0:00:01 > 0:00:05This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08On stage, a ballet dancer is serene, elegant and measured.
0:00:08 > 0:00:13But behind the scenes it's a different story.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Do this. Derek says this is what it is. Do it.
0:00:20 > 0:00:26With unprecedented access to English National Ballet, one of the UK's elite dance companies,
0:00:26 > 0:00:30this series will reveal what it takes to stage a world-class ballet.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34- They want from me more, and you have to repeat again and again. - Go, go, go, go...
0:00:34 > 0:00:37From the turbulent production of Swan Lake...
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Listen to the shoes. Elephants.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41..and the battles of Romeo And Juliet...
0:00:41 > 0:00:46- Already, this week, we have three guys off.- This is terrifying.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49..to the struggles of creating a brand-new Nutcracker.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53Ballet's not finished. We ain't finished.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56You'll survive this. I don't survive bad reviews.
0:00:56 > 0:01:02With the future of the arts in doubt, this is a company fighting for its life.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06That's nearly £700,000 a year that we have to find.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10I think we should be worrying about whether they're going to cut dancers.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13From injury and defeat...
0:01:13 > 0:01:16- I need to save my feet for tomorrow. - ..to success and elation...
0:01:16 > 0:01:19- Very good, that is. - God almighty.
0:01:19 > 0:01:24..will English National Ballet survive one of its toughest years?
0:01:33 > 0:01:39English National Ballet is a touring company with its headquarters in Kensington, West London.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45The 64 dancers, made up of 20 nationalities, rehearse daily
0:01:45 > 0:01:49to produce large-scale classical ballet around the world.
0:01:51 > 0:01:57The man charged with shaping the artistic direction of the company is Wayne Eagling.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59Of all the people that I know,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02English National Ballet are the hardest-working dancers.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06We do over 120, 130 shows a year.
0:02:06 > 0:02:12Classical ballet, it's the most demanding, I think, of dance forms.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16You push your body to such extremes.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24One of the dancers in class is Daria Klimentova from the Czech Republic.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28She is the company's most experienced and longest serving prima ballerina.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31I've been doing it for 20 years professionally now.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34I'm quite an old ballerina now, and I'm still dancing,
0:02:34 > 0:02:35so it's quite an achievement!
0:02:35 > 0:02:40I had three operations on my knees.
0:02:40 > 0:02:41I had one on my ankle.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45And...I had a baby as well!
0:02:45 > 0:02:47I've done everything I could.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50It's been used and abused.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54Ooh. Got to put weight on it.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58I just did this morning class, and after class I was
0:02:58 > 0:03:02warming up for my rehearsal, and everything was fine, and suddenly
0:03:02 > 0:03:06I got a terrible pain here, like, in my ankle, going up here,
0:03:06 > 0:03:11and I tried to go en pointe and I basically couldn't put my weight on it.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14It hurts here, like, up to here.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33'What I want to achieve next is I just would like to dance a little bit longer and be healthy
0:03:33 > 0:03:36'and not being injured and try to enjoy it as much as I can.'
0:03:36 > 0:03:40For another, I don't know, few years, two years, one year.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43'I don't know. I really don't know.'
0:03:47 > 0:03:48It just still hurts.
0:03:52 > 0:03:53Old ballerina crying.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03At 38, Daria is nearing the end of her career.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06But Russian dancer Vadim Muntagirov's is just beginning.
0:04:06 > 0:04:12He's arrived from ballet school to begin his first professional contract at the company.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14- Is it your birthday?- Yeah!
0:04:14 > 0:04:16- Happy birthday!- Thank you.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18- Pozdravlyayu.- Spasibo.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21'I am 20 years old, I'm really young.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24'This is my...sixth month in company.'
0:04:25 > 0:04:28I can say I'm really shy person.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32I shouldn't be. I should be a bit...
0:04:32 > 0:04:35more confidence, but I don't know. It's coming.
0:04:37 > 0:04:45On stage sometimes I'm more confidence...than in real life, in normal life.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49When I talk to someone, sometimes I feel like...
0:04:49 > 0:04:52I'm not interesting, or something like that.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55I'm saying something wrong, or something.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59Over the next few weeks, Vadim faces a heavy schedule
0:04:59 > 0:05:03of rehearsals, including extra half-hour stage calls.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07But, being new to the company, he's still learning discipline.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11Vadim?
0:05:11 > 0:05:13What time is the half?
0:05:16 > 0:05:18What time is the half?
0:05:18 > 0:05:24- Seven?- No, five to seven. There is a rehearsal at five to seven.
0:05:25 > 0:05:26It's not...
0:05:26 > 0:05:2914 minutes past seven.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32You were employed by this company to be here at the half.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35There's going to be a report made about this,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38if you have not turned up for the half. We've been here.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41You have not been here. It's unprofessional.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Sorry.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47You have the possibility...
0:05:47 > 0:05:53I think you're beginning to realise, but you have the possibility to be a...you know,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55international star.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58But you need to listen.
0:05:58 > 0:05:59Yeah, sure.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07You know, I can't really give up a bit or take it easy.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12So every time, if you're late or something, they tell you straight away.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15I get a bit of trouble.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19But I think it's good sometimes to be trouble, someone pushing you,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22so after that I start working even harder.
0:06:22 > 0:06:23And...
0:06:23 > 0:06:25PIANO PIECE BEGINS
0:06:27 > 0:06:34Wayne has chosen Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall as the company's next production to rehearse.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39One of the biggest and most lucrative shows of the year, which is choreographed by Derek Deane.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51I have this reputation for being tough.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55The difficulty for me, every time we reproduce this production,
0:06:55 > 0:07:01is getting the absolute 100% commitment out of a dancer,
0:07:01 > 0:07:06emotionally and physically, so that they will almost bleed for me.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12Derek has chosen Vadim to perform the leading role on opening night.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14And it's their first rehearsal together.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17- Ah! How are you?- Good, thank you.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21This boy, I'd heard about him. I'd heard about...
0:07:21 > 0:07:24'I was worried. He was very raw, he was very young,'
0:07:24 > 0:07:28but with this phenomenal physical technique, which is very impressive,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30but it's not the whole package.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33Right. Well, we'd better start.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36'I just decided to take a chance,'
0:07:36 > 0:07:41and just see what could be done with this boy in the short time.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45It's very difficult when you're working with somebody so young.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49You just don't know how much to push...
0:07:49 > 0:07:53He's got all this talent, all the ability and all the possibilities.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57And, if you just push him too fast too early, you can damage him.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59But if you don't push him enough
0:07:59 > 0:08:03you don't get to the limit of what he's got at the moment.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08Why don't you try some things from the first act solo?
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Plink, plonk.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12One...long...
0:08:12 > 0:08:14No, no, no, no, no.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17Just stand in arabesque without the leg up. Without the leg up.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Long, long, long, long.
0:08:19 > 0:08:24Look, you see, it's dead. I want to see something in here. Yeah.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Separate the fingers.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28That's nicer! For you, that's nice.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32You get this slightly sausage look, do you know what I mean?
0:08:32 > 0:08:35'First, I wanted a more experienced dancer,
0:08:35 > 0:08:40'because of the ballerina that's coming to the company to dance it, Polina Semionova.'
0:08:43 > 0:08:49She's in the top three dancers in the whole world, and so she needs a partner to level up to her.
0:08:50 > 0:08:56Guest star Polina Semionova previously danced the leading role at the Royal Albert Hall
0:08:56 > 0:09:00to rave reviews in one of Derek's last Swan Lake productions.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03But she's unavailable for rehearsals.
0:09:03 > 0:09:09So Vadim must practise with Daria, who has recovered from her ankle injury.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Ah... We see immediately that hair.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15She's going to get rid of that, isn't she?
0:09:15 > 0:09:17So sorry.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20My watch is, like, two minutes before 12.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28In the story, Vadim plays the part of a prince
0:09:28 > 0:09:33in love with Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36DEREK GASPS Who's that? Who's that?
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Now, here, a slight...
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Now, go. Pull her. Pull, pull!
0:09:41 > 0:09:45Pull her this way, pull away!
0:09:45 > 0:09:51'Because the audience get further and further away in such a big place like the hall, my most difficult thing'
0:09:51 > 0:09:56was to get the emotion and the feeling and the drama and the story across to the back of the gallery.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Now, give in.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Have a look.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04And have a look. And say, "No, no, no! No."
0:10:04 > 0:10:06OK.
0:10:06 > 0:10:07It's got to make sense.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09It's all got to make sense.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14The important thing for me always, as you very well know, is the reason you do it.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19Why you're scared, why you're trying to fly away, because it's all the story.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22We've got to get as much of that back in.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Because nobody does it anymore, and we have to get it.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Down, up!
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Down, up!
0:10:32 > 0:10:36It's just a little bit floaty. We've got to put the ideas back in,
0:10:36 > 0:10:40put the story back in, so you're not predictable.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42Same again.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46I spend most of my time...um... trying to...
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Well, I just...
0:10:48 > 0:10:53pull it out of dancers' heads and bodies. And I drive people mad.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56'I drive people absolutely mad.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58'And I will never change.'
0:10:58 > 0:11:01No, no, no, no. You're much too early.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05You're so unmusical. It's at the END of the phrase you come in.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09What are you finding...problematic?
0:11:09 > 0:11:11You have no idea?
0:11:12 > 0:11:15You have no idea?
0:11:15 > 0:11:17'Working with Derek, I think it's...
0:11:17 > 0:11:21'Yeah, he work really hard. He screams.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24'Sometimes you not feel comfortable what he's saying,'
0:11:24 > 0:11:27but you can't say anything, because it's true.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Same again.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34'He remind me... the teachers from Russia.'
0:11:35 > 0:11:39Vadim began ballet dancing at seven years old.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41His training became serious at nine,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45when he left home to join the Perm Ballet School in Minsk, Russia,
0:11:45 > 0:11:49which produces some of the world's greatest dancers.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51They just, uh...
0:11:52 > 0:11:56..scream at us, like, sometimes just smack...
0:11:56 > 0:11:58smack us in the legs. And then...
0:11:58 > 0:12:02I remember, I was really scared my teacher.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05Every time he go in the studio, I was standing like that.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10I was... So every time I tried to do steps perfectly,
0:12:10 > 0:12:14so he not going to scream at me. I was just so scared.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16I remember the teacher have...
0:12:16 > 0:12:18he was really tall.
0:12:18 > 0:12:25He was two metres tall. We was ten years old, little boys, and he was screaming at us, "Work hard, hard"...
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Like, you hate the teachers as well.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30But later you understand what...
0:12:30 > 0:12:32they give you...
0:12:32 > 0:12:34your life, you know, your job.
0:12:43 > 0:12:4860% of English National Ballet's annual £12 million budget
0:12:48 > 0:12:52is provided by government funding to tour ballet around the country.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Oh. Stray dancers.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56This could mean class is over.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59But since the coalition government came into power
0:12:59 > 0:13:02managing director Craig Hassall fears arts funding might be cut.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07Let's try and get through that quickly. It'd be good if we have 40 minutes for this,
0:13:07 > 0:13:11and we need to talk about the, um... just the implications of the cuts.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14If it can be before next week that would be great.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17All we know about the election result is that the coalition said
0:13:17 > 0:13:21that it has to cut spending drastically across all sectors.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23Of course that will effect funding for the arts.
0:13:23 > 0:13:29So we could wait till the axe falls and we see how we're supposed to survive in the new funding climate,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32or we could be a bit proactive and look at a few scenarios.
0:13:35 > 0:13:42The company are reliant on the funding provided by the government to pay nearly 200 staff and dancers.
0:13:42 > 0:13:48But, with the future uncertain, Craig discusses the options with the heads of departments.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52I mean, for us it's quite simple.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55We either tour less or make fewer new shows.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58That's kind of it. Without cutting into the bone of the company.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01If we can't afford to survive
0:14:01 > 0:14:06going forward by doing those two things, reducing those things, then we start looking at...
0:14:06 > 0:14:11are we talking about fewer members of staff, fewer dancers, fewer members of the orchestra?
0:14:11 > 0:14:17Once you start talking about fewer dancers or cutting artistic quality, it's the beginning of the end.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Because then we'll lose all our good dancers.
0:14:20 > 0:14:26The hard part of the job is creating a vibrant, artistic company, and you can't, you know...
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and you may have some failures. At the same time,
0:14:29 > 0:14:35the Arts Council wants innovation and new things. It does cost money.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40If I were to hold a meeting now and say, "OK, everyone, new government,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44"funding cuts are looming, we're going to have to make some changes,"
0:14:44 > 0:14:47that would send panic into the company.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50We'll work on this quietly and work out a solution.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53It's almost like a dirty little secret.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57For the company, the show must go on,
0:14:57 > 0:15:00and Derek's epic Swan Lake production
0:15:00 > 0:15:02needs a large cast of 140 dancers.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04But there are only 64 in the company.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08So extra freelance dancers have been hired to make up the numbers.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Rachel Ware from Ruislip is one of the chosen few.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17It can be hard, because if you've trained most of your life,
0:15:17 > 0:15:19but then you don't get a permanent contract,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22you're just doing little jobs here and there,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25it's getting the money to then keep your classes going
0:15:25 > 0:15:27and keep training.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32You don't realise, I suppose, until you come out the school, that it's the finances
0:15:32 > 0:15:34of keeping that up. Um...
0:15:34 > 0:15:40Well, Rachel has just trained all her life, really, to become a ballet dancer.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Her day is on her own. She doesn't have any friends around her.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46I think she has to be really dedicated, disciplined.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50Obviously the dream is to get a permanent contract with them.
0:15:50 > 0:15:57Just...there's so much competition out there, and everyone's kind of fighting for the same few spaces.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07Rachel has just six weeks to prove to the ballet staff she can play a swan.
0:16:07 > 0:16:14If she succeeds and lasts the Swan Lake season, she might earn a full-time position in the company.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20'Got to be in line. If you're the one out of line then you're screamed at.
0:16:20 > 0:16:27'They say to you, "If you're told anything twice, you're out," so all that kind of bit scares me.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31'There's so many people in the centre, there's no order where you stand.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35'You literally have to push yourself to the front to do the exercise,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37'and that's not really what I'm that good at.'
0:16:37 > 0:16:40Any mistakes, I'll throw you out.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46There's quite a few that are straight from schools,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48so it's very difficult for them.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52They've done an end of school show but that's their only experience
0:16:52 > 0:16:54so they have to mature very quickly.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Close side one, passe.
0:16:57 > 0:17:03Back, front, first head away, first head towards and fifth soutenu,
0:17:03 > 0:17:05one to the side.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Am I going too quick?
0:17:08 > 0:17:11If they aren't on board straight away, we've got replacements,
0:17:11 > 0:17:15so we'll start dragging some of those in to see if they're any better.
0:17:18 > 0:17:24These extra dancers will be paid £350 a week for the privilege of performing in Swan Lake.
0:17:24 > 0:17:30But the work is welcome, as ballet jobs are infrequent and often poorly paid.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33I don't know how anyone survived.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Some of the girls in the company had second jobs.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40A lot of them had seconds jobs.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- That's how little... - Like worked in a cafe and stuff?
0:17:43 > 0:17:46No, like worked in clubs.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Oh, really?
0:17:48 > 0:17:49Oh, my gosh!
0:17:49 > 0:17:52I know! Like exotic dancers.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55- Really?- Yeah.- Nice!
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Tomorrow we have class earlier, then we have rehearsal all day,
0:18:01 > 0:18:06and we're starting to choreograph the swans with the whole of the company,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09so that will be amazing, to be in the same rehearsal as all of them.
0:18:09 > 0:18:15I'll have to keep concentrating because I'll probably want to just stop and watch all of them.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30To replicate the size and shape of the stage at the Royal Albert Hall,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34an east London studio has been chosen for rehearsals.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Nobody wants their names called over the mic,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44like "Get in line," or, "No, you were down on the wrong count."
0:18:45 > 0:18:50Important that we make a good impression and show them that we do know what we're doing.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52SHE SIGHS
0:18:52 > 0:18:56The ballet staff begin with the two iconic Swan acts...
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Starting from today, we can have all the legwarmers off.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04..where 60 swans, including the 30 newcomers,
0:19:04 > 0:19:07take to the stage to create intricate lines and formations.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16'Everybody has a different way of moving. You've got to get them moving the same.'
0:19:16 > 0:19:19There we go. And up and down...
0:19:19 > 0:19:26'It's really hard at the Albert Hall because we've got not one front but we've got three fronts,'
0:19:26 > 0:19:29so, where normally dancers have to stay in a line in a proscenium,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31just looking at the girl in front,
0:19:31 > 0:19:35they've got to look at the girl in front and the girl on the side.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38'Then when they're moving around
0:19:38 > 0:19:42'they have to be at certain places on the stage.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45'It's a hell of a thing to ask dancers to do.'
0:19:45 > 0:19:48The white line, OK? All the way round.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50That's the edge of the Albert Hall.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53And then each lino, that's what we call the cracks.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Most of the time we line them up on those cracks.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59So now she's got to run up the crack.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01She missed it.
0:20:01 > 0:20:02That wasn't good.
0:20:04 > 0:20:061, 2. You've got up and a down, could you just go...?
0:20:06 > 0:20:08If anyone goes that much out,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12it just destroys the whole thing, so it's got to be completely together.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17Painstaking. Boring for them, the process. But it's got to be done.
0:20:17 > 0:20:196, 7. OK.
0:20:19 > 0:20:241, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Better.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Company dancer Adeline Kaiser is performing in the Swan Dance.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40It's her first major appearance since she had a knee operation a year ago.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46It's just going to be my first ballet back in a tutu
0:20:46 > 0:20:49and make me feel like a ballerina again.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53But when I inhale,
0:20:53 > 0:20:55I feel sick.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00It's terrible, because it's a patella tendon
0:21:00 > 0:21:05and you're kneeling right on it and when you come back from surgery,
0:21:05 > 0:21:08kneeling is the last thing that comes back.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10It's not a very nice pain.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Adeline uses padding to protect her injured knee
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and receives regular acupuncture.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24Really swollen, I think.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28Pressure of the floor when you're kneeling.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Even the knee pads don't help?
0:21:31 > 0:21:35- No?- No.- I suppose because it's such a direct,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37and you have to go down so quickly.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40CLICKING
0:21:43 > 0:21:46I know that's one of the problems with the dancing.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48You tend to dance full-out for a couple of minutes
0:21:48 > 0:21:52and then stand in awkward positions, or kneel in awkward positions
0:21:52 > 0:21:57for a period of time, and so the muscles all get set. But it's the pressure.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59We've just got to try and keep you ticking over.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03You know when you come back from such a big injury
0:22:03 > 0:22:08and you ask yourself so many questions.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12If you don't really love it and if you don't really want to do it,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14then you would give up.
0:22:14 > 0:22:21It's such a, like, hard work getting up every morning.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24It's really hard mentally and physically.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29So I guess I want to do it because I'm still dancing.
0:22:34 > 0:22:40Injured or not, the Swans have to complete another three weeks of daily seven-hour rehearsals,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43sometimes running up to eight miles a day.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58After three days of dancing, Derek decides to visit the Swans to judge their progress,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01leaving Vadim to rehearse with his principal staff.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Derek has a certain aura. He can be intimidating.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15He'll always speak his mind.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18If it's crap, he will say it's crap.
0:23:22 > 0:23:23I hate the word bully,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26but I do bully them, but I bully them in a constructive way.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34My name is above the title, and so at the end of the day I'm responsible.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36Sometimes it makes your stomach turn over.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40The responsibility is quite scary.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Very sad. Better feeling.
0:23:43 > 0:23:49Again. Keep the barre going, keep it going, don't give in on the barre.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51Shhh.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56It's important for me to show that I can do Swan Lake
0:23:56 > 0:23:58because it's the last ballet of the season.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03I just want to show like I can do it.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Flat backs, ladies.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07You look like turtles.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09She hasn't changed legs.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Get down, down, down.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15- Who's Adeline?- That one. She's got a real problem with that knee.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18God Almighty.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22What is the reason she can't do it?
0:24:22 > 0:24:26- She's got a patella operation. - Oh, she's had an operation? OK.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32- And is it likely to damage her if we make her do it?- Yes.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35OK, let's not make her do it, then.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39If they weren't here, I'd say let's make her do it, of course.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44I'm a bit worried about Adeline.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48She's wearing knee pads for rehearsals, but she can't for the show - that'd look a bit obvious.
0:24:48 > 0:24:54Just a little bit worried she's not going to make the whole run.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58She's never going to make it, that operation girl.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00She's limping away.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08We can't have a gap. The audience count 60 swans
0:25:08 > 0:25:12and it would ruin the pattern - "There's only 59 swans!"
0:25:12 > 0:25:15No pressure on Adeline, but actually, we do kind of need her on there.
0:25:19 > 0:25:25With only two weeks left of rehearsals, the Swan dances are being practised more than any other.
0:25:30 > 0:25:36There can be no drop in intensity, as they are watched by the ballet staff from every angle.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44Fighting with the pain in your toes, your knees,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47trying to hear the count,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50trying to be in line
0:25:50 > 0:25:52and not to stand out in a bad way.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58Stay. Stay.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04I've been holding up really well until the last couple of days.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Now I've got bruised toenails, and there's a lot of kneeling,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10you slide down into kneels,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13and each time when I slide I take a bit of the skin off.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17I don't think it'll ever be comfortable,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19but it'll get more and more...
0:26:21 > 0:26:25durable and enjoyable.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30I have really big bunions and I have blisters on them,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33so I need to save my feet for tomorrow.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42Everyone goes through pain, so you just have to forget about it.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00After three weeks of rehearsing alone with Derek and Daria,
0:27:00 > 0:27:04Vadim is performing a solo for the first time
0:27:04 > 0:27:06in front of the whole company.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10I think he's shy. I think it's a nervous thing.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13He doesn't know me, I must scare the shit out of him.
0:27:15 > 0:27:20He wants from me more, he wants from me more and more.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23It gets harder and harder, and then you have to repeat again and again.
0:27:23 > 0:27:281, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...
0:27:32 > 0:27:35This is Vadim's last chance to practise his solos
0:27:35 > 0:27:37before his partner for opening night,
0:27:37 > 0:27:42Polina Semionova, arrives from Berlin tomorrow, replacing Daria.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44You know Polina, you did it last...
0:27:44 > 0:27:47- Vaguely, yes.- You know, beautiful, like Cindy Craw...
0:27:47 > 0:27:51And he's so immature, that's what I'm worried about.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54I'm just worried about him looking like a boy, do you know what I mean?
0:27:54 > 0:28:00Cos he doesn't know how to walk, he doesn't know how to stand, he doesn't know how to say good morning.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09And the more I perform with Vadim, the younger I feel.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12We just have this special connection.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15The same sense of humour.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18But of course it is a little bit hard,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21I get a little bit jealous that I have to share Vadim.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23I'd rather have a partner for myself.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25There's a little bit of insecurity in me
0:28:25 > 0:28:28thinking that he's not going to like dancing with me,
0:28:28 > 0:28:30and that he's going to think I'm a bad dancer.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34But I guess it pushes me even more to be better.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39I want to enjoy every second of it now, while I still have it.
0:28:39 > 0:28:421, 2. Hold the arabesque.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44Plie.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Show the arabesque.
0:28:58 > 0:28:59Use the head.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03While the dancers rehearse, managing director Craig Hassall
0:29:03 > 0:29:06invites key staff on an away-day
0:29:06 > 0:29:09to find a solution to the threat of Government cuts.
0:29:09 > 0:29:15If the Government said, we need £600,000, what could give?
0:29:15 > 0:29:21We could very easily cut quite a lot of costs by doing fewer performances on tour, couldn't we?
0:29:23 > 0:29:27- But what's the point of us? - That's what we do, yeah.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31How much per week, roughly, on a major ballet,
0:29:31 > 0:29:38like Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty, do we lose?
0:29:38 > 0:29:41- Invest!- Invest!
0:29:41 > 0:29:45I think that's important, because we get funded to tour.
0:29:45 > 0:29:51It sounds madness that every time we leave London for a week it costs us £100,000.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54So to save 600,000 we have to lose six weeks touring?
0:29:54 > 0:29:57We only have about eight!
0:29:57 > 0:30:02And then we lose the justification for our funding, so then we lose our entire grant.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04Arms down.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11The meeting is interrupted as Andrew Morgan,
0:30:11 > 0:30:15director of operations, receives an important message from Polina.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20She was supposed to get a visa yesterday.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22- She didn't?- She didn't, basically.
0:30:22 > 0:30:27She will possibly get the visa tomorrow, and then we can fly her
0:30:27 > 0:30:33out of Berlin or Dusseldorf into London, and she'll arrive for Thursday.
0:30:35 > 0:30:37- That's tight. - She'll be fine, it's just Vadim.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41I mean, the poor guy, he'll be thrown on with her.
0:30:44 > 0:30:49He's 20. We have to take care of them as well.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51Yikes.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58I'm a bit concerned, really, because we don't have our prima ballerina.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02At the moment she's delayed
0:31:02 > 0:31:06because she has no visa on her passport,
0:31:06 > 0:31:08because she's Russian.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12There's a possibility that she might only arrive on Friday.
0:31:12 > 0:31:17I'm very concerned for him, being so young and so inexperienced,
0:31:17 > 0:31:21that he doesn't get the proper time with her, and it's already short.
0:31:21 > 0:31:26So... Anyway, we'll see. Tomorrow's another day.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28HE LAUGHS
0:31:33 > 0:31:37It's Friday, and there's still no sign of Polina.
0:31:37 > 0:31:42It can take months to perfect a partnership, but Vadim has just five days.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47It's getting later and later, so I get a bit more nervous.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51We didn't dance together yet, never,
0:31:51 > 0:31:55but... I know she's really tall, she's much taller than Daria.
0:31:55 > 0:32:00All he can do is wait, and watch videos of her performances.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03It's going to be a really different partnering,
0:32:03 > 0:32:09so everything I did with Daria's going to be completely different with Polina, so this will take time.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13I hope we can put everything together in five days.
0:32:14 > 0:32:19What could be a problem, they're both very, very different, physically, Daria and Polina.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22Polina is so much more expressive physically.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26Daria is in the autumn of her career, let's say.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28Her body still works very well,
0:32:28 > 0:32:32but she does have limitations because of serious injuries.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35You might be on on Wednesday.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39- You pay me like you pay her, yes? - I'll give you her fee.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41'We're all hoping Polina's going to make it.'
0:32:41 > 0:32:45She will be here, probably, but it's rehearsals they need.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50And he'll be panicking. She could arrive today.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53Or not.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55If she doesn't get away today,
0:32:55 > 0:32:59we're looking at possibly flying Derek and Vadim to Berlin
0:32:59 > 0:33:01to rehearse on Saturday and Sunday,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04and then they'll come back to London on Monday,
0:33:04 > 0:33:09but it's just a bit of a waiting game until we find out whether her visa's going to be approved or not.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13Because Vadim is Russian, he needs a visa to go into Germany,
0:33:13 > 0:33:17so it's not as simple as putting them both on a plane tonight to Berlin.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20Time is running out for Polina.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22If she doesn't get her visa today,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25she will not arrive in time for the opening night,
0:33:25 > 0:33:30due to a national holiday, and Daria will have to step into the breach.
0:33:32 > 0:33:37I'm feeling exhausted, but mainly because I haven't slept last night.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41A tiny bit stressing, you know?
0:33:41 > 0:33:43It's getting a bit closer.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47I'm worried I'm going to do opening night, which I don't want to do.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50I know it sounds really strange, but...
0:33:50 > 0:33:53You know, in my age, I don't need all this.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58You now, you think after 20 years if I do one more opening night
0:33:58 > 0:34:02and critics will see me, that I just will become a star suddenly?
0:34:02 > 0:34:07I don't think so. It's important for Vadim, but not for me anymore.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11I just want to enjoy myself. And the less pressure the better.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18I just know she will get the visa, I know for sure,
0:34:18 > 0:34:20because I am not doing the opening night!
0:34:22 > 0:34:25Even though Polina hasn't arrived,
0:34:25 > 0:34:29Derek has a busy schedule rehearsing other principal dancers.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Do this.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36Derek says this is what it is, do it.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41So we don't have anybody going, "No, I don't know what that is," or, "I never did that."
0:34:43 > 0:34:46Just unnecessary anxiety for everybody.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50As if we haven't got enough anxiety without the ballerina being here,
0:34:50 > 0:34:54trying to rehearse four, five different casts.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56We just don't need any other problems.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03Different casts play different nights through the two-week Swan Lake season,
0:35:03 > 0:35:07and each cast must learn the same steps.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09Go! Go!
0:35:09 > 0:35:11Go!
0:35:13 > 0:35:15You, go now. Go.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19And a kiss.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24How come I know it? How come I know it?
0:35:28 > 0:35:31And, end of kiss into hug.
0:35:36 > 0:35:37Have a look.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47Hi, I know you need a visa to travel to Germany,
0:35:47 > 0:35:51and I'd heard that you applied for a visa to do a gala in Prague,
0:35:51 > 0:35:55and I just wanted to check if you'd actually got a visa for that?
0:35:59 > 0:36:00Wait.
0:36:00 > 0:36:05- No, I didn't get it. - You didn't apply for it? OK.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07All right. That just makes it impossible now.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17God Almighty.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19Just impossible.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28Andrew gives Derek a final update before the weekend deadline.
0:36:28 > 0:36:33I mean, it's three o'clock in Germany,
0:36:33 > 0:36:38and the visa office closes at five, so there's,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41we've got a minute, but it's hardly likely.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44- I just don't think it's going to happen on Friday afternoon. - 'Oh, shit.'
0:36:47 > 0:36:52OK, you're not going to Berlin, then? So, if she doesn't get it today, what's going to happen?
0:36:52 > 0:36:54Did anybody talk to you?
0:36:54 > 0:36:55No?
0:36:59 > 0:37:02They don't talk to dancers.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08Vadim has been called for an emergency rehearsal
0:37:08 > 0:37:09at the Royal Albert Hall.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11It looks amazing.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14This is the first time he's ever been to the venue.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25We have lost Polina for the opening night,
0:37:25 > 0:37:28and I was hanging on for as long as I could
0:37:28 > 0:37:32to try and see if we could get her here,
0:37:32 > 0:37:37but unfortunately the visa didn't come through today, so she wasn't able to fly.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42So, darling, I have an early Christmas present for you,
0:37:42 > 0:37:46a very early Christmas present for you.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50- What have you done to me? - You have to be on there, darling, on Wednesday night.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52Yes?
0:37:52 > 0:37:55- What do you mean, what have I done to you? Tell me.- I'll do my best.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Of course you'll do your best, absolutely. And more.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01- I'll try my best. - You'll do your best and more.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05'Daria is a very good dancer, she is the company ballerina.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08She will go on and give a very good performance, I'm sure.'
0:38:08 > 0:38:13It just doesn't have the same element of excitement for me
0:38:13 > 0:38:17because I'm not working with the two artists that I put together,
0:38:17 > 0:38:20so I lose the buzz, and I lose my energy,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23because it's not really the picture I wanted.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Very nervous, actually. When I came here, I expected
0:38:29 > 0:38:34he's going to be absolutely horrible to me, but I'm ready, you know?
0:38:34 > 0:38:38I'm ready for the worst rehearsal in the world!
0:38:39 > 0:38:41Centre. Stop.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45HE HUMS
0:38:50 > 0:38:54Stop, stop, stop. You're really in the wrong place.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56You should be right over here, kids.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06'With somebody who takes over from somebody else,
0:39:06 > 0:39:08'the expectations become greater.'
0:39:08 > 0:39:11Look at the leg.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15'But, yes, a lot of hard work has to go into this rehearsal tonight'
0:39:15 > 0:39:19to get anywhere near what I would be satisfied with as a performance.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22One, and a two.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28Slower and slower and slower and slower.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30We won't be out before midnight.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33'You have to look at it also psychologically, because you can'
0:39:33 > 0:39:37damage the person rather than build them if you're not careful with them.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41Vadim, Vadim, here, here.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44You have to do what I tell you to do.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47Everything I tell you to do, you must do.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51Do you love her? Look, do you love her?
0:39:51 > 0:39:54Yes, I love her.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57I've told you a thousand times now.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01The story is being told all the time, it's so important.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05You know, 48 hours to go and I'm still telling you the story.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11Everything we've worked on, I want to see.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14And I'm seeing a quarter of what I want to see.
0:40:14 > 0:40:19You got to a really good level, and now you've just let it all go again.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24Arabesque!
0:40:24 > 0:40:27Promenade!
0:40:27 > 0:40:33For fuck's sake! Unbelievable. And I have to watch it.
0:40:35 > 0:40:41Two, one, two and one.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44I'm so fed up.
0:40:58 > 0:41:04'I'm quite an insecure dancer, but here, deep inside me, I'm ambitious.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08'I'm just not going to give up just because I'm insecure,
0:41:08 > 0:41:12'so I just go and fight it, all this criticism,
0:41:12 > 0:41:17'and I just want to go and prove to him, well, yes, I can do it.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20'Even if you are screaming at me, I can do it.'
0:41:41 > 0:41:45It's like being in Paddington Station, isn't it?
0:41:45 > 0:41:48A foggy day in London town.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59Obviously, everybody thinks there's too much smoke!
0:42:00 > 0:42:06The company are preparing for the dress rehearsal, and it's the last chance for the swans to impress.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Elephants, elephants. Listen to the shoes. Elephants.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15Look across. Lara, gone too far.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18Stop, stop.
0:42:18 > 0:42:24Against the odds, Adeline has made it to the Royal Albert Hall, in touching distance of opening night.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28'It's been very nice to be back.'
0:42:28 > 0:42:34I'm not performing 100%, but it will be coming.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39I have been holding on pretty well.
0:42:39 > 0:42:46'It's been hard, I'm not going to say it was painless, but I enjoy it more and more.'
0:42:58 > 0:43:01- It's not bad, actually. - No.- It's actually not bad.
0:43:06 > 0:43:11The dress rehearsal feels like opening night, with a large invite-only audience.
0:43:11 > 0:43:16The dancers will perform this production to a live orchestra for the first time.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26There's no room.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29So, you know, there's 60 of us back there,
0:43:29 > 0:43:32we're all in the same tutus and you remember who you're behind
0:43:32 > 0:43:33by their leotard or their hair,
0:43:33 > 0:43:38and suddenly, everyone's got a bun in and is in a white tutu and you're like, oh, my goodness!
0:43:40 > 0:43:45Before we ran on, every time there's like, "Where is someone?" You know. It's just constant chaos.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51Holding the positions is worse and harder
0:43:51 > 0:43:56than actually dancing, because it just aches every muscle.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02'And you can get pins and needles in your legs,
0:44:02 > 0:44:06'or they could start to get cramp and it's really painful.
0:44:06 > 0:44:13'You can feel sweat pouring down and sometimes I get an itch as well, but you just can't move.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17'You just have to let it go and let it all drip down.'
0:44:17 > 0:44:20Some of the students looked like rabbits in the headlights.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24They're a bit like, "Oh, God, I've moved too early," then they jump back.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26All the back people went... And they had to try
0:44:26 > 0:44:29and space themselves out and it just looks unprofessional.
0:44:31 > 0:44:33Oh! So slack!
0:44:36 > 0:44:39There are also issues with the orchestra,
0:44:39 > 0:44:43who are playing at a different tempo than the dancers are used to.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Da-da. Ohhh!
0:44:46 > 0:44:51It's the first time the music director has seen the pace of the full performance,
0:44:51 > 0:44:55as he was unable to attend some earlier rehearsals.
0:44:55 > 0:45:01But to actually be conducting without having attended any rehearsals is outrageous.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04Tempi all over the place. Too fast, too slow, too in between.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07We spend weeks and weeks and weeks on this,
0:45:07 > 0:45:09and then a conductor walks in on the last day
0:45:09 > 0:45:13and just completely wrecks he whole rehearsal.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16All the diverts are the wrong tempo.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20I gave him such a bollocking in the interval. We had such a row.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24He knows he's wrong. He knows he's wrong, cos he couldn't say anything to me.
0:45:24 > 0:45:30- I said, "How are you coming here unprepared?" "I've watched a DVD," he said to me.- Did he really?- Yeah.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Beginning of the pas de trois was so slow.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36- That was very slow. - You know, there are so many things.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40- They could deal with that. - Yeah, but it's not the point. It shouldn't be like that.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44- I know. But, Derek, unless you... - He has to be here for a week.
0:45:44 > 0:45:46But he's a good conductor. He's done it before.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49- It's not like...- He doesn't look like a good conductor to me.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53He is experienced and he's done Swan Lake.
0:45:54 > 0:45:59With a live orchestra, it will be different every time,
0:45:59 > 0:46:02and every conductor will be slightly different.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05A dress rehearsal is just that.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07It's a rehearsal to make sure
0:46:07 > 0:46:11that the costumes work, that the music works,
0:46:11 > 0:46:18and so the rather tactless way that any issues were addressed to me, they hit hard.
0:46:18 > 0:46:23But then I decided to just... let him blow his hot air out.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28This is a ballet company. We're not a war factory.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31We're don't make armaments. We're an arts organisation
0:46:31 > 0:46:33and we should behave like one.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36Oh, God almighty!
0:46:36 > 0:46:38Look at her.
0:46:43 > 0:46:48In for... the hug.
0:46:51 > 0:46:57Dreadful. Absolutely dreadful. I'm not going to give her corrections,
0:46:57 > 0:46:59I'm just not. I don't mind talking to him.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02It just wastes my time talking to her.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05There is so much to correct, there is so much to change.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09I can't be bothered. It's awful. I'll spend an hour with him, if you like.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13I'm not going to waste my time on people who don't listen and who don't care.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47I'm very nervous about tonight,
0:47:47 > 0:47:51because there are a lot of elements that I don't feel are really that secure.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53Good luck, ladies. Enjoy. Good luck, everybody.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55- Thanks.- Lots of smiles.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58'I'm worried about some of the dancers.'
0:47:58 > 0:48:01We had problems with casting through injury.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05We had to take one girl out of a certain number because, you know,
0:48:05 > 0:48:09we just felt that she wasn't really ready for it and up to it.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11'So she had to be replaced.'
0:48:11 > 0:48:16- I've travelled the world to find you. All right?- Yeah.
0:48:16 > 0:48:21Enjoy. Really enjoy it and be calm and be collected, elegant.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25Think of all the other things except the dancing, yeah?
0:48:25 > 0:48:27You'll be very good, very good. Enjoy it.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29Thank you.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34Where am I going now?
0:48:34 > 0:48:40Swan Lake is a box office success, with a sell-out crowd of just under 5,000.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43Some have flown from across the world to see the guest star.
0:48:43 > 0:48:48No disrespect to the current ballerina, but I didn't want to just see Swan Lake, I wanted to see
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Polina Semionova dancing Swan Lake.
0:48:51 > 0:48:57To be honest, I didn't want to do Swan Lake ever again, actually.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01I'm a member of the English National Ballet and actually we cannot choose
0:49:01 > 0:49:05which role we can do and which role we don't want to do.
0:49:05 > 0:49:09So I thought, if I want to stay in the company, I have to do Swan Lake one more time,
0:49:09 > 0:49:14and I would like to do Romeo and Juliet in the autumn.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18So I thought, OK, I'll fight it one more time and I'll do Swan Lake.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23'Ladies and gentlemen, would you please take your seats.'
0:49:23 > 0:49:25Do you enjoy doing Swan Lake?
0:49:25 > 0:49:28No, it's one of my favourite ballets, don't take me wrong.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31It's just so hard and when you get as an older dancer,
0:49:31 > 0:49:35you lose the arabesque and there is everything about arabesque.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37It's much harder for me than it used to be.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39What's an arabesque?
0:49:39 > 0:49:42Arabesque is when you have the leg at the back.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46You know when you lift the leg to the back? That's called arabesque.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48How does it feel when you do that?
0:49:48 > 0:49:50'Pain. Terrible pain for me.'
0:50:02 > 0:50:04Physique doesn't go forever.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55You sweat a lot and it actually expands quite a lot with you.
0:50:55 > 0:51:01So if it's too loose, then it feels a bit unsafe at the front.
0:51:06 > 0:51:11It's Act II, and 60 swans are gathering in the wings for the famous lakeside entrance.
0:51:13 > 0:51:18Yeah, some of the other girls have gone a little quiet because they're a little nervous, I think.
0:51:18 > 0:51:25This is the most important act, so I wasn't nervous up until now. Now I feel really sick.
0:51:29 > 0:51:31Feeling composed-ish.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20They're actually right at your face,
0:52:20 > 0:52:23so you can actually see people's faces and everything.
0:52:25 > 0:52:30- Have you opened a bottle of shampoo? - As good as, if not better
0:52:30 > 0:52:33- than it has ever been.- Aw! - Do you think?
0:52:33 > 0:52:37Well, I do, because there's a kind of drama going on.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40Yes. Yeah, there's a lot of drama going on!
0:52:40 > 0:52:41Have they started?
0:52:44 > 0:52:47Act III has begun and Vadim and Daria are about to dance
0:52:47 > 0:52:51their most challenging part of the ballet - the Black Swan pas de deux.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55Maybe it's my last Swan Lake ever,
0:52:55 > 0:52:59so why not try to give one more time everything?
0:52:59 > 0:53:01Only a couple.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09'But I feel young. I feel like I'm 25.
0:53:09 > 0:53:10'Seriously.
0:53:10 > 0:53:16'I might not look like, but I feel like.'
0:53:16 > 0:53:19And they say we work hard!
0:53:19 > 0:53:22'So I guess maybe that's why I'm still here.'
0:53:24 > 0:53:26For the finale of the routine,
0:53:26 > 0:53:30Daria must complete the famous 32 fouettes,
0:53:30 > 0:53:33where every perfect turn is counted by the critics.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40SHE GIGGLES
0:53:53 > 0:53:55It's looking good(!)
0:54:22 > 0:54:24APPLAUSE
0:54:48 > 0:54:52APPLAUSE
0:54:58 > 0:55:01Well done, ladies.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05'It's been such good fun. It's been really good.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07'It'll be really sad when it's over.'
0:55:07 > 0:55:13I really, really don't want it to end and it's definitely made me think this is definitely what I want to do
0:55:13 > 0:55:17and do for kind of for the rest of my life, really.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28APPLAUSE
0:55:34 > 0:55:36OK.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39Bravo!
0:55:44 > 0:55:46That was really good.
0:55:46 > 0:55:52He was fabulous, and she really came up. She really did come up.
0:55:52 > 0:55:57Bless his heart. Ah! 20 years old, just out the school.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59Bloody amazing. Bloody amazing.
0:56:02 > 0:56:03How do you feel?
0:56:03 > 0:56:07I think it went all right, yeah. I'm really happy.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11Really hard work, but it's over.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13I think second time going to be easier.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19Daria was amazing.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22She always comes up with the goods on the performance.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24She keeps us guessing!
0:56:25 > 0:56:29Yeah, I was so tired. At some moments, I didn't know what I was doing, but...
0:56:29 > 0:56:31No, beautiful. Beautiful.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35She looked so vulnerable and they enjoy dancing together,
0:56:35 > 0:56:38so it becomes something really very special.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42By the time you got to the third, it was very good. Very good.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45- You've got to go over the top in the fourth act.- Even more?
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Yeah, but you're not going over the top. You say even more...
0:56:48 > 0:56:52- But it's so hard. - Yeah, but you have to do it.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56You have to do it. You have to flap, you have to suffer,
0:56:56 > 0:57:01or else it doesn't look like you're trying to be desperate to stay alive.
0:57:01 > 0:57:06- Good, good. - I'll keep trying. I'll keep trying.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10It's very hard to please Derek.
0:57:10 > 0:57:14It's very, very hard to please Derek.
0:57:14 > 0:57:18But if you please him, it means something.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22But you know what? I'm happy. It was the first show, you know,
0:57:22 > 0:57:26and the first show is usually the worst because it's just the start.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29'Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations on a fantastic opening night.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33'We will see you tomorrow for class onstage at 11.30.'
0:57:43 > 0:57:49Guest star Polina Semionova eventually performs, six days after opening night.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57Rachel is still training for her first professional contract.
0:58:00 > 0:58:07Since Swan Lake, Daria and Vadim have become English National Ballet's number one partnership,
0:58:07 > 0:58:13with their performances winning rave reviews, comparing them to Nureyev and Fonteyn.
0:58:15 > 0:58:21Romeo and Juliet's unique. It's not a love story in Rudolf's productions.
0:58:21 > 0:58:22The whole story, it's about death.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27We're short of boys, so we have to be very careful with them.
0:58:28 > 0:58:32I came to stab him and caught the blade instead of my hand.
0:58:32 > 0:58:36Already this week, we have three guys off.
0:58:36 > 0:58:38There's swelling a bit, I'm afraid.
0:58:38 > 0:58:40One thing that's going to happen
0:58:40 > 0:58:41is there will be cuts to the arts budget.
0:58:41 > 0:58:44We have to at least look at redundancies.
0:58:44 > 0:58:47There's only one week left. Now we can start
0:58:47 > 0:58:49to do bad cop and get them scared.
0:58:49 > 0:58:50That's a ball breaker.
0:59:05 > 0:59:08Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:08 > 0:59:12E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk