The Life Of A Dancer

Stunning on stage,gruellinghard work behind the scenes the dichotomy of a dancers life is not for the fainthearted. But for those who make the grade, like the Royal New Zealand Ballets RhiannonFairless, it is a life of love, passion and magic.

- Judy Bailey

Like many little girls her age, my eight-year-old granddaughter Sadie is in love with dance. What is it that draws her to spend hours turning her toes out and wafting her arms about in varying shades of pastel tulle? Is it the allure of performance? The thought that one day she, too, might stand in the glare of the footlights and feel the thrill of audience applause?

The Royal New Zealand Ballet is about to embark on its Christmas season of The Nutcracker. Sadie and I will be in the audience soaking up every spectacular moment, lost in the Sugar Plum Fairy’s magic.

Rhiannon Fairless is one of those little girls who went on to turn her love of dance into a career. She’ll be in the cast of The Nutcracker and at the time of writing she was rehearsing, waiting to find out which role she’ll be assigned. “We are constantly being assessed for roles; that’s why we have to be so focused.”

It’s a tense, gruelling time for the dancers as they compete to catch the eye of the choreographer or the ballet director. There are no guarantees. The dancer who was centre stage in the previous production may well miss out this time. “It’s so hard, it messes with your psyche,” Rhiannon tells me frankly.

We meet during Rhiannon’s lunch break at Wellington eatery Logan Brown. She has ordered a lightly grilled fillet of fish on a bed of noodles; I notice she leaves the noodles. “Dancers definitely have to look a certain way but we also have to have the energy to dance for eight hours a day. I find it really hard if I don’t eat.”