Melissa Hamilton 2024

Melissa Hamilton

First Soloist, The Royal Ballet

Interviewed by David Bain
American International Church, Mon 22 Apr, 2024

Melissa had just returned from the 25^th celebration of the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in New York which is an international student ballet competition with the finals taking place in New York. She had been invited to dance in the gala performances which included alumni who had either won or been involved in the YAGP. The YAGP was how Melissa started her ballet career, and it opened the door to the Royal Ballet for her, so it is an important milestone in her life. She danced in the world premiere of a piece commissioned by the YAGP by Canadian choreographer Joshua Beamish whose version of Giselle was performed at the Royal Opera House about 8-9 years ago. Melissa and Joshua have been long-time friends and have collaborated but never in a work on stage, so it was important to her that they finally achieve this. The fact that this debut was also at the Lincoln Center made the trip very special for her. It was a whirlwind visit with a departure just last Wednesday morning and a return last Saturday night.

An ensemble group of Northern Ireland dancers competed and got through to the YAGP Finals. Melissa is originally from Northern Ireland and was very touched to be part of their journey as she helped them raise the money for their trip to New York by donating a pair of her signed pointe shoes for their fundraising auction. She was able to meet them in New York and witness the opportunity this competition gives to young international ballet students and how it can change their life. It was very special to see dancers from her home country.

Melissa participated in the YAGP in 2007 to gain onstage experience because at the age of 18 years, she had not yet had any. Before she could audition for ballet companies she would need this experience under her belt. So, her teacher entered her in the YAGP, the biggest youth competition in the world in which she promptly won the Grand Prix. Attached to the prize was a place in the American Ballet Theater Studio Company but, as an inexperienced and quite naïve individual, Melissa’s sights were set only on the Royal Ballet. After the competition, her teacher contacted Monica Mason, who was the Director of the Royal Ballet at the time, to advise her that a British girl had just won the YAGP and ask whether she would be interested in looking at her. The result was that a week after the competition she flew to London for an audition class in front of Monica and was given a contract on the spot. She joined the company in August 2007.

Her piece for the YAGP Final was Queen of the Dryads from “Don Quixote” which she danced “terribly” in her opinion. She feels that she made a complete mess of the solo, so much so that she initially refused to accept the trophy when her name was announced, as she felt she didn’t deserve it. However, the prize was being awarded on potential and they clearly saw a great deal of potential in Melissa. She has danced the role since but the music triggers her, and it is not enjoyable so she is happy that she can hand it down to newer ballerinas.

Melissa’s most recent role is in the performances of Kenneth MacMillan’s “Requiem”. She worked on this with Darcey Bussell; the first time the two of them have worked together in the studio. She has been a long-time admirer of Darcey as a ballerina and as a person so having the opportunity to work with her was special. Initially Melissa was due to dance only two performances, but Marianela Nuñez was no longer able to commit to her performances, so Melissa danced the opening night as well as the cinema relay performance. At the same time, she was flying to and from Singapore where she was producing her first gala. Although so much was going on in her schedule, she felt that it was really special to dance in “Requiem” because it is a powerful ballet which, whilst transcending the here and the now and the world, is also in the moment and very present. This allowed Melissa to focus and be present for all the performances and she felt that it came at a very good time for her. In her opinion, it is a stunning ballet and has been away from the stage for far too long. Only about four of the present company had performed the ballet before so it was a massive feat for Christopher Saunders to put it together with what was essentially a full cast of new dancers. David commented that Lady Deborah MacMillan had remarked to him that Kevin O’Hare should be persuaded to put on more MacMillan triple bills as there are so many ballets that have not been seen for years. Melissa agreed and said that there are some real MacMillan masterpieces, including one-act ballets which are even more powerful than his three-act ballets. The new generation of dancers need to be a part of these more explorative and experimental works, and not just experience ballets like “Romeo and Juliet” as this is valuable not only for the dancers but also for the audience to watch. One ballet that Melissa would love to see come back is “Las Hermanas” and she had a conversation with Kevin during a period when there had been a great deal of injury resulting in multiple cast changes and he commented that he wished he had put on “Las Hermanas” instead, as it required a much smaller cast. She concedes, however, that there are several criteria involved in deciding what a season’s programme will be and wants and desires do not feature very high amongst those.

Melissa has now set up a production company with her husband, Michael Christou, called Hamilton Christou Productions and in March 2024 they curated an exclusive programme for the Esplanade Theatre in Singapore. There were two performances featuring four couples: Melissa, Ryoichi Hirano, Yasmine Naghdi, Xander Parrish, Madoka Sugai and Alessandro Frola from the Hamburg Ballet, Mackenzie Brown and Martí Fernández Piaxá from the Stuttgart Ballet. Originally, Marcelino Sambé was due to participate but he had the offer to perform at the Paris Opera Ballet, so Melissa enthusiastically let him go. The programme was put together in collaboration with the Singapore Ballet Company. The experience was incredible and gave Melissa more satisfaction, fulfilment and enjoyment than she had ever anticipated. Setting up the company was, in itself, a mammoth task but she is lucky and grateful that her husband, a “serial entrepreneur”, took control of the elements in which Melissa had no experience. They have complementary skillsets and ideas, and both were very driven to create something very special together. The programme included heritage works from choreographers such as Kenneth MacMillan, John Neumeier and John Cranko as well as classic and innovative works. Ten of the Singapore Ballet members shared the stage and performed an ensemble piece. In addition, two of them were able to be suitors in the Rose Adagio from “Sleeping Beauty” with Yasmine Nagdhi. The programme was very collaborative and different from the usual galas where the same pas de deux are seen over and over again. Melissa wanted to bring integrity and artistry by showing works that she has been inspired by or has found thrilling and exciting, performed by dancers that she has been inspired by during her career. It was a massive success for a first gala, and a heartwarming experience. She took a great risk doing something like this that was completely new during a hectic season, and she is still asking herself how she managed to do it all. She puts it down to the help that she gets from her husband and believes that without him none of it would be possible.

Singapore was chosen as a location because Melissa had visited the island before with Gaynor Minden and Sonata Dancewear in 2017 and she gave ballet masterclasses and talks on Gaynor Minden as she is a brand ambassador for them and wears their pointe shoes. She fell in love with Singapore City. Her husband, Michael, is always amazed that she travels so far across the world to perform in other people’s galas but had never done this for herself. This is the mindset of a businessman, but for Melissa it was the norm and brought with it few responsibilities. However, after they got married in 2022, it made sense to set up the company together and was part of their aligning together as a couple. Singapore came up as a random suggestion whilst they were conversing with the TV on. An advertisement came on for the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore and Melissa commented that she could do her first gala in Singapore whilst her husband could stay in the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Subsequently she guested with Wayne McGregor’s company at the Esplanade Theatre in “Tree of Codes” in October 2022 which was just a month before her wedding. Whilst there, she had a chance conversation with the Esplanade dance team. She had been taking classes with the Singapore Ballet ballet mistress who was teaching classes for Wayne’s company. The ballet mistress was keen for more ballet to come to the city and for more guest ballet companies to visit. Melissa remarked that she would love to be able to do her own shows. This remark was passed on to the dance team who had coffee with Melissa the following morning. And so, Melissa’s production company was born out of a chance remark. Melissa is a big believer in putting ideas into the cosmos where they become reality.

During that performance in Singapore, she danced “Qualia” with Ryoichi Hirano and MacMillan’s bedroom pas de deux from “Manon”. With Xander Parrish, she danced the pas de deux from Act II of “Giselle” and she also performed a solo from Maurice Béjart’s “La Luna”. This is a piece that Melissa has always dreamt of performing and has repeatedly watched clips of Sylvie Guillem dancing it. She was awestruck by the work even though, at the time, she did not understand it or know who choreographed it. She simply felt the power, vulnerability and sensuality which was encapsulated in that single solo.

There were two shows and then she also taught a masterclass the following morning with Yasmine Naghdi. Her husband was expecting to have some time to visit Singapore but instead they had to go straight from the aircraft to the theatre for a technical rehearsal for lighting followed by a technical run-through with the dancers that evening. The dress rehearsal took place the next morning before the first night that evening, then the masterclasses on the next morning followed by a matinee performance before returning to the airport bound for London and a performance of “Requiem” two days later. And before all of this, the night before flying to Singapore, Melissa had stood in for Marianela Nuñez on the first night of “Requiem”. It had not been planned this way because the dates had worked well with Melissa’s original schedule, but with the cast changes and replacing Marianela, her workload became much heavier than she had anticipated.

Her next gala will be in Belfast on October 26^th and 27^th 2024, when she will be doing matinee and evening shows on the Saturday and a matinee on the Sunday. Melissa invited the Ballet Association members to consider going over as it is not too far and easy to fly there and back. She has been in talks with Ian Wilson of the Grand Opera House in Belfast for many years. Very few Northern Ireland dancers have made it very far in the ballet world, so Melissa is uniquely placed to be able to bring world class dance to theatres in Northern Ireland and Ireland. Ballet has never been promoted in Northern Ireland as much as it has been in mainland UK and there are problems with funding, education and the general desire for ballet. Melissa is in the process of building the programme. She has already confirmed a couple of ballet dancers from the Royal Ballet and is in talks with others from other ballet companies, but nothing has been announced yet. All programming and casting should be ready by the summer.

Melissa’s schedule was also hectic just before she got married in November 2022. The week before, she went to the International Ballet Festival of Havana with Roberto Bollé, flying in on Friday and dancing on Saturday and the Sunday. She flew back from Havana on Sunday night, danced at the Opera House a few days later and then got married. Between August and November, she was only at home for one weekend. Her husband-to-be was slightly concerned that she may not have time to turn up for the wedding.

During the Havana Festival she danced a pas de deux with Roberto Bollé from “Caravaggio”, a ballet by Mauro Bigonzetti. The pas de deux is very special to both of them as they have performed it all around the world and recently danced it in the Ballet Icons Gala at the London Coliseum which marked their debut dancing together in London. This took place on the Sunday before she was due to fly to Singapore on the following Thursday. Roberto had only messaged her a week previously to ask her if she was available to dance. In Havana, they also danced “L’altro Casanova” by Gianluca Schiavoni. Havana was also a last-minute request from Roberto, but she has been dancing with him since 2015 and frequently receives texts from him with late requests for her time. They have danced all over the world together as far afield as Australia and now also in London. Melissa had never expected to dance at the Havana Festival as it is such a famous and iconic event so that even a week before her wedding, she was keen to participate. She had held it in high esteem from a very young age so even though she was also suffering from bronchitis, she felt compelled to attend. She remembers her husband telling her not to go into the sea after seeing a picture of her on the beach on social media as he was concerned that she would become too sick to attend their wedding.

Melissa started dancing with Roberto Bollé in 2015 after he had invited her with Eric Underwood to dance in his famous summer tours around Italy which take place in the most incredible outdoor locations. These are so beautiful that dancing there does not seem like work but is sheer pleasure. The ballerina that Roberto was due to dance the “Romeo and Juliet” balcony pas de deux with got injured so Melissa stepped in and danced Juliet to his Romeo, an opportunity she was certainly not going to miss. She also danced with him in Balanchine’s “Apollo”. They got on famously and there was an instant connection and trust, as if they had been dancing together for years. This was all the more incredible because, at the time, Melissa was a mere Soloist at the Royal Ballet and Roberto Bollé was at the top of his career. Roberto is one of the most diligent and dedicated dancers Melissa has ever come across and he does not act the global superstar when he is working. She is truly honoured to be associated with him in any context. She respects and admires what he persistently aims for and his work in Italy to promote ballet as an art form. In May he will have a TV show – “Viva la danza” on Italy’s RAI Uno (the equivalent of our BBC) and a few weeks ago, Melissa went out to Florence to film the show with him. Year after year they perform different repertoire together and their relationship now is more a friendship than just work.

A highlight of their work together is the “Romeo and Juliet” pas de deux performed in the Arena di Verona. There are no words to describe the experience. There are massive arches in the arena and as Juliet stands on a balcony, Melissa starts on top of one of these arches. As someone with an extreme fear of heights, it was challenging, not least of all because the arena holds around 13-14,000 people. There was a full moon, her Juliet dress was blowing in the wind, Roberto was down on the ground with a full orchestra and Melissa was overwhelmed and wondering what on earth was happening to her. It was certainly an unforgettable performance. Another performance in Verona was also memorable. They were performing the final pas de deux from Wayne McGregor’s “Infra” (which was originally created on Ed Watson and Marianela Nuñez). It was windy and freezing and her costume was a simple pair of hotpants. The second piece, “Le Corsaire”, was on stage, but as Nicoletta Mani, a good friend of Melissa’s, came off at the end, she remarked that they had come off just in time as it had started raining. Melissa and Roberto’s next solo was a pas de deux from “Carmen”. Before Melissa went on Roberto had a solo during which the heavens opened accompanied by forked lightning. Melissa had to make the decision whether to go on or not, as she was dancing in pointe shoes whereas Roberto was safer in his flat shoes. However, the audience reaction and support for Roberto was so strong that Melissa felt that she had to go on. You could see the rain jumping off the stage surface in this storm. So, she still has this unrepeatable, incredible memory of dancing in the rain in a storm in Verona.

On a previous occasion, Melissa also went to Havana with the Royal Ballet in 2009 when there was an outbreak of swine flu amongst the company. They were accompanied by a TV crew and Ballet Boyz and gained the reputation of bringing swine flu to Havana. It was not their best experience. The more recent Festival of Havana was much more enjoyable for her.

The conversation now moved on to Wayne McGregor’s ballets. Melissa’s first ballet was a pas de deux with Eric Underwood, during her second season, in “Infra” which was created on them. Since then, she has worked with McGregor every year and in every one of his creations. She has also danced abroad in several of his works which he has not yet staged in the UK. He is “a massive player” in Melissa’s trajectory and she feels that he is more a friend than a work colleague. Some of the ballets she has performed in include: “Infra”, “Acis and Galatea” and “Dido and Aeneas” (with the opera company), “Limen”; most recently “Untitled”, “Carbon Life” and “Chroma”. One of McGregor’s favourite ballets is one he created for the San Francisco ballet, called “Borderlands”. It is a stunning pas de deux with beautiful music. It is also one of Melissa’s husband’s favourites and he is keen that she dance that in Belfast this October. There are several ballets that McGregor has created for other companies which Melissa would love to dance. For example, “Dyad” which he choreographed for the Australian Ballet.

Melissa finds McGregor fascinating as a human being and also an enigma. One of Melissa’s favourite pastimes is trying to catch and understand his train of thought. She also danced with Wayne McGregor’s company in the ballet “Tree of Codes” which he created in collaboration with the Paris Opera Ballet. The music is by Jamie XX. The company was touring to Helsinki and they were looking for a dancer to dance the main role. At the time, she was touring with Roberto Bollé and she was attempting to teach herself the role as she flew back to London to rehearse with McGregor’s company in between some of Roberto’s dates, then flew back to Italy to perform. Melissa is unable to learn ballet steps by simply watching videos and she has to also note them down, using her own style of notation. She remembers trying to navigate her way around McGregor’s movements in a pas de deux and then trying to put those movements into words. Melissa’s method of noting steps is unique to her and she uses words that may make no sense to someone else. As a student revising for exams, she always wrote the information down and learned from reading. Possibly she has a photographic memory.

She loves dancing with McGregor’s company because of the energy they bring to ballet. She is always hungry to be around different artists and creatives as you absorb a great deal and get different inspiration from everyone you work with. She simply craves new experiences. The second showing of “Tree of Codes” was in Singapore at the Esplanade Theatre in Singapore which led to her producing her gala. She is a firm believer that one opportunity leads to another and opening one door results in further doors opening so that you begin to create opportunities for yourself.

Working with McGregor as a choreographer is interesting because dancers never know what his final plan is. He wants to see something different every day and where the movements can go, and this process can continue until the day before a performance. Though a dancer may think he has changed his mind, this is not necessarily so, because only McGregor knows what the result will be. Dancers are there to create the work, not to understand the journey. Dancers usually never know what the result looks like until they are actually on stage. In fact, sometimes you never see the complete picture because much of his choreography is only done in collaboration with the people he is working with. His next full work will be performed during the next season’s programme.

Moving on to Kenneth MacMillan’s work, Melissa’s first full MacMillan role was Mary Vetsera in “Mayerling”, very early on in her career, during her third season. On joining the Royal Ballet, she was aware of classical ballet but knew nothing of MacMillan and the value of his works. She was fortunate to have the opportunity and to be trusted to deliver the integrity that comes with such a role at a young age, so she did not take this lightly. She is glad that she did experience it so young because she has been able to come back to it throughout her career and this has allowed her to go further, dig deeper and add layers to her performances. For those reasons, as a dancer, the more opportunities you get to dance MacMillan ballets, the better. Without experience, MacMillan’s work can be performed superficially, or it can become one-dimensional, so Melissa feels very lucky that she could start learning from a young age.

She first danced the role of Mary Vetsera with Rupert Pennefather. Later she also danced with Thiago Soares, Ryoichi Hirano and Matthew Ball. Manon, she has danced with Matthew Golding, Nehemiah Kish, Reece Clarke, Calvin Richardson, Jiří Bubeníček (whilst she was a guest principal with Semperoper Ballet in Dresden) and Istvan Simon. In addition, she has danced the bedroom pas de deux with more partners during galas.

On the subject of the character, Manon, Melissa feels that you do not knowingly change your interpretation of her, but that it happens organically as your own life develops and just as you are not always aware of how you change as a person, you are not aware of changes in characterisation because MacMillan’s characters are so human and authentic to the person interpreting them that it goes hand in hand with where you are in your own life. Also, whilst you are on stage you do not know how your interpretation is seen or understood; you only know what you are experiencing in the moment. As she has progressed in her career, she has become stronger in knowing what she wants to say and when she wants to say it, especially in MacMillan’s works. She also knows the value of having the “dialogue” from curtain up to curtain down. It’s not about the steps or the counts, but rather the “conversations” and interactions you are having with every single individual you come into contact with on stage. In short, her interpretation has not necessarily changed but her belief in what she is saying and the “conversations” she is having with the different people on stage has solidified and grown stronger.

When asked what her Manon was like as a person, Melissa turned the question back to David who commented that the last time he saw her, the character seemed more knowing than in her earlier interpretations, not the innocent that some dancers portray and quite strong-willed. Melissa believes that MacMillan’s women are not damsels in distress, and he shows them as strong people with guts and courage. At this stage in her life when she is totally head over heels in love with her husband, Melissa is aware that there is no love between Manon and Des Grieux, because if you love someone, you could not act in the way that Manon acts. So, in previous years, Melissa would have seen her as naïve and flipping between love and riches. She now feels that there can be no love, given the way she acts. This time, Melissa was also more aware of the backstory of Manon and her relationship with her brother which makes her more knowing. All of this comes from life and knowing what it is to really be in love and Manon’s treatment of Des Grieux and the choices that she makes do not come from a place of love.

Melissa’s original training was private with Masha Mukhamedov, the wife of Irek Mukhamedov, in Athens for ten months. It was during this time that she competed in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP). Masha played a massive part in Melissa’s start in ballet and created the building blocks of her career, giving her the steadfast will and determination that one constantly needs to succeed in the ballet world. She continued to work with her for quite a few years when she was a professional dancer and during her sabbatical, she went to live with her for a few months before joining Semperoper Ballet.

Melissa was invited to join the Semperoper Ballet after performing in the Dance Open gala in St. Petersburg where she first met Jiří Bubeníček. A few weeks after the gala, he e-mailed her advising her that he was about to retire (this was just around the time that she was about to perform Manon with Matthew Golding). Bubeníček wanted his farewell piece to be Des Grieux and, as Semperoper Ballet had never performed any of MacMillan’s works, he asked Melissa to come and be his Manon. It was a fantastic opportunity for her and an honour to perform in someone’s retirement show. It brings with it responsibility, emotion and a particular energy from your partner. She is forever grateful to Bubeníček for having the faith and trust in her to allow her to share the experience with him.

Afterwards, in discussion with Bubeníček and the Semperoper Director of Ballet about the different ballets that would be in the upcoming repertoire, Melissa realised that among them were several ballets that she wanted to dance. As ballet dancers do not cast themselves, they never know what opportunities they will be given. At Semperoper Ballet she could have that autonomy and have the chance to perform these roles. During her time with Semperoper Ballet, she debuted as Nikiya in Aaron Watkins’ staging of “La Bayadère”, then danced his version of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Princess Aurora from “The Sleeping Beauty” and Odette/Odile from “Swan Lake”. So, it was a massive period of learning, experience and growth which she would never have achieved in such a short period of time. For example, she performed Manon six times in one run which is something you could never do in a big ballet company. Kevin O’Hare was extremely supportive and keen to allow her to gain this experience. In addition, as a principal, her schedule was not as busy, so she had more time to guest with Roberto Bollé. The time at Semperoper Ballet moved her career further forward in two seasons than would have been possible at the Royal Ballet.

Apart from dancing MacMillan ballets at the Royal Ballet, Melissa has also danced roles in Christopher Wheeldon works and the company is currently in stage calls for his “Winter’s Tale”. She has not yet performed in this ballet because the previous production was during her sabbatical period. She will be dancing the role of Paulina on opening night. She is being coached by Zenaida Yanowsky who created the role. Wheeldon is frequently around the Company and since he has been working on Broadway musicals, what he brings to the stage has completely transformed and it is amazing to be a part of his new style. Most recently she participated in the unique installation “Dark with Excessive Light” by Robert Binet in the Linbury Theatre. This was a new experience for dancers and audience alike. It was brave of him to attempt something like this in the Royal Opera House, but he was fully backed by the Royal Ballet who helped him bring his vision to life. Melissa also enjoyed working with Alexei Ratmansky. He was only briefly at the Royal Ballet for “24 Préludes”, but Melissa danced another one of his works whilst she was at Semperoper Ballet. She finds his works intricate and feels that they should be seen more often in the UK. Melissa loves the works of Jerome Robbins and wishes that there were more opportunities to perform them, but the schedules do not always allow for one’s choices. She has enjoyed performing in his “The Concert” but would like “The Afternoon of a Faun” to return to the programme. Though she would not call herself an Ashton dancer, there are some of his works which give her tremendous pleasure and joy on stage. For example: “Monotones” which she found “exceptionally transcendent”. One of the first works she performed in the new season with Reece Clarke was “The Awakening” pas de deuxwhich is extremely beautiful. Again, so much of Ashton’s work is not seen. Perhaps her production company, Hamilton Christou may be able to change this. As yet she is not involved in the upcoming Ashton Triple Bills.

As for next season, the only thing that Melissa knows for sure is that she will be producing her gala in Belfast in October. Anything else will be a bonus.

An audience member asked Melissa whether the programme in Belfast will be the same as in Singapore and she replied that, at the moment, she plans to keep the same programme as this is easier logistically and easier for the dancers.

Another question asked concerned jetlag after the several flights followed immediately by performances that Melissa has been doing. She does suffer from jetlag, but her remedy is “make-up, caffeine and eye-drops. She has learnt that setting her clock for the place that she is going to and changing her sleeping schedule to match. For example, before going to Singapore she stayed awake that night to try and set her body clock. But also, the excitement of stepping off a plane and heading to a performance, results in high adrenaline levels which keeps you going.

Another question was how Melissa manages when, in a character-driven ballet, there is a last-minute cast change, and she now has to perform with a dancer she has not rehearsed with. Melissa responded that if you are dancing with someone who can “live” the work (e.g. MacMillan) you have no idea what they are going to bring to the performance, so your reaction is completely authentic and in the moment with the result that what you produce is more real and honest. In fact, you are supposed to be on stage presenting this story for the first time and if there is a cast change with someone you have not rehearsed with, it literally is for the first time, and you cannot pre-empt what they will do. In fact, once there was a cast change for the character Monsieur G.M. in “Manon” and Melissa chose not to rehearse with the new dancer because she preferred to see what happened in the moment. In rehearsal you have the luxury of being able to delve into the character that you are creating but with MacMillan’s work, it is the spontaneity and the immediate action that makes it so exciting, rather than knowing and pre-empting what your partner is going to do.

The final audience question was about Melissa’s fear of heights and how she responds to different male dancers when she is lifted. She spoke about an entrance in Christopher Wheeldon’s ballet “D.G.V.” with Reece Clarke, one of the tallest dancers in the company, when she had to keep her head down and focus on the ground, pretending that she wasn’t lifted so high. Again, adrenaline is the answer, and in fact, she does like stepping outside of her comfort zone. During a piece that she performed in New York with a dancer from English National Ballet, who is the tallest dancer she has ever danced with.

In 2013, Derry became the first UK city of culture and Melissa was appointed Ambassador. This happened quite early in her career when she did not have the headspace to understand what she could give to future generations of Northern Ireland ballet dancers. Now she is much more experienced and feels that she is best placed to give back to the dance community in Northern Ireland and provide opportunities, education and performances especially now that she has her own production company. With it she can literally bring dance to the country. Growing up, Melissa knew nothing about the Royal Ballet; she didn’t even know that ballet could be a career. Even today, there is no vocational training. Ballet Ireland exists but it is not at the same level as the mainland ballet companies. She hopes that her performances in October will be the catalyst that gets things moving. The biggest stumbling block is funding across all areas.

Melissa believes that the cosmos has spoken to her on this subject because earlier this year whilst she was planning the Singapore gala and the morning after discussing with her husband where the next gala should be, she ended up walking behind a woman who had clovers all over her dress. For Melissa, this was a clear sign that the next location had to be Ireland and Belfast, in particular. She messaged Ian Wilson, the Head of the Grand Opera House in Belfast who said that she had contacted at an opportune moment because he was just planning his next season and he had dates available that she could have. The Arts Council had cut funding for ballet so the only way to bring ballet to Belfast was via gala-type performances and here was Melissa knocking at his door. On the dates Ian offered the Royal Ballet had a free weekend so the stars were clearly aligning.

It will mean a great deal to Melissa to bring world class ballet back home. Currently she is trying to source funding and sponsorship. For the Singapore gala she was lucky and the Esplanade Theatre obtained funding from BNP Paribas, whilst Melissa’s company joined with the Arora Group which allowed them to create a full and integrity-driven production. She does not want to go from that to a second-rate performance in Belfast because of lack of funding.

Finally, David commented on the fact that Melissa has danced an enormous range of repertoire just within the Royal Ballet and when Semperoper and her performances with Roberto Bollé are added, it makes one wonder why Melissa is not yet a Principal at the Royal Ballet. Melissa suggested he asked Kevin. Her next focus is concentrating on her production company and the setting up of her performances. She remains open to ideas because some of the things that she has achieved in the past few months, she would previously never have dreamed possible.

David expressed the hope that whatever she does next, we will have the pleasure of seeing her dance many more roles at the Royal Ballet over the next few years. He also remarked that Melissa has given him and members of the Ballet Association great pleasure during her time at the Royal Ballet.

Report written by Herma John, corrected by Melissa Hamilton and David Bain.

Currency

Currency

Search our website

Melissa Hamilton 2024

Melissa Hamilton

First Soloist, The Royal Ballet

Currency

Currency