0:00:02 > 0:00:03Hello, I'm Darcey Bussell.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11As a little girl, I thought ballet would just aid my gymnastics and
0:00:11 > 0:00:14my swimming, which were my real passions.
0:00:16 > 0:00:17But then ballet took over.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24During my training, I was told I was too tall, too energetic.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26One teacher even told me to give up.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28But I can be very stubborn.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Ballet dancers are seen as this kind of like alien thing.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47You know, we're not really normal people at all.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49MUSIC PLAYS
0:01:25 > 0:01:29Tomorrow, five people will be flying to Switzerland to represent Britain
0:01:29 > 0:01:33in the Prix de Lausanne, one of the toughest international competitions.
0:01:33 > 0:01:34But it's not for a sport.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37It's for something even more strenuous - ballet.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Darcey Bussell is 16.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Now, your modern piece is very unusual. Can you describe it?
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Well, I'm speaking in it.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48- It's an awful shock. - So there's no music?
0:01:48 > 0:01:51- No music.- Did you find it unnerving to actually work to that?
0:01:51 > 0:01:54- Yes, it is, actually.- It's a very striking piece, though, good luck.
0:01:56 > 0:01:57I am a dancer.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00I believe that we learn by practice.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Whether it means to learn to dance by practising dancing,
0:02:04 > 0:02:06or to learn to live by practising living.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14MUSIC PLAYS
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Hello! That was the newest star of the Royal Ballet.
0:02:45 > 0:02:46Her name is Darcey Bussell.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49She's already a principal dancer at the age of 21.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52And her rapid rise to fame is just like one of the fairy tales she dances.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Her new ballet has been choreographed especially for her by
0:02:56 > 0:02:58one of the great choreographers, Sir Kenneth MacMillan.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Critics describe her as the dancer of the decade,
0:03:02 > 0:03:06the new Margot Fonteyn, a new princess and a brand-new star.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10Well, here's Darcey as the Princess Rose dancing a solo
0:03:10 > 0:03:12from Act One in the ballet that was created for her,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14The Prince of the Pagodas.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19MUSIC PLAYS
0:04:52 > 0:04:55I used to just do it with my friends,
0:04:55 > 0:04:57we used to just go every Saturday, doing class and stuff.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59I went to a stage school when I was about 11,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02and it was kind of a trend to try for the Royal Ballet School.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Everybody tried for the Royal Ballet School.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08I enjoyed it more than my friends did.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11They kind of stopped doing it and I carried on.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16The Prince of the Pagodas is a full-length ballet to music by
0:05:16 > 0:05:18Benjamin Britten.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20The leading roles of the Prince of the Pagodas and
0:05:20 > 0:05:23the Princess Rose are danced by Jonathan Cope and Darcey Bussell.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27MUSIC PLAYS
0:05:47 > 0:05:50I think she's a wonderful young dancer.
0:05:50 > 0:05:51She's going to go places.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57She's not in the mould of the usual Royal Ballet dancers.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02A, because she's tall and always in the past the leading dancers of the
0:06:02 > 0:06:05company have been rather petite and small.
0:06:07 > 0:06:13She has an attack which is very refreshing, unlike English dancers,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16and it reminds me of American dancers.
0:06:17 > 0:06:18She has an enormous jump,
0:06:18 > 0:06:23which is unusual for an English female dancer to have.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27She has a complete innocence and radiance.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29I just wanted to impress Kenneth so badly,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31because I realised he was this major guy.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36And the nice thing is he really liked me and I didn't know that
0:06:36 > 0:06:38because he never showed anything in his face.
0:06:38 > 0:06:39He was very scary.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41He used to sit there and go like this.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Really grumpy. And it was really weird.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46And you'd kind of go, "Do you think he liked it?
0:06:46 > 0:06:48"Do you think I did the right thing?"
0:06:48 > 0:06:51MUSIC PLAYS
0:08:05 > 0:08:08First night, after the show, the curtain went down,
0:08:08 > 0:08:10it was a big success, we had a great audience.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12And the director, Sir Anthony Dowell,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16came up to me while we were still on stage, and I was still in shock,
0:08:16 > 0:08:17going, "We've done the first night."
0:08:17 > 0:08:20And he goes, "I'm going to make you a principal."
0:08:20 > 0:08:21I was just like...
0:08:21 > 0:08:25You know, I was just like... And I think I said to him,
0:08:25 > 0:08:26"Are you sure?"
0:08:26 > 0:08:29I want you to go over here.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32- Backwards.- And he stays where he is?
0:08:32 > 0:08:34Irek, you just have to go...
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Well, I think it's maybe that her youth.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41That grown-up child, that young woman who eventually will
0:08:41 > 0:08:45become the greatest ballerina in the ballet world.
0:08:45 > 0:08:46That's what amazed Kenneth,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49I presume it's what he's trying to pull out of Darcey.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54The point of Kenneth MacMillan's choreography, it's naturalism.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57So if we're talking about a kiss, so it has to be a natural kiss.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01It's not just with kissing air. It's really, we really do kiss.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04And really in the kiss, it comes whole passion.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06And he would kiss me in front of everyone
0:09:06 > 0:09:07and I'd be in a state of shock,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10like, "Are you going to do this every rehearsal?
0:09:10 > 0:09:12"You know, kiss me like this every rehearsal?
0:09:12 > 0:09:16"Can't we just leave it until the actual performances, or on stage?"
0:09:16 > 0:09:18To make sure she's believing me I do love her,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20I have to give her a proper kiss,
0:09:20 > 0:09:24so I gave her a proper kiss and I was shocked with that, as well.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26And Darcey was shocked with that, as well.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29But I think that's actually a very nice memory about it.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32MUSIC PLAYS
0:11:12 > 0:11:16Darcey Bussell, dancing Winter Dreams with Irek Mukhamedov.
0:11:16 > 0:11:17I said Mukhamedov.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Do people pronounce it all the same or do they pronounce it differently?
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Well, there's different views.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Gordon is ready for a little bit of a work-out with you, Darcey.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Because I know that you didn't particularly want to dance in the
0:11:28 > 0:11:30- studio this morning.- We're going to have a bit of stretching.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32If you wouldn't mind. Bit of stretching.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34Now, his legs, as you'll notice, he's got a dancer's legs.
0:11:34 > 0:11:39- Flexible.- Instant six o'clock position, there.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42- Touch that ear.- Some dancers work for years to get to that.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44- Let's go to the phones, first of all...- OK.- ..if we may, Darcey.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Let's go to line three, who's there?
0:11:47 > 0:11:48- Hello.- Hello, who's that?
0:11:48 > 0:11:50- Richard.- Richard, what's your question?
0:11:50 > 0:11:53How do you stop yourself from getting dizzy when you do the spins?
0:11:54 > 0:11:58- Good one.- Yeah, well, you spot on a spot,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01like when you're on stage or something, there's usually a light.
0:12:01 > 0:12:02And you leave your head.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06I mean, you have to demonstrate, I wish Gordon could.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09But you leave it there and you leave your eyes...
0:12:09 > 0:12:11If I hold your phone, why don't you do it?
0:12:11 > 0:12:14- Yeah.- I'll hold your phone.- If you're spotting on something like
0:12:14 > 0:12:18that, you leave your head to the last minute and whip it round at the
0:12:18 > 0:12:20last point. So you have to work on it.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22You have to work on it, Richard.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Good luck to you.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27MUSIC PLAYS
0:13:32 > 0:13:34Just dipping a little bit here, Miss Bussell...
0:13:36 > 0:13:38..before we warm up.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42And we're ready.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45I'd like to start at the barre, first, if possible.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50- At the bar?- Yeah.- Ah, Madame normally likes us to do it here.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52I don't think they're actually open for another half an hour.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55I'll see what we can do.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Erm, Madame, big problem.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00(She's a drinker.)
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Olga Khokhlova was a dancer in Diaghilev's company.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30He used to knock at the door of my hotel room.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33No, no, Monsieur Picasso, you cannot come in.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38He did not know that Russian girls, you have to marry.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42She asked too much of me.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44MUSIC PLAYS
0:17:09 > 0:17:13The dancer who's become the brightest star of British ballet,
0:17:13 > 0:17:15Darcey Bussell, was dancing last night at the world-famous
0:17:15 > 0:17:19Mariinsky Theatre in the home of the Kirov company.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22The invitation was a first for the member of the Royal Ballet.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Even Dame Margot Fonteyn was never accorded such an honour.
0:17:27 > 0:17:33I do think at an end of performance when I'm in my bath relaxing, that
0:17:33 > 0:17:37being a ballerina is probably one of the oddest ways of earning a
0:17:37 > 0:17:39living at the end of the 20th century.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06You have to have your feet fastened on the ground and being able to take
0:18:06 > 0:18:08a lot of criticism and everything,
0:18:08 > 0:18:11that you're going to be knocked around
0:18:11 > 0:18:13and told that this isn't good enough.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18My mother said that she did want to straighten up my legs because I had
0:18:18 > 0:18:19very knock knees.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24Most of the time, I'd be under the piano and my mum would come and get
0:18:24 > 0:18:27me and she'd go, "Hasn't she come out from underneath the piano?"
0:18:27 > 0:18:30And the teacher would go, "No, I haven't been able to get her out."
0:18:32 > 0:18:35You've got to be confident enough in yourself that you can push
0:18:35 > 0:18:38yourself and get better and keep improving.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48MUSIC PLAYS
0:19:12 > 0:19:16'They used to have these lovely glass windows where the stairs used
0:19:16 > 0:19:18'to go down towards the studio.
0:19:18 > 0:19:23'And I used to be devastated sometimes turning around and realising there
0:19:23 > 0:19:26'was quite a few students looking down at me, having a good laugh,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29'because they knew I couldn't do the exercises properly.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59'If you don't have that discipline behind you and the people pushing
0:19:59 > 0:20:02'you, you know, you'll have trouble.
0:20:04 > 0:20:10'It seemed hard at first but you had to become tough if you wanted to go
0:20:10 > 0:20:13'into a ballet career. And now being in a company, I realise that I'm so
0:20:13 > 0:20:16'glad I did those exercises.'
0:20:22 > 0:20:27You need that strength in yourself to cope with the work.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31If somebody isn't bullying you or making you strive, you won't achieve
0:20:31 > 0:20:34the goals you want. It's like an athlete, you know,
0:20:34 > 0:20:38if you want to be at the top, you have to train every day.
0:20:38 > 0:20:39And you have to train hard.
0:20:39 > 0:20:44And we can't be all pampered and, "Oh, yes, that was lovely, darling."
0:20:44 > 0:20:48You can't have that. Because then you wouldn't be strong enough to cope.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51You know, there's so many people that want the top.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53You know? And so they're all fighting.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56And if you don't have that strength, then you just won't make it.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10Tonight, we're doing Birthday Offering, and it's by Sir Frederick Ashton.
0:21:10 > 0:21:15And it was first done in the '50s and it's quite a stylised piece.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20I suppose it's quite romantic, as such, and a very English quality.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27I mean, I don't know what he wanted from the ballet.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30It always seems like the first entrance we make
0:21:30 > 0:21:36looks like a horse's parade, because we all go in those circles.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39And the step we do looks a bit like that, I always felt.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48This is definitely the principal ballerina role.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52It is the princess role, I suppose, because we have all the diamonds,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54all the diamantes,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57that lovely image of what a ballerina used to look like.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00And that lovely kind of Margot Fonteyn princess effect.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Everybody loves that romantic side of the ballet.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12And if you think, "Oh, they must be in love, you know,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15"there's some magic between them," audiences love that.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18MUSIC PLAYS
0:22:33 > 0:22:35APPLAUSE
0:22:39 > 0:22:43I'm honoured to welcome our greatest ballerina, star of the Royal Ballet,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45please welcome Darcey Bussell.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47APPLAUSE
0:23:02 > 0:23:06# Pres des remparts de Seville
0:23:06 > 0:23:10# Chez mon ami Lillas Pastia
0:23:10 > 0:23:13# J'irai danser la seguedille
0:23:13 > 0:23:17# Et boire du Manzanilla,
0:23:17 > 0:23:22# J'irai chez mon ami Lillas Pastia
0:23:27 > 0:23:29# Oui, mais toute seule on s'ennuie
0:23:29 > 0:23:34# Et les vrais plaisirs sont a deux, donc pour me tenir compagnie
0:23:34 > 0:23:37# J'ammenerai mon amoureux!
0:23:37 > 0:23:40# Mon amoureux!
0:23:40 > 0:23:43# Il est au diable!
0:23:43 > 0:23:45# Je l'ai mis a la porte hier!
0:23:45 > 0:23:50# Mon pauvre coeur, tres consolable
0:23:50 > 0:23:55# Mon coeur est libre comme l'air!
0:23:55 > 0:23:58# J'ai des galants a la douzaine
0:23:58 > 0:24:02# Mais ils ne sont pas a mon gre
0:24:02 > 0:24:06# Voici la fin de la semaine
0:24:06 > 0:24:10# Qui veut m'aimer?
0:24:10 > 0:24:14# Je l'aimerai!
0:24:14 > 0:24:19# Qui veut mon ame? Elle est a prendre!
0:24:19 > 0:24:23# Vous arrivez au bon moment!
0:24:23 > 0:24:26# Je n'ai guere le temps d'attendre
0:24:26 > 0:24:29# Car avec mon nouvel amant
0:24:29 > 0:24:34# Pres des remparts de Seville
0:24:34 > 0:24:38# Chez mon ami Lillas Pastia
0:24:38 > 0:24:40# J'irai danser la seguedille
0:24:40 > 0:24:44# Et boire du Manzanilla
0:24:44 > 0:24:48# Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
0:24:48 > 0:24:52# Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la- la-la-la! #
0:24:52 > 0:24:55CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Thank you so much. That was absolutely brilliant.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06Ladies and gentlemen, I should explain that this is a brand-new piece of
0:25:06 > 0:25:10choreography that Darcey learnt for us specially for the show tonight.
0:25:10 > 0:25:11It was amazing.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Now listen, I would have sung anything for you to dance to, anything.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Now why did you pick the seguidilla?
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Well, I've always been passionate about Carmen, and actually we don't
0:25:20 > 0:25:22actually have Carmen in our repertoire.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25- I didn't know that.- So this was a great chance to dance to it.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Well, Darcey, thank you again for coming and being a perfect Carmen.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30- Ladies and gentlemen, Darcey Bussell.- Thank you.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32APPLAUSE
0:25:32 > 0:25:36The Queen arrived at a Royal Opera House that's been transformed at a
0:25:36 > 0:25:41cost of £214 million, over a third of that from the National Lottery.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45There's a buzz in the air, everybody's excited, everybody's, you know,
0:25:45 > 0:25:50wanting to do their best because they've got a building that's one of
0:25:50 > 0:25:52the best opera houses in the world now.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00MUSIC PLAYS
0:32:52 > 0:32:54'I suppose, with my busy schedule,
0:32:54 > 0:32:56'to be able to go into the physio room and actually sit down and get
0:32:56 > 0:32:59'somebody to work on my ankle, or have a massage,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02'and somebody do my back, however tight or painful it might be,
0:33:02 > 0:33:04'it is actually time for me.'
0:33:04 > 0:33:09I'm a bit tight down the side, but it feels so much better.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13'But it is a lot of TLC and knowing that somebody's caring for you.'
0:33:13 > 0:33:16Don't look at my feet!
0:33:16 > 0:33:19- Flexing OK?- If your feet didn't do the right job, then you wouldn't be
0:33:19 > 0:33:21in the job.
0:33:21 > 0:33:22They are part of...
0:33:24 > 0:33:27Considering we're on point constantly.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29They are the ballerina's tool,
0:33:29 > 0:33:33as in everybody remembers the satin pointe shoes, don't they?
0:33:33 > 0:33:36Let's look at... Oh!
0:33:39 > 0:33:40OK, can't speak now.
0:33:42 > 0:33:43Oh!
0:33:43 > 0:33:46MUSIC PLAYS
0:34:16 > 0:34:18SHE LAUGHS
0:34:18 > 0:34:19I tried!
0:34:21 > 0:34:24'Welcome to the backstage of the Royal Opera House, where, tonight,
0:34:24 > 0:34:28'I'm going to dance the title role of Sylvia in this magical three-act
0:34:28 > 0:34:31'ballet choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36'Whilst the audience are settling down,
0:34:36 > 0:34:40'all of the dancers for the first act begin to gather on stage to
0:34:40 > 0:34:44'practise their steps and get the feel of the stage.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48'Everybody seems very calm, but we're all concentrating like mad to
0:34:48 > 0:34:51'get ourselves ready for the performance.'
0:34:51 > 0:34:53- STAGE MANAGER:- Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56this evening's performance of Sylvia is about to commence.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00This evening's performance of Sylvia is about to commence.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02APPLAUSE
0:35:02 > 0:35:06'On the other side of the curtain, we can hear the audience applauding
0:35:06 > 0:35:10'our conductor, Graham Bond, and the orchestra of the Royal Opera House.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14'There's a short overture and then we start.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17MUSIC PLAYS
0:35:29 > 0:35:31I can't do this.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37'My character, Sylvia, is a nymph of the hunting goddess Diana.
0:35:37 > 0:35:42'Like all Diana's attendants, she has sworn to renounce love,
0:35:42 > 0:35:45'but the next hour and a half will change her life.'
0:35:50 > 0:35:52MUSIC PLAYS
0:36:20 > 0:36:25'Act One is so exhausting, you feel you hardly have time to breathe.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27'It's a good job there's an interval now to recover.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32'There are no dancers allowed on stage while the stage crew change the last
0:36:32 > 0:36:35'scene and start to build the set.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39'And the villain tonight is Orion, an evil hunter, danced by
0:36:39 > 0:36:41'Thiago Soares.'
0:36:45 > 0:36:47MUSIC PLAYS
0:38:13 > 0:38:19I remember the first time we danced together, it was immediately very nice.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21We had immediately a very good feeling.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24She was very supporting because I was really scared.
0:38:30 > 0:38:31Sorry, I was a bit late.
0:38:31 > 0:38:37'She's a beautiful dancer, but she's especially a beautiful person.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40'She's very relaxed.
0:38:40 > 0:38:41'She's tall, I have to say,
0:38:41 > 0:38:45'but because I'm tall, I think we have a very good proportion.'
0:38:52 > 0:38:56'Here we all go, back on the stage for the third and final act of Sylvia.'
0:39:00 > 0:39:04MUSIC: Pizzicato by Leo Delibes
0:39:38 > 0:39:42'It feels now as if the whole of the Royal Ballet are on the stage.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44'This act is a real gear change.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47'It's strictly classical ballet all the way.'
0:39:53 > 0:39:56MUSIC PLAYS
0:41:25 > 0:41:28APPLAUSE
0:41:34 > 0:41:37'The principals, soloists and artists of the Royal Ballet,
0:41:37 > 0:41:41'who tonight have performed Sylvia, choreographed by our founder,
0:41:41 > 0:41:46'choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton, and music by Leo Delibes.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52'This is the first time as a dancer that you see the audience.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55'It's so dark when you're out there performing.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57'You don't believe anyone is there.
0:41:58 > 0:41:59'It can be quite a shock.'
0:42:03 > 0:42:05Talk me through it, then, love. This is where I walk round?
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Yeah, you walk round. I go one and two and then you walk round.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13- One, two.- Head.- And one, two.
0:42:13 > 0:42:14- Now your favourite.- That's all right.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17- Is this going to kill you?- No, I'm not very strong in the arm yet,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19but I will be. I've got a week.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22We'll do a bit of gym, we'll be all right.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25I haven't actually danced for four months, so this rehearsal was kind
0:42:25 > 0:42:28of... Haven't been in class, I haven't been to the gym, I haven't done anything.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32So it was a little difficult for me because it was sort of recalling the
0:42:32 > 0:42:36pas de deux and getting back in shape etc, just for this one-night stand,
0:42:36 > 0:42:38- as it were.- Ooh, you do that nice.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41'You know, it was just like putting on an old pair of shoes, really,
0:42:41 > 0:42:46'getting back with Darcey. It was very comfortable, no problems at all.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49'We both say what we think. And we get the job done.'
0:42:49 > 0:42:54- And...- On one hand?- Yes.- Do we always do that?- Yes. Hand. Now you can rest me.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57- When is the show?- Not until Sunday.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59Right. So you've got loads of time, then.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01Well, no, it was OK.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03You were running around like an idiot.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06- You don't need to do that.- Because I think I was a little bit late.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10Each ballerina is a little bit different and they have a slightly
0:43:10 > 0:43:11different weight distribution.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14They either like to be slightly forward or slightly back or whatever.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18And they actually feel different, so it just takes a while just to, you know,
0:43:18 > 0:43:21get the hang of that again.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24Ooh, sorry, babe. Morning!
0:43:24 > 0:43:26HE LAUGHS That's OK!
0:43:26 > 0:43:29- You enjoy practising. - I'm glad I'm retired.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33MUSIC PLAYS
0:44:27 > 0:44:30'Darcey has been invited to dance her interpretation of the role
0:44:30 > 0:44:33'with one of Europe's premier dance companies,
0:44:33 > 0:44:36the Ballet of the Teatro alla Scala, Milan.'
0:44:42 > 0:44:44The company are here, yeah?
0:44:44 > 0:44:47'She has three performances to give over the next week,
0:44:47 > 0:44:50'and even before she can settle into her dressing room and try on all her
0:44:50 > 0:44:54'costumes for size, she's due on stage for a complete run-through of
0:44:54 > 0:44:57'all three acts of the ballet.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01'And although she's known her partner, Roberto Bolle, for six years now,
0:45:01 > 0:45:04'she's never danced with any of the rest of the company before.'
0:45:05 > 0:45:10'To work on three-act ballets like Manon is fabulous because you are
0:45:10 > 0:45:14'playing a real person and the story is so real.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17'And also finding a partner that I feel totally comfortable with,
0:45:17 > 0:45:21'that I could risk anything and I know he'd always be there.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25'I think the only hard ballets are when you're doing the classics,
0:45:25 > 0:45:28'when you're Sleeping Beauty or Aurora, and you're this princess,
0:45:28 > 0:45:32'basically. And then those aren't as challenging.'
0:45:32 > 0:45:34The steps are, the choreography,
0:45:34 > 0:45:40but actually for me to be playing a character in Manon or Juliet in Romeo
0:45:40 > 0:45:42And Juliet, you know, is fabulous.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46For Darcey, it's the first time actually
0:45:46 > 0:45:50she's guesting with my company, with La Scala.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54Everybody, I have to say, they were really amazed.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59'It's always very scary and you don't know what they're going to think of you.'
0:45:59 > 0:46:02'"Is she really worth coming here to do the shows, you know.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05'"One of our dancers could do them just as well", or something.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08'And when we have a lot of guest artists come in, and they come in,
0:46:08 > 0:46:10'they feel like they don't need to know anybody.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14'I didn't want to feel like this total snobby kind of Royal Ballet,
0:46:14 > 0:46:18'you know, the Royal Ballet has such a name to it, doesn't it?
0:46:18 > 0:46:23'That it sort of puts this image of what we're meant to behave or be like,
0:46:23 > 0:46:26'be these prima donnas. And I've always hated that.'
0:46:27 > 0:46:32'I think I'm kind of used to seeing Darcey, so I know she is beautiful,
0:46:32 > 0:46:35'I know she's a beautiful dancer and a beautiful person and everything like that.
0:46:35 > 0:46:40'But everybody in the company, they were so surprised at how
0:46:40 > 0:46:46'such a great star, such a great ballerina can be so simple,
0:46:46 > 0:46:47'so nice with everybody.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51'And they say, "She's so beautiful, she has everything,'
0:46:51 > 0:46:53"and you look perfect together."
0:46:55 > 0:46:58'For me, it's really important that finally she danced with the
0:46:58 > 0:47:01'Ballet Scala. Because she's one of the best dancers in the world at the moment.'
0:47:01 > 0:47:05Because technically, she's very strong and she has incredible
0:47:05 > 0:47:07technique, but artistically, what's interesting me more,
0:47:07 > 0:47:10she gives a lot of sentiment, a lot of passion.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18Roberto has arrived to really the point of majority,
0:47:18 > 0:47:22and he has completely this role in his hand.
0:47:29 > 0:47:30Together they are perfect.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33First, looking, they are beautiful, the two.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36The line, and the face.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39And afterwards, they start to dance together, they are very... Complicity,
0:47:39 > 0:47:41incredible complicity together.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44I think they don't really need to talk, they just feel.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49'I think we feel very natural with each other now.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53'And he's able to express himself so much more.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55'He hadn't had that much experience in a lot of principal roles.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59'He was conscious of me knowing that.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02'Some people think they shouldn't tell you anything, but he can tell
0:48:02 > 0:48:04'me hints, you know, "It'd be better if you did this, Darce."
0:48:04 > 0:48:09'And I'd go, "Great." It's the only way you're going to keep improving.'
0:48:09 > 0:48:11Da-da-da. And hold....
0:48:11 > 0:48:13And one and two.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17- But...- And there are two. - I was counting the first one.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21No, you can't count this, not the accent, it's not the same.
0:48:21 > 0:48:22HE LAUGHS
0:48:24 > 0:48:27The show's at eight o'clock.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30- I have to have my hair done at 5:30! - 5:30?!
0:48:30 > 0:48:32HE LAUGHS
0:48:41 > 0:48:45'There are a lot of pressures that, I suppose, the other dancers don't
0:48:45 > 0:48:47'have to go through.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51'But the nice thing for me is I started out like that, you know?
0:48:51 > 0:48:53'As soon as I got into the Royal Ballet it was,
0:48:53 > 0:48:57'it's always been like that. It hasn't been any different.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01'It hasn't suddenly, I've gone through a change in my life when I was a
0:49:01 > 0:49:03'professional dancer.'
0:49:03 > 0:49:05MUSIC PLAYS
0:49:32 > 0:49:37You know, you have to be stubborn and you have to be happy to take lots of knocks.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46If you don't have that ability to be able to be slightly thick-skinned,
0:49:46 > 0:49:49you're not going to make it as a professional dancer.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51Because there will always be knocks,
0:49:51 > 0:49:54you'll always have injuries and you'll have to fight back and
0:49:54 > 0:49:55try and be noticed again.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59And I did have that stubbornness that I was always going to stick my
0:49:59 > 0:50:01heels in and make something happen.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06If you were stuck on a...
0:50:06 > 0:50:09desert island, what couldn't you live without?
0:50:09 > 0:50:13The way I am at the moment, I can't live without my Stanley knife.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17'Darcey is now in her 19th season with the Royal Ballet,
0:50:17 > 0:50:20'and has announced that as from next year, she's to step down as principal
0:50:20 > 0:50:23'dancer and take on a new role as a guest artist.'
0:50:27 > 0:50:29'It's the only thing that keeps me going,'
0:50:29 > 0:50:32is knowing that it's not going to be going forever.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34That there is an end.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36You see so many dancers, you know,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39because they have audiences out there that go, "Please,
0:50:39 > 0:50:43"please perform again, whatever, we just want to see you on stage."
0:50:43 > 0:50:45And, you know, really don't.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48Because you come back and, "Oh, the back is a little bit stiffer," and,
0:50:48 > 0:50:50"Oh, your feet don't point as well as they used to."
0:50:50 > 0:50:54And if I don't feel happy about how I'm performing, then it will stop
0:50:54 > 0:50:57and I'll come to a grinding halt and there'll be no more ballet.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12Darcey, you're going to be dancing on the Opera House stage for the
0:51:12 > 0:51:16very last time. You have chosen Song Of The Earth,
0:51:16 > 0:51:19I think Kenneth MacMillan's finest ballet.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23And I think what everybody wants to know is,
0:51:23 > 0:51:26what sort of emotions will be going through your head?
0:51:26 > 0:51:31Um, I'm not somebody that... I always take one day at a time.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35So I haven't already decided what it's going to feel like.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40For me, I can only concentrate on that and I won't be able to actually
0:51:40 > 0:51:43realise that the show is finished until it actually is finished.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46And do you think there will be a slight sense of relief,
0:51:46 > 0:51:50not sort of stopping the performing and the dancing, but, you know,
0:51:50 > 0:51:53the pressure of being Darcey Bussell and having to live up to everybody's
0:51:53 > 0:51:55expectations all the time?
0:51:55 > 0:51:59I am really waiting to escape that
0:51:59 > 0:52:01sort of who I'm meant to be and what
0:52:01 > 0:52:04I'm meant to look like as a dancer.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07There's just all those things that, after a while, you just don't want
0:52:07 > 0:52:10- to have to keep up any more. - No.- I find those difficult.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13I love what I do. I could go on stage endlessly.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16If I didn't have to worry about all the other things.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19- Anyway, I shall have a tear in my eye.- It's the last show!
0:52:24 > 0:52:27MUSIC PLAYS
0:53:16 > 0:53:19'One of the pieces I love the most is Song Of The Earth,
0:53:19 > 0:53:22'with music by Gustav Mahler.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26'Six songs performed by a tenor and a mezzo-soprano evoke the journey of
0:53:26 > 0:53:30'life with three central figures, the Man, the Woman,
0:53:30 > 0:53:32'and the Messenger of Death.'
0:53:32 > 0:53:34MUSIC PLAYS
0:54:27 > 0:54:29CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:54:39 > 0:54:42APPLAUSE CONTINUES
0:54:48 > 0:54:50CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:54:52 > 0:54:57'Darcey Bussell making her final appearance here on the stage at Covent Garden.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04'The performance was Song Of The Earth, music by Gustav Mahler,
0:55:04 > 0:55:07'choreography by Kenneth MacMillan.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11'And what a stunning performance it was.'
0:55:13 > 0:55:17I've finished now, I'll be able to look back and be really happy.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20I think if I keep going for another five years,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23I might not have the same feeling about it, and I want to have a good
0:55:23 > 0:55:24feeling about it.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26APPLAUSE
0:55:34 > 0:55:36CHEERING
0:55:39 > 0:55:42Now, when Katherine Jenkins and Darcey Bussell took to the stage,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45there were goose bumps upon goose bumps.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47This is their performance story.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49I'm here today to perform on Strictly Come Dancing with
0:55:49 > 0:55:52Darcey Bussell. We're doing a song from our show Viva La Diva.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54I can't believe I'm actually on Strictly Come Dancing,
0:55:54 > 0:55:55this is so cool.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58Darcey and I were friends and I knew that she was going to be
0:55:58 > 0:56:02leaving the Royal Ballet and we just started talking about our influences.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05It was all, you know, all from the movies, Hollywood,
0:56:05 > 0:56:06black and white movies, you know.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09She had a bit of Judy Garland, and I had a bit of Audrey Hepburn.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11And we thought that was a good concept for a show.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14We had a rehearsal in here and it was the first time that we've come
0:56:14 > 0:56:17together, Darcey and I, in five months.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20So it was a bit nerve-racking but I'm hoping that it's going to go well
0:56:20 > 0:56:22and that the audience respond well.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25Darcey and Katherine, one's very bendy, one's very loud.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28She's like, um, an elastic band, like this.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33Ten million people tonight? OK, I'm not going on, then.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35That's it! KATHERINE SINGS
0:56:37 > 0:56:39No, it's very exciting, you know,
0:56:39 > 0:56:42there's always a little bit of nerves, but if there isn't, then you're not
0:56:42 > 0:56:45- going to make it special, are you? - Here we go!
0:56:51 > 0:56:58# ..We have the chance
0:56:58 > 0:57:02# Viva tonight
0:57:02 > 0:57:06# I'm by your side
0:57:06 > 0:57:11# Viva our star
0:57:11 > 0:57:15# Our guiding light... #
0:57:15 > 0:57:17Loved every minute of it, thank you very much.
0:57:17 > 0:57:19Invite me again, won't you? SHE LAUGHS
0:57:19 > 0:57:21On Strictly. Bye!
0:57:23 > 0:57:25'Live, from London.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27'This is Strictly Come Dancing.'
0:57:27 > 0:57:30- Eight. - APPLAUSE
0:57:30 > 0:57:32- 'Darcey Bussell.'- Eight.
0:57:34 > 0:57:36Now, Darcey, since you've retired from the Royal Ballet,
0:57:36 > 0:57:38we saw you on Strictly Come Dancing.
0:57:38 > 0:57:40Here you are performing a Latin dance.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43Doing it marvellously as well, as far as I can see.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46- A jive.- It's a jive.- So what's the difference between that and ballet,
0:57:46 > 0:57:48apart from the fact you've got heels on?
0:57:48 > 0:57:50Yeah, the heels didn't help, I slipped over a lot in them.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53I landed on the floor a couple of times in rehearsal, actually.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57But, no, it was sitting in the hip, and...
0:57:57 > 0:57:58What do you mean by "sitting on the hip"?
0:57:58 > 0:58:02Well, in classical ballet, you're constantly pulled out of the hip and long,
0:58:02 > 0:58:05and the core, it has to be very strong and still.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08And then suddenly in jive, well, in any Latin American,
0:58:08 > 0:58:10you sit and you wiggle a bit more.
0:58:10 > 0:58:15And that was, that like reversed to what I was taught, you know?
0:58:15 > 0:58:19But I suppose I've done a lot of performing and the show has to go on.
0:58:49 > 0:58:51Should I do it again?