STYLE ON POINTE

Now a principal guest artist at the Royal Ballet, ballerina Lauren Cuthbertson puts her best foot forward in exquisite fashion for our exclusive shoot and talks to HELLO! about her style, motherhood and a change in pace in her career

- ROSALIND POWELLA

Whether she is on or off stage, there is a natural majesty to Lauren Cuthbertson. For more than two decades, the celebrated ballerina has stolen the show with her breathtaking agility, grace and dramatic flair in any number of the lead roles she’s performed as principal dancer with the Royal Ballet.

She brings those same qualities to our exclusive photoshoot and interview, which coincides with her stepping into a new role as principal guest artist with the world-famous company, enabling her to perform and develop new skills.

“I’m 40 years old; I don’t want to pretend I’m not. I feel so alive and agile when I’m dancing, but I’m craving to keep learning and growing.

“I’m not retiring,” she says, emphatically. “I just wanted more time to focus on things I felt were important to me at this point in my life.”

As both dancer and muse, Lauren has perfected her craft in some of the greatest roles from Juliet to Odette/Odile and the Sugar Plum Fairy, as well as creating new works with some of the world’s leading choreographers.

Her ambition is eventually to become an artistic director and have more time with the two daughters she shares with her partner, Matty Gerrish – Peggy, who is three and a half, and Dolly, who is 21 months.

“I don’t want to be this exhausted, haggard version of a ballerina and not have any energy for them,” she says. She also wonders when – if ever – a dancer reaches a point in their career when it’s “okay to feel fulfilled”. Does she feel she has nothing left to prove?

“Quite the opposite,” she insists. “There’s always something more to prove – you’re only as good as your last performance. You can always do better. I could try to do some roles until I’m 100 and that feeling will never change. But I don’t need to do everything all the time any more.”