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Robert Parker

04 September 2009

'I'm in everything this autumn, so it's a busy time,' nods Robert Parker calmly. Moments before, the Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal revealed he has spent the summer break seeing friends and family in Europe and America, and he seems happy and relaxed despite his current workload. For after five weeks off, the dancers are now back in rehearsals for the autumn season. Beginning in late September with the full-length Cyrano and a programme of three one-act ballets entitled Quantum Leaps, the tour runs right through to the middle of November.

'We've just had Stanton Welch in last week to reset Powder. That was pretty busy.' says Robert. 'He was only here for a week and so he needed to get a lot done in a short space of time. David [Bintley]'s been choreographing E=mc² and that's been taking up a lot of time as well recently. So with regards to Cyrano it's been a case of whoever's available - who isn't in other calls - gets to rehearse.'

As creator of Cyrano's title role in 2007, he's also been trying to find time to coach those dancing the part in 2009. While this may alleviate the pressure on other people, it does create extra work for Robert himself.

'It's been a bit of a juggling act,' he concedes, 'but it makes all the difference. When I first did Hobson's Choice I had the benefit of being coached by Michael O'Hare who created the role of Will Mossop. It's great because you're not so reliant on the time of the individual choreographer.

'David for example is so busy, he'll never have time to go through every part and express every single nuance that he originally wanted. So it makes it easier if someone who's already done the role can say "oh I know what happened here, I know the feeling that was intended". Having someone around who was there from the beginning of the whole creative process can just make the rehearsal process so much more fluid.'

The period during which Cyrano was being created is one of which leading man speaks enthusiastically. 'It was brilliant,' he says immediately, 'the most fun I've ever had in my career. The whole process wasn't stressful - we were just having a ball the whole time.

'A lot of that was due to the people that we were working with, and I'm very pleased to see that Iain [Mackay, ex-Principal and creator of the role of Christian] is coming back for the shows! It'll be like the good old days, I think. Although as we're both now dads there'll probably be a lot more baby talk this time around!

'That was also the time I thought was going to be my last year with the Company so I just wanted to make the most of it. I was relishing every minute.'

At the end of the 2006-07 season, Robert did indeed leave the Company for 12 months to pursue a career as a pilot, before returning in 2008. While the change of profession was not to be, he feels that his experiences away from the stage have further strengthened his view of life as a performer.

'I was never a particularly stressful dancer. I've always had a very healthy and fun attitude to my work. I think this is a quote from [fellow Principal] Matt Lawrence: "you can take your work seriously without taking yourself seriously". And I think that's very true. You've got to enjoy your work. We're not rocket scientists, we're entertainers. If you can't enjoy being an entertainer, maybe you're in the wrong profession, that's my theory.

'Having gone away and gone into a very serious profession - the aviation profession - where you are put in genuine life-or-death situations, it does highlight that this is a profession to be enjoyed. Coming back from that has just emphasised that for me. You can take it seriously in terms of trying to be the best that you can be, but it's something to be savoured, and I feel very fortunate to be a part of it.'

ENDS

Click here for details of Cyrano
Click here for details of Quantum Leaps

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