0:00:03 > 0:00:07Athletic, seductive, misunderstood, complicated -
0:00:07 > 0:00:10male ballet dancers don't conform.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15After all but disappearing from ballet's centre stage
0:00:15 > 0:00:18in the 19th century, in the last 100 years,
0:00:18 > 0:00:22the spotlight has dramatically shifted back onto the men.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25But how did such a change come about?
0:00:26 > 0:00:31This is the story of revolutionary Russian superstars,
0:00:31 > 0:00:35the rise of European classical ballet virtuosos...
0:00:37 > 0:00:41..mould-breaking new dancers, who challenged the status quo,
0:00:41 > 0:00:44and moments that altered perceptions of the art form
0:00:44 > 0:00:48that's been my lifetime love and passion.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50It's a very personal adventure for me,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53a journey into the lives and the impact
0:00:53 > 0:00:56of the heroes who transformed ballet.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05When I became a principal at The Royal Ballet in 1989,
0:01:05 > 0:01:09the male ballet star was a firmly established concept,
0:01:09 > 0:01:14but just 100 years before, thanks to the invention of the pointe shoe,
0:01:14 > 0:01:16women dominated centre stage.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20The men had become mere porteurs,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22doing little more than presenting the ballerinas.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26The 20th-century transformation of the male classical dancer
0:01:26 > 0:01:31can be credited to just a handful of extraordinary performers.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35I'm back at my old haunt, The Royal Opera House,
0:01:35 > 0:01:39to meet one of my very first star partners, Irek Mukhamedov,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42and I'm quite excited cos it's been quite a few years.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Irek won international fame during the 1980s
0:01:48 > 0:01:52as the leading male of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56While I had spent most of that decade at the Royal Ballet School,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59he was justifiably earning a reputation
0:01:59 > 0:02:03as one of the best male ballet dancers in the world.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08So, it came as something of a shock that in 1990,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10during my first few months in the company,
0:02:10 > 0:02:15superstar Irek Mukhamedov defected from Russia to join us.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23So, where's your room? You were on the right.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25'Reunited backstage at The Royal Opera House,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28'it seems like yesterday that we were both here.'
0:02:28 > 0:02:31- My room was here. - Oh, so I was next-door to you.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33Yes, and then I moved to that room.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37- And then we come through here into the stage.- Yeah.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41That's all the set that's surrounding the main stage
0:02:41 > 0:02:43but we had to walk right around the edge
0:02:43 > 0:02:46- and make an entrance on the side. - Well, it depends.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51- You can go... I go this. - You just walk over the set.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53- Yes. Nobody can stop me. - HE LAUGHS
0:02:53 > 0:02:55I'm trouble.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01'In the early '90s, the Royal Ballet company was led
0:03:01 > 0:03:06'by the esteemed choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan.'
0:03:06 > 0:03:10Was it Kenneth's repertoire that you were attracted to
0:03:10 > 0:03:12- about coming to the company? - I don't think so.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15Really, I didn't know anything about the company.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18When the company came to Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow to perform,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21- we were somewhere else. - Oh, so you'd never seen it?
0:03:21 > 0:03:25I'd never seen the company. For me it was I chose the city to live...
0:03:25 > 0:03:27We chose Europe and it's London,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30where we can live and start a new life,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32but then the second was the company too.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35So, I thought, "Which company will be on the level with Bolshoi?"
0:03:37 > 0:03:42The first time I saw Irek dance was in the Bolshoi Ballet Spartacus.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48The Russian word "Bolshoi" means "big",
0:03:48 > 0:03:52and indeed the sheer scale of Irek's movement was breathtaking.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02And the centrepiece duets, the pas de deux, were exhilarating.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06We'd all seen you as this big star doing Spartacus.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09I will never forget you doing Spartacus.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12Flying through the air.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16I don't actually remember you touching the ground, I don't think.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20- And those beautiful pas de deux as well in Spartacus.- Yep, yep.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22And then suddenly you were in The Royal Ballet company.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25But I remember what you did for all the men
0:04:25 > 0:04:28when you came into class. They were all inspired by you
0:04:28 > 0:04:31and anything you said, they were like this.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34"What did you say, Irek? Tell us, tell us. How do you do this?
0:04:34 > 0:04:35"How would I feel this?"
0:04:35 > 0:04:40They were just entranced by your performance
0:04:40 > 0:04:45and your quality and your attack, and your energy.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49The incredible thing of being a great dancer,
0:04:49 > 0:04:53better than just a good dancer, is to have a brain in the head.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57You can not only do the technique. When they finish school,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00they start as professionals, they call the ballet dancers.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02Then, they go into their career in choreography, whatever,
0:05:02 > 0:05:04become principal.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08After principal, they become stars, and then they become artists,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11- and then they become the personality on stage.- Yes.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Within months of Irek's arrival, Kenneth MacMillan decided to create
0:05:16 > 0:05:21a new ballet based on a Russian play that would star the two of us.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25Irek had to adapt to the more lyrical style of The Royal Ballet.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28For me, it would prove a challenge in other ways.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34I was very surprised and kind of really raptured
0:05:34 > 0:05:38when he said he would create a ballet for our pas de deux for us.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41- That was cool.- Fantastic. - And also the story,
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Chekhov's Three Sisters, you know?
0:05:42 > 0:05:46Based on that play, which you would have a connection...
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Of course. We're familiar with Three Sisters.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52We learned this at school, so literally immediately for me
0:05:52 > 0:05:55there was already no question of what my character is.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58- Where I had to go and actually watch the play for three hours.- Exactly.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01I didn't need to do that because I know the story.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09The first rehearsal, I think I already felt
0:06:09 > 0:06:12that Kenneth MacMillan is absolutely MY choreographer.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14I don't know, I'm sure you felt the same thing.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17For me, it was kind of the liberation
0:06:17 > 0:06:19of everything, what I know.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24- How lovely.- Learning at the same time, so everything was there.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Do you remember what Kenneth said to me,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28- I think maybe in our fifth rehearsal? - What did he say?
0:06:28 > 0:06:33He said, "Irek is giving 100% passion.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37"Darcey, you're giving 50!" That's when I was like,
0:06:37 > 0:06:41"Aah!" I was like, "Disaster! What am I going to do?"
0:06:41 > 0:06:44It was difficult to come up to your level.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48I didn't... I didn't totally understand at first.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50- Later on.- Yeah.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54I suppose any director probably wouldn't have put us together,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58with me being tall and just different styles, as well.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02For a dance partnership to really work,
0:07:02 > 0:07:06there are so many characteristics that must be compatible.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Even lower to start and then it will be there for good...
0:07:09 > 0:07:11'Watching my long-time former dance partner, Jonathan Cope,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15'as he coaches two young Royal Ballet soloists,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17'it's difficult to resist joining in.'
0:07:17 > 0:07:19THEY COUNT TO A BEAT
0:07:19 > 0:07:23It's like a fight, isn't it? THEY LAUGH
0:07:24 > 0:07:26What they're learning and exploring
0:07:26 > 0:07:29are the secrets of ballet partnership chemistry.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32Partners must be physically compatible
0:07:32 > 0:07:34and the man must be strong,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37but there are deeper connections to explore.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40A man and woman must share musicality,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43feeling the piece of music in the same way.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47And you've got to get on, like and respect each other,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50or the story simply won't look or feel real.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Just soften the leg slightly as it comes in
0:07:52 > 0:07:55so that we see that you're comfortable with him.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57You want the man to feel good about it,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59besides him making sure you feel good about it.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03It's being able to produce these moves to their best.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05Perfecting them, basically.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09And that won't always work in every partnership,
0:08:09 > 0:08:13so when you get to perform with somebody and you know it clicks,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16it's like a revelation. It's like a piece of magic,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19and that's when you want to hold on to that partner.
0:08:19 > 0:08:20For the rest of your career.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25In 1962, one ballerina discovered that her chemistry with a new partner
0:08:25 > 0:08:30was so magical that it redefined both of their careers forever.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34At the age of 43, on the cusp of retirement,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Margot Fonteyn was reinvigorated by a new partnership
0:08:37 > 0:08:40with a man two decades her junior
0:08:40 > 0:08:45and destined to become the world's first true male ballet superstar.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Just a few months after defecting from Russia,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Rudolf Nureyev arrived and quickly took over the headlines.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57He was nothing short of a phenomenon, and almost as well known
0:08:57 > 0:09:01for his glamorous lifestyle as he was for his dancing.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08His old haunt, an epicentre of the swinging '60s,
0:09:08 > 0:09:13The Scotch nightclub in Mayfair, London, still survives.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16So, with Nureyev's fame around the world,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18he must have given a different view
0:09:18 > 0:09:22to what classical ballet was actually about for the public.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Well, I think he's one of very, very few performers
0:09:25 > 0:09:28who actually changed the public's idea of an art form.
0:09:28 > 0:09:33He was my rock hero and I would go and buy daffodils
0:09:33 > 0:09:37- to shower from the gods. - Oh, really?- Queue up... Yes, yes.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42I had a broken wrist and I got him to write, "Nureyev, get well,"
0:09:42 > 0:09:44on my plaster cast.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47It was extraordinary in Floral Street, at the stage door,
0:09:47 > 0:09:49it would be completely packed.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51It became full of groupies.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Nureyev's success was sealed
0:09:54 > 0:09:58at a single performance in February 1962,
0:09:58 > 0:10:01the day that London's ballet world had been waiting for.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09The two most famous ballet dancers in the world -
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn -
0:10:12 > 0:10:16performing together for the very first time in Giselle.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21That was a complete sensation. I mean, nobody could get a ticket.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24And there were 23 curtain calls, I think.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26DARCEY GASPS My God.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Why was he partnered with Margot?
0:10:28 > 0:10:30He'd always wanted to partner Fonteyn.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33He knew about her, even back in Russia.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36He used to smuggle copies of the Dancing Times.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39He wanted to come to the West to really absorb different types
0:10:39 > 0:10:42of dancing, to absorb different repertory.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45It was a perfect partnership, in that they took from each other.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51If Nureyev was taking Fonteyn's refinement
0:10:51 > 0:10:53and Englishness, basically,
0:10:53 > 0:10:57she was learning a whole Russian bravura technique from him.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03APPLAUSE
0:11:03 > 0:11:05And she'd never have been capable of doing
0:11:05 > 0:11:08something like the Corsaire before Nureyev.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13- At that age, as well.- At that age. Aged...40s, and he was half her age.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Together, they were like two halves of a whole
0:11:19 > 0:11:21because when you see them dancing
0:11:21 > 0:11:24something like Les Sylphides or Swan Lake,
0:11:24 > 0:11:28you literally see the symmetry of their fingertips.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34They weren't watching each other in a mirror,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37it was just purely innate.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40- They were meant to be together. - They were meant to be together.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43'Nureyev quite simply changed everything.'
0:11:45 > 0:11:48His dancing challenged the restrained styles
0:11:48 > 0:11:51that the British audience was accustomed to.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54He would inspire and influence male ballet forever.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Rudolf, he is a kind of a pioneer, in a way,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03of dancing with emotions.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04With that...
0:12:04 > 0:12:07It's not emotions coming out...like that,
0:12:07 > 0:12:12it's emotions inside, hidden and bubbling, like a bottle.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15You need to, with gas... It goes...ssh!
0:12:15 > 0:12:17You don't think how great you are,
0:12:17 > 0:12:21but you think you have a talent
0:12:21 > 0:12:25and you have to exploit it
0:12:25 > 0:12:30and show it to full value.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35What Nureyev had, he had glamour.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38He had sex appeal.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41He had the manner, the looks, the hair, the eyes,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44the whole intensity of his presence.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46He was a great man who actually said to people,
0:12:46 > 0:12:48"You've got to come and look at me,"
0:12:48 > 0:12:50and they did, and they loved what they saw.
0:12:50 > 0:12:57I think Nureyev, the impact he made for male dancers around the world,
0:12:57 > 0:12:59was massive, wasn't it?
0:12:59 > 0:13:04Yes, he raised the bar for male dancers from here to the moon
0:13:04 > 0:13:08because technique has completely changed and evolved.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10- Because of him.- Because of him.
0:13:10 > 0:13:15Productions had more dramatic integrity because of him,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17something like Swan Lake or Giselle.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22- Giving the man also a better part in the classics.- Exactly.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Making the man as important as the ballerina,
0:13:25 > 0:13:31and we now take that for granted, but Nureyev did it first.
0:13:31 > 0:13:3520th-century male ballet owes a lot to Russia.
0:13:35 > 0:13:41Rudolf Nureyev and Irek Mukhamedov were big stars and big dancers.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47But why is Russia such a powerhouse producer of classical male dancers?
0:13:47 > 0:13:51The key cultural difference lies in the events of the 19th century.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55In Europe, ballet was becoming more like lowbrow musical theatre,
0:13:55 > 0:14:00but in Russia the tsars were busy elevating it to a national high art.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05By the turn of the 20th century,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Russian ballet had surpassed even French ballet.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Some of Russia's best ballerinas, including Anna Pavlova,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14seen here dancing in The Dying Swan,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18had already become stars in Great Britain and across Europe.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23But men had yet to have their defining moment.
0:14:23 > 0:14:24That would come in Paris,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28in the shape of an extraordinary young Russian dancer -
0:14:28 > 0:14:30Vaslav Nijinsky.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36Nijinsky was considered a...a phenomenon.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39When you read people who write about Nijinsky,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43they often think that he's almost something that came out of the sky,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47not so much a shining star as like a bolt out of the blue.
0:14:47 > 0:14:48He was a prodigy.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54Sometimes Nijinsky's body looks to me like the body of a merman
0:14:54 > 0:14:58but the degree to which the thighs are heavily muscled
0:14:58 > 0:15:00is the determinant of the jump.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03The Ballets Russes company was founded
0:15:03 > 0:15:06by Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10For a season of performances in Paris in 1909,
0:15:10 > 0:15:14Diaghilev needed a male star to shine as brightly
0:15:14 > 0:15:16as his brilliant lead ballerina, Pavlova.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19When he chose Nijinsky,
0:15:19 > 0:15:24he was choosing the most talented young man in the Imperial Ballet,
0:15:24 > 0:15:28but also, you know, there was the sexual situation, er...
0:15:28 > 0:15:33Nijinsky was instantly, within hours, Diaghilev's lover
0:15:33 > 0:15:36and therefore he was looking for ballets
0:15:36 > 0:15:38in which Nijinsky could shine.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43Three years after joining the company, aged 23,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Nijinsky choreographed his first radical ballet
0:15:46 > 0:15:51for Diaghilev in Paris, The Afternoon Of A Faun.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54I think what's extraordinary, actually,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57he looks like the perfect physical specimen,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00which I don't think I ever believed he would be,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03that it would be more his stage presence
0:16:03 > 0:16:07and the way he performed was the thing that you were attracted to,
0:16:07 > 0:16:12but his actual physical form is incredibly good.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Afternoon Of A Faun did end with what looks like an act
0:16:19 > 0:16:22of fetishism leading to orgasm.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26So, of course, that sold a lot of tickets,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30but I don't believe Nijinsky did it in order to sell tickets.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34Diaghilev framed him absolutely perfectly.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38Diaghilev provided what audiences wanted from the Ballets Russes,
0:16:38 > 0:16:39which was the exotic.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42He had an extraordinary presence.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46He also had a very remarkable intelligence.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Dame Marie Rambert, who founded the Rambert Ballet in this country,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52and was a great and vital influence, she knew him,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54she adored him, she worked with him,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58and she said to me that, you know, he had a genius.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Tragically, Nijinsky's mental health declined
0:17:00 > 0:17:03and his career was over by the age of 29,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07before spending much of the rest of his life in institutions,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10but there is no film footage of Nijinsky performing.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14This grainy archive is somewhat scandalously a hoax
0:17:14 > 0:17:17created by a French artist from a set of photographs.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19To think that this is a fake
0:17:19 > 0:17:22and it's not even real footage of Nijinsky,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25it's just a whole lot of slides put together,
0:17:25 > 0:17:27but it really gives you that feeling,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30how exciting he must have been to watch dance.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33This burning brilliance,
0:17:33 > 0:17:37the emotional power of what he did, was tremendously strong
0:17:37 > 0:17:39and it conquered audiences
0:17:39 > 0:17:42as, one has to say, certain male dancers have been able to do
0:17:42 > 0:17:47since then, like Nureyev, like Mukhamedov,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50like Mikhail Baryshnikov, for example,
0:17:50 > 0:17:54where they go on stage and the audience says,
0:17:54 > 0:17:56"I love you."
0:17:56 > 0:17:59Mikhail Baryshnikov completed a legacy
0:17:59 > 0:18:03of great Russian male ballet stars of the 20th century.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09After his high-profile defection in 1974,
0:18:09 > 0:18:11he joined the American Ballet Theatre
0:18:11 > 0:18:14and was recognised by many as the perfect article.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18I went through this experience, I went through this life,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20I went through many different,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23difficult and wonderful things.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25I didn't regret one second.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29You saw straightaway that he had the power to communicate,
0:18:29 > 0:18:31that, you know, you believed.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36Then you saw how damn bloody beautiful the dancing was.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41He was so beautifully precise, so clean.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47Try to do in slow motion step-by-step,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49you will see Misha, nothing changes.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52It is still pure, aesthetically correct,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54exactly what it should be dance... look like.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59APPLAUSE
0:19:00 > 0:19:04Russian mavericks Baryshnikov, Nureyev and Nijinsky
0:19:04 > 0:19:07had individuality, challenged dancing technique,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11and, of course, had real star profile.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13But as much as the bold, bravura style
0:19:13 > 0:19:16dominated headlines and the imagination,
0:19:16 > 0:19:20contrasting great male stars also succeeded with other styles
0:19:20 > 0:19:23and within other traditions.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Post-war Great Britain had enjoyed a boom in ballet's popularity,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33thanks to the rise in prominence of Margot Fontaine
0:19:33 > 0:19:38and the Sadler's Wells company, which became the Royal Ballet.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40Founding choreographer Frederick Ashton
0:19:40 > 0:19:42defined the English style of ballet -
0:19:42 > 0:19:46elegant and lyrical rather than dramatic and grand.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53In 1961, the quintessential English-style dancer emerged.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Anthony Dowell became known
0:19:58 > 0:20:01as the greatest British male dancer in history.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06Refined, reserved and graceful.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14By the time that I joined the Royal Ballet
0:20:14 > 0:20:17he had become the director of the company
0:20:17 > 0:20:20where we worked together for over a decade.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24When you first joined the company,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27did you appreciate that you were this young talent at all?
0:20:27 > 0:20:32Rudolph had arrived in our midst by then and, as a consequence of that,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35it put the spotlight very much on male dancing.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Because of such a phenomenal talent
0:20:37 > 0:20:40and because the drawing in audiences to the Opera House,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44it shifted the spotlight onto the role of the male dancer
0:20:44 > 0:20:48being a very worthwhile part of the whole ballet.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51The choreographers suddenly looked at male dancers differently,
0:20:51 > 0:20:52I think, didn't they?
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Well, I think they saw there were more possibilities
0:20:56 > 0:20:59instead of being just the partner behind,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02enhancing the look of the ballerina.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07My big thing was to try and make things look effortless and natural
0:21:07 > 0:21:09so I wasn't really a dancer that was
0:21:09 > 0:21:13a great virtuoso dancer with a lot of panache.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16But you could do the roles, though?
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Yes, but in my own sort of way.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22When I watch footage of you especially,
0:21:22 > 0:21:27probably the most significant was Oberon.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32The male dancer now is used to these lovely, soft, you know, slow jumps.
0:21:32 > 0:21:33They have that strength,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36but you had to jump and move fast and turn and...
0:21:36 > 0:21:37The exactness of the angle...
0:21:37 > 0:21:41I suppose that's what was unusual about the ballet,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44was for a male dancer to be moving fast.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46What sort of satisfies me is, now,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50when I teach the role to the dancers of today
0:21:50 > 0:21:54who are very technically gifted,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57um...it still kills them.
0:21:57 > 0:21:58Of course it does!
0:22:00 > 0:22:02As the 1960s progressed,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06equilibrium between the men and women was becoming the norm.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15But there was one place in the world
0:22:15 > 0:22:18that men had never been sidelined so dramatically.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Denmark.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27The Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen
0:22:27 > 0:22:30is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Here, the men have long shared centre stage with the women
0:22:34 > 0:22:39thanks to an egalitarian ballet style created in the early 19th century
0:22:39 > 0:22:43by the Danish choreographer August Bournonville.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46A style left unaffected by the whims and fashions
0:22:46 > 0:22:49that changed ballet in the rest of Europe.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00This is called the Old Stage.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05It's incredible to think that just over 200 years ago,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08August Bournonville premiered his first ballets here
0:23:08 > 0:23:11and they're still performing them today.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28The Danish Ballet, without making any fuss, just got on with it
0:23:28 > 0:23:35and Bournonville provided them, over a period of 50 or 60 years,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38an extraordinary richness,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40and the Danes are not such fools
0:23:40 > 0:23:44they don't know that this is a great national treasure.
0:23:44 > 0:23:49Even now, it's wonderful to watch a Danish-trained male dancer
0:23:49 > 0:23:53because of the different qualities they bring to the ballet technique
0:23:53 > 0:23:57and the different way in which they occupy the stage.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59They are fantastic jumpers,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02but it's not all about the big leap that seems to hang
0:24:02 > 0:24:04for three seconds in the air.
0:24:04 > 0:24:10It's very quick, sharp, very musical, tiny, tiny steps.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13And even when they do big jumps,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16there's a kind of elasticity that's almost...
0:24:16 > 0:24:19It makes it look like it's almost an unconscious thing.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22It's not a big preparation and off he soars,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24but it's just part of the phrase, part of the music.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Bournonville didn't just favour joint prominence of men and women,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32he created a completely unique style.
0:24:34 > 0:24:40Intricate feet, yet understated upper body movements.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50I can't believe they're all getting up to have sweets!
0:24:51 > 0:24:53A helping hand to keep going.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00The task of continuing the long tradition of the Bournonville style
0:25:00 > 0:25:02in the Royal Danish Ballet Company
0:25:02 > 0:25:06is now in the hands of the artistic director, Nikolaj Hubbe.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09From your back, yes?
0:25:09 > 0:25:10Could you just say
0:25:10 > 0:25:14what the characteristics are of the Bournonville style?
0:25:14 > 0:25:17- A big question.- I know, sorry!
0:25:17 > 0:25:25It really is the epitome of the height of romanticism in ballet.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30He grew up in Denmark and I think the modesty,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33the small world of Copenhagen at that time,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36I think, influenced him greatly.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40You kind of have it in Danish architecture, in Danish furniture.
0:25:40 > 0:25:46This kind of very understated, nice, proper, beautiful use of material,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49but not ostentatious at all.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53Everything is rounder and more intimate.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Hence, let's say you go tendu front croise.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02Now, let's do it like you were in the Bolshoi.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06- It would be grander. - It would be bigger.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08Maybe you would even be like that.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Showy and open.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15And Bournonville would be like...
0:26:15 > 0:26:17that.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22And you can see the difference in how one is...
0:26:22 > 0:26:24- You can even do that.- Yeah.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28But it's not that it's more contained or closed,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32- it's just much more soft and... - It's also softer, yes.- Yeah.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34- But it's more human.- Yeah, in a way.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36That's really nice. Yeah.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38You wouldn't go around like this, would you?
0:26:40 > 0:26:42What is significant about Bournonville
0:26:42 > 0:26:44is that he was a very good dancer himself.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Do you think, because he was such a good dancer,
0:26:46 > 0:26:50he gave the male dancer such good roles in his ballets?
0:26:50 > 0:26:54He, of course, promoted his own career on stage, but I also believe
0:26:54 > 0:27:02that his technique was so well designed for the male dancer.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05If you can hack it, it really shows the dancer off,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09but I think it's a little bit for the insider because it isn't flashy.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Some people call him a dancer's choreographer, if you want.
0:27:16 > 0:27:21Despite centuries of tradition, it wasn't until the 1950s
0:27:21 > 0:27:25that the world saw Denmark's first male ballet star.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31His name was Erik Bruhn.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39After a critically acclaimed American debut in 1955,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43he became an international ambassador for the Bournonville tradition
0:27:43 > 0:27:47and Danish Ballet across North America and Europe.
0:27:48 > 0:27:53Erik was the first great international male dancer
0:27:53 > 0:27:57after probably Nijinsky.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02It's as if he made male dancing more intelligent.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05He was more articulate, he was more poetic.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09The line of the body, the precision, the elegance.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11He took male dancing a huge step forward.
0:28:15 > 0:28:16He had great physical beauty.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19The kind of blonde, beautiful, Nordic beauty
0:28:19 > 0:28:22that reads so wonderfully on stage.
0:28:22 > 0:28:23And audiences loved him.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33Bruhn's international success paved the way
0:28:33 > 0:28:38for a second truly great Danish dancer to enter the world stage.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43There's a lot going on in this park today. We have martial arts,
0:28:43 > 0:28:45there's a bit of tennis over there...
0:28:47 > 0:28:51..and a fitness instructor over there working somebody very hard.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53And, I think, round here...
0:28:53 > 0:28:56we might have a bit of classical ballet.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59How unusual in the middle of London!
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Everything nice and smooth, soft on the legs. Yeah?
0:29:02 > 0:29:06Peter Schaufuss is part of a dancing dynasty.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10His parents were Royal Danish Ballet stars
0:29:10 > 0:29:13and he became a star in Russia, America and in London
0:29:13 > 0:29:17where he now meets to train with his son, Luke,
0:29:17 > 0:29:20who has followed in the family footsteps.
0:29:20 > 0:29:21- Hi.- Hi!
0:29:21 > 0:29:24Sorry to interrupt. I'm actually really jealous.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27I have to say, coming to meet you in the middle of a park,
0:29:27 > 0:29:29I thought would be really weird, you doing your exercises
0:29:29 > 0:29:33or working on classical steps. But I'm really envious
0:29:33 > 0:29:36because to have your father coming to a space like this,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39not in a studio with mirrors all around you, it's lovely.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42We work on other things which you couldn't in the studio.
0:29:42 > 0:29:48- No, of course.- We work on strength, flexibility, speed, space.- Yes.
0:29:48 > 0:29:49I am really envious.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51I wish I had a bit of that when I was dancing.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54Well, we're here tomorrow at nine o'clock. Come tomorrow and join us.
0:29:54 > 0:29:55I think you'd kill me!
0:29:55 > 0:29:57LAUGHTER
0:29:57 > 0:29:59I was watching. I don't think I could do any of that now.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05In the 1970s, audiences had become accustomed to bravura performances
0:30:05 > 0:30:07from male ballet dancers.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11But Peter Schaufuss added another dimension to these movements.
0:30:11 > 0:30:12Jumps and turns,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15which thanks to the purity of Bournonville training,
0:30:15 > 0:30:20were delivered with extraordinary control and Danish cleanliness.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22In Denmark, you have a direct link,
0:30:22 > 0:30:24which you might not have in many other places.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28- Now Bournonville taught his star pupil, Hans Beck.- Yes.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Hans Beck taught a teacher called Hans Brenaa,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34- and Hans Brenaa taught me.- Yes.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36- So, it's a wonderful... Yeah. - And I taught Luke.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39So, you're only four people away from Bournonville.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42So, what roles have you actually shared together?
0:30:42 > 0:30:45Well, Romeo in Ashton's Romeo And Juliet.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48- And of course, there's a family history...- Yes.
0:30:48 > 0:30:53- ..for that, that my mother was Ashton's original Juliet. - SHE GASPS
0:30:53 > 0:30:58- That's wonderful. - And Luke's grandfather, my father, was the original Mercutio.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01And we also shared, er, La Sylphide.
0:31:01 > 0:31:07For me, it's incredibly special to see that your father was
0:31:07 > 0:31:11a great Bournonville dancer. Your grandfather, now your father.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15Do you sometimes think that maybe you would be a different dancer
0:31:15 > 0:31:17if you didn't have that pressure?
0:31:17 > 0:31:19THEY LAUGH
0:31:19 > 0:31:24Well, you know, when I was younger, I remember thinking to myself,
0:31:24 > 0:31:26"Ah, you know, I just wish that, er,
0:31:26 > 0:31:31- "I had parents that were just like everyone else's parents."- Mm.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33But today, I'm very grateful
0:31:33 > 0:31:38because I think I have been presented with a great opportunity.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40- Erm...- That's lovely.- Yeah!
0:31:40 > 0:31:45You're being scrutinised because a lot is expected from you
0:31:45 > 0:31:50because of your name. So, you know, good luck!
0:31:50 > 0:31:54- Thank you.- Thanks, Dad! - Na-na, na-na, na!
0:31:54 > 0:31:59My daughter wants to dance. That's what worries me! And she's only 11.
0:31:59 > 0:32:00Is she talented?
0:32:00 > 0:32:03Um, she has all the facility, nice feet, nice legs, you know.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05Let her dance. Because she has the possibility.
0:32:05 > 0:32:10I know, but if she goes to The Royal Ballet School, there's a studio named after her mother, you know?
0:32:10 > 0:32:12- It's a bit difficult. - You survive.- You think?
0:32:12 > 0:32:15- He survived.- Honestly. - He survived! He survived!
0:32:15 > 0:32:19- It's OK.- It's OK? - It's OK, yes, it's OK.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24Thanks to the success of Peter Schaufuss and Erik Bruhn,
0:32:24 > 0:32:28the Bournonville tradition and the elegance and equality of its men
0:32:28 > 0:32:33made a dignified and important impact on 1960s and '70s ballet.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46Bournonville coexisted alongside the flash and brilliance
0:32:46 > 0:32:48of bravura Russian noise.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53Both styles were admired and embraced.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59But appreciation and mutual respect also led two of these stars
0:32:59 > 0:33:01into an intense and long relationship.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07I think it was a... The Clash of the Titans!
0:33:10 > 0:33:12Talent is attracted to talent.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17And I think also, of course, they both had huge egos, no doubt.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22Nureyev knew all about Bruhn in Leningrad
0:33:22 > 0:33:25because he'd seen photographs of him in The Dancing Times.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27And he saw exactly the kind of
0:33:27 > 0:33:30very long, lean silhouette that he wanted for himself.
0:33:33 > 0:33:38So, he went to Copenhagen and he found out where he lived.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40He rang the doorbell. Erik Bruhn opened the door
0:33:40 > 0:33:45and outside was Nureyev, with his suitcases. And he said,
0:33:45 > 0:33:47"You are Erik Bruhn, I want to dance like you."
0:33:49 > 0:33:53For me, he's a tremendous actor. A tremendous dancer.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55Tremendous creator.
0:33:55 > 0:34:00And I think I never met, never seen any man on stage,
0:34:00 > 0:34:02so great, so inspiring.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Bruhn was definitely the love of Nureyev's life, without question.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10All through the years that people thought
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Nureyev was having an affair with Fonteyn,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15he was actually writing passionate, passionate love letters to Bruhn.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17And, you know, he called it a curse.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19And never wanted to love in that way again.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24There was a great rivalry between the two of them.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27If I were his age,
0:34:27 > 0:34:32I probably wouldn't be able to accept him being around.
0:34:32 > 0:34:38But I think their hunger for knowledge
0:34:38 > 0:34:42and the genuine interest in the art form, the technique,
0:34:42 > 0:34:46how to achieve more with the physicality,
0:34:46 > 0:34:49all that, that goes beyond ego.
0:34:49 > 0:34:55That was, I think, for both of them, some insatiable need.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58There's something very fitting
0:34:58 > 0:35:01about the meeting of fire and ice in this love affair.
0:35:01 > 0:35:07The revolutionary defector who embodied big and bold male ballet,
0:35:07 > 0:35:09alongside the international star,
0:35:09 > 0:35:14who epitomised the very definition of reserved classical style.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17While these two stars were destined to change
0:35:17 > 0:35:20the visibility of ballet men in Europe,
0:35:20 > 0:35:23on the other side of the Atlantic, in the late '50s,
0:35:23 > 0:35:26a dancer had emerged whose presence on stage
0:35:26 > 0:35:29was a visible challenge to something far bigger.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31DISTANT SIRENS WAIL
0:35:31 > 0:35:35In the 1950s, ballet in America was relishing
0:35:35 > 0:35:39the work of the visionary choreographer, George Balanchine.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44He had established the New York City Ballet,
0:35:44 > 0:35:47which had enjoyed great success for a decade,
0:35:47 > 0:35:52before the moment came that he made a controversial casting decision.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55Though the struggle towards equality was gaining momentum,
0:35:55 > 0:36:00America was yet to undo the vile wrongs of racial segregation.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03And against this backdrop, a young ballet dancer prepared
0:36:03 > 0:36:06to make his debut for Balanchine's company.
0:36:06 > 0:36:12He was the first black classical ballet dancer.
0:36:12 > 0:36:18And, in America, was just when American ballet was taking off.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20He was part of that.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28- Arthur! Hello! Thank you so much! - Hi! how are you? I feel that I...
0:36:29 > 0:36:31I do feel like I know you, but I don't, obviously.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34I know lots of people say that to you. I'm sorry, I'm very excited.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37- No, I feel that I know YOU! - Aw! Come in, come in!
0:36:42 > 0:36:45How and why did you start classical ballet?
0:36:45 > 0:36:48Racism was very high at that time.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52I would go to auditions and I would think I was very good.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55And they wouldn't take me.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58And I said, "What can I do that would make me so good?"
0:36:58 > 0:37:01Cos I could do jazz, I could do tap,
0:37:01 > 0:37:03I could to modern, I could do African.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06And I figured that if I took the classical ballet,
0:37:06 > 0:37:08that would make me unique.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11And I said to Mr Balanchine,
0:37:11 > 0:37:14"I want to do this, but there's a caveat."
0:37:14 > 0:37:18There's no publicity - "Negro breaks barrier."
0:37:18 > 0:37:23Opening night, the audience went berserk.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26And someone said, "My God, they got a..."
0:37:26 > 0:37:29SHE LAUGHS
0:37:29 > 0:37:31I thought, "Oh, God, I have to deal with this now."
0:37:31 > 0:37:34But then there was this thing in the audience,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37so people, "Be quiet! "Oh, he's very good, da-da, da-da..."
0:37:37 > 0:37:39And by the end I got a standing ovation.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43Did you appreciate that you were changing people's perceptions?
0:37:43 > 0:37:46Yes. Well, because, you know, it was interesting
0:37:46 > 0:37:48because when I was dancing,
0:37:48 > 0:37:52I wasn't dancing for myself, I was dancing for my people.
0:37:52 > 0:37:58- Mm-hm.- So that responsibility was on my shoulder.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00It meant an awful lot that I HAD to be good,
0:38:00 > 0:38:02I HAD to be one of the best.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06And we'd go to the South and we would do a television show
0:38:06 > 0:38:09and they would say, "Oh, there's a black kid in there."
0:38:09 > 0:38:12And Balanchine said, "If Mitchell doesn't dance, we don't dance."
0:38:12 > 0:38:16- And when he did Agon, oh, my, can you imagine?- The audiences...
0:38:16 > 0:38:19- 1957!- Yeah.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32To put ME with a Caucasian woman - and Diana Adams is very pale.
0:38:32 > 0:38:37But it's also very sexual as well, isn't it? It's very suggestive.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41- Well, you know, it became a sexual pas de deux.- It became one!
0:38:41 > 0:38:45But, you know, it's like, I would go...
0:38:45 > 0:38:48- But you did, the stroking... - Right.
0:38:48 > 0:38:53- All those details.- The skin tone was part... See, if you do this...
0:38:53 > 0:38:55- Everything was crossed, Yes, exactly.- Right!
0:38:55 > 0:38:58And choreography, part of it was the skin tone.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01But it was everything because you were virtually wrapping yourselves.
0:39:01 > 0:39:06What I notice is that constant, it's like that pull, tug and pull.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Feeling the weight of the dancer.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15And then, see, I've got long arms.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19Ah, you know, and it's really interesting because it doesn't work
0:39:19 > 0:39:23if you don't have a guy with long arms. And it's really frustrating!
0:39:23 > 0:39:27- Because all that stretching across... - Exactly right.- And balancing.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29So, that's so funny you say that.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33And that elasticity gave the piece a wonderful project.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38This was a ballet that I performed.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41And it was one of my most favourite roles ever, Balanchine.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45That's why it's such a thrill to meet you. Because it was created on you.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48- I want to thank you so much. - My pleasure.- That's really great.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51- No, it's a pleasure meeting you, sweetheart.- For a long time.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54I feel like I should have met you 20 years ago. But there we go.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56- We'd have been good together! - Oh, my God!
0:39:56 > 0:39:59If I had been in your time...
0:39:59 > 0:40:01I would have been very happy.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06Arthur's contribution to ballet history is immense.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09He rose to the top but also shifted mindsets
0:40:09 > 0:40:11and broke barriers at a vital moment.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Since then, around the world,
0:40:15 > 0:40:19the increasing accessibility of ballet has changed lives.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22And there's no greater living proof of that than the story of a man
0:40:22 > 0:40:26who has travelled a lifetime, from childhood poverty
0:40:26 > 0:40:30and hardship in the back streets of Havana, Cuba.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40Carlos Acosta's passage to global fame began in the early 1990s,
0:40:40 > 0:40:43while he was just a teenager.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46After he joined the Royal Ballet at the age of 25,
0:40:46 > 0:40:48he and I danced together many times.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50And ultimately,
0:40:50 > 0:40:54he was also the perfect partner for my final performance.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00So, we're waiting for Carlos. He's had a full day of rehearsing.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02Really tough schedule at the moment,
0:41:02 > 0:41:05because he's producing and choreographing
0:41:05 > 0:41:09and performing in his swansong for the Royal Ballet, Carmen.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11Ah, here he is!
0:41:11 > 0:41:14- Here's the man.- Mmm! - I've been waiting!
0:41:14 > 0:41:17- SHE LAUGHS - How are you?
0:41:17 > 0:41:18Very well.
0:41:18 > 0:41:19Oh!
0:41:21 > 0:41:22You were first known very much
0:41:22 > 0:41:26- as a street dancer in Cuba, isn't that right?- That's right.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29That's right. I began break dancing in the '80s.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33- I love it! - And that's where I end up.
0:41:33 > 0:41:38Of course, being in Cuba, dance is pretty much part of our culture.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40The discipline of classical ballet,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44going into that genre of dance, for you,
0:41:44 > 0:41:46did you feel restricted sometimes?
0:41:46 > 0:41:49Because you came from so many other strengths?
0:41:49 > 0:41:55Ballet meant, for me, it meant free meals and it meant, as well,
0:41:55 > 0:42:01- going...take me away from my rough area into the city centre.- OK.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03So, that can't be bad. Er, that's one thing.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06But of course it was very restrictive.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10And for a nine-year-old boy kid, going back to a Barrio bar
0:42:10 > 0:42:11and just do all this tedious movement,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14you know, I wasn't feeling it.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17- But once you get past that...- Yeah.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20And then you see the repertoire and you see the professionals
0:42:20 > 0:42:21and the wonderful music.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23And then you realise that this was going to be you
0:42:23 > 0:42:26in a few years' time. And I think it took me a while.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29But once I get it, and then it all makes sense.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32Did you know straight away what your strength was? Was it the jump?
0:42:32 > 0:42:33Was at the turns? What was it?
0:42:33 > 0:42:37I become known for somebody who could leap and could turn
0:42:37 > 0:42:40- and could do the tricks. - So, out of all the roles...- Mm...
0:42:40 > 0:42:43..which role, obviously, is your favourite,
0:42:43 > 0:42:47but which do you think defined you as an artist?
0:42:47 > 0:42:51Well, that's a tough one! Er, I don't know.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53Don Quixote is the role that I have done the most.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58You know, I won the competitions,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01then I ended up choreographing for the Royal Ballet and so on.
0:43:01 > 0:43:02So, it's something that is very close.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06But at the same time, I connected more.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09Because it is closer to my roots.
0:43:11 > 0:43:17The roles that I had to project a portrayal of a prince or royalty,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20- I had no clue. You know, because... - I think you were a great prince!
0:43:20 > 0:43:23- What are you talking about? - Well, from Cuba, you know, I mean,
0:43:23 > 0:43:27what is a prince supposed to look like? Or behave like? You know?
0:43:27 > 0:43:30And so, for me, it was like, "Wow, be a prince?
0:43:30 > 0:43:34"How do I do that?" I like things that are more physical and...
0:43:34 > 0:43:37- You're quite earthy as well. - ..and complex, you know
0:43:37 > 0:43:40and sometimes acrobatic and...
0:43:40 > 0:43:43But I try to... Also emotion is important to me.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48Carlos had a rare wow factor - he had fiery sex appeal
0:43:48 > 0:43:51and incredible technical ability.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53But what really impressed
0:43:53 > 0:43:56was his extraordinary athleticism and strength.
0:43:56 > 0:44:01London audiences had rarely seen such physicality in male ballet before.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07- JUDITH MACKREL:- There are some male dancers who are great athletes,
0:44:07 > 0:44:09where you're just seeing the athleticism,
0:44:09 > 0:44:11you're just seeing the ego.
0:44:13 > 0:44:14Whereas, with Carlos,
0:44:14 > 0:44:19he did bring to the English stage a very exotic presence.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22Both as this great male virtuoso, but also,
0:44:22 > 0:44:26just with that sort of heat and fireworks of Cuba about him.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29You are in your last year as a dancer.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33Is there anything you didn't do that you wish you had?
0:44:33 > 0:44:37I don't have any regrets. I think I've had a lot of fun.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41I think that because the career that I've been able to make,
0:44:41 > 0:44:43- I gave my family a great life. - Mm-hm.
0:44:43 > 0:44:48All I feel is gratitude for all the...everybody who are helping me.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53- And also, I just go with a lot of love, no regrets.- A lot of love.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56- And you can still spin on your head, can't you?- No, no way!
0:44:56 > 0:44:59I'd kill myself! On my back a little bit,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01- but I don't know... - Not on your head.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06With Carlos, men completed a century-long transition.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11Audiences had seen male ballet reimagined by Nijinsky,
0:45:11 > 0:45:15revolutionised by Russian superstars
0:45:15 > 0:45:19and perfectly performed by classical virtuosos.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21Yet somehow, in Carlos, all of this came together.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27Individuality, athleticism and technique.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33You'd be forgiven for thinking male ballet could not evolve
0:45:33 > 0:45:35any further in the 21st century.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42But in 2006, a new choreographer from a contemporary dance background
0:45:42 > 0:45:46arrived at the Royal Ballet and began to blend classical and modern styles.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51PIANO PLAYS SOFTLY
0:45:52 > 0:45:54In the hands of choreographer Wayne McGregor,
0:45:54 > 0:45:58company principal Edward Watson has become one of the most
0:45:58 > 0:46:02radically different dancers the Royal Ballet has ever seen.
0:46:02 > 0:46:07So, this is brand-new. They haven't even started working...
0:46:07 > 0:46:09- Ooh! - Come from here.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13His ability to distort his body into extraordinary shapes,
0:46:13 > 0:46:17whilst retaining a classical line, is unsurpassed in the ballet world.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25There's something about the length of his limbs.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28He's got very unusual flexibility, especially in a guy.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31And there's something very kind of human
0:46:31 > 0:46:34and kind of quite vulnerable about his physicality.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38PIANO PLAYS SOFTLY
0:46:50 > 0:46:54- What's up, world premier? Very good! Very nice.- Agh!
0:46:54 > 0:46:57- How do you remember all that? - There we go, that's a phrase.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59That's very impressive!
0:47:01 > 0:47:06I think you changed the audience's view of a classical male dancer.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10You've kind of set the male principal in a different bracket now.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14Your body is able to do what often the women could do as well.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17Often, when working with a new choreographer,
0:47:17 > 0:47:20you'll be in a room and they'll start with a phrase of movement
0:47:20 > 0:47:23that everyone does, men and women. You all learn the movement.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26So, you all find the way it works and move in a similar way.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30And I think that's become, you know, a way quite a few people work.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33- It doesn't matter any more, does it? - I don't think about it any more.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36I just think, "Oh, we've all got to move, so let's do it."
0:47:36 > 0:47:41I remember I felt that actually, I had to compete! HE LAUGHS
0:47:41 > 0:47:43Well, that's what I was feeling!
0:47:43 > 0:47:47But it was that wonderful element where you could do exactly what
0:47:47 > 0:47:50I could do, but then I had to be as strong as you as well, so it was
0:47:50 > 0:47:53really hard, I mean, it was great, it was a great challenge for me.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57- Oh, me too! I did find it quite hard, where I fit in.- Yes.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59I felt like I didn't fit in for a long time.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02- And then I realised that I didn't have to.- Is it confidence?
0:48:02 > 0:48:03- Finding that confidence.- It is.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05And knowing that you can and it's OK.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09- You can, you know...- Be weird. HE LAUGHS
0:48:09 > 0:48:13I wasn't trying to be different or reinvent what the British style was.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15I was actually trying to do it properly.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17- But it just never came out. - I don't...
0:48:17 > 0:48:20No, it's true, I tried really hard to do as I was told
0:48:20 > 0:48:22and do how I thought it should be,
0:48:22 > 0:48:24but it didn't always come out like that.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28It's a very different way of looking at what the male dancer is.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30- Yeah, I think... - Especially in British ballet.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34Especially in the last ten years, it's changed a lot.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38You know, what's being asked of us. What's being expected. You know?
0:48:38 > 0:48:42And people are ready also to see anything, to be surprised.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48Just as McGregor and Watson play with the traditional roles
0:48:48 > 0:48:51of male and female, contemporary and classical...
0:48:53 > 0:48:56..the moulding of styles and genders have also led to one of the world's
0:48:56 > 0:49:01most high-profile, mainstream, new representations of male ballet.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07It all began with a radical reinterpretation of a ballet classic.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12This production redefined the public's view of the male dancer.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16It really ruffled some feathers.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20MUSIC: Dance Of The Little Swans, Swan Lake
0:49:22 > 0:49:27- To be there in 1995 was just brilliant.- It can be that, you know.
0:49:27 > 0:49:29- I cried watching your ballet. - Did you?- I did.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32Well, does the music do it? It's the music, isn't it?
0:49:32 > 0:49:35No, no, no! It was very much about how you represented the characters.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37- Oh, well, that's great.- The feeling.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40I mean, at the very end, it was just, like, heartbreaking.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42I almost had tears running down my eyes.
0:49:44 > 0:49:49MUSIC: Dances Of The Swans, Swan Lake
0:49:52 > 0:49:54- When you were coming up with the idea...- Mm.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58Your influences for this role, I mean, obviously,
0:49:58 > 0:50:00- you enjoyed the classical ballet itself.- Yes.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04Did you notice the change that the male dancer was going through?
0:50:05 > 0:50:07I think at the time of making it,
0:50:07 > 0:50:10I was very conscious of wanting to make strong roles for men.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14I felt that in the classics in particular,
0:50:14 > 0:50:16- they didn't get a very good look in. - No, they don't.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20It wasn't all about showing the masculinity and strength of the male dancer.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22I wanted to show that they can be many things.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25So, within that story, you get a different...
0:50:25 > 0:50:27you get different aspects of men.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32So, you can show different sides of male dancing as well.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36The lyricism and the beauty, as well as adding in those...
0:50:36 > 0:50:39the stronger moments. And also, the more ungainly kind of movement.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42One of the big influences on the movement of the piece
0:50:42 > 0:50:46originally, I used the pictures of Nijinsky. Which I had always loved.
0:50:46 > 0:50:50- Photographs of Nijinsky. - Here we have him on the wall.
0:50:50 > 0:50:55- Well, there's the classic swan position.- There it is! Yes. Exactly.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58- We do that all the time.- That is it. And that's where that came from.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00When you talk about the costume
0:51:00 > 0:51:03and how you wanted them to look and, you know, how that...
0:51:03 > 0:51:09- The now famous fluffy pantaloons. - Can we get them out?
0:51:09 > 0:51:13- Yes, there's some here. - Is that all right?- Just there.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15- I got it out of the archives to show you. - HE LAUGHS
0:51:15 > 0:51:19- Well, this does feel a little bit like a fluffy sheep.- Yeah.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22From a visual effect, when you're watching,
0:51:22 > 0:51:25they did actually look slightly like feathers.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27But just slightly coarser and harder.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30The next day in the newspapers were pictures of Adam
0:51:30 > 0:51:33- alongside Margot Fonteyn, in the swan costumes.- Brilliant.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35You know, like, the new swan.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37It was the swan, the image of that swan
0:51:37 > 0:51:39that captured the imagination of the public.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42I feel we played a part in that, with the male swans now.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46It's an ambition for a lot of young men to want to be in this show.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49- Because your show was in the actual film.- It was in the film, yeah.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52Can you tell Billy Elliot that his family's here? (OK.)
0:51:54 > 0:51:57That was great for us because it made us known
0:51:57 > 0:51:58internationally a little bit as well.
0:51:58 > 0:52:00ORCHESTRAL MUSIC SWELLS
0:52:04 > 0:52:08The release of Billy Elliot in the year 2000 had an unexpected,
0:52:08 > 0:52:12yet tangible impact on the future of male ballet.
0:52:14 > 0:52:16For the first time in its history,
0:52:16 > 0:52:20The Royal Ballet School admitted more boys than girls.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23New male ballet stars have credited the movie
0:52:23 > 0:52:26as a key influence on their choice of career.
0:52:26 > 0:52:31And, internationally, a stage musical keeps the legacy alive.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35What you've influenced, by doing a film like this,
0:52:35 > 0:52:40and then obviously the musical, is that you've given boys the power
0:52:40 > 0:52:42and strength that ballet also gives.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46You changed boys' lives, thinking that this is acceptable.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48That's what Billy Elliot's done.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50- Well, I don't...- You have! No, I'm so sorry.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52- I wouldn't put it THAT far! - You really have!
0:52:52 > 0:52:55Why did the classical ballet have to come into it?
0:52:55 > 0:52:58I think it was the classical ballet because he, in the end,
0:52:58 > 0:53:00had a dream of going to somewhere
0:53:00 > 0:53:03so different from where his background was.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06- That it was so extreme...- OK. - ..the cultural difference.
0:53:06 > 0:53:10And indeed there was going to be an automatic prejudice against it,
0:53:10 > 0:53:14that it felt, that was going to be more interesting to explore.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16What's the amazing thing, I've always felt, about being
0:53:16 > 0:53:21backstage in the ballet, is that you watch this incredible beauty
0:53:21 > 0:53:24and physical gesturing, I mean, it's so...
0:53:24 > 0:53:27And then, if you're in the wings, and people come off and go, "Eugh!"
0:53:27 > 0:53:30As if, literally, they've just climbed Everest!
0:53:30 > 0:53:32You know what I mean? They're just so...
0:53:32 > 0:53:34Then they pick themselves back up and go back on.
0:53:35 > 0:53:41Superstars, swans and movies. Male ballet has rarely been more popular.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43And its leading men are enjoying
0:53:43 > 0:53:46creating and performing a diverse repertoire.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49But what direction will male ballet now take?
0:53:49 > 0:53:54A glimpse of the future can be found in two rising stars,
0:53:54 > 0:53:56dancing extremely different styles.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03Eric Underwood came to London from Washington DC.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05He trained with Arthur Mitchell
0:54:05 > 0:54:08and is now an acclaimed soloist at the Royal Ballet.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15In a telling sign for male ballet's popularity,
0:54:15 > 0:54:18he is also a successful model.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22Do you feel you're part of a new male generation?
0:54:22 > 0:54:24I think things are evolving, things are changing.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27I think ballet's become a lot more relevant
0:54:27 > 0:54:31- and more appealing to people that might be into pop culture.- Mm-hm.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33Because now they're seeing things they can relate to,
0:54:33 > 0:54:35hearing music they can relate to.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38I think if, you know, you get a seven-year-old child
0:54:38 > 0:54:41and you show them something that happened in the '60s, a ballet,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44I just think it's too... it's too far. It's too far.
0:54:44 > 0:54:46But if they see something that Wayne's created
0:54:46 > 0:54:50- to contemporary music, by, say, The White Stripes...- They get it.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52- They love it! Yeah. - SHE LAUGHS
0:54:52 > 0:54:57- But tradition in ballet... - Yes.- Do you think that's a negative?
0:54:57 > 0:54:59I don't think it's a negative. I think tradition's great.
0:54:59 > 0:55:04But I also think that, er, we don't want to be dated in, sort of,
0:55:04 > 0:55:07holding on to tradition. It can date us.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10- I think it's important to move forward with the times.- Mm-hm.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14While Eric presents a welcome new aspect of male ballet,
0:55:14 > 0:55:18can the traditions of classical ballet styles retain their appeal?
0:55:18 > 0:55:22The rise of a second young male star is reassuring.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25Alban Lendorf, from Denmark,
0:55:25 > 0:55:28recently joined the American Ballet Theatre as a principle.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35A prodigy of Nikolaj Hubber and trained in the Bournonville style,
0:55:35 > 0:55:38Alban is a champion of continuity and tradition.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45Did you find, coming from your Bournonville style,
0:55:45 > 0:55:49and it not being the showman of the dance world,
0:55:49 > 0:55:53that you had to change that, if you know what I mean?
0:55:53 > 0:55:57- Yeah, yeah, exactly. Here, they expect you to...- Do the tricks.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00..finish it and, like, own it more.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04Why do you think now, at this particular time,
0:56:04 > 0:56:09that the male classical ballet dancer is suddenly incredibly fashionable?
0:56:09 > 0:56:11When you're on stage,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14you have to accept the fact that sometimes we are being judged.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18- You can't just dance well and please everyone.- Yeah.
0:56:18 > 0:56:24Masculinity also can have sensitivity, poetry, lyricism...
0:56:24 > 0:56:28But it has to... it has to stem from...
0:56:30 > 0:56:32..the male sex.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35It's always been the female and, you know, objectified,
0:56:35 > 0:56:39- all that stuff.- Yeah. Lust. SHE LAUGHS
0:56:39 > 0:56:43I think maybe now, it's happening for the men as well.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46A male dancer, I think, is extremely sexual.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50- I mean, we're wearing white tights and...- It's very physical.- Yeah.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55If there is one thing to be drawn from the last 100 years
0:56:55 > 0:57:00of ballet history, it's that men have claimed centre stage.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03And thankfully, they are there to stay.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07They have also challenged and progressed the art form.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10And ballet is better for it.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13I don't think we're ever going to lose the appetite for that
0:57:13 > 0:57:19super-high level of virtuosity, to see those record-breaking jumps,
0:57:19 > 0:57:21you know, to almost be counting along,
0:57:21 > 0:57:23how many pirouettes can this man do?
0:57:23 > 0:57:26I mean, that is one of the great thrills of ballet.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29- EDWARD WATSON:- The rules are always there
0:57:29 > 0:57:31but there are now other rules as well.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34People are making new rules at the same time as really honouring
0:57:34 > 0:57:36the rules of classical ballet as well.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39So, I think it's kind of a positive thing
0:57:39 > 0:57:42that those two things can be used to say something new.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47You mustn't forget, it's not just training, it's who they are as people.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50That's what makes people up there special.
0:57:50 > 0:57:52We're all taught the same steps.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54But we do them in different ways
0:57:54 > 0:57:56because our own personality comes across.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02Where we are with male dancing now, in an odd way,
0:58:02 > 0:58:07is slightly where we were at the beginning of the 20th century,
0:58:07 > 0:58:11with a dancer like Nijinsky, who was breaking the mould
0:58:11 > 0:58:16of those classical princes, and was really pushing the box.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22MUSIC: Waltz Of The Flowers, The Nutcracker