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Jessica Fyfe

Principal

Joined Scottish Ballet: 2023

Training: The Australian Ballet School

Trust yourself. Difficult to do as a dancer, but when you do, the possibilities are endless.

How would your colleagues describe you?
Positive, hardworking, and dedicated, and also super quick to learn new choreography.

What career moment are you most proud of?
I have 3 moments: My first lead role as Lise in Sir Fredrick Ashton’s La fille mal Gardée. I was thrown into the role with one week to learn the whole ballet with a new partner that only spoke Portuguese?! I am proud of how we both worked together and made a lovely partnership for our performances that also led to a great friendship.
Then, my first time guesting as an Étoile in Barcelona at the Liceu Theatre was an incredible, memorable experience.
Finally, my choreography Peace Apart was filmed as an online viewing stream during the peak of the pandemic. I still can’t believe I performed and created this piece, let alone under all the restrictions that Covid-19 brought. I am hopeful to have the opportunity to choreograph again…sans the pandemic, of course!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Trust yourself. Difficult to do as a dancer, but when you do, the possibilities are endless.

What’s your favourite ballet to watch and why?
Onegin by John Cranko. It is pure magic, a great story of love and loss. When danced correctly it is as if the dancers are speaking with their movements and the music, I have never witnessed another ballet that has achieved this, yet.

What’s your favourite ballet to perform and why?
I love a ballet with grit. Mayerling by Sir Kenneth MacMillan and Onegin by John Cranko are both ballets where the characters have plenty of depth and strength to express artistically, but they both also have challenging and thrilling pas de deux which I love to dance.

What’s your dream role to perform and why?
Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Tatiana in John Cranko’s Onegin, Margarete in Lady of the Camellias and Mary in Mayerling. All these women are full of strength, vulnerability, love, and its pain. To perform these women’s stories for an audience, taking them on a journey, would be incredibly rewarding.

What do you like to do on your day off?
I like to cook, call or spend time with friends and go for long walks with my dog Tigger.

What’s something people might not know about you?
I like to play guitar and create my own songs.

What advice would you give to your younger self?
Trust yourself, REALLY! Also, don’t compare your career journey with anyone else’s, it’s yours. Always be prepared, be mindful, and be reliable.

What’s your favourite book/movie and why?
Recently, Lessons in Chemistry is my fave book and Barbie is my fave movie, they both open up much-needed conversations about women in society.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
To fly, of course! I think that’s part of why I love being thrown around in pas de deux by my partners. It would also save me a lot of money in airfares being able to fly to Australia to see family when I like.

Repertoire Highlights: Lise in Ashton’s La Fille mal Gardée, Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew, Olga in Onegin, Princess Stephanie in Mayerling