Bottom's Dream: A rustic turned dancing donkey

What pointe shoes do you wear?

I wear a Sonata 7E, the same style as Amy Harris!

Any unique rituals for breaking them in?

I stand on the vamp of the shoe to flatten it and give my toes more room. After that I just put them on and go. There’s so much sewing involved, so the less I have to do to the shoes, the better.

What’s it like coming back to the role?

I always like coming back to a role because I usually remember the choreography, even if it’s been years. There’s a comfortability in that. I’ve found that same feeling with this role, but I totally forgot about how painful it is to be en pointe. My toes are completely bruised at the moment, and the blisters are no fun at all. I just try to remember that beauty is pain!

How long do you have to prepare for the role? What do you find the most challenging?

We started learning the choreography about a month before the shows, but we’ve been doing some basic pointe work before that. The pointe work is hard, but the most challenging part of the role is doing it whilst wearing a massive donkey head.

Speaking of, how do you navigate the humongous donkey head?

It’s so hard. You have two little holes that you can see through, which are the donkey's nostrils. Last time I did a lot of proprioception work with my eyes closed, just to make sure I stayed upright. I remember being scared I’d fall into the orchestra pit because I couldn’t see where I was going. I might give prayer a go this time around.

Is it difficult to get your character across from underneath the horse head?

Since we can’t emote with our face, we have to really make our body tell the story. There’s lots of characteristics you can play with to convey a sense of ‘donkey’ through your upper body, and it helps that we have mittens that look like hoofs. The Dream is a very team-like ballet. I think it relies on every character doing an impeccable job of storytelling. Within context, the audience should understand what’s going on, even with the big head on.

If you could pick any other en pointe role in the ballet repertoire to perform, what would it be?

None, pointe is too hard! If I had to pick though, I’d choose the Baroness from Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake. His version is iconic, and the Baroness is so commanding and in charge, both choreographically and stylistically. There’s lots of parts danced on a contracted foot, which is the same for Bottom, so I think I’d be good.