All the superlatives: Anthony Dowell

Second part of the documentary on Anthony Dowell that was made by the BBC c.1976.
This clip includes rare footage (shot in black & white) of the pas de deux from Dream with partner Antoinette Sibley
Thanks again to my friend Andrea for this transaltion of the German commentary -
Anthony
I left White Lodge when I was sixteen, but only when I entered Senior School I realised that there were people who looked better than me.
Fortunately, this had a very positive influence on me, it urged me on and helped me a lot.
As a child you think that dancing is wonderful, fantastic and very easy. Physical problems are totally unknown. But sometime while studying a solo part you'll start to think: "Hey, I want to stop, I'm totally out of breath!" or "I'm sweating. Something hurts!" and then the actual fight begins. You feel that you have to work hard in order to achieve endurance, power and strength. Then it's too late to give up.
I experienced my first shock during a school performance. I couldn't manage one of the steps in my part. Ninette de Valois called me to her in the lodge and told me in no uncertain terms that this step was expected from me, otherwise they would take me out of the play. And I went back to the dressing room and collapsed. Suddenly Michael Somes stood next to me, our star dancer of whom I had great respect. He just sort of put the pieces back and I made the performance.
Michael Somes
Most boys, when they turn, they turn to the right, but he turns to the left. In this dance, he was supposed to turn right with half a dozen other boys - and it finally worked. However, I can't imagine that my intervention had a considerable influence on him. He is so talented that he would have got on despite anything or anyone actually
Anthony
I'm still scared of him. But maybe that's good - he makes me work. He knows exactly how to push me without any force. He knows my body and knows what I'm doing right or wrong. I wouldn't have come that far without him.
My mother decided to buy the house out here, Wimbledon common. Now I'm going to move to a flat. It's an important break in my life, but I believe that I'm read now at the age of 33. Many people might think it strange that I didn't move out before, but I really had a very happy home. Only much later did I realise how special the relationship of my parents was. I'm sure that I felt so comfortable at home because of that. But now, after my parents have died, everything looks different.
My father died this last December, but my mother has been dead for five years. My father was director of a car company. However, his secret love was seafaring. My mother, on the other hand, loved dancing very much, as a hobby. Her greatest experience was when she took part in a Flower Ballet 'Hiawatha' in the Albert Hall. They were so close and so happy. When my mother died, my father literally concentrated his life on me. He took over all the unpleasant things, paperwork, taxes and so forth. He was a fantastic man.
Sir Frederick Ashton
He is very shy, very introverted, and you never really know what's going on inside of him. When it came to Oberon, it seemed to me absolutely the right choice.
Anthony
When my mother died, one of my aunts moved here and took care of the housework.
I think in the early days they weren't too keen on me becoming a dancer. I'm always amazed when I think back what they took upon their shoulders back then, especially in a time when the job of a dancer was being frowned upon by many people. I can remember clearly the time when we took the tube back from the Royal Ballet School. We kept quiet about the real name of our school, so that nobody would realise we were Ballet students.
Even now I find it hard when I have to fill in 'Dancer' as a job description on forms. I'm always waiting for the raised eyebrow and the surprised glance.
It's easy to make fun of the ballet. Even when I'm watching a really well-made ballet, I sometimes wonder: "Is that really your world?" Ballet can look really ridiculous if it's badly made. It's no wonder that people then mock it.
Nureyev accounted a lot for the fact that the male dancer has now moved more into the spotlight, and that people now understand that behind all this is a lot of hard work. Although we cannot show our physical exhaustion like athletes do. But perhaps it is exactly this what belongs to this special form of art.

[@rlatimer10]

Anthony Dowell was such a marvelously elegant yet powerful dancer. He was also an incredible partner, a true legend.

[@merrymuskrat]

Thanks for showing this. I remember the documentary well. I'm hoping that the full version of the b/w clip of "The Dream" will be put on DVD some day ! Btw re English translation the (?) section in brackets should be "Hiawatha in the Albert Hall"

[@quillerpen]

thanks for that; i can see why my German friend didn't catch that.

[@foropera]

Beyond the interest of seeing the young Dowell, such a wonderful dancer, talk more intimately about his life, it's strange the way he has to grit his teeth while talking. Is it something typical of a social class, to speak without ever dropping your jaw?