What does a typical day entail for a ballet mistress?
I’ll be in studio for six hours a day – usually until 6pm or 5.30pm if there’s a performance. I’ll then check-in with the dancers 30 minutes before curtain up before taking my seat in the auditorium to watch the performance. The dancers like to be told corrections and ways they can improve their performance, so I’ll give a few notes after each show to ensure that their dancing stays at a high standard.
How do you teach choreography?
Choreography is written down using Benesh Notation but I prefer to use my own notes and drawings to help me teach it.
A new dancer will have to learn a lot of ballet in their first few years. I usually start new dancers off with a big corps de ballet number. Often students of The Royal Ballet Upper School will join, so they can slowly pick up the patterns and counts in the choreography.
In rehearsals with the rest of the Company, I focus on the fine details like eye-line and arm height. Keeping straight lines and order is an essential part of a strong corps de ballet. I then have to push the dancers to increase their stamina so they can handle the run of performances on stage.
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