Tamarin Stott has performed many roles, both on and off stage. After 15 years with English National Ballet, Tam stepped into the shoes of Rehearsal Assistant at Scottish Ballet in 2018. In 2023, her job evolved to Performance Medicine Lead for the Dance & Artistic Development Team.

What was your journey to Scottish Ballet?

I grew up in Devon and had an amazing dance teacher who I stayed with until I was 16. After vocational school in London, I freelanced for seven years. It was halcyon days, I travelled everywhere and took any job. I was offered a job with English National Ballet (ENB) and ended up staying for 15 years.

I knew Christopher Hampson from my freelancing days and we crossed over at ENB. Chris offered me the job of Rehearsal Assistant at Scottish Ballet and I instantly felt at home.

What does your job at Scottish Ballet involve?

My role as Rehearsal Assistant involves teaching class, setting repertoire, and assisting choreographers when they come in to create new ballets or reinstate existing ones. We set the work, rehearse it, put it on stage, watch all the shows, take notes, then work through them with the dancers so that every audience sees us at our best.

Last year, the Artistic Team became the Dance & Artistic Development Team. When we restructured, we identified a gap. My new role supports dancers rehabilitating from injury who are ready to dance but not ready for repertoire. It could be anything from joining them in a rehearsal, looking at repertoire they are finding challenging, how they are feeling about re-joining the group, concentration and confidence. I’m looking at physical and psychological health and the support is different for each dancer I work with.

What’s your favourite thing about your job?

When I’m sitting amongst the audience wondering, ‘are we going to get a good reaction?’ Then we do. That’s such a joy.

What keeps you up at night?

The counts, the music, the production. I try to figure out what is the most effective, stress-free way for the dancers to learn the work. Then the next night, it’s how can I help make it even better.

What are you excited about working on this year?

Cinders! — Cinderella was the first production I worked on with Scottish Ballet six years ago. It will be interesting to see how my approach has changed, what my new role will bring in supporting the team through this exciting reimagining of another big production.