ToThePointe Meets Mayara Magri

As I speak with Mayara Magri, First Soloist with The Royal Ballet, I find myself unable to stop smiling. The budding star is so full of energy, positivity and confidence that it’s completely infectious to listen to. She speaks eloquently but is so full of life that she often breaks in to giggles as we speak. Magri is the type of dancer you could spend all day with, laughing and joking as you breeze through the London streets. Unfortunately I didn’t get a full day with her, but what I did receive was a conversation full of insight, joy and warmth. Magri was born in Rio de Janeiro to very humble beginnings. Her love of dance took her to competitions around the world, ending up eventually at The Royal Ballet where I have no doubt she will continue to have an incredible career. Following an extremely successful 2018/19 season with debuts as Kitri in Don Quixote and Gamzatti in La Bayadere, the current season will be no different. Magri is currently making her debut as Lescaut’s Mistress in Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, will make her debut as Swanilda in Coppelia before Christmas and will tackle the ultimate ballerina role in classical ballet, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake later in the season. Could the future be any brighter for this bright young thing?

Mayara Magri as Lescaut's Mistress in 'Manon', photo copyright Alice Pennefather

Magri tells me that she first got into ballet when she was eight years old through some friends who were taking ballet classes at the Petite Danse School in Rio de Janeiro. She couldn’t afford to attend but won a scholarship, something which she tells me was a lucky experience. “If they think you have potential then they offer scholarships to those who can’t afford it so luckily I got in and that’s how it all started” she tells me. The training at the school was classic Vaganova training, “like most schools in Brazil”, and Magri studied with her teacher, Patricia Salgado, who had been a soloist with Stuttgart ballet then returned to her hometown in Brazil to teach at the school. “There were eight other girls in the class and Patricia really worked hard with us. She had this idea of getting us into a company which was unusual because in Brazil it’s so far from our reality to think like that – culturally it’s just not our thing.” Magri’s eyes were opened by her teacher, and her desire to follow a career in dance began to take shape. Salgado knew that one of the best ways to get her students noticed would be through global competitions and under her guidance, Magri was entered into the Youth America Grand Prix. Later, when she was 16, she took part in a Brazilian competition which gave her the opportunity to compete in the Prix de Lausanne. “I won the gold medal and also the audience prize. Because of that, I was able to choose where I wanted to study so I chose the Royal Ballet just because, you know, it’s The Royal Ballet!” Magri tells me that her teacher tried to encourage her to accept an American ballet such as San Francisco or American Ballet Theatre but she insisted on coming to the UK. “My style is a little bit American because of the Vaganova training and we did quite a lot of Balanchine work, but I just had this feeling and I always really liked The Royal Ballet. I was always watching so much through YouTube and I grew up watching their DVDs that I just fell in love with it all and chose to go there.” Magri joined the final year of The Royal Ballet Upper School and then joined the company.

Mayara Magri and Alexander Campbell in 'Don Quixote', photo copyright Andrej Uspenski

Joining the school at such a late stage and arriving in a country where you don’t speak the language must have been tough, but when I ask if this was difficult, Magri starts to giggle. “People ask me that and I think they often want a dramatic answer but I was so focused that I didn’t miss home at all! It’s a lot easier now than it was and I spoke to my family most days through Skype. I never felt that I was alone because I had so much support through The Royal Ballet School. They always made sure I was ok and asked if I needed anything.” As we speak, I can’t imagine Magri getting particularly homesick. Although she is now 25, I have no doubt that the same confidence and exuberance were present in her student days. She tells me how much she loved London and how time flew in her first year here. Even living by herself didn’t seem to faze her: “I always had my mum on skype to help me with the washing and cooking to show me what to do!” Magri did, however, inevitably find it difficult at first to make friends, mainly due to the language barrier. “I couldn’t speak very good English so during my first three months I was so shy which was strange because I’m not a shy person! It’s hard – you can’t really speak and you don’t really know where you are so I just became really, really shy and just focused on ballet.” I doubt that this shyness lasted for too long and Magri confirms she took the bull by the horns to get herself stuck in with the company. “I just thought, you know what if I don’t start throwing myself out there then I’m not going to make any friends so I started studying English with a linguist and watching things on Netflix! I did a lot of work to get my English to a standard so I could socialise a lot more – and it happened!” It’s this type of attitude that makes Magri special. She could have wallowed in loneliness but instead she got up, brushed herself off and just got on with it. This approach will take her far in her career and her eagerness to make friends and socialise is also reflected when she is on stage. Although Magri was a solid member of the corps de ballet before her various promotions, she was always a dancer who stood out. Whether it was the way she interacted with the company on stage, the height in her jumps or her solid technical performance, she has always been one to watch. She is also a dancer whose personality comes across in bundles when she dances on stage – this being made most evident during her performances as Kitri.

Mayara Magri and Alexander Campbell in 'Don Quixote', photo copyright Andrej Uspenski

Dancing Kitri is an obvious highlight but I ask Magri which other roles have stood out for her. “Oh there are so many! Since I’ve joined the company under Kevin O’Hare’s direction, I’ve had so many opportunities. Since my very first season he has given me bits here and there to keep my sparkle going.” Magri tells me that she was often given leading roles at school and that she found it difficult at times to then join the company and be dancing in the background but she tells me how glad she is that she went through all of these stages. “Now that I’m at this point in my career, I feel like I really own the place where I’m at as a First Soloist. Kevin can give me the really hard and beautiful roles and I feel ready for that.” We continue to talk about Don Quixote and her debut as Kitri – a difficult character to get right in my opinion. She is warm and full of life, cheeky but never nasty. It’s a role that can often be over egged but Magri was so natural in the role, it was a pleasure to watch. I have a fan girl moment as I express this to her and mention how confident she seemed on stage, especially considering it was a debut. “Kevin is always telling me how confident I am! I do get nervous before though but then something happens to me when I’m on stage and I just feel so at home. I feel like there’s no judgement. I loved doing Kitri and I had been waiting so long to dance that role.” She was partnered during her shows by Principal dancer Alexander Campbell, and clearly enjoyed the experience. “I really enjoyed dancing with Alex. At first I wasn’t sure if it would work because I hadn’t worked with him before but when we started rehearsing it felt so right and he was great to me. He’d already danced it with Akane Takada so I didn’t want to be a pain. I wanted to just let him do his thing but he was so nice and asked me how I wanted to do things and asked how I felt so it really became a partnership.” She takes a big sigh and exhales “but now I’m not booked to dance with him for the next year which is a shame.” I tell her I think it’s a shame as I thought they had great chemistry and she cried out “right?! I thought so too!”

Mayara Magri and Lauren Cuthbertson in 'La Bayadere', photo copyright Bill Cooper

I wonder if having a steady partner is something which Magri finds important. “I think it’s a very important thing. I seem to be dancing with so many guys which is great but it’s so nice when you build that partnership where you can really understand one person and you can create amazing performance. I think Kevin is trying and I’m down to dance more with Cesar now which is great. I would love to have a guy that I can lean on and become my partner.” I ask her if she has anyone particular in mind, “maybe Matthew Ball when he’s not so busy dancing with everyone else!” Magri made her debut as Gamzatti alongside Ball’s Solor in La Bayadere last year, a role she also tells me was a highlight in her career so far. “She’s the second main role I guess, but whenever she’s on, she’s on!” she laughs. “We are so lucky that we still have these pure classical ballets in our repertoire because not many companies still do La Bayadere. When I was growing up in Brazil, I would watch a DVD of Bayadere and Darcey Bussell was Gamzatti. I feels so strange that years later I’m at The Royal Ballet, doing exactly the same version, in the same costume as Darcey – it’s just crazy how life has gone around!” Bussell is often cited as most young ballerinas’ inspiration but I wonder who else has inspired Magri. “I’ve worked a lot with Monica Mason to put together The Firebird and Queen of the Willis which has been incredible. I feel like we connect somehow and she really knows how to get me into a role. I’ve watched her a lot and she gives such great advice.” Magri has a similar strength that Mason had and has danced many roles that were the big hitters for Mason throughout her legendary career. “I also think that Laura Morera has something really special. I’ve worked with her a few times and she’s just so real on stage. Everything she does is so meaningful. Some dancers focus too much on the technical but with Laura not only does she have that technique but she can also act and tell the story through her acting.” As a big Morera fan, I couldn’t agree more but Magri hastens to tell me how special all of the dancers at the company are. “You get inspired by the dancers every day. Obviously Marianela Nunez is a dream but then you also have someone like Natalia Osipova who always brings something exciting on stage which the audience find exceptional.” I tell Magri that I find that the most exceptional dancers are the ones who remain true to themselves, and don’t try to dance like anyone else. “That’s why I appreciate Laura so much because she’s never tried to be like anyone else, she’s just really found her way and it’s so special.” I ask if Magri will be looking at any other dancers when she prepares for her leading roles this season. “I already have my own personality and my own way of understanding a role. I don’t want to copy anyone but I do pick on things because we have some amazing dancers here!” Magri’s Kitri showed audiences how, similarly to Morera, she was able to act her way through the role as well as using shining technique.

Mayara Magri and Matthew Ball in 'La Bayadere', photo copyright Bill Cooper

A role which demands some serious acting credentials is of course, The Mistress, in Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon. The ballet is currently being performed on The Royal Opera House stage and Magri tells me how excited she has been preparing the role. “I love dancing MacMillan. That realness we were talking about is so present in his work. There’s just something about being a real person on stage and to be able to feel things and make your own interpretation. You’re not a swan or a fairy and Kenneth gave the opportunity for dancers to be themselves.” I think that because Magri has such a vibrant personality, to cast her in the ‘real’ roles will always give her the opportunity to shine. What better way to do this than to cast her as Lescaut’s Mistress, a woman who knows exactly what’s going on around her yet gets stuck in and has fun with it. Perhaps there’s a similarity there with Magri’s own character. “People in the company are surprised when I tell them it’s my debut and that I’ve never danced the role before because it’s just so me! It’s a role I’ve always wanted to do.” Magri is being partnered by Cesar Corrales and I’m sure will be making a big impression on the audience. I can imagine, especially during the drunk scene, the two of them having a whale of a time. “It’s a tricky one isn’t it to get that pas de deux right. To get it really accurate about what you’re trying to tell is really difficult and all funny choreography if it’s not done in the right way can be difficult to read.” I tell Magri how awkward I find it when the audience doesn’t laugh during that scene but I have every confidence that this won’t happen during their performances. “Cesar and I get the giggles ourselves because it’s hilarious and every time it’s different!” Magri and Corrales will reunite later this year in Coppelia, which I’m sure will keep them laughing on stage together. “Swanilda is very technical and there are a lot of pas de deux but the acting is quite simple. It’s not like dancing a real person such as Manon or Mary Vetsera where you have to act it all out. I get all of that with Cesar though because he’s a real dancer. Working with him in Manon – it just feels right and it feels good to work with him. He gets me! So I feel like our Coppelia is going to be great!” I think it’s interesting how Magri sees herself as more of a real dancer, and gets this with her partnership with Cesar. I actually think that this style serves well in the more fairytale or classical ballets because it brings them to life and stops them from being stale. Magri tells me she’s slightly apprehensive about playing a young girl as she’s so used to dancing the stereotypically powerful and strong roles. I contradict her though and say that I can imagine her dancing other roles such as Giselle or Juliet. “Kevin knows I want to dance Juliet but he can’t give everything to me and I understand that. It must be so hard to cast a ballet at our company because we have so many amazing dancers!” I ask Magri whether she feels slightly typecast always playing so-called powerful women on stage. “I don’t want to get into a box that I only do the strong roles. I think it depends how strong you are technically and I show that sort of confidence on stage as you said so I think when Kevin gets to choose where to direct me he can get me to do the tougher things because he knows I can deal with them.” She tells me how she thinks Juliet has a softer side and that’s something she would like to explore. She recently had a taster of dancing the role when she guested in Brazil with Thiago Soares who partnered her during the balcony pas de deux. “I just think it’s a role I could be really good at.”

Mayara Magri and Cesar Corrales in 'Manon', photo copyright Alice Pennefather

Although this confidence and strength will help her when she dances Odile next year, Magri will also be able to test her softer side as she takes on Odette, the fragile and doomed swan princess in Swan Lake. “I’m so excited, and I think it’s coming at the right time in my career. It must be so difficult to carry a ballet like that. I’ve always wanted to give it a go though so that is my chance and I will take it very seriously!” She will be partnered by Marcelino Sambe, who was recently promoted to Principal at the end of last season. “We get along really well and he’s lovely to work with so we’re going to have a laugh I’m sure!” As well as the classics, Magri is also passionate about dancing in more contemporary ballets and tells me how much she loves Liam Scarlett’s ballets, in particular dancing in Asphodel Meadows last season. Magri is definitely a versatile dancer, and also one to watch in pieces by Wayne McGregor and Christopher Wheeldon.

Mayara Magri and Ryoichi Hirano in 'The Firebird', photo copyright Tristram Kenton

I ask whether she has any advice for younger dancers and the next generation and she tells me how much it all has to do with discipline. “You have to have that in you and you have to know what you’re focusing on. You’re pushing through yourself, by yourself because when you’re in a company like The Royal Ballet it’s so hard for the coaches to keep track of all the casts that there are and the individuals so you have to do your homework. The difference being doing it and then doing it really well is the work you put in to it and it really helps to do a bit of extra work aside from what they give you.” I wonder whether Magri seeks inspiration from elsewhere and how this can keep her focused and disciplined with her work. “There’s no excuse here in London, you get to see so much and I feel like keeping that alive gets you motivated and it shows on stage. It can bring out that realness in your dancing.” Magri certainly is a real and authentic dancer and I can’t wait to see how she brings this out more in the roles she is set to dance this season. Her energy is completely infectious, and I left our interview feeling motivated and full of life. She is a pleasure to watch on stage but also a pleasure to speak with. For a dancer who was forced to remain shy whilst she learnt English, it seems she’s making up for lost time, energetically taking part in all that The Royal Ballet and London has to offer. I tell her that I think she’s going all the way and how audiences noticed her when she was in the corps and she squeals excitedly, thanking me and saying how nice it is “to be noticed at the back.” As she embarks on one of her most important seasons yet, Magri remains humble and content with where she’s at in her career. “I couldn’t ask for more really. I’m so pleased with all of the roles I’ve been getting so it can only get better I think!” With that, she takes flight and all I can do is agree with her.

*Thanks to Sarah Farrell and Hannah Last

*Thanks to The Royal Ballet