Why Cats film is Royal Ballet star’s biggest challenge
AS A principal dancer at the Royal Ballet, Francesca Hayward has pushed her body to its limits in leading roles.
According to the grandmother who brought her up, the ballerina’s greatest challenge to date has been her first movie — the adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End hit Cats.
Diana Hayward, 77, has revealed how her granddaughter had a “relentless” routine for more than six months, leaving the house at 4.30am for rehearsals and filming and not returning until 10.30 at night.
Hayward, 27, takes the part of Victoria, one of the lead characters whose enthralling routines feature heavily throughout.
Mrs Hayward, who lives in Norbury, with husband John, 87, told the Evening Standard: “The Cats experience has been great. She has learned an awful lot. It is a real discipline.
“She was getting up at 4.30am every day and not coming back until 10.30pm every night for months.
“We are very proud of her, but we are also anxious for her because it is terribly demanding and we did worry if she was physically tired she could accidentally trip and injure herself, which is devastating for a dancer.
“The other characters came in and out but she had to be there the whole time as she links all the parts together. It has been relentlessly hard work.”
The Cats movie, which also stars Idris Elba, Dame Judi Dench and Taylor Swift, sparked controversy when its trailer was released last week. Fans complained that the live-action computer-generated characters were “nightmarish”, while others claimed Hayward’s mixed-race heritage had been“whitewashed” for her role as Victoria the White Cat.
But Mrs Hayward insisted it was not an issue, adding: “Francesca believes that if she inspires anyone, no matter the colour or race, then that is fantastic. She just wants people to know more about ballet and music and all the hard work that goes into it.”
She said her granddaughter was also a talented singer and musician but “gave it up” to pursue her dream of dancing professionally.
“People used to say, ‘That child will be world famous’ but I never really believed it,” Mrs Hayward added.
“So few people get to the top but she is internationally famous in the ballet world — but she has her feet firmly on the ground.”
For Hayward’s former ballet teacher Valerie Le Serve, the dancer’s prodigious rise has come as no surprise.
“I could tell the moment she walked into the studio she had this undefinable, special quality,” said the dance coach, who runs Le Serve School of Ballet and Theatre Dance in Worthing, West Sussex. She added: “Francesca’s success is so well-deserved because she has worked so hard and been totally dedicated. I am so thrilled for her.”