Introducing Wallpaper’s new video series, Work in Process

Welcome to Wallpaper’s new video series, ‘Work in Process’, where we delve into the creative methodology of today’s most inspiring artists and creators. For this episode, we were granted an exclusive look behind the scenes of the Royal Opera House in London to discover what a day in the life looks like for William Bracewell, The Royal Ballet’s principal dancer.

Born in Swansea, Wales, Bracewell discovered ballet at the age of eight. ‘I'd been to all the different activities after school,’ he recalls. ‘I was asked if I wanted to try a ballet class, and… almost immediately, there was something about it that I was really drawn to.’

At 11, Bracewell left home to train at The Royal Ballet School in Richmond Park, London, throwing himself into an all-consuming schedule of training and academic work. After graduating, he joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet, where he began to learn the art of balancing his work and personal life.

In 2017, Bracewell joined The Royal Ballet as a soloist. He was promoted to first soloist in 2018, and then to principal dancer in 2022. He has performed leading roles in major productions including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Cinderella, as well as modern, boundary-pushing productions such as Wayne McGregor's adaptation of Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy. Bracewell’s accolades – including Best Male Dancer in 2023 – speak to both his talent and his impact in the field of ballet.

Bracewell’s position – one of the most esteemed in the British arts – demands extraordinary discipline and physical resilience. ‘Ballet dancers put a huge amount of time and energy into maintaining [their] bodies. You have to love the experience of honing something down to its most refined form,’ he explains.

Dancers at The Royal Ballet typically begin each day with a 75-minute class, starting with small movements at the barre and building up through increasingly complex movements. Rehearsals follow, from around noon until 6.30pm. In addition to dancing, Bracewell practices Pilates and strength training.

‘I think of my body like a machine sometimes,’ he says. ‘There’s the skeletal structure, and then there are the muscles and tendons that move it. It’s fascinating to think about how it all connects.’

This awareness becomes heightened during performance: ‘When I’m dancing, I try to stay very conscious of where the energy is in my body. It might begin from my feet and travel upward through my knees, into my hips, and out through the top of my head. Meanwhile, I keep my shoulders relaxed, so there’s a contrast.’

Injury, says Bracewell, is almost inevitable, ‘given what we ask our bodies to do’. In 2014, he sustained a herniated disc that eventually required surgery. The experience forced him to reflect: ‘At some point, my career will come to an end, and it made me think seriously about how I’ll prepare for that.’

Bracewell even describes ballet as a kind of ‘masochism’. Yet through the pain and sacrifice, dance remains a powerful release: ‘As a young person, [dance] was just a very physical outlet,’ he recalls. ‘But the thing that I’ve learned dance can do for me is be a [mental] outlet. I can let out my frustration while I'm dancing.’

The pinnacle of this process occurs when, says Bracewell, ‘you’re so… into what your face and body are saying emotionally, that you don’t need to think about the technical steps’. This is the moment at which the performance transcends technicality, and becomes art.

rbo.org.uk

Featuring: William Bracewell.

Director of Photography: Peter Butterworth.

Camera assistant: Curtis Blair.

Sound design: Indústries Sòniques.

Colour: DOMA.

Colourist: Thomas Kumeling.

Online editors: Melissa Schneider, Daria Korsak. Choreography: Andrew McNicol.

Wallpaper* Head of Video: Sebastian Jordahn