0:00:05 > 0:00:08There's hardly a young girl in the country who didn't grow up
0:00:08 > 0:00:10dreaming of being a ballerina,
0:00:10 > 0:00:12perhaps even one day performing here
0:00:12 > 0:00:15at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18I'm one of the lucky few who actually followed the dream.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22This was my performing home for almost 20 years.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Think of all the amazing roles that ballerinas have had made for them.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31You'll realise that the whole history of ballet
0:00:31 > 0:00:34has been driven by female superstars.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Dancers like Anna Pavlova...
0:00:38 > 0:00:39..Galina Ulanova...
0:00:40 > 0:00:42..and, of course, Margot Fonteyn.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Since we first stepped out on to the stage,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50ballerinas have been an almost constant source of fascination,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52even obsession.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54You are a princess on stage
0:00:54 > 0:00:57and it's a part of the dream of a young girl.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01There is a mystique and a mystery about being a dancer.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05In this film, I'm going to look at the lives and roles
0:01:05 > 0:01:07of some of my heroines.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10A ballerina is not just a good dancer.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15A ballerina is somebody who has a spiritual access to the art.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Being a dancer is a gift from God.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22Through their stories, we'll discover
0:01:22 > 0:01:25how a few extraordinary and talented women
0:01:25 > 0:01:28helped shape the course of ballet history.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48Wonderfully located in the middle of Richmond Park,
0:01:48 > 0:01:49just outside London...
0:01:52 > 0:01:55..is the Royal Ballet School, White Lodge.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07And this is me, as a 17-year-old, in ballet class
0:02:07 > 0:02:11where all budding ballerinas spend years of sweat and toil.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21I was one of the lucky few chosen to graduate from the school
0:02:21 > 0:02:23to the Royal Ballet company,
0:02:23 > 0:02:25where I enjoyed a long and successful career.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29I was also fortunate enough to dance
0:02:29 > 0:02:32with wonderful companies around the world,
0:02:32 > 0:02:34including America's premier company,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37George Balanchine's New York City Ballet.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42Balanchine is famously reported to have said, "Ballet is woman."
0:02:43 > 0:02:46That's not quite fair to the many extraordinary male dancers
0:02:46 > 0:02:50who have danced brilliantly in ballets down the years.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53But it is probably fair to say that women have played a bigger part
0:02:53 > 0:02:56in classical ballet than they have in any other art form.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58Think of the best-known ballets,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01and the great ballerinas soon come to mind.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05You may not recognise some of these names,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08but they were all ballet groundbreakers.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Marie Taglioni, the first tutu-toting romantic ballerina.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17Anna Pavlova, the first global superstar.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Galina Ulanova, who entranced the villainous Stalin.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25And Suzanne Farrell,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28one of the best loved American ballerinas of all time.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32These were all great ballerinas.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37But the extraordinary thing about ballet
0:03:37 > 0:03:41is that all these expressive movements come from the perfection
0:03:41 > 0:03:43of five basic positions,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46on which everything is built.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51First.
0:03:53 > 0:03:54Second.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57Third.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Fourth.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03And fifth.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Since the 1700s, ballet dancers all around the world
0:04:07 > 0:04:09have endlessly repeated these five positions
0:04:09 > 0:04:11in their daily ballet class.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27But while the positions are the same,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30over the centuries, different schools of ballet have emerged
0:04:30 > 0:04:32in different countries.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35The focus of the eyes is vital, too.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40Broadly speaking, British ballet is lyrical and refined.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44You go down and then you come up to there.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46And the back arm is just soft.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48- Really low, yeah.- The shoulder is soft, too.- That's better.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50Dee-da dee-da, dee-da-dee.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Dee-da dee-da, dee-da dee-da,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54dee-da dee-da, dee-da-dee.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58Do you think it's the shapes, the curves that accentuate that?
0:04:58 > 0:05:00I think it has to do with temperament, too,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02an English temperament,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05- which is quite conservative, quite restrained.- Yeah.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08'It's not flashy.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10'So you don't do things for effect.'
0:05:10 > 0:05:13- Lift the fingers a little. - Lift the fingers, ah, lovely.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16'You do it because it's the essence of something.'
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Push down, push down, push down. Beautiful.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21And then when you breathe to come out of that...
0:05:23 > 0:05:24- Lovely.- Lovely.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30French ballet is elegant and understated.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42The students at the Paris Opera Ballet School
0:05:42 > 0:05:44are working at perfecting their footwork.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50From the age of 11 until the age of 14,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54they are really trained in the old traditional ballet lessons.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58To keep the tradition is essential.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02It has produced fantastic dancers,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05and therefore we are not going to deny this
0:06:05 > 0:06:08and to change anything on that basis, at least.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13American ballet is all fast attack, athletic.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26When you look at American dancers,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28people always talk about these droopy wrists...
0:06:29 > 0:06:33- ..but that's not something taught. - It was more strength into the...
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Energy! Oh, I'm so glad you said that.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38- It was strength.- It was energy all the way down to the fingernails.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40So you felt this, tah! And it was the same sort of feeling
0:06:40 > 0:06:42that went into the legs, into the arms.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44And then in certain ballets, the Balanchine particularly
0:06:44 > 0:06:47and the neo-classics, was to have the arm soft
0:06:47 > 0:06:50- at the same time as strong legs. - Yes.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52- So, as in a contrast.- Yes.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55Well, we had to do that in Britain as classical dancers,
0:06:55 > 0:06:59that this was incredibly soft, it was no effort,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02and this was all down there. It's the action...
0:07:02 > 0:07:05- The in...- The out.- The in... - Yes, exactly.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07And out!
0:07:08 > 0:07:10And again, the cou-de-pied,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12the foot's at the back of the leg right away.
0:07:12 > 0:07:13What you do notice about
0:07:13 > 0:07:16a lot of Americans is, they do have a very good elevation.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19It's a quick take-off, so that you're in the air longer.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22They can actually teach them to have elevation, though.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24It's not whether you either have a good jump
0:07:24 > 0:07:27or you don't have a good jump, you are TAUGHT to have a good jump.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Russian ballet is big and punchy.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49At the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St Petersburg,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53the students study the method first established in 1918
0:07:53 > 0:07:56by the famous teacher Agrippina Vaganova.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Do you believe you've been able to hold on to that style
0:08:01 > 0:08:05that was first produced with Vaganova's teaching?
0:08:42 > 0:08:47The directions are so clear,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51very clear from the upper body and the hips, it's very nice.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53You know, where we think that sometimes we open out,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56but this is very good, the back,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00how you use the back is really good.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04'But great ballerinas have always developed their own unique performance styles
0:09:04 > 0:09:07'and I want to introduce you to some of the most exceptional
0:09:07 > 0:09:11'and ground-breaking women in ballet history.'
0:09:11 > 0:09:13I'm going to start with Peggy Hookham,
0:09:13 > 0:09:17our nation's favourite ballerina for nearly 40 years.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23She's better known today, of course, as Margot Fonteyn.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42I love watching Fonteyn dance.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Even though technical standards in ballet have moved on a lot
0:09:46 > 0:09:48since her prime, only she,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51with her extraordinary symmetry of arms and head,
0:09:51 > 0:09:55could capture the spirit of a water sprite so completely.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Her statue has been here at White Lodge since the 1960s.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12When I came here as a nervous 13-year-old,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Margot was right outside my dormitory.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Like generations of budding ballet dancers,
0:10:18 > 0:10:20I used to touch her middle finger for luck.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31For me, she was the direct link to the history of ballet in Britain.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35To generations before me, Fonteyn WAS ballet,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38one of those rare artists who imprint themselves
0:10:38 > 0:10:40on the nation's consciousness.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Fonteyn almost single-handedly propelled the Royal Ballet
0:10:47 > 0:10:50and its English style onto the international stage.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Here, dancing with her frequent partner Michael Somes,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04Fonteyn shows her unfussy style.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11But again, watching her,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14it's easy to imagine the elegance and serenity of a swan.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Margot had a fantastic proportion,
0:11:23 > 0:11:27a great beauty, she was radiant, she was so alive.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32She managed to leave us impressions that you never forget in your life.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Her entrance in Sleeping Beauty
0:11:35 > 0:11:38is absolutely inoubliable,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40it's sparkling.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Margot Fonteyn was revered and adored
0:11:52 > 0:11:55by all who knew her and saw her dance.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00She came to a few of my rehearsals.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03The experience was unforgettable.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Here was not just the most famous ballerina ever,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10but a connection to the great ballerinas of the past.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20But even a dancer as great as Margot doesn't work alone.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Right beside her throughout her career
0:12:22 > 0:12:24was one of history's most renowned choreographers,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Frederick Ashton.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31It was he who moulded Fonteyn into the iconic ballerina
0:12:31 > 0:12:33the world remembers.
0:12:35 > 0:12:41I would say what makes his works are the musicality of his ballets.
0:12:41 > 0:12:47He would listen, in those days it was gramophone records,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50he said that he listened to those records every night
0:12:50 > 0:12:54for three months before he began to create a ballet,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57so that he knew every note.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05And all of his movements are very much tied in
0:13:05 > 0:13:08with the expressiveness of the music.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Ashton created a central role for Fonteyn
0:13:23 > 0:13:25in his ballet Symphonic Variations.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33Its elegance and complete harmony of music and design
0:13:33 > 0:13:35make it a pure joy.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39It's regarded as one of the most beautiful short ballets ever made.
0:13:50 > 0:13:56His eye for detail, like how fingers worked and focus of eyes.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58He said to Margot,
0:13:58 > 0:14:03"It's so important that you finish everything -
0:14:03 > 0:14:07"AND we see it - so that it registers to the back of the theatre."
0:14:07 > 0:14:09- So it doesn't get lost in the space.- No.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11And as much as he loved fluidity,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14so he also absolutely loved the punctuation.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Fonteyn had one extraordinary piece of luck.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28At 42, just as she was approaching retirement,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31a 23-year-old dancer defected from the Kirov ballet.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42His name was Rudolf Nureyev and he came to London in 1962,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44saying he wanted to dance
0:14:44 > 0:14:47with the ballerina he had heard so much about in Russia.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54She invests everything in me.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00But it is something what we generate between ourselves.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03And then it is thrown out
0:15:03 > 0:15:05to have a stronger impact.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07Are you taking from each other or giving to each other?
0:15:07 > 0:15:10- Is it a battle?- It is not a battle.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13No, I don't think so. It is a gift to each other.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16I say it is absolutely... We are face to face.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21We play, or we live, for each other.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36Fonteyn put all thoughts of retiring from her mind
0:15:36 > 0:15:39and enjoyed a glorious late summer of her career.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48Despite the two decade age difference,
0:15:48 > 0:15:53Fonteyn and Nureyev had an obvious physical chemistry on stage.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56No other ballet couple before or since
0:15:56 > 0:15:58has matched their worldwide fame.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10Fonteyn's partnership with Nureyev defined the image
0:16:10 > 0:16:13of a ballerina in a tutu with a handsome prince.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18But ballet hasn't always been this way.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20When it first started 500 years ago,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23it was different in just about every way.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31Ballet, known as baletto - little dance -
0:16:31 > 0:16:36started in the city states of Italy as a dance for the nobility.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40They were very elaborate social occasions,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43so ballet really was a social dance.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47It was often elaborately staged out of doors
0:16:47 > 0:16:50where there would be, you know,
0:16:50 > 0:16:55water, and fireworks, and castles crashing down.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58It makes special effects today look simple.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06Ballet soon caught on and was adopted by the French court.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Eventually, a French style of dance was developed.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15This glorious creation behind me,
0:17:15 > 0:17:19the Palace Versailles, didn't even have a theatre when it was completed
0:17:19 > 0:17:23in the early 1680s, so ballets were performed in the temporary theatres
0:17:23 > 0:17:27often erected in the gardens, or in this ornate courtyard.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34It didn't look like ballet
0:17:34 > 0:17:37as we see it today on the stage,
0:17:37 > 0:17:39it was much more restrained, much more refined,
0:17:39 > 0:17:41and much smaller steps.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44The reason for that is that it's an aristocratic ideal.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49The idea behind ballet was,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52how can you present yourself in a noble way?
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Well, you can organise your movements
0:17:55 > 0:17:58and organise your body so that you have grace
0:17:58 > 0:18:01and a certain kind of beauty, and you look relaxed all the time.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04You don't look as if you're working, because aristocrats don't work.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08You look like you're at ease,
0:18:08 > 0:18:13in control, a certain kind of power and comportment.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24This early form of ballet had powerful support
0:18:24 > 0:18:26in the shape of Louis XIV.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30He often performed himself,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34and, at the age of 14, he played Apollo, the Sun God,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37leading to his famous nickname, the Sun King.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44He studied very seriously and he made ballet
0:18:44 > 0:18:50not just an entertainment, but a kind of central part of living.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01This is the amphitheatre at Versailles,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04used by Louis XIV, in which he both performed
0:19:04 > 0:19:07and watched his ballet spectaculars.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12Just imagine dancing here for Louis XIV.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20But when he started piling on the pounds -
0:19:20 > 0:19:22never a great career move for a dancer in his thirties -
0:19:22 > 0:19:24he left the stage.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27Even though he no longer performed,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Louis XIV kept himself artistically busy.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34In 1661, he founded the Academie Royale de Danse
0:19:34 > 0:19:36to train professional male dancers.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43And in 1669, the Royal Academy of Music was formed,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46which went on to become the famous Paris Opera.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Paris became the worldwide centre of ballet.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59And it was here that we find not one, but two ballerina stars.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Marie Camargo was technically brilliant,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06and Marie Salle was renowned for her expressiveness.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11This distinction between dancers with technique
0:20:11 > 0:20:14and dancers who could act runs all through ballet history.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20So advanced was Marie Camargo's technique
0:20:20 > 0:20:23that she became the first ballerina in history
0:20:23 > 0:20:26to be able to perform an entrechat quatre.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30Nothing to it,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32you just jump up in the air
0:20:32 > 0:20:34and cross your feet four times.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Although it's called an entrechat quatre,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40you actually only cross your legs twice before you land.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47And the move that Camargo first performed has come a long way since.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Would you like to try the entrechat dix?
0:20:50 > 0:20:54- Well, if it doesn't cost anything, I'll have a go.- Have a try.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57Wayne Sleep still holds the world record for entrechats.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01- Did you do it? - Well, I don't know, I think so.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06One, two, three,
0:21:06 > 0:21:08four, five.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11You did it. That's an entrechat dix!
0:21:14 > 0:21:16Camargo was technically ground-breaking
0:21:16 > 0:21:19but Salle was forging a more individual path.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26I think of her, in a way, as the first modern dancer,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29because she really went out on her own.
0:21:29 > 0:21:35She performed in solo performances which she created herself,
0:21:35 > 0:21:36she was a choreographer.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38I don't think she would have put it that way,
0:21:38 > 0:21:40but she made her own dances.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44She had gowns that were a little transparent,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47hair released,
0:21:47 > 0:21:51a sense of freedom and self-expression
0:21:51 > 0:21:54that was quite striking at the time.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Dancers in the 17th and even in the 18th century
0:22:03 > 0:22:07often wore the costumes they would be wearing on the street.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13- Oh, my gosh, yes. - Really hard netting.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Really very stiff, yes.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Though you are actually able to see the ankle and foot
0:22:17 > 0:22:21- which wouldn't originally be this length in the court.- That's right.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24In the court, the dresses would have been to the floor.
0:22:26 > 0:22:27It was all to show the gavotte
0:22:27 > 0:22:31and all the steps they would have done with their little heeled shoes.
0:22:35 > 0:22:42Gradually, what happens is, the footwork becomes more intricate.
0:22:43 > 0:22:50The costumes of the stage start to depart from the costumes of life.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52The idea of the ballerina
0:22:52 > 0:22:56becomes more and more a theatrical invention.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00These are not just women. You're not watching just women
0:23:00 > 0:23:03that you would see on the street on stage. She's a ballerina.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10In their different ways, Camargo and Salle started to move
0:23:10 > 0:23:13the ballerina towards centre stage.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18In the early 1800s, the Romantic movement began to impact on ballet
0:23:18 > 0:23:21as it had on many other art forms,
0:23:21 > 0:23:23with its obsession with the supernatural.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28The stage was flooded with sprites, sylphs and fairies.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33This is why women become so important,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36because women are thought to be able to express
0:23:36 > 0:23:40and have greater access to dreams and the irrational.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45This world of the imagination is a feminine world.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52And it's why the ballerina has such power on the stage,
0:23:52 > 0:23:54because she can show that.
0:23:59 > 0:24:04Men may have been the stars of the ballet in its early years,
0:24:04 > 0:24:09but by the mid-1800s, the ballerinas had stolen the spotlight.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41The dancer who built on the success of Camargo and Salle
0:24:41 > 0:24:46and put women firmly at the front of the stage was Marie Taglioni,
0:24:46 > 0:24:51the first great Romantic ballerina, and my next ballet heroine.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56So famous was Marie Taglioni and so famous was her fancy footwork,
0:24:56 > 0:25:00that a bunch of Russian ballet fans - men, naturally -
0:25:00 > 0:25:03once proposed a grand dinner in her honour.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06The centrepiece would be a pair of Marie's ballet shoes,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09cooked and served with a suitably spicy sauce.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Unfortunately, the meal doesn't seems to have actually taken place.
0:25:13 > 0:25:14Shame.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20These were painted by Queen Victoria,
0:25:20 > 0:25:22one of Taglioni's greatest admirers.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27After seeing her perform La Sylphide,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30the Queen wrote in her journal, "She danced quite beautifully,
0:25:30 > 0:25:34"as if she flew in the air, so gracefully and light."
0:25:41 > 0:25:45She developed this whole way of moving
0:25:45 > 0:25:52that allowed women to become the premier performers.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55One reason she was able to do this
0:25:55 > 0:25:59is because she was one of the first dancers to dance en pointe.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Audiences loved this new technique.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07And the iconic image of a ballerina en pointe is still as potent today.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Ballet shoes take an enormous beating during a performance.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22In some ballets, I could easily get through three pairs a night.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Mine were made here, at the Freed's factory in North London.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32Oh, you're gluing it all down? OK.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39- You're getting all the satin into place.- That's right.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43Oh, the pleats! This is the most important part.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48So this is the right end of the toe, basically.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50So to keep that flat,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53and the pleats are just on the sole of the foot.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57And they have to be as flat as possible, it's, like, how many...
0:26:57 > 0:26:59two, three pieces of material?
0:26:59 > 0:27:02- Pardon?- Three pieces of material, the satin and two pieces of canvas?
0:27:02 > 0:27:04- Absolutely.- Amazing.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07And how many pairs do you try and do in one day?
0:27:07 > 0:27:10- I'm doing 38 pair.- 38? Fab.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18'Dancing en pointe is what allows us ballerinas
0:27:18 > 0:27:20'to float and glide across the stage.'
0:27:20 > 0:27:22Pointe shoes help extend the line
0:27:22 > 0:27:25and adds another dimension to our movement.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28Pointe work is often used by choreographers
0:27:28 > 0:27:31to show the strength of the female dancer.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44If you think about what a toe shoe is,
0:27:44 > 0:27:48it's a small surface, maybe the size of a coin.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55That's the only part of the human body that is touching the earth.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59The rest of her is in the air.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Taglioni's exploits en pointe helped create the image
0:28:12 > 0:28:16of a modern ballerina and kept her at the top of the tree.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21However, she soon acquired rivals.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24First, Fanny Elssler, an Austrian dancer
0:28:24 > 0:28:26famed for her precise footwork.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29And then another superstar appeared,
0:28:29 > 0:28:33in what was to become one of THE great Romantic ballets of all time.
0:28:37 > 0:28:42The dancer was a 22-year-old Italian, Carlotta Grisi.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44The ballet was Giselle.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52Giselle became an instant classic.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54It's still firmly in the repertoire today.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25On stage, dancers like Taglioni and Grisi
0:29:25 > 0:29:28portrayed a romantic ideal of chaste womanhood.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32Off stage, though, things were rather different.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40Ballerinas had been in demand as courtesans
0:29:40 > 0:29:43from the earliest time female dancers appeared on the stage.
0:29:45 > 0:29:46But by the 1830s, in Paris,
0:29:46 > 0:29:50this had become virtually a form of organised prostitution.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57Subscribers to the Paris Opera had an access-all-areas pass
0:29:57 > 0:29:59which allowed them to enter the foyer
0:29:59 > 0:30:02and make assignations with any dancer who caught their eye.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05The dancers' mothers often handled the business arrangements.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12Despite the best efforts of Degas
0:30:12 > 0:30:16to portray us in a more flattering light,
0:30:16 > 0:30:20from the 1850s, French ballet went into a gradual decline.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22As the 19th century progressed,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25ballerinas were much more likely to make their names not in France,
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Italy or Britain, but in a country that was fast becoming
0:30:28 > 0:30:31the new epicentre of ballet.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41Russia was to produce some of the greatest ever ballerinas,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43and two of my ballet heroines.
0:30:46 > 0:30:47Anna Pavlova...
0:30:50 > 0:30:51..and Galina Ulanova.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58St Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great in 1703.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02It was Russia's window on the world - in particular, on Europe.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14The European invention that the Russians made their own
0:31:14 > 0:31:16more than any other was classical ballet.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21The Tsars and Tsarinas took ballet very seriously,
0:31:21 > 0:31:24throwing huge sums of money at it.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28They spent a fortune importing the best dancers, teachers
0:31:28 > 0:31:30and choreographers from all over Europe,
0:31:30 > 0:31:33establishing their own Imperial Ballet School
0:31:33 > 0:31:35with the aim of creating home-grown stars.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41The most glamorous imports from Europe were a whole series
0:31:41 > 0:31:45of brilliant Italian ballerinas who danced here at the Mariinsky.
0:31:45 > 0:31:46With their stunning technique,
0:31:46 > 0:31:49they were to be the stars of three Russian ballets
0:31:49 > 0:31:51that became the most famous ever produced.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16A who's who of French and Italian choreographic talent
0:32:16 > 0:32:19passed through St Petersburg to make ballets.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23But it was a relative unknown who was to have the biggest impact,
0:32:23 > 0:32:27creating two of the best known and loved ballerina roles of all time.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32The choreographer who did more than anyone else
0:32:32 > 0:32:35to put Russian ballet on the map was Marius Petipa,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39a Frenchman who spent 63 years working here in St Petersburg.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43But it was Petipa's collaboration
0:32:43 > 0:32:46with one of Russia's most celebrated composers
0:32:46 > 0:32:49that would redefine ballet for centuries to come.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53Tchaikovsky was the first composer
0:32:53 > 0:32:55to take ballet seriously as an art form.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57His music wasn't easy to dance to
0:32:57 > 0:33:00but the demands it made on choreographers and dancers
0:33:00 > 0:33:01forced them to raise their game.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08In 1888, Tchaikovsky was asked if he would write the score
0:33:08 > 0:33:10for a ballet based on a fairy tale
0:33:10 > 0:33:14about a princess who was cursed to sleep for 100 years.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23The ballet would become known as The Sleeping Beauty.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30The starring role of Princess Aurora
0:33:30 > 0:33:34was danced by the Italian virtuoso dancer Carlotta Brianza.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41It's recognised as one of the most demanding roles
0:33:41 > 0:33:43ballerinas ever have to perform.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56The greatest challenge for Aurora is the Rose Adage.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04At the end, as the music builds,
0:34:04 > 0:34:08you have to hold four successive, terrifying balances.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29It's a part of the dream of a young girl - being a princess,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31having a nice costume and it's...
0:34:31 > 0:34:35I think it was a part of the dream I had when I was young.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41Being a princess on stage and having all this group...
0:34:41 > 0:34:44The music of Tchaikovsky is amazing, it's a great partition.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46It's really a great score.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52The French ballerina Elizabeth Platel was a famous Aurora...
0:34:53 > 0:34:55..with her natural elegance and purity.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03Here she dances the opening solo where she shows
0:35:03 > 0:35:06her steely technique, total control,
0:35:06 > 0:35:07and exquisite line.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21Being alone on stage, it's...
0:35:21 > 0:35:25For me, it was like... It was gorgeous.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29The solos are very still.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31Do you know that was the first solo
0:35:31 > 0:35:35- I choose to do my first examination in the company?- Really? Wow.
0:35:35 > 0:35:40Yes. I felt that it was really showing the purity of the arabesque.
0:35:40 > 0:35:41It's the control.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43The two pirouettes, when you make these pirouettes,
0:35:43 > 0:35:46you have no music, you are turning in the silence,
0:35:46 > 0:35:50and you have to finish in the best fourth position you can imagine.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57The first time I danced Sleeping Beauty, I was in the wings
0:35:57 > 0:36:00and I said, "OK, I will not go on stage,
0:36:00 > 0:36:05"I am sure there is somebody who will take my place."
0:36:05 > 0:36:10- Quite happily!- And next remembrance is, I was doing the sauts de chat
0:36:10 > 0:36:12and I don't know what I did between.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17Then, seven years later, Tchaikovsky followed up on his success
0:36:17 > 0:36:21with what is probably the most loved ballet of all time.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Swan Lake provides one of the ultimate ballerina roles.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34Or, more accurately, two roles.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39The Queen of the Swans, the lyrical Odette...
0:36:40 > 0:36:44..and her evil alter ego,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46the scheming Odile.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56Playing two characters
0:36:56 > 0:37:00allows a ballerina really to show off her range.
0:37:11 > 0:37:16In 1895, the Italian virtuoso Pierina Legnani
0:37:16 > 0:37:20was the first dancer in history to perform 32 consecutive fouettes.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27They immediately became part of the classic Swan Lake choreography.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34Marianela Nunez executes these fouettes exquisitely.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39I have done these many times
0:37:39 > 0:37:42and I can tell you, it's incredibly hard to keep them rooted to the spot
0:37:42 > 0:37:46as Marianela has done whilst keeping this beautiful shape.
0:37:51 > 0:37:52By the 1890s, a new generation
0:37:52 > 0:37:55of Russian ballerinas was beginning to emerge.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58One of the most famous was Mathilde Kschessinska.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00A scheming and manipulative woman,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03described by Petipa as "that nasty little swine",
0:38:03 > 0:38:07she once let loose a flock of chickens on a stage
0:38:07 > 0:38:09whilst a rival was dancing a solo.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12She was a great ballerina, she was a great woman,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15and she was a great technician.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19And, do you know, the surprising thing is that, say, for a week,
0:38:19 > 0:38:26she could play cards all the night and have quite a lot of wine...
0:38:26 > 0:38:28- Oh, really?- Yes. And then, well,
0:38:28 > 0:38:31in a couple of days, she danced beautifully.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35- So it never affected her. - Never, never.
0:38:36 > 0:38:41Kschessinska's scheming ways, and her talent, made her a real success.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45The Imperial Theatre School, here in St Petersburg,
0:38:45 > 0:38:47had created a generation of performers
0:38:47 > 0:38:49who would revolutionise ballet.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52But it wasn't till later in the decade
0:38:52 > 0:38:54that a truly great ballerina emerged from Russia -
0:38:54 > 0:38:56Anna Pavlova.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00Pavlova was an unlikely star.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02She wasn't pretty
0:39:02 > 0:39:04and she wasn't small, rounded and compact,
0:39:04 > 0:39:07as was then the fashion for ballerinas.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10Instead, she was plain and gangly.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13Classmates called her The Broom.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15Technically, she was weak,
0:39:15 > 0:39:18and yet she managed to transcend all these disadvantages
0:39:18 > 0:39:22to become ballet's first ever genuine superstar.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30I saw her in Lima in about, I suppose, 1917,
0:39:30 > 0:39:34and it was the first theatre to which I ever went.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37I was thrilled at the fact of seeing her,
0:39:37 > 0:39:40and I remember that when the curtain went up, I said in Spanish,
0:39:40 > 0:39:42"Que feo," which means, "How ugly she is,"
0:39:42 > 0:39:45and this was the first impression she gave me.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49Well, by the time she'd started to dance, I was completely beguiled
0:39:49 > 0:39:52and I thought her the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56She was certainly, to me, the most...the artist with
0:39:56 > 0:39:59the greatest theatrical impact that I've ever seen anywhere.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09In 1909, Anna Pavlova left Russia
0:40:09 > 0:40:12to dance with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Paris.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15But, as is occasionally the way with demanding ballerinas,
0:40:15 > 0:40:18she didn't like dancing to Stravinsky's music.
0:40:18 > 0:40:24She refused, actually refused to dance Firebird!
0:40:24 > 0:40:27Diaghilev wanted to have Firebird written for her,
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Stravinsky wanted her,
0:40:29 > 0:40:33she said, no, she can't bear to have count music and all of that.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35It was impossible.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39I don't think she could have ever stood the restrictions of Diaghilev.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41I don't think that she would have liked
0:40:41 > 0:40:43the avant-garde attitude at all.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47I think with her, her impact had to be immediate and
0:40:47 > 0:40:52I don't think that she would have ever succumbed to that restriction.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57The following year, she formed her own dance company,
0:40:57 > 0:41:00based first in St Petersburg, and then in London.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05She moved to Ivy Lodge in Golders Green in 1912.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13This was to be her home for the rest of her life.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20She toured the world with her company, performing The Dying Swan,
0:41:20 > 0:41:23which she danced for more than a quarter of a century,
0:41:23 > 0:41:25more than 4,000 times.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32Like her, the dance would become world famous.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39When you see the films of Pavlova, she had technique,
0:41:39 > 0:41:41that was more than moyenne.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45She had a sex appeal, beauty, expression, crazy,
0:41:45 > 0:41:47elated, enivrante, as we say.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51She was incredible, but that's what we want to share with an artist,
0:41:51 > 0:41:53not only pirouettes.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20This is Anna Pavlova's Dying Swan costume
0:42:20 > 0:42:23that she travelled the world in, is that correct?
0:42:23 > 0:42:28Exactly. It was offered to the museum in 1931 after she died.
0:42:28 > 0:42:34Each single feather were attached on a rigid support,
0:42:34 > 0:42:38in the shape of a wing, but it's not an actual real one.
0:42:38 > 0:42:43That's the wonderful thing with this feather work.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47- The feathers are even inlaid perfectly on the underside.- Exactly.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51So when she would have gone down into her Dying Swan position
0:42:51 > 0:42:53on the floor, it would have just shown.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Yes, it would have looked like a real wing, exactly.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57It would have just flipped up
0:42:57 > 0:43:00- and you could see the whole... - The feathers everywhere.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08Pavlova wasn't the greatest dancer ballet had ever seen,
0:43:08 > 0:43:11but she understood better than anyone before or since
0:43:11 > 0:43:13the mystique of stardom.
0:43:16 > 0:43:17By sheer force of will,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21she made herself into the most famous ballerina on the planet,
0:43:21 > 0:43:23the name on everyone's lips.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29Whilst Anna Pavlova was touring the world with her Dying Swan,
0:43:29 > 0:43:33the Imperial Ballet School of St Petersburg was about to produce
0:43:33 > 0:43:35one of its most talented dancers...
0:43:38 > 0:43:40..a ballerina who was to become
0:43:40 > 0:43:43the poster girl of Stalin's Soviet Russia.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52This is Galina Ulanova in Prokofiev's Romeo And Juliet.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56She was one of the greatest Russian ballerinas ever.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14My ideal has always been Ulanova,
0:44:14 > 0:44:19because, with Ulanova, suddenly to dance meant something much more,
0:44:19 > 0:44:23not just a divertissement, it was like entering in religion.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27The purity of her inspiration,
0:44:27 > 0:44:30the dimension of her thought transfigures everything.
0:44:35 > 0:44:40In 1956, a 46-year-old Ulanova and the Bolshoi Ballet came to London.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48This was during the Cold War, and her dancing thrilled
0:44:48 > 0:44:51and astounded British ballet fans,
0:44:51 > 0:44:53and British ballet dancers.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56Miss Grey, how do the Sadler's Wells company feel
0:44:56 > 0:44:58now the Bolshoi are definitely coming to dance here?
0:44:58 > 0:45:00Oh, we can hardly believe it's true.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03We are very excited and longing to see this great company from Moscow,
0:45:03 > 0:45:06which, after all, is the home of ballet,
0:45:06 > 0:45:08which it has been for so many years.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11I think not for 200 years has a company come out from Moscow.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13You're meant to be on tour while they're here.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15Are you going to be able to come in and see them at all?
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Yes, we are only in Croydon, and we are there for two weeks,
0:45:17 > 0:45:21and most of the ballerinas and I think nearly all the corps de ballet
0:45:21 > 0:45:23will have at least one or two opportunities to see
0:45:23 > 0:45:25the Russians here at Covent Garden.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29Ulanova would come in in the morning with a little hat,
0:45:29 > 0:45:31you know, a little sort of beret thing on,
0:45:31 > 0:45:33looking quite elderly,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36and then she'd be changed, and she'd be in class,
0:45:36 > 0:45:38and she'd be like a young woman.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43She just transformed.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56Stalin was clever, to have something, you know,
0:45:56 > 0:45:59to represent the country.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02Here's our ballet, the best in the world.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06The only thing is that because of the Iron Curtain,
0:46:06 > 0:46:10the world did not know our great dancers.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17I call them generation lost to the West.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27All the people remember her famous run with the cloak.
0:46:31 > 0:46:36Like a young woman, really, overpowered with passion for Romeo.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41She was a great actress,
0:46:41 > 0:46:45besides being a very technically well-equipped ballerina.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50Ulanova retired in 1960,
0:46:50 > 0:46:53having moved from poster girl to postage stamp,
0:46:53 > 0:46:57but her legacy as one of Russia's most celebrated ever ballerinas
0:46:57 > 0:46:59is still as potent as ever.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07The Imperial Ballet School also trained
0:47:07 > 0:47:10a dancer-turned-choreographer who was to make
0:47:10 > 0:47:12one of the biggest impacts ballet had ever seen...
0:47:14 > 0:47:16..George Balanchine.
0:47:16 > 0:47:21For his story, we need to look to the youngest of our ballet nations.
0:47:22 > 0:47:26He arrives in America where it's a blank slate,
0:47:26 > 0:47:29so he can invent the art form here,
0:47:29 > 0:47:32and he invents it with American dancers.
0:47:46 > 0:47:50One of Balanchine's best known phrases is
0:47:50 > 0:47:52"Ballet is woman",
0:47:52 > 0:47:54and I think for him,
0:47:54 > 0:47:56the women were his real inspiration.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01He found them infinitely interesting,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04infinitely varied, and mysterious, too,
0:48:04 > 0:48:08and I think what stimulated him was finding different ways
0:48:08 > 0:48:11to reveal their beauty to other people.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16Balanchine was inspired by ballerina muses
0:48:16 > 0:48:18throughout his 50-year career.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21He even married four of them!
0:48:24 > 0:48:27The one that got away was Suzanne Farrell,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30and my most recent ballerina heroine.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35I remember very well, George and I talking
0:48:35 > 0:48:38and, I suppose, he was being somewhat philosophical,
0:48:38 > 0:48:41or maybe just testing me and him,
0:48:41 > 0:48:45and he said, "You know, Suzanne, if I weren't a choreographer
0:48:45 > 0:48:47"you wouldn't look at me twice."
0:48:48 > 0:48:51And I looked at him and I said,
0:48:51 > 0:48:54"You know, George, if I weren't a ballerina,
0:48:54 > 0:48:56"YOU wouldn't look at ME twice."
0:48:59 > 0:49:03She was fascinating because she was extremely feminine,
0:49:03 > 0:49:08but, at the same time, allowed to be physical,
0:49:08 > 0:49:10in a very different way.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14You know, how they break the hip line, the legs were high,
0:49:14 > 0:49:18she was very tall with very long legs,
0:49:18 > 0:49:20very musical.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25But, essentially, American.
0:49:25 > 0:49:27She didn't look like an English dancer at all.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46Balanchine and Farrell were reinventing ballet,
0:49:46 > 0:49:49tearing up the rule book as they went.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54She wasn't the first one to push the ballerina off-balance,
0:49:54 > 0:49:56but she did it more.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59She could recover better than most of us could, somehow,
0:49:59 > 0:50:02and she found a way to make that
0:50:02 > 0:50:06almost her trademark in the early days.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26Part of her beauty was inexplicable,
0:50:26 > 0:50:28you couldn't say that wasn't there,
0:50:28 > 0:50:30but she had a musicality that was very, very special.
0:50:30 > 0:50:35She had this ability on stage that she could look at the public
0:50:35 > 0:50:38and it seemed like even if you were sitting there or there,
0:50:38 > 0:50:40she was looking straight at you.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43There was a feeling that she included everyone.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07You never had the feeling when you watched Suzanne Farrell dance
0:51:07 > 0:51:10that there had been a rehearsal, in a way.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15Nothing was calculated, she was living at that moment.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21The real world for her was the world on stage.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54I think the real gift of Suzanne Farrell
0:51:54 > 0:51:58was not so much physical, but it was in her mind.
0:51:58 > 0:52:03She was able to completely let go and just dance.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24Balanchine also changed the way his dancers were dressed
0:52:24 > 0:52:27with the debut of the puff tutu.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32The process of scaling down the ballerina's costume
0:52:32 > 0:52:35that had begun 100 years earlier came to a full stop.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39Here, we have a Balanchine tutu
0:52:39 > 0:52:41because, basically, the style is short.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44That's right. It's the diamond tutu.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46Iconic for Balanchine,
0:52:46 > 0:52:50it's the powder puff, short, soft.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54It shows off the leg action and all the physicality
0:52:54 > 0:52:56that Balanchine would have had in his ballets.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00This reflects exactly what the ballet was about, with the jewels.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03- It's encrusted, basically.- It's totally over the top, it's fabulous,
0:53:03 > 0:53:06and it would have carried so perfectly across to the audience.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12The design of the tutu is a key component
0:53:12 > 0:53:15in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland.
0:53:20 > 0:53:22There's a wonderfully theatrical moment
0:53:22 > 0:53:25when the performers all lean forward near the end of the ballet.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41Well, this kind of moves tutus on and on and on.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44I can't believe, actually, the evolution that we have come to now.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46That's right, yes, very modern.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48And they are just made out of a foam or a card?
0:53:48 > 0:53:51It's a foam top skirt
0:53:51 > 0:53:54and, then, underneath, it does have a tutu.
0:53:54 > 0:53:56Oh, it's lovely. I love that.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00- It's pointed.- Yes, it's cut to the shape of the design on top
0:54:00 > 0:54:04so, for each card, whether it be heart, spade...
0:54:04 > 0:54:07- They all had one like the shape. - All different shapes.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20It would really affect, actually, how they dance, very differently.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23- The guys wouldn't be able to get close to them...- No, not at all.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25..with this very stiff frame.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28I think it's really clever,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31it's very edgy and a fun tutu to dance in.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39Designs in ballet have become more and more innovative,
0:54:39 > 0:54:42but the ballerina still remains the focus.
0:54:51 > 0:54:56In the turn of the century, the ballerinas were the stars.
0:54:56 > 0:55:00They were unquestionably the people that drew in the crowds.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03That, throughout the 20th century, changes,
0:55:03 > 0:55:06and, suddenly, the choreographer was the star.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09It was them who people came to see.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14Somehow, this is changing again.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17I think partly because of economic reasons,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19companies need to draw the public,
0:55:19 > 0:55:23and the public, like to the cinema, they want to see stars.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28So, suddenly, the ballerina is becoming more powerful.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34Tamara Rojo is a ballerina who still performs
0:55:34 > 0:55:35at the top of her profession,
0:55:35 > 0:55:39as well as being the new director of English National Ballet.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56Tamara personifies the 21st century ballerina.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01The biggest change to the demands of a ballet dancer today
0:56:01 > 0:56:04is that we are expected to be both
0:56:04 > 0:56:07able to dance the very classical works,
0:56:07 > 0:56:10and then go to really contemporary choreography.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15And that takes quite a lot of effort physically
0:56:15 > 0:56:17and demand from your body.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22Because you are pulling it in different directions.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24Classical ballet is all about lengthening
0:56:24 > 0:56:27and contemporary is all about grounded.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30So you do physically go from a rehearsal that is asking you to
0:56:30 > 0:56:33pull up, up, up, to one that is asking you to get down.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36And, so, it just, you know, hurts a little bit more.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40By conquering your own body limitations
0:56:40 > 0:56:43and your own mental limitations, and going,
0:56:43 > 0:56:45"I CAN, I can do this, I can deliver this,"
0:56:45 > 0:56:47it's exciting in that kind of way.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02The whole point of ballet is
0:57:02 > 0:57:08human, emotional, communicating between the artist and the public.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15Because we don't have a language, it's something that everyone
0:57:15 > 0:57:19from any cultural background and any country can relate to,
0:57:19 > 0:57:21and we should continue to investigate that
0:57:21 > 0:57:26because the emotions of today are not the emotions of yesterday.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29We can use our emotions today in classical ballet,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32we can, let's say, modernise them.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34But we should be looking at
0:57:34 > 0:57:38what do we want to express emotionally today
0:57:38 > 0:57:41as individuals of society today?
0:57:44 > 0:57:47Whatever's next, no-one will have expected it.
0:57:47 > 0:57:49Ballet never stands still.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51We've seen how great ballerinas
0:57:51 > 0:57:55like Taglioni, Pavlova and Fonteyn,
0:57:55 > 0:57:57revolutionised the role of the ballerina...
0:57:59 > 0:58:02..and how different styles have evolved over the years.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07Today's choreographers are redefining and reworking
0:58:07 > 0:58:10classical ballet and ballerina roles
0:58:10 > 0:58:12even as we speak.
0:58:12 > 0:58:14And ballerinas never stand still, either.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16We have been dancing for your pleasure
0:58:16 > 0:58:18for three-and-a-half centuries
0:58:18 > 0:58:20and I'm sure we'll be around for a few more.