While some dancers,such as Lilla Harvey,19,will make their debut with the company,for the most senior principal artists such as Amber Scott,37,it will be a chance to savour every moment of a
career that began in childhood.
“It was a year taken from our careers last year and,for some people who are at the end of their careers,there aren’t many moments left to cherish so we don’t want to miss any of them now,“
Scott says.
When begins at Margaret Court Arena on February 26,Scott will dance the pas de deux with Adam Bull inMolto Vivace as well as an excerpt fromThe Merry Widow,which is a ballet she watched on repeat as a young student. The performances are among nine works to be featured in what is last March.
Opening night will be a very different experience for Harvey,who joined the company this year after
five years training at The Australian Ballet School.
She expected to either be repeating her graduate year at the school this year or joining another ballet company overseas but instead was invited by to be one of only two new recruits to the company. Even so,she never expected to be part of Summertime because there’s no guarantee of being cast.
“This is a massive moment for me,” Harvey says. “I’m thrilled to be part of it all. It’s always been something that,throughout all my training,I’ve held in my mind as a goal to help me push myself. The fact it’s now happening is unreal.”
For Harvey,joining 23 other ballet dancers for the iconicKingdom of the Shades scene ofLa Bayadere is a dream come true.
“It’s everything I have dreamt about – the classic,beautiful white tutus – and I just have to imagine
myself in the costume to get excited,” Harvey says. “To be able to express myself by performing on stage is the most perfect and powerful way to do that. When I come off stage after performing,I feel like I have found out something new about myself. I become a deeper person and performing allows me to develop and mature.”
The past eight weeks of rehearsals have been emotional for the dancers. They may have maintained their fitness over the past year but they have missed the dynamic of dance partnerships,live music and the space to dance freely.
“There was a moment during rehearsals forMolto Vivace when I stopped dancing and just listened to the music and I started bawling my eyes out,” Scott says. “The other dancers have seen all my faces and it’s a real family here so then we all laughed together.”
Summertime at the Ballet,Margaret Court Arena,February 26-28.