LBC Past Events -

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 Crown Court Church of Scotland Hall, London W.C.2.

ENB is at present enjoying a very successful season of "Swan Lake" in the round at the Albert Hall, and Daria has already danced one performance. She is dancing again on Saturday, which is also her birthday, and is looking forward to the show. Daria then told us about her experience of dancing in the round, which was difficult at first because of having to direct her dancing in different directions, but she has now got used to it and enjoys it. A problem with dancing on such a vast stage is that the dancers cannot exit to snatch a moment's rest between solos in the Black Swan pas de deux but must remain on stage for the whole pas de deux. Also the production involves a lot of running, which is not easy in ballet shoes, and includes up and down stairs - like doing the Marathon! However, she likes being close to the audience and can usually pick out one person to dance to. She enjoyed having Friedmann Vogel with the company, who dances with his heart and is a lovely person. She also danced Derek Deane's "Romeo and Juliet" but it was more difficult to project the emotions, especially in the balcony scene, and she is looking forward to his Gershwin production next year.

"Swan Lake" will be danced at Versailles in July and Daria is looking forward to dancing there, and also wants to take photographs of the dancers against such a beautiful background. She thinks in this production the principals will arrive on stage by boat, and the swans may have to run quite a long distance to reach the stage! ENB will also perform an extract from "Swan Lake" at the special "Concert for Diana" at Wembley, but Daria is not involved in this.

ENB's next production will be "The Snow Queen" by Michael Corder and the ballet is being created on Daria. She gave us a progress report on this ballet, which is still being choreographed, and she appreciates the Prokofiev music, which is very spectacular. She explained how Michael Corder works with the dancers in creating his choreography, which they are now rehearsing for six hours every day. The scenery and costumes are being designed and the ballet will have its premiere in October with a national tour, and will then come to the Coliseum in London.

Daria then told us about the kind of ballet she likes, which is classical, because she is a classical dancer, though she also likes neo-classical. She has never done real contemporary work involving floor work and contractions, but has done some Kylian. Talking about the ballerina role in "The Sleeping Beauty", Daria said that although she has danced it with great success many times, she really hates that role! She first danced Aurora on graduating from the ballet academy in Prague and practiced it for about a year and a half, and when she joined the company she continued practicing and dancing Aurora. She finds no difficulty with the steps, but feels that there is not enough drama or emotion in the character. She loves "Swan Lake" and especially loves the Black Swan, though she finds the White Swan is harder. Daria has a free arabesque which is an advantage so she can concentrate on the emotional side of "Swan Lake". Other roles she has danced which she especially loves include Juliet, Lady of Camelias (which she danced in Prague), Anna Karenina and other dramatic roles. She would love to dance "Manon" some day.

Talking about Martinu's music, Daria has danced to it in Glen Tetly's "Sphinx" but it took her a while to listen to it properly. In the recent triple bill, she danced to Bach in David Dawson's" A Million Kisses to my Skin" and found this was very challenging choreography which really pushed her and was good for her technically. She liked "Melody on the Move" and really likes Michael Corder's choreography, which is comfortable for her. This ballet was a great success in Barcelona.

Daria began gymnastics at the age of five until the age of 10, when she started ballet lessons. Her teacher advised her to audition for a ballet school. She studied at the Prague Ballet School for eight years and was then accepted into the national ballet company in Prague, and after half a year was given a principal's contract - so she danced Aurora, and all the classical roles She was with the company for three years, and after winning an international competition in South Africa, was offered a job in South Africa where she learnt English and danced everything. She was homesick for Europe and after one year joined Scottish Ballet, then directed by Galina Samsova. She was with Scottish for three years, and then Derek Deane brought her to English National Ballet, where she has been for 11 years now. She says she is a very lucky dancer to have had so many opportunities at a young age.

She has particularly enjoyed working with Christopher Hampson, who created "Double Concerto" as he gives her a free hand and allows her to suggest movements. She has seen several Artistic Directors in her time at ENB and considers that the company is in good shape at present.

Daria then told us about the Masterclasses in Prague, which were originally suggested by her husband, who is a lighting designer. This summer school is for two weeks every year for international students over 16, taught by teachers who are dancers at the peak of their careers who can demonstrate as well as teach. These have included Tamara Rojo, and this year the team will include Sofiane Sylve, and other well known dancers. They use the studios of the Prague ballet company in central Prague and have about 100 students each week. A typical day begins with a morning warm-up class, followed by repertoire solo classes for boys and girls, lunch, pas de deux class from classical repertoire, or contemporary class, and Christopher Hampson teaches his choreography. The day ends with an interview of all the teachers where the students can ask questions, and demonstrations by the teachers. She mentioned that not many Czech students attend the summer school but international students increase each year and standards are rising. Her teaching philosophy is to make the students feel good and then they will want to work harder, and some students have now auditioned successfully for ENB and other companies. The financing is difficult because they get no government sponsorship; the Czech government being more inclined to support opera.

About seven years ago, Daria's husband gave her a digital camera so she started to photograph her colleagues and became very interested in photography. She now has a professional camera and all the equipment and has developed a second career, having had exhibitions in several countries, as well as the ENB calendar every year. She particularly admires the work of dance photographer Anthony Crickmay and has done a photo-shoot with him for "Snow Queen". Daria then produced some albums of her work, which were passed around the audience, and very much admired, while she told us about some of the sitters, including her daughter Sabrina, who began ballet but didn't like it, and is now taking piano lessons, which suits her better. Photos included Daria's partner Dmitri Gruzdyev and his pregnant wife - he now has two children. Daria is working on an exhibition for Prague in September, in collaboration with the French company Hermes.

Daria has danced in many galas around the world and found them hard work because of the long plane journeys, and not enough time to see anything of interest. She prefers to stay in Europe which allows more free time for her to see museums etc. Regarding Balanchine, she found his ballets difficult to get used to, though she enjoys "Who Cares". She has also worked with Mark Baldwin who allows her to make suggestions in choreography, and she would love to do more neo-classical ballets. She worked with Glen Tetley on "Sphinx" which was a great experience for her. She is lucky to have her mother helping her look after Sabrina, who is learning Czech as well as English. Daria feels that her home is really both London and Prague. Daria began as a gymnast and considers that every child who wants to be a dancer should do gymnastics because this makes the body more supple and free; this was a great advantage to herself. About "Giselle", Daria is not comfortable with mime which she doesn't like, but prefers Act n which is pure dancing.

For the future, Daria would like to teach, open a studio, be a company director, and has lots of other ideas. The evening ended with many thanks from all of us for such a fascinating evening and the presentation of a gift to Daria, and also one for her daughter Sabrina.