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Deborah Bull

Dancer, writer and broadcaster Deborah Bull is interviewed by Kirsty Young.

Kirsty Young's guest this week is the ballerina, writer and broadcaster Deborah Bull.

The Royal Ballet, where she was a principal dancer for almost two decades owes a debt of gratitude to the Janice Sutton School of Dance in Skegness. It was there, aged 7, two floors above a fish and chip shop and a row of amusements arcades - and having practiced "good toes, bad toes" - that she knew precisely what she wanted to do with her life.

After many years of success at the top of her profession, she said goodbye to her childhood dream and jetΓ©d into her life's next act - for a time serving as Creative Director of The Royal Opera House and more recently working far beyond Covent Garden promoting creativity and cultural partnerships across Britain.

She says "I always thought I'd feel a passionate sense of loss when I stopped dancing. What was absolutely wonderful was, as the volume turned up on the new career, the volume turned down on the old one."

Producer: Cathy Drysdale.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 31 May 2013 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Ode to Freedom

    Performer: Leonard Bernstein conducting

    • Bernstein in Berlin: Beethoven – Symphony No.9.
    • Deutsche grammophon.

  • Orbital

    Chime

    • Orbital – Live At Glastonbury 1994 - 2004.
    • ATO Records.

  • Ralph McTell

    Streets of London

    • Golden Hits Of The '70s.
    • BR Music.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Overture from the Marriage of Figaro

    Performer: Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Sir Colin Davis

    • Mozart: Overtures.
    • BMG Classics.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Johann Sebastian Bach

      Chaccone from Partita No.2 in D Minor,

      Performer: Nathan Millstein

      • Bach: Sonatas and Partitas.
      • EMI Classics.

  • Francis Poulenc

    Andante con moto from Piano Concerto

    Performer: Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Charles Dutoit with Pascal Roge on piano

    • Poulenc: Piano and Organ Concertos.
    • Decca.

  • Joanna Foster, Barbara Gellhorn, Hazel Holder & Helen Chadwick

    Unforgotten

    Composer: Helen Chadwick & John Lloyd Davies.

    • PRIVATE TAPE.

  • Bob Dylan

    Forever Young

    • Dylan CD 2.
    • Columbia.

  • Book Choice

    • Encyclopedia of the Human Brain

  • Luxury Choice

    • Will Tuckett’s Pleasure’s Progress

Credits

Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Deborah Bull
Producer Cathy Drysdale

Broadcasts

  • Sun 26 May 2013 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM
  • Fri 31 May 2013 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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