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Greta Hodgkinson, seen backstage, during a performance by the National Ballet of Canada. NICKI THOMAS/TORONTO STAR |
"...This is, after all, a dancer’s job. Most days it’s 9 to 5. Today it starts at noon, with a company ballet class.
Everyone is in the rehearsal studio, from the apprentices to ballet master Lindsay Fischer to Greta Hodgkinson, a principal dancer in her 20th season. They stretch, folding torsos over legs or laying flat against the floor, legs splayed in side splits.
Male dancers put on canvas ballet slippers, while their female counterparts sit on the floor, wrapping their toes in tape and second skin. They slip on their pointe shoes, walk over to a tray of crushed orange rosin and step in; the sticky powder is the key to greater traction.
The first notes of La Vie En Rose drift from the baby grand in the corner. Principal artistic coach Magdalena Popa leads them in barre exercises, from plié to grand battement, and walks the room, scanning technique.
Hodgkinson, in purple track pants over a dark leotard, moves with a controlled fluidity that makes her stand out, even in these most basic of exercises. Yesterday was the first and only dress rehearsal for tonight’s performance. It is opening night and she’s dancing the lead."
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