The Royal Ballet’s Reece Clarke on How He Manages His Guest Artist Career
Reece Clarke is a man on the move. On top of his regular performance schedule at The Royal Ballet, the principal dancer has been guesting around the globe in cities like Milan, Tokyo, and, later this year, Paris. Most recently, he made his debut with American Ballet Theatre, dancing alongside Christine Shevchenko in Sir Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia. (He also jumped in last minute to replace a sick Aran Bell in the production, partnering Chloe Misseldine.) Clarke had originally been scheduled for La Bayadère’s “Kingdom of the Shades” during ABT’s fall 2024 season, but an illness prevented him from performing.
Pointe caught up with Clarke to talk about how he takes care of himself during his guest artist travels, and how the experiences have shaped him both as a dancer and as a person.
How did the opportunity come about to make your debut with ABT?
[ABT artistic director] Susan Jaffe got in touch with Kevin O’Hare, the director of The Royal Ballet. She was looking for a partner for Christine for both La Bayadère and Sylvia. It was a good match-up to find someone from The Royal Ballet because Sylvia was created by Sir Frederick Ashton, one of our founding choreographers. Kevin kind of surprised me with the news. I was just delighted. I’d only performed one run of shows in the role of Aminta in London back in 2017, and I was hoping to revisit the role.
How do you manage guest appearances while juggling your schedule with The Royal Ballet? How do you keep it all straight?
I’m so grateful to Kevin. He’s always been so caring and trusting in my decisions to do these guesting opportunities, as long as it doesn’t conflict with my London schedule. It’s been a huge learning experience for me, and I think every time I go somewhere, I grow as an artist. I grow as a human, as well, when I travel and see the world, experience new things, and embrace the culture.
In terms of practicalities, a lot of prep goes into it. I have to rehearse a lot independently when I’m in London, on top of my Royal Ballet schedule. I’ll do a lot of visualization, thinking about entrances and exits. If it’s a role I’ve done before, I’ll try to find material from my previous performances to get back in the mindset.
How much time do you have to prepare with your partner from the moment your plane lands to performance day?
It depends on schedules. If it’s somewhere in Europe, closer to home, I can literally arrive the night before and do the show the next day. But sometimes I travel with a partner from London, which makes it easier because I can prepare things in advance. It can be a bit trickier if the time is more condensed and I’m working with someone new on a production. Here in New York, the schedule was great. I arrived 10 days in advance, which was more than enough time to get ready for this role.
When you’re traveling for performances, are there any essentials that you pack or rules you live by, in order to maintain your routine?
The key, I’ve found, is electrolytes. I always pack them in my carry-on. That fights off the lethargic feeling when I travel. I take magnesium with me, as well, which aids with the recovery process and helps me sleep a little better. As soon as I land in a country and arrive at the hotel, I have a hot bath and then a cold shower, so a bit of hot/cold therapy since my legs can feel swollen after a journey. Then I’ll do my stretching routine. I find that our job, being active and exercising, really helps with fighting off jet lag. Then you’re tired, which helps you sleep at the right times.
This was your first time performing with Christine Shevchenko. Is there anything you do to establish rapport with a partner that you don’t typically work with regularly?
It was so easy and natural with Christine. It’s funny, we ran through all our material for Sylvia in the first 30 minutes of the rehearsal. She’s such a warm-hearted individual: open, professional, and curious, which I love as an artist. It was one of those partnerships where it fit like a glove. She has a great sense of humor, as well. The ABT dancers really embraced me on both of my trips here.
Witnessing how other companies function and how other dancers perform during your guest appearances must really contribute to your growth.
That’s what I really enjoy on a lot of my travels, observing how a dancer you’ve heard of or seen on social mediaprepares for a show. I love talking to them about simple things, like how far in advance they eat before a performance or whether they rehearse on the performance day.
In general, what’s the biggest challenge as a guest artist?
There is a unique kind of pressure, since rehearsal time can be limited and there are high expectations coming in as a principal guest artist. But I always try to remember the fundamentals of why I dance and, perhaps, why I was brought over. On this trip, I was dancing work by one of my company’s founding choreographers. It’s one of our heritage works, and even our training [at The Royal Ballet] is based on the MacMillan and Ashton styles, so it’s in my DNA. It’s about being connected to the purpose. I don’t have my usual daily routine, so I have to be present and enjoy the little surprises and new things I learn in the process.
What’s ahead for you?
After this, I have a bit of downtime in London with my dog, Kuma, before the new London season starts. He loves to swim, so I’ll take him to the beach for a few days so he can have a holiday and I can put my feet up and recover a little. I have two guestings scheduled right now: I’m going to Athens in September for a gala performance, and then I’ll be making my debut in Giselle with the Paris Opéra Ballet in October, which is a dream “pinch me” moment. I have three shows in Paris, which is incredible.
