Tamara Rojo

Early career in Britain

In 1996, Rojo was invited by Galina Samsova to join the Scottish National Ballet. While there, she performed the principal roles in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, La Sylphide, and Cranko's Romeo and Juliet. In 1997, she joined the English National Ballet, and danced principal roles in Swan Lake, Paquita, Coppelia, ad Glen Tetley's The Sphinx and Voluntaries. Derek Deane, Artistic Director of the English National Ballet, created the roles of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Clara in The Nutcracker for her. Rojo was named "Dance Revelation of the Year" in 1997 after her performance as Clara, breaking attendance records at the London Coliseum.

Royal Ballet

After receiving praise from both critics and audience, Rojo was officially invited to become a principal dancer of the Royal Ballet in 2000; she has been working with the company extensively ever since.^[3] After joining The Royal Ballet, she took on principal roles in Dowell’s Swan Lake, Makarova’s The Sleeping Beauty and La Bayadere, Mason's The Sleeping Beauty, Nureyev's Don Quixote, and Wright's The Nutcracker. She has performed many roles in Sir Kenneth MacMillan's works, recreated for her by Deborah MacMillan, including the title roles in Isadora, Romeo and Juliet, Manon, Mary Vetsera in Mayerling, The Woman in Song of the Earth, The Chosen One in Rite of Spring, Masha & Olga in Winter Dreams, Requiem, My Brother My Sisters, and Danses Concertantes. In addition, her repertoire includes Cinderella, Ondine, Marguerite and Armand, Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan, Homage to the Queen and A Wedding Bouquet. She danced in the world premiere of Snow White, created for her by choreographer Richardo Cue.

Major injuries

In 2000 Rojo approached Royal Ballet director Anthony Dowell, having researched and decided that this company was one she would flourish with. "I'd have taken a corps de ballet contract, anything, but there wasn't one," she told Jann Parry, who was at that time the Observer's dance critic. Later that year, though, a principal contract came up and Rojo was recommended. Then later that year Rojo was asked to replace an injured Darcey Bussell in Giselle. Ignoring her own sprained ankle and the short notice, she learned the role in two weeks and went on to receive rave reviews^[4] In 2002, while dancing as Clara in the Nutcracker, Rojo started shaking on stage. After the show, she was sent to a private hospital where they determined that her appendix had burst and she stayed there to heal for 6 weeks. However, two weeks later she was back dancing and she was forced to go to a hospital again. Rojo admitted that it was “completely wrong [to continue dancing while injured or ill] and I do not feel that anyone should do this. It really is not worth it.”^[5] In 2003, while preparing for the Royal Ballet’s Australian tour, Rojo was once again plagued with another setback when she suffered an infected bunion that became so bad that her foot swelled to the size of a tennis ball. Doctors determined that Rojo needed to have it drained and to have surgery on her foot – a potentially career-ending operation. Nevertheless, she knew that this operation was a necessary step to take if she were ever to walk, let alone dance, again. A mere twenty-four hours after her operation, an Ambassador from Spain called to inform her that she had been honoured with an award and needed to be in Cadiz the next week. The King of Spain presented her with the Royal Gold Medal of Fine Arts, a prestigious honour that few can say they have achieved. Months later, and after countless hours of rehabilitation, she returned to dancing and said that the injury changed her perspective on life, her body, and dance. She felt that she valued each and every day more and learned that nothing in life should be taken for granted.^[6]

After her experience in overcoming injuries and inconveniences such as bunions, Tamara Rojo undertook the commercialization in 2017 of a stretching device for ballet pointe shoes; The Pointe Shoe Anti-Bunion Stretcher by Tamara Rojo.

English National Ballet