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In this 2023 extended interview British theatre designer Tom Pye talks about his career in dance with Jonathan Gray, dance writer and former editor of Dancing Times magazine, who was also a fellow student with him at Wimbledon School of Art during the late 1980s. Pye talks about his work on The Royal Ballet’s new production of Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella in 2023, and how a thorough understanding of the construction of ballet costume has helped him find some surprising solutions to designing authentic period costumes for television. Born in Lincoln in 1968, Tom Pye studied for a BA Hons in Theatre Design at Wimbledon School of Art from 1986 until 1989. His best-known work as a designer includes the BBC television series Gentleman Jack, and the award-winning stage productions of My Friend Totoro and Paddington The Musical, as well as West End productions of Medea, Brokeback Mountain and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? In opera, he has worked with the director Deborah Warner on productions of The Turn of the Screw, Death in Venice and Eugene Onegin, as well as English National Opera’s acclaimed production of Akhnaten directed by Phelim McDermott. For ballet, Pye has worked closely with the choreographer Yuri Possokhov on a production of The Seagull for the Bolshoi Ballet, as well as Anna Karenina, Eugene Onegin and The Nutcracker in the USA. For The Royal Ballet, he designed the sets for the new production of Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella in 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brenda Last achieved distinction as a ballerina with The Royal Ballet, but this was after a successful and multi-facetted career in many theatrical disciplines. Here, she tells Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British Ballet, about her early training with teachers such as Tamara Karsavina, Vera Volkova and Lydia Kyasht, winning the Royal Academy of Dance’s Adeline Genée Gold Medal at the age of 16, and performing at the Edinburgh International Festival and in television before joining The Royal Ballet School. After that, she performed at Stratford-upon-Avon (as the leading dancer in Toad of Toad Hall) and then was asked by Elizabeth West to join Western Theatre Ballet as a founder member. Last talks about the early years of the company with Elizabeth West and Peter Darrell, and about Maurice Béjart, with whom she worked in Brussels. The interview, which was recorded in 2010, is introduced by former Royal Ballet principal Stephen Jefferies in conversation with Natalie Steed. Brenda Last was born in South London in 1938. Recovering from a childhood illness, she started dance classes and became passionate about dance. She trained with Biddy Pinchard at Brixton Hill, and studied with such notable teachers as Tamara Karsavina, Vera Volkova and Lydia Kyasht before winning the Royal Academy of Dance’s Adeline Genée Gold Medal at the age of 16. She then went to The Royal Ballet School for a year, having already performed at the Edinburgh International Festival and worked in television. She was then the leading dancer in Toad of Toad Hall at Stratford-upon-Avon. In 1957 Elizabeth West, with whom she had already worked in Edinburgh, asked Last to join her and Peter Darrell to become one of the founder members of Western Theatre Ballet. This was a pioneering company that specialised in dramatic works with contemporary themes, fusing classical and modern dance. She remained with the company until 1963, when Ninette de Valois saw her performing and asked her to join The Royal Ballet Touring Company. After two years in the corps de ballet, she was promoted to the rank of principal dancer. She stayed with the touring company because she relished the amount of performances it afforded – she once calculated that during her career, she danced the role of Lise in Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardee 101 times. She eventually became ballet mistress for the company in 1974. In 1977, Last unexpectedly became director of the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo, following the sudden death of David Blair, a former Royal Ballet colleague who had just taken up the position there. In 1980, Last returned to London to teach at the London Contemporary Dance School, where she stayed for 14 years. During this period of time she also worked extensively with the Noriko Kobayashi Ballet in Tokyo, where she staged works by Ashton and de Valois, among others. She has also worked with the Royal New Zealand Ballet and The Australian Ballet, as well as English National Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Brenda Last, who was married to the musician, conductor and accompanist Stephen Lade until his death in 2022, has served on the Arts Council Dance Panel and as a trustee of The Royal Ballet Benevolent Fund. She is vice president of the British Ballet Organisation, having previously been director of Training there. She was appointed an OBE for her services to dance in 2012 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the 1980s Bryony Brind was a distinctive and glittering presence in The Royal Ballet, famed for her long limbs and beautiful lines, combined with a deeply sensitive artistry. Here, she tells Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British Ballet, of her early days in the company, star struck by the dancers around her, and particularly moved by Margot Fonteyn’s captivating use of her eyes. She talks of her own desire in dancing always to open up as much as possible, for which she was criticised by some, but defended by Fonteyn herself. Coached by Michael Somes for her historic debut in Swan Lake in 1981, while still in the corps de ballet, Brind recounts how determined she was to make that appearance, despite a heavy injury just days before. The interview, which was recorded in 2007, is introduced by Jay Jolley in conversation with Patricia Linton. Bryony Brind started dancing at the age of three and joined The Royal Ballet School in 1971. In 1977 she won the Prix de Lausanne competition and joined The Royal Ballet a year later. In 1980, while still in the corps de ballet, she created a role in Frederick Ashton’s Rhapsody, and the following year made her debut as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. In 1982, she partnered Rudolf Nureyev in the “Kingdom of Shades” scene from La Bayadère, which led to other pairings together, including in George Balanchine’s Prodigal Son. Other leading roles followed, including Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and the title roles in The Firebird and Giselle, and in 1984 she was made a principal dancer with the company. During her time with The Royal Ballet, she created roles in works by Richard Alston, David Bintley, Michael Corder, Jennifer Jackson, Kenneth MacMillan and Glen Tetley, which testified to her range and ability. In 1991 she left the company to pursue a freelance career in ballet, television and teaching, including at the Arts Educational School in London. In more recent years, Bryony Brind devoted herself to caring for her husband and her mother, before herself dying of a heart attack in 2015. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A special episode of Voices of British Ballet with some of the people involved in Ballet For All. Jeanetta Laurence, formerly a dancer with and Associate Director of the Royal Ballet, hosts a conversation with Oliver Simons (dancer and Ballet For All's Ballet Master), Mark Silver (dancer), Nicola Katrak (dancer) and Fergus Early (dancer and choreographer) and they talk about their experiences with the company. The conversation was recorded in 2019. Ballet for All was a Royal Ballet initiative from the 1960s. It was initially worked out by the students from the Royal Ballet Upper School, under the direction of Barbara Fewster and Peter Brinson. Various exploratory performances were undertaken over a number of years, mainly in schools. However, after its success at The King’s Lynn Festival in 1964 and subsequent performance for Sir Frederick Ashton in the Shell Theatre, London,  it was then developed for small groups of Royal Ballet Company dancers. The group, together with a pianist, would perform extracts from classical ballets together with an explanatory commentary. The performances were given to audiences in small theatres, mainly outside London. The aim was to introduce ballet to new audiences, but without diluting the art. The lecturer and indeed the director of the programme was Peter Brinson, a distinguished critic, writer and television presenter. The dancers would usually be a mixture of Royal Ballet principals and some younger dancers. Thus Ballet for All both served the twin aims of making ballet accessible to a new public and also to giving young dancers invaluable performing experience. Ballet for All was supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, as well as the Royal Ballet Company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As part of Voices of British Ballet’s Reflections series Jane Pritchard, former curator of Dance at the Victoria and Albert Museum, talks to Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British Ballet, about the Russian ballerina and teacher, Serafina Asatfieva. Born in St Petersburg in 1876, Serafina Astafieva became an important teacher in London in the early years of the 20th century. She ran a school on the King’s Road in Chelsea. Her pupils included Anton Dolin, Alicia Markova and Margot Fonteyn. Reflections is a collection of personal responses to the topics and ideas that our archives highlight. These illuminating recordings sit alongside the Grace Notes section of our website. Grace Notes is a nod to the musical practice of embellishment, and also to British composer Arthur Bliss, who used the words to describe his “Grace Notes on Ballet” in Peter Noble’s 1949 book, British Ballet. Dancers spend their careers engaging with the ideas of choreographers. Thus, having a colourful and enriched perspective on the world around them is essential. Ballet does not live in a bubble. These embellishments, both written on our website, and recorded in this special Reflections series, show the wider social and artistic context from which ballet springs and within which it thrives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is a wonderful ability to make the most of the present situation whilst not letting the dream fade, in this case the dream to dance with The Royal Ballet. However, this is just what Federico Bonelli managed to do. He watched Royal Ballet videos in his youth and instinctively felt a bond with the British style of interpretation. He worked and learned a lot in various companies, and then, out of the blue, his chance of a lifetime came. Bonelli joined The Royal Ballet as a principal dancer at the invitation of the then director, Monica Mason. By his own admission it took him a while to find his feet, but once found he graced the stage of the Royal Opera House for many years, providing succeeding generations with a whole gamut of inspiration. In this interview, which was recorded in 2019, Bonelli talks to the dance writer Gerald Dowler. The interview is introduced by Mark Monahan, the dance critic of the Daily Telegraph. Federico Bonelli was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1978. He trained at the Turin Dance Academy and in 1996 he graduated into the Zurich Ballet in Switzerland, where he danced for three years. In 1999 he joined Dutch National Ballet where he was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in 2002. In 2003 he moved to The Royal Ballet in London, where his career blossomed. His immaculate technique and exquisite stage manners marked him out in the existing classical ballets, but it was his ability to shine in the variety of styles embodied in a full range of modern and contemporary choreography that allowed him to flourish in The Royal Ballet’s extensive repertoire. In 2018 he was awarded a place on the Clore Leadership Programme, and in 2022, after a glittering and exciting 18 years with The Royal Ballet, he retired from the stage to become artistic director of Northern Ballet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patricia Clover gives the merest hint of the thinking behind Les Ballets Nègres, the company that lasted from 1946 until 1952. Her excellent memory and matter of fact style almost make you forget what a feat was achieved by its founder and director, Berto Pasuka: a Black company of dancers with cutting-edge material existing full time for six years touring the length and breadth of the country and abroad without any sort of government grant. Clover tells Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British Ballet, of her early involvement with dance and about dancing with Les Ballets Nègres in its early days, as well as reflecting on the extent of racial prejudice at the time. She also talks about the musician Leonard Salzedo, whom she married, about the choreographer Andrée Howard, and about Pasuka’s determination in setting up, running and choreographing for his company. The interview, which was recorded in 2010, is introduced by the historian Stephen Bourne who talks about Berto Pasuka’s life and career and shows Natalie Steed Les Ballets Nègres press cuttings and programmes. Patricia Clover was born in Hammersmith, west London, in 1924. She started dancing at a local ballet school and at 16 went to study at Morley Theatre School in Lambeth. After working for a short time in a library, she joined the Gateway Theatre in Notting Hill Gate as assistant stage manager where she also played character parts. It was here that Clover met her future husband, the composer Leonard Salzedo, who was later to become musical director for Ballet Rambert and Scottish Ballet; the couple married in May 1945. Clover was involved with Berto Pasuka’s Les Ballets Nègres from the start, and the first performance was held at the 20th Century Theatre in Westbourne Park. Salzedo wrote the music for all four of the opening ballets and Clover danced with the company for several months before leaving in 1946. She later worked at the Ida Foster Theatrical Agency and then became general secretary of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists. After her retirement, Clover decided to study for her A Levels, followed by an English Literature degree. Salzedo died in 2000 and Clover in 2012. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2026 Voices of British Ballet is celebrating the life of Ninette de Valois, to mark the centenary of the Royal Ballet School, with a series of interviews and special episodes that illuminate her life and artistic practice. In this episode, Daniel Pratt, introduces two interviews the first with the dance critic of the Financial Times, Clement Crisp and then another with Richard Glasstone, the dancer and teacher. The interviews were recorded in 2011 at a conference dedicated to Ninette de Valois and they both reflect on their encounters with de Valois. Clement Crisp died in 2022 and Richard Glasstone in 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As part of Voices of British Ballet’s Reflections series Jane Pritchard, curator of Dance at the Victoria and Albert Museum, talks to Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British Ballet, about the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova and her influence on Frederick Ashton. Anna Pavlova is one of the few names in ballet whose fame was worldwide and enduring. Apart from her unrivalled quality as a dancer, in her later years she did more than any of her contemporaries to bring ballet to audiences all over the world, often to audiences with no previous experience of the artform. Born in St Petersburg in 1881, Pavlova entered the Imperial Ballet School in 1891 after being inspired by a performance of The Sleeping Beauty at the Maryinsky Theatre in 1890. Her teachers included Pavel Gerdt, Christian Johansson and, later, Enrico Cecchetti. In 1897 she first danced on the Maryinsky stage, and graduated in 1899 in False Dryads, a ballet arranged by Gerdt. She danced Giselle in 1903, Princess Aurora in 1908 and Nikiya (from Marius Petipa’s La Bayadère) in 1909. She was accorded ballerina status in 1906, the year when she also danced in Moscow and began a famous and long-lasting partnership with Mikhail Mordkin. In 1907, she created Armida in Mikhail Fokine’s Le Pavillon d’Armide, and in the same year he created on her Pavlova’s famous Dying Swan solo, with which she became indissolubly linked. In all she danced 18 major roles on the Maryinsky stage on which she also appeared with Vaslav Nijinksy in Les Sylphides. Pavlova began touring abroad in 1908, partnered first by Adolph Bolm and then by Nicholas Legat. In 1909 she was Serge Diaghilev’s first ballerina for his Ballets Russes in Paris. She made her debuts in London and New York in 1910, and in 1912 she bought Ivy House in London, which became her permanent home. The ballerina made her final Russian appearance in June 1914. She then formed her own company, consisting mainly of British dancers. She was sympathetic to the work of Fokine and had danced in several of Diaghilev’s early seasons, but after leaving Russia she preferred the autonomy of her own company, using her own repertoire and conforming to her tastes. For some this could seem mediocre and unexciting, but Pavlova had triumphant success all over the world, and she inspired many people with a love and enthusiasm for ballet, including notably the young Frederick Ashton, when she came to perform in Lima, Peru, where he was living as a schoolboy. Anna Pavlova married Victor Dandré in 1914, who outlived her. She died in Holland in 1931. Reflections is a collection of personal responses to the topics and ideas that our archives highlight. These illuminating recordings sit alongside the Grace Notes section of our website. Grace Notes is a nod to the musical practice of embellishment, and also to British composer Arthur Bliss, who used the words to describe his “Grace Notes on Ballet” in Peter Noble’s 1949 book, British Ballet. Dancers spend their careers engaging with the ideas of choreographers. Thus, having a colourful and enriched perspective on the world around them is essential. Ballet does not live in a bubble. These embellishments, both written on our website, and recorded in this special Reflections series, show the wider social and artistic context from which ballet springs and within which it thrives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 2023 interview with Jonathan Gray, dance writer and former editor of Dancing Times magazine, photographer Rick Guest talks about the inspiration and surprise he found when working with dancers for the first time, and is especially illuminating about his collaboration with Edward Watson, the former principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. Talking fluently and expansively, Guest reveals in the interview how an “outsider” eye can help bring a different, and contemporary, angle to the world of dance. Rick Guest began his career in photography in his late twenties, following studies in science at school and university. Although he received no formal training, Guest soon gained a reputation for his work in the advertising, fashion and music industries. Guest later found inspiration in the world of ballet and dance where his portraits of dancers and choreographers, often made in collaboration with the stylist Olivia Pomp, have received wide acclaim. His dance photography was regularly featured on the cover of Dancing Times magazine and other publications. In addition, Guest has published several photographic folios on dance, including What Lies Beneath and Language of the Soul, and his work is included in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London. His most recent work includes a new folio, Strength and Grace: Portraits of The Royal Ballet School, which was commissioned to mark the centenary of The Royal Ballet School. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher Bruce is one of the great names in British dance. Here, in a conversation with the dance critic Mark Monahan in 2017, he describes his early days in Ballet Rambert, and his relationship with Marie Rambert herself. He talks about the transition of the Rambert company from classical to a contemporary dance ensemble and locates his own work within that framework. He also speaks warmly of Norman Morrice, and of Morrice’s important, but sometimes overlooked, role in the development of Ballet Rambert. The interview is introduced by Mark Monahan, Chief Dance Critic of the Telegraph. Christopher Bruce was born in Leicester in 1945. He began studying dance at the Ballet Rambert School in 1956, and joined Ballet Rambert in 1963, appearing in such works as Don Quixote and Coppélia. In 1975, by which time Rambert had become a contemporary rather than a classical dance company, he became associate director of the company and, from 1979 until 1987, associate choreographer. Increasingly in demand internationally as a choreographer, he then left Rambert. He returned at the company’s re-launch in 1994 as artistic director, a post he held until 2002. Bruce choreographed the Andrew Lloyd-Webber/Alan Ayckbourn musical Jeeves at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London in 1975. As well as choreographing for Rambert, he has created works for English National Ballet (with whom he has a long association), Nederlands Dans Theater, Houston Ballet, the Cullberg Ballet and The Royal Ballet, among others. His works include Cruel Garden, Ghost Dances, Sergeant Early’s Dream, Swansong, Moonshine and Rooster. His choreography can be seen as a fusion of classical ballet and modern dance, sometimes with autobiographical references, and there is often a political meaning as well. As one of the leading British choreographers of his era, in 2009 Bruce was appointed a CBE for his services to dance. Since 2009 he has been an honorary visiting professor at the University of Exeter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The energy in Janette Mulligan’s voice reveals what a vibrant dancer she was. Her enthusiasm for the whole gamut of performing shines through, from correct hair styles and clean shoes right through to an irrepressible vitality of spirit. In this interview with Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British Ballet, she describes her audition for London Festival Ballet (LFB) in 1977 when the company was under the direction of Beryl Grey. The interview, which was recorded in 2006, is introduced by the dance writer and editor Deborah Weiss, who had performed alongside Mulligan when they were both members of LFB. Janette Mulligan was born in Townsville, Australia, in 1957. She started ballet lessons with Marilyn Stratford at the age of six, later studying with Joyce Munroe, and then with Ann Roberts. She joined The Australian Ballet School in 1974. Following successful auditions for various companies, Janette briefly joined Ballet Victoria, before obtaining a contract with London Festival Ballet. Janette spent 14 years with the company, eventually becoming a senior principal dancer. She went on to have an extensive international career as a teacher, including stints as ballet mistress with the Royal Danish Ballet and Queensland Ballet. She has been a guest teacher across the globe and is now a teacher and senior faculty member of Queensland National Ballet School in Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2026 Voices of British Ballet is celebrating the life of Ninette de Valois, to mark the centenary of the Royal Ballet School, with a series of interviews and special episodes that illuminate her life and artistic practice. In this episode, Jay Jolley, introduces an interview with Gailene Stock who was the Director of the Royal Ballet School from 1999 until her death in 2014. The interview with Gailene was recorded in 2011 at a conference dedicated to Ninette de Valois and Gailene talks about meeting de Valois as a student at the Royal Ballet School aged 16 and reflects on de Valois' achievements. Jay Jolley is a former Assistant Director of the Royal Ballet School was one of the organisers of that conference in 2011. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here is Alan Cunliffe talking to Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British Ballet. Inspired by watching pantomimes with his mother at the Harrow Coliseum in the 1950s, Cunliffe broke with the family military tradition and decided to pursue life as a dancer. He is another terrific example of the grit and sticking power needed to come close to one’s dreams. In this conversation, which was recorded in 2013, Cunliffe takes us through some early points in his dancing career. His story is also a good reminder that there are many things in the theatre that one can be part of when it is time to hang up the dancing shoes. In Cunliffe’s case it was dance photography. The interview is introduced by Jane Pritchard, Curator of Dance, Theatre and Performance at the V&A. Alan Cunliffe was born into a military family in Portsmouth in 1937. When he was a child, he often went to see the pantomime at the Harrow Coliseum, and it was there that he first saw Ballet Rambert and became fascinated by dance. Alan left school at the age of 15 and became a window dresser but regularly took Saturday morning ballet classes with Barbara Vernon and John Gregory. His first dancing job was with Welsh National Opera. He then joined The Royal Ballet Upper School and, two years later in 1960, joined Ballet Rambert. His four years with Ballet Rambert was followed by a short time with Sadler’s Wells Opera Ballet. During his dancing years, Cunliffe had developed a love of photography. He became apprenticed to the great dance photographer, Anthony Crickmay, and after some time as Crickmay’s assistant, he opened his own photographic studio. He remained passionate about dance photography for the rest of his life. Alan Cunliffe died in 2020. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The fate of many a dancer is discussed at the end of the interview featured in this episode. Adventures are recounted with unaffected humour and a deliciously 1930s delivery. In this interview with Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British Ballet, Felicity Sands-Widdrington talks about becoming a Bluebell Girl in Paris and being stuck in prison when World War Two broke out, before getting back to London via Switzerland and France. The interview was recorded in 2003. Felicity Sands (later Felicity Sands-Widdrington) was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, in 1917. She took ballet classes in Perth with Linley Wilson, and came to London in 1936, partly to complete her Royal Academy of Dance exams and, when there, she trained under Olive Handley. She then got a job working on a film in Vienna, (Premiere 1937 directed by Géza von Bolváry) along with 100 other female dancers in a spectacular dance sequence. After that, Felicity danced professionally in France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland, and eventually joined the Bluebell Girls at the Lido de Paris. During her dancing career she was always the only Australian in whatever company she was appearing. She was dancing in Milan in 1939 just before World War Two broke out. Two days before Italy joined the war, she and some of her colleagues were arrested and thrown into prison, wrongly suspected of being involved with gun runners. After a few days they were released and escorted by the Italian police to the Swiss border. She got into France and was able to get back to London on one of the last boats to leave for England. Back in London in 1940, Felicity thought show dancing was “no way to conduct yourself in the war”, so she drove ambulances, before working in the Postal and Censorship Office in the famous Room 99. She had married in 1940, and after the war never returned to professional dancing. The photograph shows Felicity in a Bluebell line up in 1939 in Milan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.