Kevin Emerton 2026
- Antonio Cortese
- Helle Flood
- Kevin Emerton
- Lukas Brændsrød
- Marianela Nunez
- Mariko Sasaki
- Yusuke Otake
Kevin Emerton
Pre-Professional Year Teacher, The Royal Ballet School
with the 2025 Association Award winners Helle Flood, Antonio Cortese & Yusuke Otake
Interviewed by David Bain
American International Church, Tue 03rd Feb, 2026
This evening’s guests were Kevin Emerton, Royal Ballet School Pre-Professional Year Ballet Teacher and the three winners of the Annual Ballet Association Award: Helle Flood from Norway, Antonio Cortese from Italy and Yusuke Otake from Japan. Kevin began by telling us what he had been doing over the last few days. His year group were on mid-season break as they had worked through Christmas, so during that time he was also teaching at White Lodge. Now, they are back in the studio and doing classwork to ease themselves back into their routine. He has been trying to encourage them to learn how to build back after a break because they will not have a guide when they start going to auditions around the world. They have also been rehearsing variations for these upcoming auditions and for the School summer shows. This week, they are working on Act III of Peter Wright’s version of “Swan Lake” choreographed for the Birmingham Royal Ballet, specifically on the Black Swan pas de deux.
Helle: Last week she was at home in Norway (just outside Oslo) with her family. She returned on Sunday and on Monday she was in class getting back into shape before rehearsing the “Black Swan pas de deux”. This was followed by solo work in preparation for the YGP Job Fair.
Antonio: He found learning the Black Swan pas de deux fun because they are used to watching principal dancers doing the role and now, they can try to emulate them, but also add their own perspective. He cannot wait for the next part. The class lasted 90 minutes and, in that time, they were able to master the first 90 seconds of the dance. Before he attempted the pas de deux in the studio, he felt that he knew it better than he actually did because when you watch a dance, you are focused on the outcome and not details such as the transitions, especially for male dancers who are generally behind the ballerina and you need to know how to hold her and how to move her. So, he was able to discover plenty of new information during the session.
Yusuke: Last week he returned home to Japan and enjoyed delicious Japanese food as well as having a couple of auditions. He arrived back in London yesterday at 2p.m. so he was late back and unable to attend class. His first class was today with the variations and the pas de deux. This was followed by cardio. Before going to Japan, they worked in the studio with Christopher Wheeldon on his piece “Christening Suite” which they will be performing for the summer show. He will be returning in May or June to do some more work with the students.
Kevin added that “Christening Suite”, which was created in 2008 for the Norwegian National Ballet, will be performed by the Pre-Professionals and some second-year students. It is a 10–12-minute piece in three movements. One of Wheeldon’s choreologists came to teach the students the piece and he, himself, came for a few days to coach them in person and have some input in the casting as the decision is not solely in the hands of Iain Mackay, the Director of the Royal Ballet School. They are also working on the dances in Act III of the “Swan Lake” including elements such as the “Spanish Dance”, the “Csardas” and “Neapolitan”. This allows for several brilliant opportunities across the Upper School. The second years are working on pieces by Jessica Lang and Cathy Marston.
Helle: She performed as one of the Angels in “The Nutcracker” and covered in “La fille mal gardée”. It was very inspiring for her because they also got to do class with the Company dancers and she could see how professional dancers worked in class. In particular, she admired Marianela Nuñez’s strong technique. Preparation for Angels is done with the company, but they start on their own with one ballet master before joining in with the rest of the company.
Antonio: At the beginning of the year, he began rehearsals for “Like Water for Chocolate”, but then he and another student were called by English National Ballet to join their “Sleeping Beauty” tour. He was one of the Court Couples in Act I and the second half of Act II. It was a great to experience touring with another company as they are usually totally focused on the Royal Ballet. It was the first time that he had seen this Kenneth MacMillan ballet and though he found some of the variations different, he felt that the key messages were the same as the original ballet, and he did enjoy experiencing it. The tour took him to Manchester, Liverpool and Southampton. During the first week in Liverpool, he injured himself during a class. As it was a dislocation, he had to be taken to hospital, but he was able to continue and have fun on the tour.
Yusuke: He also rehearsed for “Like Water for Chocolate” in which he covered for one of the men who are underneath the billowing dress of Mama Elena in her ghostly form, moving the skirt and pushing the mechanism. After this he went to Birmingham Royal Ballet to perform as a cadet in the party scene of their “Nutcracker” and the Chinese Dance. He did not expect to have so much to do, and he learned a great deal about becoming a professional ballet dancer in the future. He also performed with them at the Royal Albert Hall mostly in the Chinese Dance.
Helle: On the subject of auditions, Helle is grateful that several directors come to the Ballet School so that students do not have to spend time creating video applications as well as paying for flights and hotels. So far, they have been seen by directors from the English National Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Ballet Zurich, Norwegian National Ballet, Finnish National Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet from Chicago. They will also attend the YGP Job Fair and Grand Audition which are not competitions, but where more directors will be watching them.
Antonio: The preparation for auditions begins already in September when you start filming the audition videos including class, barre, centre, jumps and variations which require rehearsal. Initially, it was very stressful because you already have to start thinking about your future which has a big question mark on it. Will you be able to stay with your friends or will you have to move somewhere else? As things progress, you are visited by several directors, and some people get early offers of positions. He finds the audition process good practice and an opportunity to be seen by the directors who, even if they do not offer you a position, may remember you some time in the future. His stoic view is that it is stressful but that this is the life of a ballet dancer.
Kevin commented on how useful it is to have the directors visit the school because of the expense of travel, but also how, with technological advances, things have become easier. They do start in September creating their videos with set barre exercises but also with the possibility of creating their own exercises which can show off their particular skills. They can also select their own variations with some guidance from the teachers. They have “Career Prep”, including mock interviews with someone like the Head of Programmes where they can practice asking key questions, using particular phrasing and responding in an intelligent manner without coming across as naïve or embarrassed.
Asked how many students already know at this stage if they have a contract, Kevin responded, that this year, things have started early and approximately 50% of the students know what they will be doing.
Kevin, who is from Preston, Lancashire, began dancing between the ages of 3-5 after accompanying his sister to her dance classes in the local church hall. But between the ages of 6 and 9 he preferred to hide under the table so that he did not have to dance. Then a grandparent encouraged him to join Junior Associates and took him to ballet classes in Manchester. Following this, he then joined the Lower School at Elmhurst Ballet School. He did audition for a variety of schools including White Lodge, but did not get past the first audition there, a fact which encourages him to remind students that there are many different routes to their chosen career. He feels very grateful to Elmhurst. Initially, there were only two boys in his year and they trained together, pushing each other. He was at the school between 1999 to 2004 before it moved to Birmingham. This is when he joined the Royal Ballet Upper School from which he graduated into the Royal Ballet Company. Though it would have been nice to move with the Elmhurst School to Birmingham and benefit from the affiliation with the Birmingham Royal Ballet, he wanted to push himself and compete with the best. He had seen another Elmhurst student from an earlier year group, Thomas Forster, do something similar, moving to the Royal Ballet Upper School and ending up with the American Ballet Theatre.
Helle: She also started dancing because her sister was dancing. She practiced several sports but after seeing her sister perform in “The Nutcracker” she became fascinated by ballet, attracted by the combination of artistry and physicality. Her first application, at the age of 6 years, to join the Norwegian National Ballet School, was unsuccessful, but she was accepted a year later. She studied there for nine years and then, after graduating, applied for the Royal Ballet Summer Intensive Course and was subsequently accepted for the Upper School. During her first year at the Norwegian National Ballet school, she attended afternoon classes once a week for approximately one and a half hours. This increased over time to three days. There were far fewer students – in the end, as people gradually gave up, only six or seven - than at the Royal Ballet School and it was an eye-opener for her to be among so many talented dancers.
Kevin advised that at White Lodge, they tend to start with approximately 30 students (15 boys, 15 girls), but only a small number of these make it to the Upper School.
Antonio: He is from Naples, in Southern Italy. He does not remember exactly how he started ballet, but he does remember watching YouTube videos of Roberto Bollé, Italy’s biggest ballet star. None of his family were interested in dance so they were surprised at his keenness and supported him from the age of five years, sending him to a private school where he studied till he was fifteen. He then did the Summer Intensive Course at White Lodge and, afterwards, became an International Student He was due to begin in 2020, but due to Covid, he was unable to come to London. Consequently, he auditioned for the La Scala Academy Ballet School and studied there for two years before joining the Royal Ballet Upper School at seventeen years.
At his private school in Naples, he worked with a Vaganova trained teacher who encouraged him to apply for the Royal Ballet School Summer Intensive Course. Antonio has been to watch ballet, for example at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples but he feels that ballet, in Italy is not appreciated even though the country has many talented dancers including, in the past, international principals. He would love to go back to Italy to dance but even at La Scala, which is the most famous ballet company in Italy, they do not perform as much as companies in other countries.
Yusuke: Both his older siblings, a brother and a sister, did ballet and, at the age of three, he was keen to copy them, especially as he was left at home with his parents while they were both at ballet class. In the area where he grew up, in the north of Japan, there were no famous ballet schools but the teacher at his ballet school was encouraging even though, to begin with, he did not enjoy ballet and became bored with it as he was the only boy in the class. He almost quit at the age of eleven because he wanted to do football like the rest of his male friends. His parents were not keen for him to stop as he had been studying for almost ten years, so they encouraged him to enter some competitions. Yusuke made a deal with them that if he competed and did not place anywhere then he could give up ballet and take up football. He entered the Japan YGP and, to his surprise, he won, so he had to continue with ballet. He did a few more competitions and eventually won a scholarship at the Zurich Dance Academy where he trained before joining the Royal Ballet Upper School.
Kevin enjoyed his time at the Royal Ballet Upper School and has fond memories. Amongst his year group were Claire Calvert and Sergei Polunin. David Peden was his first and second-year teacher and Gary Norman was his third-year teacher. Both were supportive and tried to get the best out of him. He was offered a contract with the Royal Ballet Company early on during his third year (in November) and he went on tour with them for five weeks, as a student, to the U.S.A. and Mexico.
Helle: After her first Summer Intensive course at White Lodge, Helle won the Direct Entry Award which gave her automatic entry to the following year’s Summer Intensive Course. She attended this after graduating from her school in Norway and was subsequently offered a place at the Royal Ballet Upper School. She was quite stunned at the high standard of dance student at the school, all with different backgrounds and training methods. The size of class was also very different and given that, back in Norway, there was only one boy in her class, she was surprised to see so many boys studying ballet. She had learnt English at school but was not yet confident in speaking.
Her first teacher was Sarah Kundi and as Helle’s group were the first year group she taught at the school, it felt very special. At the end of year performance, Helle danced in “La Valse” by Frederick Ashton and “Paquita”, choreographed by Joseph Mazilier.
Antonio: He applied when the Royal Ballet School came to Livorno for auditions in November. He was successful and was asked to join the Upper School in the January. This was too soon for Antonio as he did not expect to get an offer for such an early date and he felt unprepared, so he turned it down. In addition, the visa process in Italy is very long and he did not think he would have had the necessary papers in time. In March, he came to London for a final audition and though he was excited to be in London, he was extremely frightened because of the high standard of competition. However, a few weeks later he received an emotional message from his mother telling him that he had won his place. This was a dream for him, especially after his previous experience in 2020.
He also performed in “La Valse” in the first year as well as a ballet by former Royal Ballet dancer Gemma Bond. This was a work for the male dancers and, as it was a new creation, they were able to work with her as she incorporated some of their ideas into the choreography.
Yusuke: After his first year at the Zurich Dance Academy, Oliver Matz, who had offered Yusuke his scholarship, had to leave due to a scandal caused when 13 former students complained about bullying, body shaming and a regime, at the school, led by fear. As several of the staff also left, Yusuke and his peers had classes with no teacher and just the pianist. This seemed a good time for him to change school, so he decided to audition for the Royal Ballet School. He contacted the director of Japan YGP and she agreed to send his video on to José Caroyol, the Principal of Artistic Programmes. He had two days of auditions and was expecting Christopher Powney, the then Artistic Director of the Ballet School, to also watch his classes but he did not show up. Nevertheless, he was offered a place.
By the time he arrived in London he could speak English but on arrival in Zurich he could only do basic greetings in English. During his time there he was helped by several people so that he was able to pick up the language and survive.
Kevin spent approximately 17 years in the Royal Ballet, and, for him, highlights were playing Hilarion in “Giselle” where he felt he could be himself on the stage and add his interpretation to the role. This individualism is something that is happening more and more in ballet nowadays. It was a transitional moment in his career and a boost to his confidence levels. He very much enjoyed working with Hofesh Schechter who taught the dancers to move in a different way and changed their perception of creating steps and movement and working together as a group. The experience gave him a very powerful feeling. Crystal Pite is another big influence for him, and he finds her an “amazing human being” who is rich and warm, always wanting the best from whomever she has in front of her. He also enjoyed Ashton works such as “Rhapsody” which engender a camaraderie amongst the dancers and get them to pull together.
There had been no new works in the company’s repertoire, perhaps due to funding issues, but when Kevin joined the company a host of new works had been commissioned and he was involved in most, if not all, of them including Christopher Wheeldon’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “The Winter’s Tale”.
Helle: The biggest highlight for Helle is performing on the big stage during the end of year performances. She appreciates the fact that the school took them back to the basics during their first year with focus on head placements and basic arm positions. She feels that, on arrival, she had no particular style, so it was good to re-learn these things. For her, the port de bras was the most different.
Choreography was studied throughout the years and in her second year she performed in other students’ works. It was fun, although the student choreographers did not receive the same attention or respect as their teachers did because they were all friends. That did, however, lead to more openness as they felt freer to express themselves. There were solo evenings where they learned variations. In the first and second years they work on about five variations and then in the third year they are allowed to choose the one they like the most. They have assessments on their variation work and a panel then chooses who performs in the solo evenings.
Antonio: As well as ballet practice, the students do a ballet degree course. During years 1 and 2, the first hour of study is dedicated to the degree work. In the first year it is classical ballet whereas during the second year, the focus is more on contemporary ballet. Also included in the course work is nutrition, human anatomy and psychology of dancers, concentrating on how a dancer’s brain works and learning how to relax and manage anxiety around performance time. He finds the degree work informative and helpful on the road to becoming a professional dancer. During the second hour of the day, they can choose to study other things. Some students do an ‘A’-Level; Antonio has chosen to study Level 3 English so that he can improve his spoken and written English.
Yusuke: He appreciated the school’s back to basic approach as, back in Japan, he had been more focused on technique and jumping. However, the basics are important as they are the foundation for turning, placement, port de bras etc. Everything stems from the basics of ballet. As David put it, back in Japan, they were all trying to be Tetsuya “Teddy” Kumakawa, a former Royal Ballet principal. Yusuke agreed as Kumakawa is a legend in Japan.
Kevin has always wanted to try and grasp elements of teaching wherever he went, for example during the summer schools. He would note at least one thing per session, even negative things because he felt that although it may not connect with him, it may for someone else or he would register it as something not to do. He started doing the Teachers’ Course during the pandemic from 2020-2022. He was lucky to be able to teach class not only at the Royal Ballet but also in other companies.
He gave up performing because he had been dancing on a knee injury for a while and knee surgery was a last resort. After the surgery, even though he worked his way back to a performance level, he realised that he was no longer able to push his body as far as he wanted to so that he could deliver to the high standard he had set himself. He thus remained in “a holding pattern” until he decided in which direction to take his future career. While he was still performing with the company, he started teaching at White Lodge across year groups to gain experience. He then applied for the teaching position which became available. He took over from Michael Cassidy who returned to the Royal Ballet Company as a repetiteur to the Principal Artists.
Helle: Apart from classical ballet, during the first and second years they study contemporary dance and character. The third year is dedicated to auditions and introduction to other companies. They have more than one teacher for contemporary dance which is good because they are so many styles of contemporary dance. They probably work with each teacher for half a term.
Antonio: As well as dance they also had acting workshops to help them appreciate that a ballet dancer must also be an actor and be able to convey a message to the audience. This was a definite highlight of the first and second years for Antonio and he found it useful for his future career.
Yusuke: For him, classical ballet was the highlight. They had three teachers who had different styles and were looking for different things from the student. For example, Kevin concentrates on the eyeline whereas Ricardo Cevera, who taught them in the second year, focused on which muscles they were using, breaking down the movements so they understood exactly which muscles were in play.
Zenaida Yanowski is the teacher of repertoire, and, with her, they cover things like pas de deux from the repertoire of different choreographers such as “Rhapsody”, “Serenade”, “Onegin”. It is important to Kevin that they become individuals as dancers rather than just classic beautiful dancers because dance is emotion through movement and these are not separate things. Doing a port de bras through the eyeline can convey their individuality whilst dancing the same steps. The choreography will always remain the same, but the ballet world is changing, and movements can be interpreted in a slightly different way. In many cases, the original choreography was created on an individual and based on their individual strengths, so it is quite useful to make subtle changes to suit any new dancer who takes on the role.
Helle: She enjoyed working with Zenaida Yanowski because she has a wealth of experience. They studied The Dying Swan with her and she was very specific, clearly remembering how she danced the piece but, at the same time, allowing them different options. She puts a lot of thought behind each movement. She uses a great deal of imagination and is very visual which makes her very inspiring to work with.
Antonio: He agrees that Zenaida is a great coach, but he also feels that all the teachers are good because they have all had different experiences, dancing various roles so that they each have something to offer. For example, a correction from Kevin may work well for Antonio, perhaps better than one he receives from Ricardo Cervera, but this could be the converse for a different exercise. For this reason, it is good to have several different teachers because then you can decide which correction works best for you so that you can become the dancer you want to be.
Yusuke: He has never had a class with Zenaida, but she was at one of his pas de deux classes with Valeri Hristov. He can see that she is a very experienced teacher and, in fact, one of the best teachers. He would love for her to become a teacher at the Ballet School.
Kevin added that Zenaida has a way of drawing out the best from an individual and is open to try different corrections if one does not work for a particular student. She does this in a humorous way which keeps the students relaxed, possibly in the same way they are relaxed in their peer choreography groups, so that they have the courage to push themselves and try difficult things without feeling that they will be criticised.
An audience member asked them how they approach social media in order to get the best out of it but also avoid any detriment to the teaching process.
Kevin responded that social media is useful for young dancers to see dance from around the world, however what they actually see are the shapes and the aesthetic line, but they do not always see the process involved to get to the finished look. Instead, they see the highlights, the dream, the stardom or the finished goal but not necessarily the grit and the determination required to get there. This is something that young people should focus on. That said, it is a great tool for connecting and learning what is happening in ballet around the world.
Antonio: Social media focuses on the tricks such as perfect pirouettes, but ballet needs to be seen on the stage. Yes, it is useful for connecting you with the rest of the ballet world, but the focus is technique, technique, technique and artistry is forgotten.
Another question was concerning the role of competitions such as YGP and Prix de Lausanne.
Antonio: He has never been a big fan of competitions because, again, more value seems to be placed on technique than artistry. Someone doing five pirouettes will do better than someone who does less but is more artistic.
David ended by saying how proud the Association is of its award winners. Some have gone on to work in the Royal Ballet companies and in English National Ballet while others have gone back home to their own countries or somewhere totally different. As examples he named: Yaoqian Shang from China and Lachlan Monahan from Australia, both principals with the Birmingham Royal Ballet as well as Marcelino Sambé from Portugal, Principal with the Royal Ballet. Reece Clarke also won the award in the year when Jay Jolley was Acting Director because Jay had not been told that the awards were only for overseas students. We all wish the students success in their careers in companies around the world.
Report written by Herman Johnl and edited by Kevin Emerton, the students and David Bain.
© The Ballet Association 2026