Too much Swan Lake... why I left English ballet

WHEN most people think of going to the ballet, productions of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake tend to spring to mind as family favourites.

But for one British ballerina it was time to grand jeté to “more exciting” pastures than those performed on the English dancing circuit.

Laurretta Summerscales, a 27-yearold dancer from Surrey, has revealed her decision to leave the English National Ballet (ENB) all came down to its “repeated repertoire”. And after just one year of being at the Bavarian State Ballet she said the move was worth it.

“I needed to experience something different and the repertoire of ENB was my main reason for leaving,” she said.

Since moving to Munich she said the variety that has now been brought into her repertoire was just what she had been looking for after eight years with the ENB.

“For me the ENB was amazing, it did so much for my career and I loved it, but it sounds dramatic, the change has been good for my soul,” she said.

“In my first year in Munich I had to learn 10 different ballets, and I’d always rather be pushed in work than to underdance. At ENB I would learn maybe two dances a year, so it’s very different.”

Reflecting on the ENB, she added: “They don’t have as much funding as other schools so they have to do the repeated repertoire which is so popular, like the Nutcracker at Christmas.

“But there were other big ballets I wanted to do which I knew would not happen at ENB. I wanted to live a bit.”

A spokesman for the ENB said: “In our current season, we will perform 12 different ballets. Our annual festive performances of Nutcracker are both a tradition for many ballet lovers, and a wonderful introduction to ballet for new audiences.”