Venus Villa interviewed for "Cupcakes & conversation with..."

Cupcakes & conversation with Venus Villa, First Artist, English National Ballet

Venus Villa has been nominated for The Emerging Dancer Award, which is an annual competition for English National Ballet to recognise and nurture the phenomenal talent of their up-and-coming dancers. The Award encourages excellence and potential within the Company, with the winner being awarded a £5,000 cash prize.

During the Summer English National Ballet’s artistic, musical, administrative staff and Principal dancers have been voting for their Emerging Dancer and the top six nominated dancers are Esteban Berlanga, Anais Chalendard, Crystal Costa, Ksenia Ovsyanick, Junor de Oliveira Souza and Venus Villa.

There will be an Awards Evening on the 25 February 2010 to announce the winner of both The Emerging Dancer Award and The People’s Choice Award.

What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ?
Well, most of the time on Mondays I’m motivated after sleeping for more than 12 hours on a Sunday. Certainly some Mondays I am not motivated, but as I start class, I find my motivation.

Who would you most like to dance with ?
I don't have a specific name: there are many good dancers all around the world, all of them with something special to offer. Personally I love to dance with someone who is a good dancer of course but especially a good interpreter.

How do you prepare your pointe shoes ?
I sew them in a very specific way that I like, then I cut them on the third part. I need 1 or 2 hours to prepare them. I spend all that time because I like them to be perfect and beautiful.

What is your daily routine at the moment ?
A routine day for me is: wake up at 7 am, always have breakfast before I leave home. At 8am I do training at the gym until 9am. Then I start ballet class and my daily rehearsals until 5 or 6.30pm. Sometimes after that I spend one hour more working on solos for my next gala. Finishing at 7.30pm. After all of that I come back home where I spend most of the time watching movies, calling my family and resting for the next day.

You can ask six famous people to dinner - who would you invite ?
William Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Charlie Chaplin, George Balanchine, Roberto Benigni and Dante Alighieri.

What would surprise people about you ?
The strength of my will.

Who inspired you to dance ?
I have many dancers who have inspired me, but the first dancer was Paloma Herrera. When I was 9 years old I saw her dancing with Angel Corella in the Don Quixote pas de deux. I remember how much I loved that DVD! I watched it millions of times.

How would someone else describe you ?
Well, my friends say that I am a very happy person, generous, and very entertaining. I hope that is true !

What is your best piece of advice ?
Be happy, respect others and love everything you do.

Which role has tested you the most & how ?
I believe that the one that tested me most has been the Don Quixote pas de deux. I have danced it at lot of galas: Kitri is something that I have in my personality, and I will never get tired of it. My dream is to dance the whole ballet.

What is the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you ?
I have a lot of funny stories, especially from English National Ballet where we perform a lot. But the one I really remember was during Sleeping Beauty. I was dancing a fairy and my friends and I had a
fit of laughter watching Yat Sen Chang interpreting Carabosse for the first time. He was so funny and I could not control my laughing. It was horrible!!!

If you designed your own stage costume, what would you create ?
Definitely something very soft, but with a very strong colour like red!!! And with a lot of sparkling decorations...

What are you most proud of ?
Definitely my family (all of them).

Who would play you in the film of your life ?
Thais Pedroso.

What is your favourite quote ?
Love everything you do and everything you have.... that is the most important thing for me.

Do you have a secret skill which no-one knows about ?
I am very good at playing baseball.