Portraits of star show brutal toll of ballet on body

THE Royal Ballet’s leading dancer has spoken of the brutality of the art form, as a collection of photographic portraits reveal the impact a lifetime of performing has had on his body.

Edward Watson, 42, has been principal dancer at the classical ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden for a record 13 years.

He has had more roles created for him than any other dancer during his 30 years with the Royal Ballet School and then the Royal Ballet Company.

A stark portfolio of 250 prints, captured by the photographer Rick Guest showcase both the beauty and brutality of ballet.

One photo shows a bare-chested Watson sitting with his knees pulled to his chest, his battered and bruised feet, weathered by years of commitment to his art, pointed towards the camera.

In another, his muscular arm fills a single shot with his fingers delicately splayed upwards. A very faint scar grazes the upper arm – a painful reminder of the time he ruptured his bicep while lifting another dancer over his head.

Launching the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London on Friday, Watson said: “The pictures are what I look like and I love them for that, because of their honesty. There’s beauty in things that look wrong. And I’m not very good at pretending – if I’m sad I will cry and if I’m angry I will shout.”

Guest explained what had inspired his latest shoot with the ballet star. “It is about the beauty, the elegance and the physical athleticism, but at the same time it is about the daily sacrifice of being in pain and breaking things and being repaired and going back out there and doing it again,” he said.

“Meanwhile, we, the audience, sit out there going, ‘Oh, isn’t it pretty!’ I wanted to show the journey dancers go on and pay homage to that, and show a little bit behind the curtain. On stage there’s lights and glory and beauty, but you don’t get to see the physicality of the dancers when they are laid bare.”

He said Watson was a joy to work with. “When I photograph any dancer, they present you with a veneer and it takes a while to get pictures which feel real. But Ed offered up those vulnerabilities almost instantly. He was like, ‘Here I am, warts and all’.”

Edward Watson: Portrait of a Dancer,