Daria Klimentová In Conversation with Fiona Erleigh
8th November 2023
The Chair of the London Ballet Circle, Susan Dalgetty Ezra, welcomed Daria Klimentová to the evening’s conversation, saying that it had been ten years since she had last talked with the Circle and it was wonderful to be able to do so again. Born in Prague, Daria graduated from the Prague State Conservatoire and joined the Czech National Ballet company. After some years dancing in South Africa and then Scotland, she was invited to join English National Ballet where she danced for some eighteen years. Following her retirement from dancing she became a teacher at the Royal Ballet School, and she now works independently. Susan also welcomed Fiona Erleigh, Events Secretary of the London Ballet Circle, who would lead the evening’s conversation.
In response to Fiona’s first question Daria explained that she was currently in Glasgow, coaching members of Scottish Ballet in Cinderella in preparation for their opening night on 9th December. She was primarily involved in coaching the Principals such as Cinderella and the Prince. Her previous teaching had been with students, warming them up for the day and preparing them to become professionals; working with such established dancers, she said, was an exciting new experience.
Dancing had been her whole life, said Daria, but she had always been one to think ahead – to think about what she might do when she could no longer perform. That moment arrived after a run of Le Corsaire with English National Ballet, some performances of which had to be cancelled because she had ongoing problems with a swollen knee. Watching videos of the show she had reached the conclusion that at the age of forty-three the time was right to retire from regular performance.
When the time came she considered her options. She had always enjoyed photography, but did not think she could make a living from it. She enjoyed gardening but again did not consider it suitable as a full-time occupation, and it would involve a great deal of hard physical work! In planning for her future she had already taken the Royal Ballet School teaching course and accordingly this seemed the best option.
She auditioned for a post at White Lodge, although she didn’t really want to teach such young students. The experience, she felt, would be good practice for when she might be applying for a job which she really wanted. Nevertheless, her performance on the day was such that Christopher Powney offered her a job. However, he would not want her to teach at White Lodge but at the Upper School. Daria agreed to consider this proposal, while thinking to herself that teaching older students would be terrific and that there was no way in which she would turn down the offer!
Having secured the post at the Royal Ballet School, Daria admitted that she had continued to dance ‘secretly’ for around another five years. Not full ballets, just for instance at a gala, the pas de deux from Manon. At weekends or during holiday periods; nothing which would interfere with her responsibilities to her students.
Daria accepted that her career at the Royal Ballet School had not started propitiously. Her very first day had felt like a ‘complete disaster’, confronted by a group of senior and thus quite experienced girls who she felt were eyeing her up and asking ‘so what are you going to tell us’. She struggled – probably for much of her first year – with working out matters such as the best way to structure a class, and how to communicate with the students. After all, her career to that point had involved showing what she could do through movement, not through speech. After a month or so she had even gone to their class pianist seeking advice as to how she might resign her post! Daria reckoned that it had probably been seven years before she really felt comfortable in her job.
Over the months she learned a lot about teaching ballet and understanding her students, praising the support offered by the School itself. She began to enjoy her work as a teacher, feeling great responsibility for her students. Daria emphasised the importance of encouraging her students in their efforts; excessive criticism did not promote a positive atmosphere in the class.
She commented that criticism had in the past been very much a feature of certain regimes; she was sure this did not bring out the best in people. In this regard she noted the attitude of Derek Deane, who had recruited her to join English National Ballet, and whose intensely critical behaviour towards her had been so graphically recorded in the BBC TV film of 2011 documenting rehearsals for Swan Lake in-the-round at the Albert Hall. She was, nonetheless, proud of the way in which she had stood up to the criticism, and believed that his attitude had helped determine the way in which she treated her own students.
Daria believed that as well as technique, students should learn the interpretation of emotion and that it shouldn’t be ignored until the dancer got on stage. Interpreting a role – acting the part – was essential to the learning process. At this stage of their training in the Upper School, her aspiring professionals didn’t need to be taught how to perform an arabesque; they needed to be able to analyse why it was needed and what it meant in the context of the ballet. All in all she demanded a lot of her students, working to the premise that if she herself could no longer be the best possible dancer, then her students should be. She considered that she was now a good teacher.
In an aside Fiona, who had on occasion been present during classes taken by Daria, commented that the atmosphere appeared to be marvellous, and went on to ask her about the masterclasses which she had started up in Prague more than twenty years ago. Daria explained that ballet students in the Czech Republic had been somewhat starved of international contact and she had initiated classes in Prague as one way to try to address this situation.
She had been able to attract well known international dancers to teach and participate in these classes and in galas, and these had helped to inspire the local ballet scene. It was very much a two-way process, for as well as exposing local dancers to international stars, she was also able to show off their talents to artistic directors who might then wish to hire dancers for their own companies – sometimes with the offer of scholarships.
Prague, she noted, was a gorgeous city, especially in summer; the Czech National Ballet made their excellent facilities available and the classes continued to prove popular and successful. One of the dancers with whom she gave pas de deux masterclasses was Tamás Solymosi, Director of the Hungarian National Ballet; Daria described him as one of the best partners she had worked with in the course of her career.
Daria herself worked with the Royal Ballet School for nearly ten years. While she found the job fulfilling, she also liked to be challenged and after this time felt that she needed to consider moving on. She wanted to be free of a ‘fixed’ job for a while so that she could work independently. As she said, there is only one life and she wanted to make the most of it, and she had plans for all manner of new ventures.
The work which she had started in Prague was now being replicated in other cities. She had expanded into Japan, with masterclasses running in Tokyo for four years prior to the pandemic and just now starting up again. More recently she had started classes in Verona, although these were still rather limited in extent. She also had plans to work in Munich and with Dutch National Ballet.
For the moment, of course, she was preparing dancers for Cinderella, having been invited to Glasgow by Christopher Hampson, the Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet. Prior to joining English National Ballet, Daria had danced with Scottish Ballet and they had been friends for many years. This was Christopher’s own version of the story, and Daria was asked if she had taken on a difficult job as he was both choreographer of the ballet and director of the company. On the contrary, Daria responded, there was no particular pressure. She was happy that he trusted her to coach the principal dancers, even allowing her to slightly adjust the choreography if she considered that it might better suit the dancers involved.
It was, Daria explained, very different working with experienced dancers. No longer was she simply checking that their technique was correct, as she would with her students; this coaching involved helping them to find and develop into their various individual roles. She noted that one of the men dancing the Prince had been her student in the past; the new and different relationship between them was interesting and there had been a useful discussion on the expression of emotion..
Fiona then turned to the topic of partnering. Daria emphasised the importance of a balanced relationship, with both individuals contributing in equal measure. It helped, of course, if the dancers got on well with each other, stressing that this was not always the case! Not getting on personally could be difficult, especially if the partnership extended over several shows. However, at base dancers were all professionals and one simply got on with the job – what was important was the show itself.
Daria went on to talk about episodes of partnering which had been important in her own career. Her time in English National Ballet dancing with Vadim Muntagirov had been very special. He had come to the company as a very young but brilliant dancer; at that time she believed that she might be nearing the end of her dancing career. As partners they had ‘gelled’ completely and this had, in a sense, given her a new lease of life.
Asked why the partnership should have proved so successful Daria replied that she thought it was something to do with being on the same wavelength. They shared the same basic culture and outlook; they could converse in the same (Russian) language. A partnership such as theirs does not happen very often, but it is very special when it does. She cited her collaboration with Friedemann Vogel as another successful partnership, particularly when dancing Manon, although it had taken a little time to develop.
Daria was then asked about choreographers, responding that working together over the creation of a new role was a great experience. She would, in fact, have liked more such opportunities during the course of her career. Choreographers varied so much in their approach to their work. Some were quite specific in telling you precisely what they wanted you to do; others set the basic theme and encouraged the dancer to come up with ideas to suit their own dancing style.
And what might she like to have told her eighteen-year-old self? That she could and should work harder, said Daria. Although telling herself that she was working hard she now realised that was not always the case. At ballet school she usually received great marks for technique, but not for effort. And in her first professional job she was being pushed hard to succeed; it might have been better if more of the effort had originated from within herself. It really was only when she got to English National Ballet, with Derek Deane, she realised that she herself could have worked a lot harder.
So what comes next? Daria reeled off a list of projects and commitments. Two days a week were usually spent at the Royal Academy of Dance, working in their new studios with the Trainee Programme of the English National Ballet School and helping to prepare them for the transition from school to obtaining a contract with a ballet company. She would be working with the Czech National Ballet, taking company class and providing individual coaching for the principal dancers. She would spend time with Norwegian National Ballet, and also in Munich working with both the company and the school. And she hoped to have at least a couple of weeks at home in Prague.
Photography remained an absorbing hobby; over the years she had photographed many dancers. Daria mentioned that these included a very large number of photographs of Vadim Muntagirov and she still hoped that one day a publisher might show interest in publishing a volume of pictures of this wonderful dancer. Fiona was full of encouragement for this idea.
Finally she thanked Daria for allowing members of the Circle such a fascinating insight into her life, commenting on how much we would all have lost had she chosen to pursue her gardening interests rather than continue with her career in ballet!
In concluding the evening, Susan, as Chair of the London Ballet Circle, said that it was always great to listen to a professional talking with such enthusiasm about their job and the manner in which they approach it. Susan then thanked both Daria and Fiona most sincerely for agreeing to take part in such an interesting conversation.
Written by Trevor Rothwell, and approved by Daria Klimentova and Fiona Erleigh
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