Leeds-based Northern Ballet has developed a reputation for producing work which is as much about storytelling as it is about dancing. The highly rated company are touring to the Midlands next month with Madame Butterfly, which features Liverpool-born premier dancer Pippa Moore 
in the lead role. What’s On sat down with Pippa to find out more... 

What does being a premier dancer for the Northern Ballet involve?
I joined the company in 1996 and worked my way through the ranks, starting at corps de ballet level. The roles are given to you as you prove your competence and also as you mature, especially with a part like Madame Butterfly. It’s a very complex character, around the age that I am now, so I feel I can deliver the performance with all the relevant layers of emotion. So this is the kind of role a premier dancer performs - and the same in lots of other ballets, like The Great Gatsby and Romeo And Juliet.

Would a premier dancer have a similar position within the children’s ballet, or 
do they remain more involved with the complex roles?
Due to the logistics of the children’s ballet, which is on tour with the main company now, the premier dancers aren’t involved in the Elves And The Shoe Maker. We can’t be in two places at once, and it’s easier for the choreographers to work with the younger dancers of the company, as they’re more available.

What would you say is the toughest aspect of being a performer?
I think when you’re a younger dancer, you may be given a solo, or you may be given five minutes of material to dance in a trio or a quartet. So you have a burst of adrenaline, go out there, perform - and then you’re done. With a role like Madame Butterfly, it’s a whole evening of building the character and taking the audience on a journey. You have to be fully committed from start to finish. You can’t check in and out. There’s very little time I’m actually off stage in the second act. So to answer your question, I think the toughest aspect is probably mental concentration - and the sense of logic you have to bring to the role in order for the audience to be on board with the story.

A lot of people assume the hardest thing is the actual dancing. They forget the acting side of the performance. Is that more what Northern Ballet’s about?
That’s why I’ve stayed here for so long. There’s always something new for us to work on. We’re always taking on interesting narrative work, and I’ve never felt anybody is not important on stage. A lot of other companies do narrative work, and there will be a corp of dancers who’re carrying the evening. But there will also be a lot of work which I call decoration - so dancers who’re there to fill the stage. Unfortunately - and I’ve done it myself, and it’s important and interesting at the time - it can become a soul-destroying experience. Here at Northern Ballet, each dancer is made to feel that their contribution is one hundred percent important. The research we do at the start of the production, the workshops, the reading out scripts and the role-playing, all serves to make everybody feel hugely important to the production. I felt that I was a principal dancer from the minute I joined, even though I was just a mere corp de ballet!

Who or what inspired you to become a ballet dancer?
The thing that got me into dancing wasn’t ballet at all. I’d not been exposed to ballet as a child; I was brought up on Grease and Fame - anything that seemed like fun! I went off to dance school to do tap and modern and everything else. I was inspired then, and all through ballet school I worked hard. Then I joined a company and found out, for the first time, what it was like to be on stage. Watching the older dancers carry big roles is inspiring, particularly when you’re living and breathing it all with them. That’s what I found totally inspiring. It isn’t always the same when you watch it at home on video. There are disconnections. It’s not real; it’s just like watching television. Actually being in the company, I was more blown away by what people were doing.

What advice would you give to someone looking to follow in your footsteps and become a ballet dancer?
Looking after your body and working hard is the norm for a dancer, but what people are not sufficiently focused on is looking after themselves mentally. This is important, because you will have setbacks. You have to find the determination to keep going. Anybody can get up and do one show. What’s difficult is getting up and doing seven shows in a different city each week, which is what we do. The travel in between is hard, and it’s important to keep yourself sane doing that. So if you want to go into a ballet company like Northern, you have to be ready for the full experience, for encompassing everything that the job entails. You need to stay mentally strong. That determination has got me through on many occasions, especially when I felt my body was going to let me down.

How many hours do you train?
We have company class every morning, regardless of whether you’re rehearsing or if you have two shows that day. So the hour-and-a-quarter class is a given every single day - we say it’s like brushing your teeth. 
On Thursday and Saturday there’s always a matinee as well as an evening show. Wednesday and Friday we’re rehearsing for the next ballet. Next week, for example, we’re doing Wuthering Heights in Southampton, so that ballet has to be rehearsed this week to keep it in top shape for next week. So it’s ongoing, I’m afraid.

Is it quite hard to change characters and movement each day?
Yes, very much so. And you’re often rehearsing a ballet on a different set, which can be confusing. We’ll be rehearsing Wuthering Heights this week on the Great Gatsby set!

Northern Ballet has a great reputation outside of London. How has this been developed?
We’re one of the few companies that tour the whole of Great Britain, literally bringing ballet to the doorsteps of different people in different regions. The children’s ballets in particular have done a wonderful job of presenting dance and ballet to people who wouldn’t normally be able to travel or have the resources to see it. The children’s ballet has totally changed the face of our tour, bringing the company to Wolverhampton and other cities. We’re always trying to reach out to as many places and people as we can.

Have approaches to ballet changed during the course of your career?
Dance has kind of become cool again, hasn’t it? Everybody has something to say about it or has seen something. It’s far more accessible, thanks to television in particular. Darcey Bussell being on the Strictly Come Dancing panel has done a lot for ballet.

Has the chance to watch live screenings and, in terms of the company, the fact 
that The Elves And The Shoe Maker has been on Cbeebies, pushed the ballet boundaries?
Absolutely! It’s showing people there’s nothing to be afraid of. We do stories that are easily accessible to people. Northern Ballet is trying to take the fear factor out of ballet.

The tour that’s coming to the Midlands features very different works - Madame Butterfly, Perpetuum Mobile and The Elves And The Shoe Maker. What’s most important when dancing to a younger audience?
All the children’s ballets are under an hour, and there are moments when you absolutely know that they’ll laugh. It caters for them. In Elves, there’s a section of dance on a trampoline - the kids love that. Visually there are lots of things that happen, so it’s not just one person they have to keep their focus on. Scenes change quite quickly. 

As a dancer, is there a different approach to dancing in pointe shoes and on trampolines?
It’s different, so obviously you have to have a different thought process too. But I love all the differences between the roles. I wouldn’t want to play Madame Butterfly for ten years because it’s emotionally draining. Everybody needs the release of doing something lighthearted and fun. When we do A Christmas Carol, we have children in the show. It’s a very different aspect of Northern Ballet, and that’s why I’ve been here for so long. You’re never stuck in one corner. We keep moving forward and trying different things.

What’s your all-time favourite ballet?
That’s tricky! I love all the shows I’m in, but I’ll give you two contrasting ones. Madame Butterfly I love because of the emotional journey. It’s a tragedy, and I’m a sucker for a tragedy. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I found a comedic side to me that I didn’t know I could bring to the stage. To hear the audience laugh at me and with me was fantastic, and simply for that reason it was a memorable ballet. Those two ballets are really contrasting, and that’s why they’re my favourites.

Pippa Moore performs with Northern Ballet at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from Tues 2 to Wed 3 June and Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent from Tues 16 to Wed 17 June.