Bridgett Zehr and Zdenek Konvalina dancing Coppelia's Pas de Deux. Image: Video excerpt.
While I was doing some research on ballet pointe shoes for my upcoming ebook, I came across Bridgett Zehr, principal dancer of English National Ballet and I was blown away.
Her exquisite figure, sense of musicality and lyricism is breathtaking as you will see below in her interpretation of Coppelia’s pas de deux beside her partner Zdenek Konvalina.
I was further amazed to find out that Bridgett had been injured and forced to stop dancing a full year. One year in a dancer’s life is an eternity!
My whole year off was a really hard experience and there were times when I thought I would never dance again. I read a lot of self-help books, to get back to being simple and good to myself, because it’s easy to become depressed.
It helped to go watch rehearsals; John Neumeier came to do The Seagull and I went every day to hear him speak about the ballet. I [also] had a lot of free time to sit at home and watch YouTube videos. This was the closest way I could come to seeing other dancers outside of my own company.
Read more from original article.
Bridgett Zehr
…is not only a ballerina of remarkable talent, she also has a great attitude.
Great attitude, literally as you’ll note below: Pay special attention to her incredible attitude derrière between minutes 3:13 and 3:33.
Deeply in love with ballet, she doesn’t care much for the competitive side of dance (though she was a finalist at the Shanghai International Ballet Competition in 2004), and she’s always looking on the bright side. After all, she notes, “coaches and directors enjoy working with you more when you remain humble and grateful for the opportunities you are given. In life, on stage, and in rehearsals and class, if you are open enough to learn as much as you can, you will go very far.”
Her positive outlook was put to the test when, shortly after joining NBC, she was sidelined by a string of foot injuries. As a result, she missed coveted opportunities like dancing at the debut of Christopher Wheeldon’s new company, Morphoses. She admits it was hard to keep her chin up, but she did her best to stay upbeat, reading books on dance and watching ballet clips on YouTube.
“After a year off, and serious foot surgery, it’s been four months and I’m able to do more now than I could before. It’s such an exciting feeling.”
By Mary Hodges writes for Dancer.com, the website for Gaynor Minden pointe shoes.
YouTube Video source here.
Bridgett Zehr
Dancers Speak [is] a series of video shorts produced by Gaynor Minden [where] dancers chat about passion, performing, and pointe shoes, with personal stories and insider advice…
Read more about Bridgett, see more pictures, and download wallpapers here.
Bridgett’s dancing is full of sweetness; you just can’t take your eyes off her as she executes each movement with precision. What do you think about this young ballerina?
If you like Ms. Zehr’s rendition of Coppelia, please click “Like” and “Share” along so others can enjoy. The buttons are below.
Watch the video as many times as you like… I’ve watched it at least half a dozen times! Thank you.
About Romy Macias, Senior Editor
