Up Close and Personal with Sarah Lamb

November 28, 2001

This weekend, British paper The Guardian ran an excellent profile of lovely Royal Ballet principal Sarah Lamb. While the piece includes discussion of several standard-issue (albeit perennially fascinating) topics—including her preparation for the upcoming Giselle and her work with mentor Tatiana Legat—there are also a few surprises.

Perhaps most interesting is Lamb’s answer to some critics’ charges that Wayne McGregor’s ballets, which frequently include aggressive, manipulative partnering of women, are misogynist. “I understand the argument,” she says, “but honestly, when you’re being lifted by a man, you’re really doing a lot of the work. And when I look at duets by Wayne or Chris Wheeldon, I read them as shapes and lines, the choreographer’s aesthetic. If they’re beautiful and interesting, they work for me. I’m not thinking, ‘Oh, that woman hasn’t been on the ground for five minutes.'”

Lamb also reveals an unusual post-dance career possibility: politics. She’s been the Equity representative at the Royal for five years, and has enjoyed acting as the go-between for the dancers and company management.

Click here
for the full profile—it’s worth a read.