Observations: Time to get to the pointe

This Sunday, The Royal Ballet's Tamara Rojo will look at dance from a new perspective, discussing her work with psychoanalyst Luis Rodríguez de la Sierra at London Metropolitan University. The event is part of "Connecting Conversations", a series of talks bringing together psychoanalysis and other fields. They will compare choreography with psychoanalysis, while looking at psychological themes in ballet.

There should be plenty to talk about. Rojo is particularly admired for her dramatic roles, passionate and conflicted characters such as Manon, Juliet or Mary Vetsera. "Choreographers and dancers try to convey emotions, feelings and all the nuances of the internal worlds of the characters they portray through movement," Rodríguez de la Sierra points out. Though psychoanalysts work with words, they also look at non-verbal communication.

Rodríguez de la Sierra, who has long-term interest in dance, is particularly keen to talk to Rojo. "I thought, on seeing her dance, that she was not only technically exceptional, but intelligent and psychologically minded." Rojo, meanwhile, is eager to expand her craft. "A dancer never reaches a limit," she argues. "It would be like saying someone has reached his limit as a human being. We are in constant evolution and therefore I still have many things to achieve."

www.connectingconversations.org