The Director of The Covent Garden Dance Company celebrates the return of Ballet Under The Stars and the joy of performing again after being apart from an audience for so long…

You’ve always been a Somerset guy… Tell us why the Blackmore Vale is so special?

I moved here when I was 10, and have been back and forth ever since. I’ve lived in London and other countries for 10 years. But here has everything. It is home. It is where you want to come back to. I’m a country boy and love horse riding and fishing. When I lived in the Middle East, I would dream of Somerset all the time, in all her seasons. Strangely, I dreamt of our garden in a hoar frost every night for the first two weeks after I moved there. I missed the seasons a lot and couldn’t wait to come home.

Artistically, who inspires you?

Picasso: he was a genius. Jules Verne: where do I start? Where do I stop! Within the dance world however: all of them. These artists open themselves up and bare their souls on stage and in the studio. Even if you don’t appreciate what they are doing, even if it is not your taste, you have to be inspired by their courage to do it.

How did your career evolve?

I would love to be able to give you a long list of experiences and roles that I had that led me into dance, but the truth is much simpler. It was pure passion and a lot of luck. Dance has always been a passion since I was a child, but then I had a 15-year hiatus while I worked in film.

I didn’t actually see my first live dance production until I was 30: it was the Rambert Company performing in Brighton, and it was sensational. I sat with a friend and in those first 30 seconds it felt like I was home. I can’t explain it, I just knew it was something that had to become a huge part of my life. From that point on I would see probably two or three things a week if I could. This went on for a good five or six years.

When I was headhunted to work in the Middle East it was even harder to find things to see. It escalated from there and you don’t have enough seconds for me to tell you more! I want to create venues like Hatch House around the UK and also the world. Our USP is that we take stunning, unique locations and create a 450-seat dinner theatre and then invite the greatest dancers from the greatest companies to perform. Simple – but very hard to do. It’s high risk all the time.

What have you learned as a director?

What utterly incredible artistry all the performers bring to Hatch House each year. It blows your mind when you see them as an audience member. But from where I stand, and with what I know is also going on in their personal lives, to see them always produce exceptional performances, night after night, is superhuman.

One of the many skills I have personally had to develop is how to think on your feet and react to tough situations – it’s essential with live performances.

Ksenia Ovsyanick and Zdenek Konvalina at Hatch House, photograph by Signe Roderik

What has been the best moment of your career so far?

The 10th anniversary performances at Hatch House in 2019. The programme was scintillating, near-perfect. Two months later, we were virtually sold out for 2020 with a 96 per cent re-booking rate. Then the worst moment, 23 March 2020, when Covid instantly wiped out a decade of work. But we are back, rebuilding, and we are stronger. This year’s programme is going to bring a lot of joy, we hope.

What has been your favourite performance?

That is like trying to choose your favourite child. It is just not possible! Our programmes are always created with diversity and are meant to entertain the hardened ballet and dance fan as well as those who are experiencing it for the first time. However, the work we created with Mara Galeazzi and Tim Podesta for my father (based on his libretto, the last he wrote) was incredibly special. He was terminally ill, and it was the last thing that he ever saw staged. He wanted to see if performed and refused to stay in hospital. All the new creations have a special place in my heart, but that one was very personal.

What did lockdown teach you about life?

Lockdown taught me that you never know what is going to happen and we must appreciate all the real things we have. When I say real, I mean touch, companionship, love and community. Lockdown gave us a moment to reflect on this. As someone much funnier and cleverer than I once said: “The World has sent us to our rooms to think about what we have done.” Wasn’t that the truth?!

Lauren Cuthbertson, Principal, The Royal Ballet and Matthew Golding, photograph by Alice Pennefather

Tell us about The Bruton Boathouse…

It was my lockdown project. I was going insane not working so I built a cabin on our lake. I had never built a house before… I am super proud of it. I am also very proud of our 100th five-star review on Airbnb.

It’s hard to believe you’re into DIY – convince us!

Me too! My father and I used to joke that we were terrible at carpentry. We were. But if you have a good teacher – and I have a great friend who runs The Wooden House Company (Will Le Trobe Bateman) who taught me how – you can do anything. I am forever grateful. It’s been another obsession, hopefully one that will stay. Want to build an A-frame eco house next.

Tell us one thing you think people don’t know about you.

I’m Spartacus.

Ballet Under the Stars, 22–24 July 2022 at Hatch House, West Hatch, Salisbury. Book online at www.coventgardendance.co.uk or email events@coventgardendance.com.