As she gears up for a season showcasing female choreographers, Tamara Rojo discusses the unique challenges these women face.
“I don’t have children,” says Tamara Rojo. “But I imagine that’s what it’s like.” The artistic director of English National Ballet, no stranger to winning prizes as a ballerina, is talking about ENB recently scooping the National Dance award for outstanding company. “It’s a completely different thing,” she says. “The satisfaction you get when your company achieves something multiplies the pleasure. I genuinely didn’t expect this, so I was surprised and honoured.”
If Rojo was surprised, she was in a minority of one. In the two and a half years since she left the Royal Ballet for ENB, the 40-year-old ballerina has been firing in all directions. She’s overhauled the repertory with a new production of Le Corsaire, and with the boldly contemporary works of her first-world-war programme Lest We Forget. She’s taken ENB to Glastonbury, secured a new role for it as an associate company of Sadler’s Wells, and won a coveted invitation to perform at the Paris Opera. And this week she raised the game of the entire ballet profession by announcing a programme of all-female choreography for ENB’s 2015-16 season. The last time the Royal premiered a single work by a woman was over 15 years ago, and I can’t recall when it ever happened at ENB... Keep reading on The Guardian
“I don’t have children,” says Tamara Rojo. “But I imagine that’s what it’s like.” The artistic director of English National Ballet, no stranger to winning prizes as a ballerina, is talking about ENB recently scooping the National Dance award for outstanding company. “It’s a completely different thing,” she says. “The satisfaction you get when your company achieves something multiplies the pleasure. I genuinely didn’t expect this, so I was surprised and honoured.”
If Rojo was surprised, she was in a minority of one. In the two and a half years since she left the Royal Ballet for ENB, the 40-year-old ballerina has been firing in all directions. She’s overhauled the repertory with a new production of Le Corsaire, and with the boldly contemporary works of her first-world-war programme Lest We Forget. She’s taken ENB to Glastonbury, secured a new role for it as an associate company of Sadler’s Wells, and won a coveted invitation to perform at the Paris Opera. And this week she raised the game of the entire ballet profession by announcing a programme of all-female choreography for ENB’s 2015-16 season. The last time the Royal premiered a single work by a woman was over 15 years ago, and I can’t recall when it ever happened at ENB... Keep reading on The Guardian