Ako Kondo will dance as Cinderella with her real life Prince Charming, Chengwu Guo, by her side.
The vibrant, glamourous and romantic fairytale, Alexei Ratmansky's 'Cinderella' will sweep even the evilest of step-sisters off their feet. An in-demand choreographer, Alexei's modern ballet fills every bar of Sergei Prokofiev's cinematic score with grace and wonder as Cinderella journeys from rags to rapture. The style inspiration will be drawn from Dior, Schiaparelli, 1940s Hollywood, and Surrealist art, transcending elegance and beauty.
Born in Japan in 1991, Ako began dancing ballet at 3 years old. She's trained at Shiho Kanazawa Ballet Studio and The Royal Ballet School’s International Summer School and has toured with The Dancers Company before joining The Australian Ballet in 2010. She was promoted to principal artist in April 2015 following her debut as Giselle.
How does dancing ballet in Japan differ from Australia?
In Japan, the ballet industry is not as big as in Australia. Japanese professional companies usually perform 50 shows per year. The Australian Ballet performs over 200 shows a year. I feel so lucky that I get so many opportunities to dance on the stage through the year.
Are you trained in any other styles?No. I was always a ballet girl. Never tried any other styles. Although now I want to try other styles of dancing!
Do you have any pre-show rituals?
I always have a nap before the show. I love the feeling of being refreshed after waking up from the nap.
Who is your favourite character to dance in 'Cinderella'?
Cinderella! She is the one who carries the story in this ballet. Her journey with so many different emotions through the ballet is just such a joy to play.
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This is one of the best known and most loved fairytales. Does ballet stick to the classic story?
It does! Such a famous fairytale story. I still remember when I got cast for 'Cinderella', I was just so excited to be the Cinderella!
You're dancing with your real life partner, Chengwu Guo, how does that feel?
We feel so comfortable dancing together. It is a special feeling to have him right next to me when I'm dancing. Also we are honest to each other. If there is something not working well in the rehearsal, we tell each other and help each other to give the best performance we can.
How did you and Chengwu meet? I met him in my first year in the company. He liked the Japanese TV show that I love. We had lots in common. And in my third year, I finally got to dance with him! Since then he has been my partner on and off stage.
Is there extra practice that goes on when you're home, or do you try to keep your profession and relationship separate?
We try not to talk about work at home too much. We have a cute puppy, Ted, and we are too busy playing with him!
What do you look for in the perfect pointe shoe?
We are sponsored by Bloch for the pointe shoes. They customise shoes for each dancer. I went through 10 trials with them until I found my perfect pointe shoe. My feet are quite wide, so the boxes of my pointe shoes are wider than usual. The vamp of my shoe is shorter, because I have short toes and having short vamps helps me to get on pointe more easily. The in-sole is pre-cut where my arch is. I like to have soft pointe shoes for performing Cinderella. So in the rehearsals, I wear the same pair until they get nice and soft.
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What about when you're not dancing, what style of shoes do you opt for?
I like wearing clogs for summer. But when the season gets busy, I wear runners to save my feet.
Do you think fairytales exist in real life?
I hope so! So every little girl can dream like I did.
'Cinderella' performs Queensland Performing Arts Centre 19-24 February.
