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PICTURE: MIHAELA BODLOVIC
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PREVIEWS GOING OUT
Close encounters Intimacy coaches are a rare sight at a dance rehearsal. But as Kelly Apter learns, Scottish Ballet called in the experts to ease preparations for a new production about the notorious Austrian royal court
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fter two years of social distancing, dancing in ‘bubbles’ and wearing masks in the studio, Scottish B allet’s dancers are enj oying getting reacqua inted. The company’s Christmas production of The Nutcracker was a step in the right direction ( at least the audience was in the same room, not watching on a screen) but The Scandal At Mayerling goes further still. ‘It’s very sensual and luscious, there’s a lot of skin-to-skin touching and kissing involved, which is great,’ says dancer Sophie M artin ex citedly. ‘I think after Nutcracker we all want to take our masks off and get a bit closer.’ n show with the word scandal’ in the title is bound to keep things interesting, and this reimagining of Sir K enneth M acM illan’s 1 97 8 ballet is no ex ception. Depicting the life and tragic suicide of ustria’s Crown Prince udolf, the show is packed with love, lust, drug use and death. ut while udolf himself is at the heart of this historical tale, the women who surrounded him in the V iennese royal court played a pi otal role in his life and in this ballet. mother who didn’t know how to love him, a wife who did, and several mistresses who came in and out of his bed all found their way into M acM illan’s ballet. W ith no less than nine pas de deux to deliver, the dancers April 2022 THE LIST 39
