Royal Ballet’s Deborah Bull talks to The Times

Deborah Bull's book The Everyday Dancer (published by Faber and Faber,£14.99) is in the shops. An essential read for those in the ballet world, and interesting for those close by!

Bull talked to The Times in their “5 minutes with…” series. Here is an extract:

On ambition

Like a lot of women I've shied away from that word. I would not shy away from the words determination, discipline and perfectionism. I have quite a strong drive, a strong work ethic and a desire to achieve what I set out to do — so I guess one could call that ambition…

On the film Black Swan

I was really quite angry with it, actually. It has helped to perpetuate the myth that we are all masochists and that ballet is extremely painful. It was not a portrait of the ballet world as I know it. It is not necessary to abuse or be abused to succeed as a ballet dancer. It's not in the job description.

On the physical demands of ballet

… I refute the notion that there is inevitably a great deal of pain involved. The normal, healthy skeleton quite easily achieves ballet positions. It's hard work, but it's not of necessity painful or dangerous; it's extreme. There's a difference.

On eating disorders

… like a lot of women, I had a disordered attitude to eating. Many, many women look at food and think not “Would I like to eat that?” but “Should I eat that?” Anybody who thinks “I shouldn't have that piece of cake” has a disordered attitude.

On excercise

When I do exercise I always feel better. So, if I'm feeling a bit down in the dumps, I know that a good way to deal with that is to get active. I think that's good advice for anyone.

via The Times 

Photo via deborahbull.com

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.