Less than a week after her final performance in Paris, the London Ballet Circle was privileged to host Tamara Rojo – former Royal Ballet Principal, Artistic Director of ENB and, from December, San Francisco Ballet’s new Artistic Director – 'in conversation' with Graham Watts at the Royal Ballet School.
Graham started the conversation by praising the legacy of incredible performances that Tamara will leave behind and asked her about her final performance. Tamara said that she had been “ready to say farewell to the stage for a long time” but that she was “grateful for how much I have experienced on stage”. Tamara described her final performance dancing Akram Khan’s Giselle at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées as “emotional.”
The conversation took in Tamara’s background, her early ballet schooling in Spain, and her remarkable career, which started in the UK at Scottish Ballet before a spell at ENB and then 12 years as a Principal at the Royal Ballet. Tamara recalled several fond memories of her time at the Royal Ballet, including dancing with the likes of Carlos Acosta and Jonathan Cope. Among other topics covered, Tamara discussed the importance of promoting women choreographers, dealing with criticism from the press, and her own chorographical pursuits, including the hugely successful new productions of Raymonda for ENB and Cinderella for Royal Swedish Ballet.
Alongside her dancing career, Tamara has also been a passionate advocate for the artistic sector and is a member of the Government’s Culture Recovery Group. She remarked on her desire to open up ballet and make it accessible to more diverse audiences, saying she “genuinely believes in the ability of ballet to change people’s lives for the better.” A shining example of this was the relocation of ENB’s headquarters from Kensington to East London. Tamara said that she wanted to locate the new headquarters “where it could have a positive impact on the local community,” something that has certainly been achieved.
Following the event, Susan Dalgetty Ezra, chairwoman of the LBC, announced that Tamara Rojo has agreed to become the London Ballet Circle’s first international Vice-President. We are grateful for Tamara’s support and look forward to working with her to continue promoting appreciation of ballet and dance.
A full report of this event is available here.