Bethany sugar sweet on Plum role in Nutcracker revival
When Bethany Kingsley-Garner shuts her eyes to think of the first Sugar Plum Fairy danced in front of her, it’s Darcey Bussell she sees.
The Strictly judge danced the role in the first production of ballet The Nutcracker in which Bethany too appeared as one of the children in the story.
Bethany said: “I trained at the Royal Ballet School and I danced in the party scene and was lucky enough to see Darcey Bussell dancing Sugar Plum.
“It was just such a sparkling and iconic ballerina role for any would-be ballerina not to fall in love with!
“That was my first encounter!”
The sparkling music for the Sugar Plum dance is something special.
Written by Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, it was supposed to sound like “drops of water shooting from a fountain” as the ballet’s creator Marius Petipa demanded.
And luckily back in 1892, Tchaikovsky had recently come across the very thing to capture that sound – the celesta – a cross between a glockenspiel and a tiny piano.
It makes a metallic tinkling sound like tiny bells that – even in the first few notes of the Sugar Plum’s dance – gives you goose-bumps.
Bethany talks about the short but testing role for dancers – and what is so special about it for audiences and those bringing it to life.
“There is something so lovely about the solo. I personally strive for having perfection in the precision of the steps – and the music is so quiet that when I stand on stage to dance it, you can almost hear a pin drop.
“You then go up onto pointe and think ‘Soft!’,” said Bethany, explaining that the dancer doesn’t want to clatter the blocks – these days of packed paper or plastic – at the toes of the pointe shoes against the surface of the stage. You want to dance as silently as possible.
For Bethany, the attraction of dancing as Sugar Plum includes what she wants the audience to see.
“There is something about making yourself become so precise and clean and beautiful which is challenging.”
Top stories
-
House-to-house enquiries continue after devastating Fairways fire
-
Mental health charity recognised at national awards
-
‘It’s right here, and it’s thriving!’ – Highland comedy acts plan special Inverness Townhouse show to rival big names for laughs
-
Paw patrol: Hondo’s long arm of the paw to join Inverness policing team?
The version Scottish Ballet performs is close to the original steps.
“Our performance is based on the choreography of Scottish Ballet’s founder Peter Darrell.
“But the Sugar Plum dance doesn’t differ that much in different productions because it is so iconic.”
For those who know their ballet steps, Bethany pinpoints three from the dance that give its signature.
She said: “Little “bourrée” steps – you move really fast and quietly on your toes.
“We also have to do a lot of “fouetté” turns.”
They are described as pirouette turns of the whole body with a raised leg whipping round to look as if the leg is powering you around.
Bethany laughed: “That comes at a point when you are very tired at the end of the solo – and you have to perform about 18 to 19 turns in a row!”
The principal dancer added: “The third step would be the “arabesque” which you can have to hold for quite a long time.”
Bethany is describing the familiar pose where the dancer points one leg behind her held staright out at around waist-height or higher with her arms stretched out, one behind and one in front of her.
Bethany said: “Most of the photographs of me are shots where I am holding an arabesque – I guess because the photographer likes to capture a moment of stillness.”
Dancing the role creates a kind of sisterhood.
“Sugar Plum is in a different league, I would say. And it’s lovely talking to my fellow ‘Sugar Plummers’ who have also done it before,” laughed Bethany.
“My friends from around the world performing Sugar Plum agree there is something about the role that doesn’t get easier!
“Stamina gets easier and doing the steps, but the perfection of the technique and the performance values do not. And that’s why, I think, so many dancers want to do that role – if you ask any of them – because they want to tick it off. They want to say they’ve done it because it can change your career doing a role like that.
“It shows your balance technically and you have the big pas de deux and this six minutes onstage – it’s a huge ask. “People are watching your every step.”
For Bethany, the moment she stops being Bethany and becomes Sugar Plum is easy.
“When you put the crown on,” she said.
“That’s the final touch just as you are going onstage.
“Then you are in that character.
“Then, I think, you are in your game zone.”
The Nutcracker is currently running at Eden Court. For tickets: www.eden-court.co.uk
