It’s understandable that dancer Amanda Green wasn’t sure where she was going. She was, after all, calling from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet tour bus somewhere along the Atlantic seaboard.
“I don’t know where we’re headed. North Carolina? South Carolina? Virginia?” she said, calling on a cellphone.
Green, 26, along with the 30 members of the company, was on a three-week tour performing in Moulin Rouge before heading back to Winnipeg to regroup before heading to the West Coast.
She did know where she’d be at the end of April – performing as first soloist in Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s production of Svengali in Vancouver and Victoria. It’s a demanding role that has her on stage for all but 15 minutes of the ballet adapted from a George du Maurier’s novel. Green says the role of Trilby, the Parisian street walker turned dancer under the influence of the enigmatic Svengali is one she looks forward to performing – the company has danced it three times previously this season – even when just coming off a road tour.
“For most of us we just wait for the music, it’s in our bodies,” she says.
She does make sure she gets to bed early – her boyfriend teases her about her penchant for sleeping late – drinks lots of water and eats well to keep up with the demands of daily three to six-hour rehearsals and classes leading up to the tour.
Green grew up in Alberta and both she and her sister Victoria Laine trained with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Green also studied at the Harris Conservatory in Florida, danced one season in Columbus, Ohio before returning to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 2004 as apprentice. Her sister dances in Germany.
Victoria holds a special attraction for Green. She’s been here previously with the company but also with her family.
“I love the Inner Harbour, all the downtown boutiques and the simplicity of Victoria,” she says.
Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Svengali runs April 26 to 28 at the Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St. Tickets $25 to $75, and can be purchased in person at the box office, online at rmts.bc.ca or by calling 250-386-6121.
