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• Anna Rose O'Sullivan
• Caspar Lench
• Denilson Almeida
• Genevra Zambon
• Giacomo Rovero
• Heewon Moon
• Iain Mackay
• Laura Morera
• Lauren Cuthbertson
• Leo Dixon
• Marianna Tsembenhoi
• Natalia Osipova
• Olivia Cowley
• Philip Mosley
• Reece Clarke
• Tristan Ian Massa
• Yasemine Kayabay
• Zenaida Yanowsky

Iain Mackay

Artistic Director, The Royal Ballet School

with students Yasemine Kayabay, Heewon Moon & Tristan Ian Massa, BA 2024 Award Winners

Interviewed by David Bain
American International Church, Thu 23rd Jan, 2025

 

After introducing our guests, David asked them all to explain how they had started dancing. Iain followed his older brother into dance. Rory went to a class in a small church hall and liked it but didn't want to carry on as he was the only boy so the teacher said Iain should join them. He'd never seen a ballet and had no idea what it was about but loved it all and was quite good. He started at seven and when he was aged ten the Scottish Ballet were putting on Nutcracker and needed children and he thought he would be paid. It was incredible and the dancers were other worldly including a young Tamara Rojo. He continued doing jazz and tap but ballet was the main focus. When he was 16, he auditioned for the Royal Ballet Upper School (RBS) and got in. In Scotland he was the best, being the only boy, but at RBS there were lots of amazing people including Marianela Nunez. Rupert Pennefather was also there. The gravity of the organisation was scary and intimidating. He found Carlos Acosta an inspiration and so uplifting. While at RBS he was also working with the Company and went on tour to Japan and China which was incredible. David Bintley called him there (at 2am in China) and said he'd seen Iain in class and would like to offer him a contract. Iain was excited to get a job and within the first week he was in Fille, the shoveller behind the pony! The stage crew gave the pony mints. He was lucky that he was tall, there were a lot of injuries, and after four years he was promoted to Principal. He was on stage with the likes of Viviana Durante and Sylvie Guillem, all that greatness around him. Meanwhile, Rory had joined English National Ballet under Derek Deane.

Tristan is from New York. He had two older sisters in the dance world and used to watch them through the studio window from the age of three. The teacher noticed and asked him in. He was so excited, but had no ballet shoes so wore socks. He carried on dancing and although too young to join his sister he couldn't keep watching from the window so they decided to let him continue in the class as there were no other boys. He had to cut his hair as they couldn't tell the difference between him and his sister. After five years he took ballet more seriously and aged 11 moved to Central Pennsylvania ballet school. So he moved from a big red barn into a very modern ballet school. At the age of 15 he left his family and moved on his own to Miami where he lived by himself. After a year at Miami City Ballet School he saw online that RBS was touring auditions in New York. He signed himself up without telling his parents and afterwards told them what he'd done. They were very upset but got him a plane ticket for New York where he met Iain who was on the panel. It was a most successful tour of the USA. He was used to doing ballet after school from 4pm until about 9 or 10 pm so it was a difficult schedule. He wasn't trained in classical ballet but in the Balanchine, style so had to assume what the classical ballet technique was.

Yasemin is from Istanbul,Turkey. Her parents loved any kind of acting and a friend who was principal dancer in Turkey saw Yasemin was very active and flexible and suggested her parents took her to ballet. She thought she could join other friends and go with them every day. She took the exam, showed she could do the splits, and joined. Aged six, she was in the children's section. Standing at the side of the stage, there were no boys, so she got some small roles for boys. She took the Conservatory exam, was accepted and went to proper part-time ballet classes after school. She really enjoyed it, especially performing. Her first time on the stage was in Nutcracker, and Yasemin remembers coming back home, asking for pen and paper and wrote what she was feeling. She felt she was born to be on stage and wanted to become a dancer. When she was ten, she began full time training including academics, and stayed for four years. There was a very small community of ballet dancers. People now go to competitions outside of Turkey. When she was 11, she did a competition in the hopes of going abroad. She was so happy to be accepted but was too young. After two years doing competitions, she moved to Switzerland, aged 13, to the Zurich Dance Academy. Her English wasn't good, and she learned Italian first but picked up the language quickly. Because of Covid, her parents couldn't get a visa so went online, as they needed help to move her. She was so excited, and her friends were surprised she was excited to be leaving them! She was very happy with the system there and spent two years training and kept improving. When she was 16, she went to Prix de Lausanne where she met Chris Powney who invited her to come and visit the Royal Ballet Upper School. She'd always followed RBS and was very excited to have this opportunity.

Heewon comes from South Korea. She was four years old when her mum took her to a studio in their hometown where lots of kids were dancing and having fun and she wanted to join them. Her mum agreed she could go and while she was having fun, she realised she liked ballet. It was basic training, but she was very interested and aged 11 she started ballet properly. She went to the Performance Arts school where they have music, dance and art, and Heewon joined the dance section where they did contemporary, ballet and Korean dancing, as well as the theory of ballet. She wanted to study in a different country so went to the Prix de Lausanne and was offered a place at RBS. She loved the Royal Ballet and wanted to go though she spoke no English when she came.

Talking of his BRB highlights, Iain spoke of working with David Bintley. Under his leadership they did lots of his own ballets, on a fixed budget, works like Far From the Madding Crowd, story ballets, in the tradition of Dame Ninette de Valois. Story ballets are very important, requiring a good dancer/actor, storyteller and communicator. David had been a wonderful dancer/actor. Kevin O'Hare was there and when he was off Iain did some of his shows while he would be in the wings, helping with partnering. Kevin was great. Ambra Vallo was also there. It was a great company to be in and they did a lot of exciting work, touring in the UK which was hard, with lots of shows, and Robert Parker and he were alone some tours and had to share performances. It was tiring but you could take risks and give things a go. Silvia Jimenez, now his wife, came over from Stuttgart Ballet when David brought Edward IIinto the repertoire, a piece he had created in Stuttgart.

Now Iain and his family are living between White Lodge and the Upper School because he wants to spend time at both sites, needing to see the dancers as much as possible as they are the stars of the future. It's humbling to think of them leaving their families at 15 to go to another country but it shows the passion for the art form. At 15 he couldn't go to get the bus in the morning! He is in such awe of the dedication and challenges they face. Now it's different and he's very lucky to have a very good job. At the age of 26 Iain left Birmingham for a couple of years. To be made principal after only four years was an honour but he felt he was not growing. By chance he had a call from Angel Corella in ABT saying you're an amazing partner, I have a tall sister, and can you come, so he joined up as Angel was starting his own company. When he'd accepted, he asked if Silvia could have a job? They moved to Spain, where there was a company of 30 dancers, some from ABT. It was an electric atmosphere; they did the classics and it was completely different from BRB. They had such a good time for two years which scratched the itch, and he felt regenerated. Whilst there, he heard from Monica Mason who needed a tall partner for some performances at the Royal. Coming back to the UK seemed the right thing, so they moved back to Birmingham for another eight years.

Tristan at the RBS. He was two weeks late arriving because of issues with getting a visa so everyone had settled in and, as he only knew one other person, it was very nerve racking. Yasemin helped him. It took some getting used to with the change of atmosphere, living with other students who have the same interests. A boarding house is a bit different from living alone and he didn't have to cook or clean. The first year was a very good experience. After the very strict teaching of Balanchine the transition to the Royal Ballet style was difficult. He earned the nickname Mr B. Precise port de bras fast footwork with Balanchine, versus the technique with Royal style. It was a hard transition, but his classmates helped, and he had lots of support from friends and teachers.

Yasemin was more used to being in a boarding house but did things for herself and was more independent. Two more years of living in comfort, first a room of four, now double, so you are close to classmates, a lovely group. Just being together 24/7, she never gets bored and it's always fun. Her training had been more Russian with a bit of French, but she'd been watching the Royal Ballet English style which is a bit more elegant. Nicola Tranah, her teacher, really works on that with head, elbows, eye-line. It was a nice transition, and she enjoyed every second, time goes so quickly and there are so many nice memories.

For Heewon it was hard at first because of the language. She was scared to speak with everyone listening but there was an opportunity for international students to learn the language which helped a lot. They talked to each other during the day and in the boarding house and she could listen and got lots of support from others. She had also learned the Russian style so again it was very different, but she enjoyed learning the English ballet style, use of the head, more elegant.

Iain retired from dancing after a good career on stage. He could have stayed on doing character roles but had too much energy and needed to get out of his comfort zone and face new challenges. He became Director of Yorkshire Ballet Seminars, lots of admin, fund raising, learning, working to create scholarships for summer programmes and expand these throughout the year. Every year for five years they increased the bursaries. He doesn't miss dancing but has a warm feeling from seeing others doing it. He was happy to move into supporting young people and teaching seemed a natural transition. He was keen to bring dance to those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to see it and over two years he organised groups to go into shopping centres, care homes and hospital atria to perform. It was live streamed through the wards and on Facebook. They did three shows of a half hour each. There were 50 people, patients were brought out of the wards, and it was fantastic. He also organised an inclusive group for young dancers and his younger son went to dance class. This all led him back to RBS. He met Chris Powney who asked if he'd come and work for the School. He'd learned other skills and for three years became their International Artistic Manager, responsible for international auditions and courses, and representing the RBS. From all this to being director of the school is quite a journey.

Tristan has spent two- and a-bit years at school. The first year for the Chairman's Circle they did a small section from Alice, the cards, which was very difficult and very scary. For his assessment he did Giselle. Originally it wasn't his choice which was Peter Wright's Sleeping Beauty because he really liked jumping, but the teacher said he should find something more difficult, and he didn't like to challenge them. For the summer shows Mikaela Polley choreographed an amazing neo-classical experience just for the boys. He'd never done partnering with a guy and it was so much fun. The second year was the Lynn Seymour award, when they could do a solo of their choice. Then again for the Chairman's Circle, it was a more contemporary/jazz piece, Ella by Robert Battle, made for Alvin Ailey's company and was so difficult, with fast footwork, jumping down to the knees. amazing, again performed with Yasemin. Tristan developed an injury, a tear in his right patella which was very painful. In the end he had two injuries, but with physio and PRP, which was developed from his own blood, it worked, though he's still doing rehab. He came back for the end of year performance but didn't do a solo. A company member from the Royal Ballet, Joshua Junker, had choreographed a more contemporary piece for Dutch National Junior Company, Remembrance, which they performed. Tristan did the featured role which was absolutely incredible. He listened to the music every night, then the week before performing on the Opera House stage he injured the other kneecap, but he managed to go on. This year there was a small show for first and second years, and he and Yasemin did the white couple pas de deux from Les Patineurs. She's not afraid to say if you are doing something wrong!!

Yasemin said that the first year they did cards from Alice and this year they were involved with the Company production of the work so had come full circle. Back stage they were jumping around as they knew the cards choreography. Yasemin did the pas de trois from Swan Lake, and a solo when Kevin O'Hare was in the audience, and she thought he must be watching her. Don Q had exciting costumes and sets; she looked at the costume to see who had worn it before. So exciting. They performed a work by Goyo Montero which was more contemporary and so beautiful, and Bournonville's Konservatoriet, which was really enjoyable, a ballet class in a perfect conservatoire environment and they had a very good time performing it. The first year was very nice, the second-year calmer. It was quite emotional. She and Tristan were building up to the performance and every night they were up rehearsing each other's solos until they were told you have to go back to your rooms. How do they have so much energy? Yasemin didn't go home during Christmas break, she was happy with her progress, but didn't take care of her body and felt some niggle. She was an angel in Nutcracker, having pains in the fibula and thought it would be OK, but it got worse and it was hard to walk. She went back to class as when she danced the pain went away but after class, she was in so much pain and couldn't hide it any longer. She discovered she had a stress fracture. She was preparing solos but was scared she wouldn't be able to dance. In the second year she chose to choreograph. She had to come out of dancing and learned a lot about herself and her body. The health care team gave her lots of exercises which helped in the long term. She came back in June and in the third year she performed with the Royal Ballet company and BRB at Christmas. There were some injuries, and one dancer had a back problem. Yasemin knew her part so was put in performances all over Christmas. Performing the same role with the Company was so exciting and inspiring. Now they're preparing for the end of year performances.

Heewon said for the Chairman's Circle she did the Swan Lake pas de trois and in the second year an Ashton piece which was very elegant. She was happy to perform variations and jumps and slow turns. Then one week before the performance she got chicken pox which was so unexpected. She isolated for a week so didn't do the choreography but tried to keep dancing, though was only half involved. For the end of year performance, they did Ashton's La Valse which she really enjoyed dancing, using the upper body. In the third year she was in BRB's Nutcracker. It was an honour to be part of the company, doing lots of roles, including snowflakes and flowers, keeping the line and formation, it was such fun and very enjoyable. The Royal Albert Hall is huge, and you see the audience right next to you. It was a good experience.

Iain's role at RBS is split from Patrick Harrison who as CEO runs the business side while Iain is on the artistic side, a dream job. The English style, does it still exist? They were there to provide the companies with the dancers of the future who could deliver the port de bras, footwork and storytelling. They still uphold that tradition, but dancers are required to do a lot more now with the diversity of choreographers with the likes of Wayne MacGregor contrasting with Swan Lake which is so demanding, and the demands are greater than ever. They are training the dancers for the future, providing a platform for the career they deserve. They sacrifice themselves from the age of 13 to travel across the world but illness and injury get in the way. They have to look at how to minimise injuries which are part of their lives, but they have to try to get it right. They will celebrate the school’s centenary in 2026. He'll be in contact with Monica Mason and David Bintley who knew Madam personally and was all for change to remain relevant. Different distractions than before but maintaining connections with the art form is really important.

In conclusion, David gave big thanks to all our guests and said we were looking forward to the Association's annual visit to RBS when we hoped to see the students in class or rehearsal. It's always a pleasure to hear from young dancers with different experiences and we looked forward to seeing their careers develop in the future.

Report written by Liz Boutell and edited by Iain Mackay, the students and David Bain.

© The Ballet Association 2025