World-class review of ballet and dance.
Born in St. Tropez, Lucy Elliott grew up in the south of France where she started dance classes at four years of age. By age 7, she knew wanted to dance professionally. She trained in Cannes, Paris Opera Ballet School, and Canada’s National Ballet School. Last September she went the European Ballet School in Amsterdam, before joining the Paris Opera Ballet in January of this year, and before the lockdown, she was preparing to dance in George Balanchine’s iconic ballet, “Serenade.”
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Who is on your pre-show/warm-up playlist?
I normally do my warmup routine play some music that I love. My pre-show playlist includes Anderson Paak, Kanye West, Beyonce, Daniel Caesar … Once I’ve warmed up I go on stage, I go through the choreography, remembering the last changes and notes …
Describe your preparation for “Serenade”
When I discovered I was going to be part of “Serenade” I felt extremely lucky. Balanchine’s choreography is so beautiful and touching. My favourite part is the opening scene, it has such a strong female energy. I’m an understudy so I have to learn every spot of the corps ballet, so it’s pretty challenging but I feel so privileged to be part of this ballet and to [eventually] be performing it on stage of the Opera Bastille with Paris Opera Ballet!
What’s the greatest challenge of being a dancer?
To always improve and grow, you can always be a better version of yourself.
If you weren’t a dancer, you’d be …
I’ve never really thought about it but I would love to pursue a career around the ballet world or the fashion world.
Words of advice to your teenage self:
To not overthink, and be confident.
How do you recharge?
For me recharge is all about self care, from the littlest things such as taking a warm bath to fuelling my body with healthy goods.
Stage or rehearsal?
Both! I love working in the studio, learning new pieces and being inspired by other dancers around me, however nothing feels better than performing on stage.
Which choreographer would you most like to work with?
Definitely William Forsythe, Crystal Pite, Davis Dawson and and more . . .
Favourite place you’ve danced/performed?
Dancing at the Palais Garnier has always felt like magic since I joined Paris Opera Ballet school.
Dream role!!!
There are so many! But I would love to work on the role of Giselle as it's my favourite ballet.
Moreso than many Balanchine offshoot companies, the Dance Theater of Harlem—founded by the New York City Ballet principal dancer Arthur Mitchell in 1969—keeps the Balanchine ethos at the forefront of its programming.
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Artistic Director Miyako Yoshida’s “Giselle” for the National Ballet of Japan excavates emotional freshness within the familiar landscape of the 1841 Romantic classic.
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At a baseline, good art should move you. At its peak, it can change you. I did not expect to come out of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s season closer, Re-Act, a changed person, but that’s exactly the effect the performance—and particularly one work, Daniel Charon’s “From Code to Universe”—had on me.
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The body as vessel; the body as memory container; the body as truth-teller. All of these corporeal permutations were on view at the UCLA Nimoy Theater last Thursday, when Eiko Otake and Wen Hui performed their haunting, elegiac and deeply meaningful work, “What is War.”
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