What it’s really like to be a ballerina: We talk to a member of the Australian Ballet

JADE Wood has danced since she was two, and is now one of our most treasured performers. So is the ballet world really all about divas, busted feet and no food?

IS THE ballet world really all about big personalities, busted feet, backstabbing your way to the top and limited amounts of food?

Not a chance, says professional ballerina Jade Wood.

“I love dancing ballet because I love the challenge,” she tells news.com.au. “Ballet is both physically and mentally challenging. But we’re all part of a team, we work together day and night, that’s what our job is. We go through the same processes together, it makes us all good friends.”

The 23-year-old knows what she’s talking about. Wood has been a part of the ballet world since childhood, attending the Australian Ballet School before joining the Australian Ballet Company four years ago.

“Originally, I did ballet for fun and to expel energy. My mum owns a ballet school in Cairns, and I would always join in on classes that were way too old for me.

“Then my family moved to Portugal for a year when I was ten, which was when ballet became less of a social thing and more of a serious thing. I couldn’t speak Portuguese for a start, so I had no choice but to stick to the dancing. So that’s when it started to change for me.”

On pointe: Jade at the bar.

So what does really it take to be a dancer in 2014? Wood lets us in on a few aspects of ballerina life …

EXERCISE AND TRAINING

“Well, it depends on whether we’re doing shows at night or not!” says Wood. “Being elite sportspeople, our bodies are our tools and we want to make sure we’re always in top condition.

“Right now we’re in a rehearsal period, so at 11.30am we do a 1 hour and 15 minute class 6 days a week, then we rehearse until 2.30, take a lunchbreak, and rehearse again until 6.30pm.

“On the days we have a show we have a class at 11.30am, rehearse until 3pm, and then take a few hours’ break.

“We do get tired but we try to take as much care of our bodies as possible. Often, I’ll go into the studios early and do a Pilates class and see a physio before classes start.”

FOOD

“We try to eat healthy foods that are going to fuel our bodies. It’s exactly like what an elite athlete would eat — protein, salads, fruits, vitamins and minerals, limited alcohol and caffeine.”

Jade spends many hours a week rehearsing and performing.

FEET

Ballet dancers and their banged-up feet: Is this a myth or a reality?

“It’s not as bad as back in the olden days!,” laughs Wood. “Certainly after doing 8 shows of Swan Lake in a week, it’s hard on our toes. We do an ice bath with ice and water up to our knees to flush all the toxins out and get new blood circulating. That seems to do the trick.”

SHOWTIME

Wood has starred in everything from The Nutcracker to Serenade to Suite en blanc, and admits that she “chases the satisfaction once the performance has ended, and knowing that I’m getting better each time.

“The shows go to like 10.15pm at the latest, but by the time you take off your makeup and costume and eat its quite late! But our schedule is changed to accommodate, and if we are doing a show that is really cardio intense, we’ll change our exercise to match so we’re not exhausting ourselves.

“At the moment, we’re working towards La Bayadère, which is showing first in Melbourne on 28 August. I’d probably say a career highlight so far is performing a solo in Suite en blanc.”

The Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, David McAllister, said: “Dancers are storytellers. They are trained to capture passion and emotion with their bodies.”

BALLET’S AGE CAP

“The youngest member would be in their late teens, the oldest are going into the late 30s and early 40s. Because of all the different kinds of exercise we do now like Pilates, and because we have a medical team, the way we look after our bodies has changed, and we can last longer in the industry.”

LIFE OUTSIDE THE BALLET

“Well, I live with my partner who’s also in the Australian Ballet Company, and we’ve just bought a mini dachshund, so he’s taking up a lot of our outside time!”

BEING NOMINATED FOR AWARDS

Wood has just been announced as a finalist for the 2014 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award, which was introduced in 2003 and has quickly become one of the most prestigious awards for up-and-coming dancers.

“We’re nominated by our peers, so it means that people see something in you that they want to acknowledge. Even just being nominated is a huge honour,” Wood says.

“It’s a great opportunity for young dancers — it gives us a bit of exposure, we’re taught how to deal with the media, things like that. It’s nice to be recognised, and it makes me just want to keep working hard, stay healthy and progress up the ranks and maybe one day be a principal dancer.”

Principal in the making: Jade Wood.