Interview with Lauren Cuthbertson
Photo credit: Andrej Uspenski
English dancer, Lauren Cuthbertson is a Principal of The Royal Ballet. She studied at The Royal Ballet School, before graduating into the Company in 2002. She became a Principal in 2008.
Lauren was recipient of the Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Female Performance (Classical) in 2004 and 2021. She has performed as a guest artist with Teatro Colón, Teatro di San Carlo, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and The Australian Ballet. She was invited by the Mariinsky Ballet to perform Sylvia (2018), Marguerite and Armand (2019) and The Sleeping Beauty (2020). She is Vice President of the British Ballet Organisation and Patron of London Children’s Ballet and the National Youth Ballet.
Cuthbertson’s repertory with the Company includes Aurora, Odette/Odile and the Sugar Plum Fairy. Works by Frederick Ashton include the Young Girl in The Two Pigeons, Titania in The Dream, Natalia in A Month in the Country and Marguerite in Marguerite and Armand. She also featured in principal roles in many of Kenneth MacMillan’s ballets including Anastasia, Romeo and Juliet, Manon, Mayerling, Song of the Earth and The Judas Tree. She has also performed leading roles in works by other choreographers including George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Glen Tetley, David Bintley, Liam Scarlett and Alastair Marriott. Created roles for Wayne McGregor include Qualia, Chroma, Infra, Acis and Galatea, Live Fire Exercise, Tetractys and Multiverse. Cuthbertson performed Christopher Wheeldon’s Souvenirs while at The Royal Ballet School and went on to work with him closely, creating the role of Alice in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Hermione in The Winter’s Tale. She also worked with Cathy Marston on first joining the Company and went on to create the leading role inspired by Jacqueline du Pré in The Cellist for which she won her 2021 Critics’ Circle National Dance Award.
How long have you known Matt and been working with the Covent Garden Dance Company?
I have known Matt for over ten years and have worked consistently for the Covent Garden Dance Company over that period. Since having my two small children, I haven’t taken on any extra performances within my schedule, but now feels like the right time. I have an appetite to perform selected works and that is why I really enjoy working with Matt because he is so open to you suggesting works that you are inspired by, and think audiences would love to see you dance. That is why I am coming to the Bahamas this March.
Lauren Cuthbertson & Matthew Golding - Hatch House
Photo credit - Alice Pennefather
What will you be performing and with whom?
I’ll be performing two works by Christopher Wheeldon with Robbie Fairchild. It is our first time dancing together, and I am beyond excited to be performing with him. We’ve both worked separately with Chris, so to come together within his work feels quite special. I’ve danced Golden Hour before, which is one of our pas de deuxs, and the other one - which will be a debut for me - is called Mercurial Manoeuvres. Robbie has danced that work before so between us we have a history with one and are supporting the other one to debut. That feels really beautiful.
What are you looking forward to most about performing at Iconique?
I’m most looking forward to that feeling you get when the music starts and hopefully the audience is captivated and we are also captivated within the work and and we share that moment in time. Performing always feels completely special and unique and this time feels really special; dancing with Robbie for the first time with new repertoire. This is also my first time performing in the Bahamas.
Have you ever performed in the Bahamas before, can you tell us about the last experience? And if not, what are you most looking forward to?
After I had a foot operation a long time ago, I went with a dear friend to the Bahamas to recuperate. It is amazing to come back and think how worried I was to be able to get back to dancing after that foot surgery and questioning if I would every make it back to full fitness. Yet here I am, returning after many years, after sustaining a career and having children. So performing on the island for the first time with that in mind, will feel on a personal level, quite special.
When you’re dancing these works how does it make you feel, what do you hope the audience feels?
When I am performing Golden Hour. I feel really serene and peaceful. Every movement that you take within the Golden Hour, feels meaningful because it is quite a sparse work in terms of steps. So you really have to engage your physicality with every single move and make it as smooth as possible.
Many children will be coming to watch the rehearsal on the 6 March - how important are these opportunities for future generations of dancers?
It’s critical that children have access to the arts and I am so happy that we are going to bring some of what we do to the Bahamas. I certainly haven’t performed here before, but you never know, there may be someone in the audience who is so captivated by the music or the dance or the physicality, or it might make them feel wonderful to watch it. In this day and age with so much screen time, I feel like any art form is ever more important and engaging with each other and sharing in the moment is necessary, so I am really excited about that.
I hope we get to meet the children and talk to them. I always love to speak to children after a performance they’ve seen because they seem to be so receptive. They come out with some really insightful reactions because they are often seeing things for the first time and they have such a refreshing perspective.
What will you be working on after Iconique?
After Iconique, I will be heading back to London and performing in Serenade at the Royal Opera House and then debuting in another beautiful work by Christopher Wheeldon called The Two Of Us, so those are my next two engagements at the Royal Opera House.
Can you tell us something people don’t know about you – a fun fact perhaps?
I work with a perfumer, so for every big ballet that we perform, we work on making a scent for that ballet, so that each character has at least one scent. I have done this for my whole career, so now we have a whole library of scents which is quite unique.
