Dance your way to success

I’ve always been passionate about dance. I remember asking my mother at the age of four when I could start  dance lessons! In Australia at that time, there was nothing like a ballet school, so I had to train after school and travel extensively to practices and performances. I do feel that students have got it so much easier now and there is no excuse if they have the potential but don’t reach it.

We have some children starting at three, while others audition for us at 10. I believe that seven is a good age to start as children are then more in control of their bodies and able to reason with themselves and others.

I travelled all over the world as a young dancer and performed in Denmark, France and Italy before returning to Australia where I became a principal ballerina. Seven years later I went to dance in Canada, firstly with the National Ballet of Canada and then Royal Winnipeg. Becoming director of The Royal Ballet School – one of the world’s great ballet schools – has certainly been a highpoint. However, the birth of my daughter was definitely the most important event of my life.

My favourites include any dramatic ballet where there are strong characters. In terms of my performances, Giselle is my favourite as I danced it with my husband, Gary Norman. I also loved doing Carmen, as it is such a meaty role.

My husband is the Senior Classical Teacher at The Royal Ballet School, while my daughter Lisa has done cabaret work, modelled for Givenchy in Paris and is now playing the role of Kitty in Chicago in London’s West End.

I am very proud of the standard we’ve reached. The school is considered to be one of the top three in the world and for the second year running, 100 per cent of our graduate students have been offered professional contracts by excellent companies. It is difficult in the current economic climate as companies are becoming smaller and dancers are a bit nomadic, moving around a lot.

I came here to do three main things: to move the Upper School to Covent Garden so we are physically linked with The Royal Ballet; upgrade accommodation at White Lodge (our Lower School) and open a large development project with modern dance, academic and boarding facilities for up to 125 children and residential staff.

I’m constantly striving to make the school attractive to everyone and to attract people from all over the world. We now have 1200 applications a year, and our Upper School can only take 30 pupils, so we are a very serious vocational training school. The perception is that our students are from the elite or upper classes, but nothing is further from the truth – currently, 96 per cent of White Lodge students are government-funded.

I love helping young people to achieve their dreams and goals and especially love it when I have a job for them. When I call them into my office, I string it out for as long as possible and when I tell them the real reason they’re there, they usually burst into tears and so do I! It’s also immensely thrilling to watch them on stage.

I do a lot of teaching, including coaching, rehearsing and taking classes across the board. I also run a teacher training course to help with the transition into management. This is very popular. I usually take three or four students a year, but this time I have nine. I just don’t know how to say no!

It was very difficult at first, as I went straight from being a principal dancer to managing a large school without any training. I simply had to use my common sense, but it was hard. It took about two years before I felt I had my head above water, especially with budgeting.

I’m taking some graduate students to Canada in November 2009 for a performance with eight of the top ballet schools in the world. We also plan to perform in Stuttgart and possibly in Japan in the next year or so.

At a grassroots level, it has plateaued a lot, particularly as it’s no longer politically correct to encourage students to work harder than they want to. Unfortunately, if you want to be at the top of your field in anything, life doesn’t work that way. Certainly at The Royal Ballet School we have suffered from this attitude.

Our dancers have to think of themselves as artistic athletes and to push themselves just as hard as the athletes did in training for the Olympics. One way of overcoming this mindset is to identify students with potential and bring them into the type of vocational training we offer as soon as possible.

The most important thing is to do as much research as possible. Find out about teachers in the area, contact reputable ballet organisations to ask them which teachers they recommend and ask The Royal Ballet School for advice. Find the best opportunities you can for your children to be inspired. Nurturing a dancer is like watering a plant - they need the best nourishment to thrive. It’s vital we help children to achieve their potential.