DANCE - DARCEY BUSSELL: A PROFILE

Be sure to read Classical TV's Informer feature on Darcey Bussell, "Britain's Ballerina"

Prima ballerina Darcey Bussell has been Britain's hottest dance star ever since she was plucked from corps de ballet obscurity at the age of nineteen. Now at the peak of her career, she is feted for her breath-taking arabesques and bold, physical attack. The darling of photographers the world over, Bussell remains refreshingly free of celebrity mystique and has no time for the politics and egos of the dance world. Her passion is ballet, not the fame it brings.

In this programme, Darcey lifts the curtain on life as a contemporary ballerina, comparing the dance world today with the way it was when Fonteyn was a star - the days when a strict hierarchy and etiquette were unquestionably observed in ballet schools and companies and, off-stage, glamour, large hats and white gloves were de rigueur. Archive film is contrasted with specially-shot footage of Darcey at work to give an insight into the difference between then and now. A photo shoot featuring Darcey with a formula one racing car, clad in leather from head to foot, shows how far removed her image as a modern ballerina is from that of her predecessors.

With the help of her mum - who also trained at the Royal Ballet School - Darcey tells the story of her own rise to fame, from being a clumsy child with knock knees, who was humiliated by fellow students because she was a late-starter, to being given the fairy-tale gift of the leading role in a new Kenneth MacMillan ballet and becoming the choreographer's muse. A variety of extracts featuring Darcey reveal the unique qualities that have singled her out as one of the stars of her generation - despite her inauspicious start. Although she can now do things with her body that are routinely breathtaking, she never stops pushing herself. She opts not to dance steps as usual but to pull them apart and offer up a fresh interpretation. Darcey talks about physical strains of her profession - and so does her physiotherapist.