ToThePointe Meets Daniel Jones

When I first met Daniel Jones, former English National Ballet First Soloist, he was bright and full of energy, someone who spoke at great length about topics he was passionate about and engaged you deep in conversation. When I rang Daniel to interview him, I could hear a much more relaxed and possibly even tired voice on the other end of the phone. "My son has just turned four and we threw him a party!" I don't have children but I can only imagine what a four year old boy’s birthday party feels like and the strain it takes on a parent. He may sound tired, but it's clear that his family are the loves of his life, way beyond the realm of dance, and as we talk, passionate and engaging Daniel begins to sift back through into our conversation. It's quite mesmerising how much energy he has but I wonder what path he is on since retiring from ENB. I sat down comfortably, headset at the ready, to listen to the ballet dancer turned family man to find out what is still keeping him so busy.

Daniel grew up in Newcastle-under-Lyme and as much as I hate to use the clichéd comparisons to Billy Elliot, you could argue he really did have a similar experience. Growing up in an industrial part of England and then finding himself at White Lodge, his story has all of the similarities to the young boy we all know and love from the movie. Daniel was an active child and had a go at pretty much every sport. You name it, he did it. Football was the favourite though, and although ballet didn’t appeal to him at the time, when he was told it would improve his skills he jumped at the chance. “My mum ran a dance school and she had told me that doing ballet would be good for my football. I started to take it more seriously because I thought it would make me better in my sports. I was also noisy so I think she wanted me to do something to calm me down a bit!” So how does one make the jump from mum’s dance school to the famous White Lodge? “We had seen a documentary on TV about White Lodge and I thought it was so posh! My mum organised an interview for me in Manchester which I got through and then I had my final audition in London. We just treated it like a great day trip – it was a complete surprise, especially to me, that I got a place.” Although an incredible achievement to get into the school, Daniel’s childhood had been plagued by serious bullying. “I was put on the bench when my football coach found out I was doing ballet. I missed out on the last games of the season and it broke my heart. I also had a very hard time from my peers and took up boxing to help my self-confidence and to help me stick up for myself.” It’s always hard to listen to someone talk about their experiences with bullying, but with Daniel, I would love to see what those bullies are up to now. I doubt any of them came anywhere near to his success.

Daniel’s childhood was made even tougher when his two year-old brother passed away suddenly. “My mum told me he became an angel when he died and at that age you believe what you’re told. It helped me though because when I was being picked on I never felt alone because I felt I had my angel. It gave me strength to be different and because no-one around me had experienced death yet, I felt stronger.” Having already faced some tough experiences, White Lodge was the perfect escape for Daniel. I ask what it was like to suddenly be thrown into an environment which was so different from his upbringing. “I remember those first few weeks so clearly. I remember going into the common room and a fellow dancer was playing the piano and I just found it so exciting being surrounded by creative people. I couldn’t believe that dancing could have been an option for me. I had never even been to see a ballet – I knew nothing about the ballet world. I had seen a bit of Wayne Sleep on TV but that was about it.” I find the latter of his words fascinating. Here we have a child who has had a pretty normal working – class upbringing in the UK, whose passion for dance grew and grew as he got older. What is interesting is that this passion grew from within. Daniel doesn’t reference any famous ballet stars that he admired when he was growing up nor does he recall watching any ballet that may have inspired him. It’s so different from the usual “my dream was to be the next Carlos Acosta” that we hear so often from young dancers. Daniel hadn’t even seen ballet, yet he could already dance and he knew that it’s what he wanted to do – I find this such a pure and innocent way of becoming a professional dancer as it’s distant from the more competitive dancers looking to follow in their hero’s footsteps. I tell Daniel what I think about this but he says simply “I just loved dancing.”

Daniel in his first year at White Lodge

Daniel went all the way through White Lodge and continued through the Upper School. He had a go at choreographing and came third in the prestigious Kenneth MacMillan Choreographic Prize whilst in the Lower School. Daniel also won a 'special prize' for a Mafia ballet he had choreographed which impressed MacMillan. "Kenneth told me that after seeing my piece he would also like to choreograph a Mafia ballet one day!" MacMillan was there to hand him the prize but had argued he would only give a prize that he had specifically chosen. He was adamant on taking the winners and a small group to see a company dance that wasn’t the Royal Ballet as he felt it was important to broaden the young students’ knowledge. “There was a group of us”, Daniel reminisces, “Chris Wheeldon, Chris Hampson, David Fielding. We had all won prizes and sat with the MacMillan family in the Dominion theatre to see a triple bill from English National Ballet. It was Anastasia, Etudes and Swansong. It really hit me and was the most exciting thing I had ever seen. No disrespect to the Royal Ballet, but we had grown up watching and performing with them, so ENB just really excited me. It was during that performance that I knew I really wanted to join their company.” It’s at this point that I ask Daniel more about Swansong, a piece created on our mutual friend, former ENB dancer Kevin Richmond. “When I joined ENB, I was so in awe of Kevin. He was a storyteller and I loved that. It was my passion to become a dancer who could use their body to tell a story. Kevin was a master of that.” So how did Daniel join English National Ballet? “I called them during the Easter holidays and asked them if I could join them for class. After I attended class they asked if I could join the company – the next day!” Let’s just put this into perspective a little. Here we have a teenage boy, who has set his sights on a company he wants to join, makes a simple phone call and then is offered a place. It was a pretty ballsy move and not one that many others of his age or position would have made. “No-one believed me when I went back to school but I just grabbed the opportunity.”

Signed biography from Kenneth MacMillan to Daniel to congratulate his success in the choreographic awards

I ask Daniel about those early days when he first started at ENB. He was part of the beautiful generation of talent that saw Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta dance their way to fame. “I stood next to Carlos on my first day. We became great friends and went clubbing and break dancing together. ENB had fabulous male dancers who were doing incredible things.” I tell Daniel that I’ve always found ENB to be very masculine and athletic, producing strong male dancers who can partner beautifully (this of course doesn’t detract from their beautiful female dancers!) “I never saw myself as a stereotypical ballet dancer. I was just a dancer who loved to give and I needed a company who would have a space for someone like me. There was a variety of individuality at ENB that I was passionate about. I was quite an average dancer but I could do a bit of everything – I could act and dance so I could blend in because of this.” It seems to me that Daniel could fit right in. A dancer who could take on strong dancing roles but also tackle the acting demands of Macmillan would have made him pretty in demand during his time at ENB. There are so many stories that I would love to hear from Daniel – the break dancing alone with Acosta would be something I would want to hear every detail about, but regurgitating ballet gossip isn’t in Daniel’s nature. Instead he whimsically begins to tell me about the touring days at ENB and why he’s saddened by the company’s impending move to Canning Town. “I loved the touring, especially the national tours. We would spend 14 weeks on the road and the name was out there all over the country but that’s diminished massively which I think is a shame. I know that sadly people in the North don’t see ENB as much as they would like to.” I have heard conflicting views about ENB’s gruelling touring schedule. Some dancers loved it and others hated it but I can see where Daniel is coming from. I’m certainly all for ballet being seen by people everywhere. “We would be going to the most amazing theatres all over the country. The international touring was also incredible. A highlight was performing Tybalt in Australia in a huge stadium which sat 18,000 in the audience.” For me, seeing ballet in such a huge space has always seemed extremely impersonal. Even the Royal Albert Hall seems huge whenever I’m there but Daniel disagrees. “It’s amazing there because you walk through the audience and you feel like they are in the show. You would then come out of the theatre and no-one would know who you were. I loved getting on the tube and listening to what the audience had thought about it.” For the current generation at ENB, however, they will need to lap these experiences up in Kensington before they all march off to their new digs in East London. “I’m sad they are moving”, says Daniel “There is just something magical about going to work in Kensington. It was such a special time for us. Princess Diana would sneak in and take class with us or sit with us and have a big old gossip and every day you could go to Hyde Park. The studios where they are moving to might be incredible but those studios in Kensington were good enough to make some of the greatest ballet moments that have ever been.” I actually feel quite emotional whilst Daniel talks about this mainly because I think he’s right. There is so much character that surrounds the Royal Albert Hall.

Daniel dancing the role of Tybalt in 'Romeo and Juliet'

I saw Daniel dance a lot when I was growing up but the role which always sticks out is, of course, Tybalt. A recent Instagram post shows Daniel’s eldest son, Luca, imitating his father in the role. It’s adorable and clear to see it’s a role that is close to his heart. “I worked with the original Tybalt from Nureyev’s production, Frederick Jahn. He was such a lovely guy and so amazing. Working with people like that is just as good as doing great performances because they know the role and bring the honesty and angle out of you. It’s very pure.” He also recalls a special time working with Monica Mason. “Dancing the Chosen One in MacMillan’s Rite of Spring was a highlight. There were five us who were rehearsing it at the same time, including Tamara, and we worked with Monica on it. It was such a special time in that studio.” I ask about other career highlights and it’s here that Daniel starts to mention his wife, former ENB ballet dancer Kei Akahoshi “I had a great time dancing Drosselmeyer in the Nutcracker alongside my wife. We had a great time! For my final performance at ENB, which was Le Corsaire, my wife carried my son in the market scenes on stage. It was a great feeling to know that my family shared the stage with me that night.”

Daniel rehearsing in the studio

So how did it all end? And how does one make that decision to leave everything that they know? “As soon as Luca arrived, I knew I was ready to leave the stage. I wanted to spend time with my child and I didn’t want my family on the road. Other dancers go back to dancing but I didn’t want to do it. When my wife became pregnant the second time, she decided to resign too. It totally changed us but our love for dance hasn’t gone. We both just felt we had done everything we wanted to do at that time and we wanted to raise our children.” Daniel also hints that age may have played a part too in the decision. “In my late thirties, I was dancing with 17 year olds. I was almost double their age and I just felt like I knew too much, like I knew what was going to happen. I needed something else and that was my children. I started thinking about other things like what I wanted to do in my garden! You have to be self-obsessed when you’re dancing and you have to look and be great. You need to be attractive on stage and it’s exhausting. To be honest, I think I just wanted to grow up.” It’s interesting how when a dancer ends their career nowadays it isn’t a death sentence. Back in the day, the opportunities were more restricted for ex dancers and their careers were shorter but now, in a world of Pilates and social media, a retired dancer can get involved in pretty much anything. “It freaked me out when I left but I didn’t die when it was over. My wife and I feel so lucky that we were fine when it was all over. We thought maybe we should feel some bitterness or mourn over it but we didn’t feel that way. We are just happy people. Thank the Lord we don’t have any bitterness because I wouldn’t want that reflected onto our children.” It’s a joy to hear that a retired dancer is doing fine and it’s even more joyful to hear Daniel talk about his children. “We are giving Luca the same experiences that I had and giving him the opportunity to try everything. He’s only four but he’s very active and very strong. He already has little calf muscles!” I can’t help but notice the similarities between Luca and Daniel as a child – both active and involved in various sports. Perhaps a career in dance is looming for Daniel’s eldest? “We won’t push anything on to the kids and whatever they want to do we will support them.”

Daniel with his family

Now that he has retired from English National Ballet, has Daniel really given it all up? Do dancers ever give up for good without staying involved somehow? Daniel starts to tell me about projects he is working on and it’s clear that although his family are his main focus, the draw back into the dance world is growing stronger. “When I left the company I thought I would go into film as I had directed the documentary ‘Agony and Ecstasy’ which was a behind the scenes look at ENB, but it didn’t happen. Instead I got in contact with the dancers from Wayne Sleep’s ‘Big Ballet’ series and worked with them in Leeds. I became their patron and we still do workshops. I also do a lot with Move It and I teach at Wilkes Academy in Swindon for part of the week.” Something which clearly has strong legs though is Daniel’s school that he is starting to set up. “I was training in the gym in Newcastle and I did a Zumba class. I found it so embarrassing but the studios were amazing and I told them that they should do ballet classes. I’m now opening a dancing school in the studios called Daniel Jones Dance and people come to the classes and learn about all sorts of dance. We used to do so much at ENB – roller blading, break dancing, all sorts of things. I wanted to do something similar.” Working in Newcastle-under-Lyme is clearly close to his heart as he has found himself bringing ballet and dance back to his roots. “I love bringing all of my knowledge back to my home town. I do private tutoring and one of my students is actually going to the Royal Ballet School whilst another has got in to Elmhurst. I love working with the next generation and feel so passionate about it that I’m even working for the council!” It’s clear that coming back home to teach is a warming experience. “I do an hour of choreography at Newcastle-under-Lyme College and they asked me to be their resident choreographer. We are in talks to do the Nutcracker there with people from different backgrounds so that’s an exciting possibility.” Watch this space ballet readers…

Daniel teaching at Move It in London

So will he keep in touch with ENB? “I know ENB inside out and it’s nice to know an organisation that well. There are great dancers coming up and the standard of ballet all round is improving all the time. I will never stop being interested, passionate and supportive of that company because I gave my life to it.” He may have given the early years of his life to ENB but it’s clear that the rest of Daniel’s time is all for his children. As our conversation nears its end, a bleary Daniel goes back to join his family and celebrate his son’s birthday. He may still have a toe in the dance world, but the rest of his foot is planted firmly at home.

To find out more about Daniel Jones Dance check out the following social media links...

Twitter @danielpauljones Instagram @dippyjay Facebook @DanielJonesDANCE

*All images provided by Daniel Jones