to Beatles music.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39Right, right bang-up-to-date.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42It was absolutely spot on the moment, for the time.
0:12:42 > 0:12:43It was called Mods & Rockers.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52BEAT MUSIC
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Mods & Rockers was just such great fun.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57And we could chew gum and blow bubbles...
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Cos I was a rocker.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05That was a big shock to me.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08It was one of the first things I did when I joined the company.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11I thought, "Here I am, training to be a classical ballet dancer,
0:13:11 > 0:13:13"and I put on leather boots
0:13:13 > 0:13:16"and I get on the stage and do the twist!"
0:13:17 > 0:13:19I thought, "Gosh, what will my mother think?"
0:13:19 > 0:13:21My mother came to the performance
0:13:21 > 0:13:24and said it's the best thing she's ever seen!
0:13:24 > 0:13:27She absolutely thoroughly enjoyed it.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29She says, "You're in the right company."
0:13:37 > 0:13:39HARMONICA PLAYS "BAD TO ME"
0:13:39 > 0:13:43Then we did that television that Peter did.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45- The... Houseparty?- Houseparty.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Houseparty was made in 1964.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54It was one of the first ballets to be commissioned for television.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02He sort of sat us down and gave us a rough outline -
0:14:02 > 0:14:05it wasn't going to be a ballet, as such.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08It was going to be more acting onscreen.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14It was the time when there was the scandal of the Christine Keeler.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16Yeah. You were like Christine Keeler.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19He said to me originally
0:14:19 > 0:14:22that I was going to be that kind of a character.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25A sort of glamorous character who fell apart at the seams.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
0:14:40 > 0:14:44- Every single move was for the camera.- Yeah.
0:14:44 > 0:14:45Camera angles,
0:14:45 > 0:14:50so it was a highly advanced film technique we were doing, really.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55It was, again, Peter latching onto the mood of the moment.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57- Very controversial. - VERY controversial.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Quite a lot of the works were really controversial, that we did
0:15:00 > 0:15:02in Western Theatre Ballet.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06That's really why we enjoyed working with him, didn't we?
0:15:06 > 0:15:09- He took risks.- Yeah!
0:15:09 > 0:15:11And we went along with him.
0:15:11 > 0:15:16I admired its non-use of ballet technique.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20It was all very contemporary.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24There was some...gay relationships suggested in it.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26Quite subtly in some ways,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29but very obviously, that was what was going on.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33I thought it was an astonishing piece for its time.
0:15:33 > 0:15:34It really is
0:15:34 > 0:15:38very, very powerful, meaty stuff.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Peter liked to tell human stories,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45and the conflicts...
0:15:45 > 0:15:49or liaisons between people
0:15:49 > 0:15:52were very important in these early dramatic works.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03In 1969, the Arts Council asked Peter Darrell
0:16:03 > 0:16:05to move his Western Theatre Ballet north
0:16:05 > 0:16:08to set up the first Scottish Ballet company.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Peter Darrell announced that we were going to become Scottish Ballet,
0:16:17 > 0:16:19and we were going to live in Glasgow.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22I went, "Not Glasgow, Peter! Why can't we go to Edinburgh?"
0:16:22 > 0:16:24He said, "Because we are going to Glasgow.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27"That is the hub of the artistic side of Scotland."
0:16:27 > 0:16:29And that was it.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35He felt there was such an opportunity there to expand,
0:16:35 > 0:16:40taking dance and ballet to a whole other audience.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49Over the next two decades, Peter Darrell created a company
0:16:49 > 0:16:52for Scotland with a diverse and ground-breaking repertoire.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Peter's achievement, of course,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00was the creation of a national ballet company,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03which Scottish Ballet became.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07And not just national, but international.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12And he... With the choice of the right sort of repertoire,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14the choice of his dancers,
0:17:14 > 0:17:16he achieved all of that.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20MUSIC: "The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky
0:17:33 > 0:17:38I didn't know what they were wanting. They'd never had a permanent company.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Of course, our repertoire was mainly one-act ballets -
0:17:40 > 0:17:44we'd only got about one full-length.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47I realised then, at the beginning, that what we must do,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50as a national company, was to bring the classics in.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54But I also thought that it was pointless to do,
0:17:54 > 0:17:57for our size and type of company,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00a replica of the kind of performance you could see from the Royal Ballet,
0:18:00 > 0:18:02which visits, or Festival Ballet.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05So, in a way, all the classics we've done, I've styled
0:18:05 > 0:18:07in an individual way,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11to suit what we do and our style of dramatic presentation.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14MUSIC: "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy" by Tchaikovsky
0:18:17 > 0:18:22In his version of The Nutcracker, the real innovation Peter Darrell
0:18:22 > 0:18:25brought to the ballet was using children on stage.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28MUSIC: "Waltz Of The Flowers" by Tchaikovsky
0:18:43 > 0:18:47I think I was probably 11 years old, and my mother read in the paper
0:18:47 > 0:18:50that the Scottish Ballet was looking for children
0:18:50 > 0:18:52to be in The Nutcracker.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58I was very keen and went to the audition. I can't remember the audition at all.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00But I remember the experience of being in Nutcracker
0:19:00 > 0:19:02with Scottish Ballet, playing Fritz.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09It was very much like being in an extended family.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12There's a very good rapport between the dancers.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14I was completely fascinated by it.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16I'd never seen anything quite like it before.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23There was a great camaraderie in the company.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26For example, I remember on the last night,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29just the sort of jokes that were going on onstage,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31I would never allow in my own company now -
0:19:31 > 0:19:33but just the sort of things people would do.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36There were sweets we had to eat, and somebody put pepper in them.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Just silly things like that, which...
0:19:39 > 0:19:43to be included in that was great fun.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46But, when I came to work with Scottish Ballet many years later
0:19:46 > 0:19:48as a choreographer,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50a lot of the dancers were still there.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54I was learning something about loyalty...
0:19:54 > 0:19:57and about what a company is.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59PIANO MUSIC
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Michael Clark was 22 when Peter Darrell gave him
0:20:02 > 0:20:06his first opportunity to choreograph for a major ballet company.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Immediately attracted by the talent that he had,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12not only as a performer himself, but as a choreographer.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17And could see something completely new in what he was doing.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21The biggest talent, I think, I've seen in a long time.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Three, four, one, two...
0:20:23 > 0:20:26I'm sure his work had a huge influence on mine,
0:20:26 > 0:20:31because it was the first work I had ever really experienced first-hand.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35Peter was definitely a mentor, and I wouldn't be here
0:20:35 > 0:20:38doing what I was today if it weren't for him.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45MUSIC: "The Classical" by The Fall
0:20:45 > 0:20:48MUSIC: "Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Matthew Bourne's hugely successful Swan Lake,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55now in its 17th year, was inspired by Peter Darrell's own version.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05I think I was 19 when I saw the Scottish Ballet's Swan Lake.
0:21:05 > 0:21:11It was very much about the prince figure, himself,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13and about this...
0:21:13 > 0:21:16person who couldn't be who they wanted to be,
0:21:16 > 0:21:21and how they found this release through the image of a swan.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25That is in no other version, that I've seen, so strongly
0:21:25 > 0:21:28as in Peter's version.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32The thing that's most striking about it was the final image...
0:21:32 > 0:21:35of...
0:21:36 > 0:21:40a dead prince...a suicidal prince, I believe.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47On the ground, at the end, with the swan above, looking down on him
0:21:47 > 0:21:49from some sort of heavenly place.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52It's exactly the same in my version.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56And that isn't the normal ending to Swan Lake,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00so something about that image really stuck with me.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04So, the first one that I saw
0:22:04 > 0:22:07became the most significant one, and that was Peter's.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10MUSIC: "Swan Lake Finale" by Tchaikovsky
0:22:26 > 0:22:30I think a lot of companies that have their director
0:22:30 > 0:22:32as choreographer work very well.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34It's a sort of "family" feel you get out of it.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38You get a knowledge of how they actually live and work every day,
0:22:38 > 0:22:39obviously, being with them.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41It helps the choreography enormously.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45I really don't like working outside my company all that much.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48CROWD HUBBUB
0:22:51 > 0:22:54Look at you! Douglas! Oh, my goodness, I haven't seen you for ages.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Members of Scottish Ballet, when Peter Darrell was
0:22:57 > 0:23:00Artistic Director, have gathered to honour him at a reunion in Glasgow.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09It was just a big party -
0:23:09 > 0:23:11it was lovely. We all danced together
0:23:11 > 0:23:14and it was great - it was one big family.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16Peter was kind of the head of it.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19He made ballet accessible to people.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23His philosophy was, "You can't expect the audience to come to you,
0:23:23 > 0:23:25"you've got to go to them."
0:23:25 > 0:23:29He built the audience that Scotland have got.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32He was one of the handful of people who changed the way
0:23:32 > 0:23:34that ballet looked.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37There was a time when even the great choreographers of the mid century
0:23:37 > 0:23:40had a sense of fairies in the wings somewhere.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Peter did away with all that, brought ballet into the modern world.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45He was enthusiastic,
0:23:45 > 0:23:46he encouraged you.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48He never got angry.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52He just wanted more and more, and he gave you that feeling of,
0:23:52 > 0:23:53"I want to try and try for you."
0:23:53 > 0:23:57I just thought he was a lovely person to work for.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06PIANO MUSIC
0:24:06 > 0:24:08A little bit of apprehension,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10but I think that's healthy.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12I really would like to be loyal to his vision,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15and do justice to the work.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18I want to do it exactly how he would like me to do it.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21I'll hopefully perform it so you'll be able to see that.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26How I would have done it or how Noriko would have done it
0:24:26 > 0:24:29is not important - it's how you would do it.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Take on board everything we've given you - all the information...
0:24:32 > 0:24:33and then it's yours.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35Finished today?
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Finished? I hope so. The lights are going out.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41OK.
0:24:41 > 0:24:42- Thank you, Paul.- OK.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Peter Darrell was very ill for the last few years of his life
0:24:51 > 0:24:54but carried on running his company until a few days before his death.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57He died at the age of 58.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04This company - it's my baby,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07and I want to see it go on, I want to see it grow.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10And I think it will...
0:25:11 > 0:25:13..along the lines that it's been built,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16because they are strong and sure lines.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19And proper lines... that are right...
0:25:19 > 0:25:22for the culture of dance within Scotland.
0:25:28 > 0:25:29PIANO MUSIC
0:25:41 > 0:25:42It's a difficult question
0:25:42 > 0:25:46as to why we don't see more of Peter's work today.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49I would say it's up to Scottish Ballet, in many ways,
0:25:49 > 0:25:50to keep Peter's name alive,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52through revivals,
0:25:52 > 0:25:56and I think we can learn so much from revivals.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59The founder of Scottish Ballet, Peter Darrell's work
0:25:59 > 0:26:03has to be kept alive - it has to be kept in our consciousness
0:26:03 > 0:26:05for this generation and future generations.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07If it's done with care and attention,
0:26:07 > 0:26:11and I believe that's Scottish Ballet's responsibility,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15is to make sure those qualities are in place for revivals,
0:26:15 > 0:26:17then I think there is a life
0:26:17 > 0:26:20for Peter's work, definitely.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04APPLAUSE
0:29:06 > 0:29:11Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd