Maria Kochetkova and Denis Morozov in rehearsal for Romeo and Juliet.
Photo (c) Nikolay Krusser.
(Source: balletomaneassoluta)
Marianela Nuñez & Thiago Soares
In 2002, shortly after Nuñez had been promoted to the rank of principal dancer, Soares joined the company. Tall, with buccaneering good looks, he sent a frisson through the Royal’s female ranks, and there was envious sighing when he and Nuñez became stage partners. “We were just friends at first, and members of the company’s Latin-American gang,” says Nuñez. “It was all very loud – lots of shouting and waving of hands.”
After a few months they travelled to Miami to dance at a gala. “By then we’d started to flirt,” remembers Soares. Soon they were more than just friends, but kept the relationship under wraps. “I’d been on dates before,” says Nuñez. “But nothing important. Thiago was my first real guy.” Their secret survived for a week, and then another dancer saw them kissing on the tube.
Their relationship deepened, and in December 2006, just after the curtain had fallen on a performance of The Sleeping Beauty in which the couple had danced the principal roles, Soares’s dresser brought a small box onstage. “Marianela was upset,” remembers Soares. “The conductor had produced some strange tempi, and I was consoling her. On top of that I think that she doubted I’d make a commitment. So when I proposed, and gave her the ring, she was surprised. In a very good way.”
“I screamed,” says Nuñez. “I was so happy. My mum was in the wings, and I had lots of friends out front, and afterwards we went to a restaurant and drank champagne. It was beautiful.”
Perfect couple is perfect. <3
1263. dude this is adorable
Sylvie Guillem on Rudolf Nureyev as her partner
Guillem initially worried that she was too tall for him: “When I was on point I was up there,” she says, gesturing a foot above her head. “I thought he would never make it. But he was a great partner. I remember his eyes most. He made real contact. When he looked at you, it went deep into you.”
Dancers’ hands are illuminated during a performance by the National Ballet of Panama at the National Theater in Panama City. (Photo: Arnulfo Franco / AP via The Guardian)
“Malditos” Alejandro Cerrudo
Emma Hawes of National Ballet of Canada. Photo by Sian Richards
