Straight to the pointe

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 10 years ago

Straight to the pointe

Practice makes perfect: Les Ballets de Monte Carlo is one of the world's most prestigious ballet companies.

Practice makes perfect: Les Ballets de Monte Carlo is one of the world's most prestigious ballet companies.Credit: Guillaume Plisson

Behind the scenes at the Monte-Carlo Ballet, David Whitley views the raw reality of dance.

Upstairs, the ballerinas are huddled around a laptop. They're on a break and are working on something new. The music is lined up and two dancers peel off to gingerly sketch out a foetal routine. The sense of lissom grace is still there, but the movements have an uncertainty more commonly associated with the assembly of flat-pack furniture.

They're working things out as they go along. This is how ballet looks before it becomes polished and effortlessly sinuous. And that's the real joy of visiting the Atelier des Ballets de Monte-Carlo — it's a rare chance to see what goes into the glossy final product.

On show: A dancer from Les Ballets de Monte Carlo.

On show: A dancer from Les Ballets de Monte Carlo.Credit: AFP

The atelier is the headquarters for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo — one of the most prestigious ballet companies in the world, and something of a standard bearer for the tiny Mediterranean principality of Monaco. The building belongs to Monaco, but you have to go into France to access it. The entrance is on a street in Beausoleil, just up the cliffs and over the border. Formerly used by the government as a storage space, there's nothing flash or glamorous about it. It's the domain of dancers in workout gear and administrative staff sporting office-casual clothing rather than ball gowns, tuxedoes and tutus.

The private, behind-the-scenes tours of the atelier are led by Franck Balbi, a former dancer. They're in keeping with the company's surprisingly non-elitist approach. Tickets to performances — held in the far grander Grimaldi Forum — are cheap by international standards. Productions can be watched for a maximum ticket price of €33 ($44). Prices can reach almost 10 times as much for other top companies from cities including London and Moscow.

This is part of what Balbi calls the company's "ambassadorial role". The municipality's Prince Albert is making a concerted push for Monaco to be known as a cultural hub as well as somewhere for the ultra-rich to park yachts and gamble. The egalitarian feel extends to how the company operates. There's no room for prima donnas inside the atelier. "For six months of the year," Balbi says, "everyone will work here between 10am and 6.30pm. They all have the same conditions and rehearsal hours."

For much of the remainder of the year, the company is on tour. And when on tour, the whole group goes, regardless of who has roles in the particular production. "It's a harmony thing," he says. Big productions may involve 35 to 48 dancers, although there are 48 of 18 different nationalities employed by the company. There's clearly a one-for-all and all-for-one spirit.

The major practise space is the studio, which looks rather like a school sports hall — albeit a school sports hall with a full lighting rig and rather tremendous views over the Monaco skyline. It has much-needed flexibility, however — a dividing wall can be put up to turn it into twin studios, while temporary seating for about 200 spectators can be dropped in. This is often needed for test runs — it's a huge step from rehearsal to full-on spectacle in front of 1800 at the Grimaldi Forum.

Advertisement

The dancers look unconcerned by today's audience, continuing their stretching exercises and steps as if oblivious to the less-than-athletic strangers in their midst. It's the rest areas rather than the rehearsal areas that give a better idea of the dancers' attitude, however. There's a plunge pool and a weights room upstairs, but the congregated dancers seem more interested in working on their own routines — which seem to veer towards street dance instead of traditional ballet — than working out.

The canteen comes as something of a surprise, too, with its Moroccan-style tables and not particularly wholesome menu. You could be forgiven for thinking this would be a hive of healthy eating and diet-consciousness, yet the only diner in view is a chap wolfing down a plate of chips and mayonnaise.

Another drops by to slot some coins into a vending machine of chocolate and cans of Coca-Cola. Well, at least they work it off ...

It's the mundanity that strikes home — the differences between being a world-class ballet dancer and working in an office are smaller than you might think. But there's still a little touch of magic dust to appeal to the sense of wonder. It comes in the costume department, where famous costumes used throughout the company's history are wheeled out. The designers include Karl Lagerfeld and — incredibly — Henri Matisse. Even for someone with no real interest in fashion, it's clear that part of the magic comes from what the ballerinas are wearing.

There's also a "pointe" department, where the ballet shoes are made. At this level, it's not about going to a shop and finding something that fits reasonably well — the shoes are hand-crafted to be perfect for the individual dancer's feet.

Yet even among the shimmer and sparkle, a more pedestrian work ethic shines through. The room in which many of the costumes are made bears more than a passing resemblance to a stereotypical teenager's bedroom. It's a seemingly chaotic blizzard of fabric and tape measures, among which a couple of women sit at their sewing machines, diligently threading away.

Just another tutu on the to-do list.

David Whitley was a guest of Visit Monaco (visitmonaco.com).


Trip notes

Getting there

Emirates has flights — via Dubai — from Sydney to Nice. emirates.com.

Touring there

Behind-the-scenes tours of the Atelier des Ballets de Monte-Carlo must be arranged privately through Alcyon Riviera Touring (+33 6 80 86 43 62, alcyon.mc). It costs €250 ($334) a group (minimum two people), plus a €50 donation per person to the youth training organisation, the Association des Amis des Ballets.

Staying there

The Columbus Hotel in Monaco has rooms costing from €162 a night. +377 9205 9222, columbushotels.com.

More information

balletsdemontecarlo.com.

Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter

Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.

Most viewed on Traveller

Loading