Workshop Wisdom - William Bracewell
"Knowing when to push through and when to stop"
For September's Workshop Wisdom, we spoke with William Bracewell, Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet. He has honed his craft to become one of the leading dancers in the country. William shares his rituals and rhythms that have helped him to continue to develop over the years.
Tell us about your work.
I'm a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden. I've been a professional dancer for about 16 years, starting at Birmingham Royal Ballet, then moving to London eight years ago.
A lot of the work is physical maintenance. Keeping the body honed and mobile enough to execute what's required on stage, which can involve quite repetitive, sometimes boring exercises. But that's the foundation. The more interesting side is the characters I get to research and the choreographers I get to create new work with. It's a fantastic job, but it has a time limit, so I give it a huge proportion of my time, willingly, because I know it's finite.
How would you describe your workshop?
The studio is where almost all of my work takes place. We have about five large studios at the Royal Opera House; beautiful spaces, all with natural light, some almost the same size as the stage itself.
They all have wooden handrails called barres, and every morning starts with your left hand on the barre. That's just how it's always done. It's a ritual as much as anything else.
What is a usual day in the workshop like for you?
Every day starts with ballet class. It's a carefully structured progression, beginning with simple exercises at the barre, moving into the centre, then turning, then jumping, building gradually in intensity until you finish with explosive work. And that's just the morning. I'll often have done a gym session beforehand as well.
From there, if it's a rehearsal day, I could be in until 7pm with breaks for coffee and lunch. On a performance day, I'll have the morning to rest, maybe visit a gallery or see something nearby, and then go in for the show. Afterwards, I'm usually good at coming down. I'll read in bed and fall asleep. The work takes a lot out of you.
What do you listen to while you work?
We have live pianists for ballet class, which is genuinely wonderful, they can really change the energy of a hard day. The rest of the time I'm rehearsing to whatever the score is, so it varies enormously. One day it's Rachmaninov or Tchaikovsky, another it's something completely new. Most recently I worked with a percussionist, BeiBei Wang, who is just incredibly talented. BeiBei uses a lot of improvisation; we rehearsed to rough recordings and then the live performances were completely different. It was a thrilling experience.
On my way into work I love a podcast. This Cultural Life on BBC Radio Four is a big favourite. Also Reel, Amol Rajan for a news update, Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud, Good Hang with Amy Poehler, Desert Island Discs, Comfort Eating with Grace Dent. Something easy and entertaining in the morning, usually.
Who inspired you when you were starting your creative career?
A lot of the big names at the time; Darcey Bussell was huge, Carlos Acosta, Tetsuya Kumakawa, many of the Royal Ballet principals. But I've always drawn inspiration from other art forms too. Visual art, cinema. It always comes back to dance, though. Even if I see a piece of theatre I don't particularly like, I find the craft behind it fascinating, the decisions around sound design, lighting, movement, stillness. That side of it always interests me, especially when I'm feeling stuck in my own practice.
What themes, inspirations or concepts drift into your work?
Persistence has always been a theme. Knowing when to push through and when to stop, that balance has been a constant throughout my career. But what I've learned, particularly this last year, is the importance of really listening to where my body and mind actually are on a given day. If something isn't working, I've learned to say so, to realign the day, work at 60%, and come back stronger the next day rather than ignoring the signs and pushing through regardless.
I think that maturity has kept me injury-free through a period of a lot of new repertoire. It's a constant practice, but one I feel genuinely good at now.
What is your favourite tool to use?
Other than my body, my foam roller. I can’t go anywhere without it. It was the first thing I packed for my current trip to Singapore. I had back surgery in 2019, so staying on top of my spine and hip mobility is essential, and the foam roller hits so many different things at once. It goes everywhere with me.
Do you have a quote or motto that you say to yourself? Do you have any rules or rituals when working?
When I'm at my best, the thing I say to myself is to not think too far ahead. Stay in the moment. That's it, really.
Pre-show, there's a ritual. I always warm up at least an hour before, in a specific order. Some makeup, then warm up, then back to finish the makeup, then costume. And I always do a last spray of a scent before I go on stage, tailored to the performance. Some of the costumes are old and don't smell fantastic, so there's a practical element to it. But beyond that, it helps me get into character. There's always an energy I'm trying to match, and that finishing touch helps me find it.
What advice do you have for another maker?
Try to hold on to the reason why you're doing it. And if that feels lost or distant at times, that's okay, but knowing your why is everything.
After my back surgery, there were moments where I wasn't sure I'd make it back to dancing. What helped was sitting with that question long enough to find a real answer. I realised there was a deep-rooted love for the craft, and so many things in dance I hadn't yet experienced or achieved. Once I understood that, the work it was going to take to get back felt completely worth it. But it took time to get there.
How do you express yourself through what you wear?
I feel lucky to work with our costume department on what I wear on stage, those costumes are a huge part of feeling right in a performance.
Day to day, I keep it simple. It's as much about fit as anything else. If I wake up in a foul mood, sometimes the first thing I'll do is pick a really good outfit, something that makes me feel good about myself. It changes how I walk, how I hold myself. It affects everything.
Outside of dance, I oversize almost everything. We spend so much time in tights and close-fitting clothes for rehearsal, which is fine, but it's absolutely not my preference. So when I'm off, I go the other way entirely.
Overall, I think that the main thing is to try and find something that makes me feel good about myself.
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