Edward Watson, new Principal
London. We meet Edward in the crowded Royal Opera House Cafeteria: people coming, people leaving, people meeting, people eating and drinking or surfing on the internet, sometimes coming directly from a dress rehearsal in their costumes. Dancers, singers, technicians and administrators: this is the sort of place that makes you understand how many people work and "live" in the House and the huge effort that is behind any show and performance on the Covent Garden stage. We sit at one of the little tables, trying to overcome the noise of tens of chatting people.
You created a lot of roles for contemporary choreographers and that is a great thing, but do you think that you could risk being considered just a contemporary dancer? Could that create problems with the classical repertoire?
Sometime it is difficult to cast me in classical things, because they see me so often in modern rep. I would like to do more in the classical repertoire. I don't do any leading roles in them just pdd and things like that. I'm satisfied with my strong modern repertoire and to be considered a very good dancer in that, but sometimes you want to try different things and start with the classical ones. I'd like to move on in the more interpretative and dramatic roles.
You studied at the Royal Ballet School and after that you immediately joined the Royal Ballet, have you ever had the desire to go to another place, to try different experiences?
Sometimes, but I think that here the repertoire is so big that I have had and I will have in the future the possibility to do more things than in another company. Of course everybody would do more and for me it's the same, but I'm not dissatisfied or unhappy, especially at this moment! Here I've had roles made on me and I've danced with some fantastic ladies in great ballets.
Have you ever danced with other companies as a guest?
Not really, I've done a few galas, but our schedule is so thick that it's really difficult to find the space to dance somewhere else for more than one night.
Are there other companies that you admire and with a repertoire you are interested in?
Well, I admire and watch all the big companies, but I think that here we have a fantastic rep and we have the best to do that as well. So I've never really had the desire to go somewhere else, because I love the Ashton and MacMillan works, that are such a big part of our repertoire, and here I can still do the contemporary work, I can still do other stuff from different reps.
I didn't notice a difference in approach, but certainly in style and technique. People here and there have the same approach: they are really focused and want to do their job in the best way. But we have a different style, a different kind of musicality and a different technique.
You are mainly a contemporary dancer: do you have a favourite contemporary choreographer?
I really like Kenneth MacMillan's works: I've done some of his biggest roles, in ballets like Romeo, The Judas Tree, Gloria, Triad, and My Brother My Sisters. My big roles were mainly in the MacMillan ballets. I love working with Wayne McGregor, and with Ashley Page. Ashley Page gave me my first opportunities: I made several Ashley ballets when I was really young. I like to work with Cathy Marston too: we grew up together; we were in the same class at school. I also worked with Mark Morris when he came to rehearse Gong.
A very "standard" question: your favourite role which you have already done and the role you are dreaming about?
My favourite role is probably Gloria and I really like my role in The Judas Tree, I also love to do Romeo. I'd like to do Des Grieux in Manon…Well, a lot of MacMillan!
Mara is a MacMillan addict too! You and Mara grew up together in the company and you have quite a strong relationship…
Yeah, we are good friends. Mara was already in the company for three years when I joined it.
The first big thing we danced together was My Brother My Sisters…. We have a great feeling on stage; it was great to dance the Romeo and Juliet pdd with her in Brescia. And Qualia as well: I created the role, but she studied it especially for that gala, anyway it took a very short time to learn and rehearse that pdd together, it came very easily.
Romeo and Juliet is well known in Italy, but Qualia was quite new and people were very impressed…
I did it for the first time in Bassano in the summer of 2004, with Lauren Cuthbertson, but that time people didn't like it very much … so it was great to have a different perception in Brescia.
As said, you recently danced in Bassano and in Brescia, have you danced in any other places in Italy?
Yes, I danced in Turin and Palermo, with the company: we did Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty in Turin and Manon and Swan Lake in Palermo. In Bassano I did Symphonic Variations, Qualia and William Tuckett's 'Puirt-a-Beul', it was a very hot evening! And during the day we had a rehearsal on stage in the sun…
Shy and private …not always…not with my friends! Anyway no, I don't have problems on stage. It's not like being me, it's being someone else. I am that character, without any kind of embarrassment: I'm never embarrassed on stage.
You don't like interviews much and you don't like photos, but…
… but I've been a model! I've done it but it's not very me. It's nice to see the results afterwards, but it's a little bit embarrassing to do…
You come from a family not connected with the dance world… Do you think that the "Billy Elliot" situation reflects properly the problems of an English boy when approaching ballet?
Yes, at that time yes. I think that a lot of people had a difficult time when they started ballet. I didn't have so many problems. I left home when I was 11 to go to White Lodge and so I grew up in a special environment, but I think that for a lot of people the reality has been like that.
I decided to become a dancer following my twin sister: we used to do things together, so we both went to ballet classes. Then somebody saw me and suggested that I audition with the Royal Ballet School and that was what I did. My sister has not become a dancer; she just put me on this way.
Do you read comments on your performances?
No, I never read comments. I listen to the audience, to people's reactions at the end of the show: if that is good I'm happy, but I don't care too much about comments in newspapers or on the internet. Of course it's nice if somebody comes and says "I really enjoyed your performance".
Are there people who you ask to comment on your performance?
Yes, there are: a few people, really only a few, both from the company and from the audience. I selected a few people I can trust and when a bad comment comes, I accept it and try to change something in the following show. Anyway I mainly follow my feelings: I know when I'm good or not.
Yes, and I'm very tired. We are now leaving for the Far East: four weeks on tour, and then I'm having another show at the end of July in York. After that I'd like to go on holiday, but there is another event very special to me, something I'm really looking forward: I'm dancing from the 2nd to the 4th of August in Dartford, my hometown. I cannot miss those shows: I'm returning as a principal dancer and a lot of people are waiting for me! So, holidays can and have to wait!
Anna and Mauro
