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MArianela Núñez talks about football. This is before the final of the World Cup, after the match between England and Argentina. “That was a difficult place for me!” He says. Núñez moved to England from Buenos Aires aged 15 and danced with the Royal Ballet for 28 years. He is a British citizen, but his loyalty is clear: see his Argentinian-inspired leotard on Instagram or his cat named Lionel Messi.
In Argentina, they call him the Messi of ballet – although when it comes to who has the best game, they should call him the Núñez of football. A great dancer since the age of 20, Núñez has been at the top of her game for so long that you might forget that she’s an incredible dancer. Faced with the resemblance of a ballerina to a whip – The 32nd Swan Lake has been whipped, Sleeping Beauty Rose Adagio – you don’t doubt him, but it is his spirit of love, his radiant energy, his strength in Don Quixote, the tragic desire of Odette, the way he breathes in ballet like air, which makes him special. They really enjoy what they do.
For this, he feels a connection with his football partner. When he hears interviewers tell Messi how great he is: “He says, ‘The truth is, I’m happy to throw the ball.’ I can totally relate. Just give me my (ballet) shoes and I’m in love.” Núñez decided at the age of five that she wanted to dance seriously, and by the age of 14 she was a leading dancer at Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colón. But after starting this extreme, he did not rush to develop his work like other top artists, having a terrible schedule of exposure to foreign visitors and personal production. Except, he’s 44 years old, and he’s about to call it quits his show, never ending.
The reason it hasn’t happened sooner, he says, is because he doesn’t have an agent. Many top dancers now have sponsors, as well as PRs who advertise their products and their side jobs. Núñez does not go into this – big Sylvie Guillem He’s never had an agent, he tells me, so that’s good enough for him. So it may have taken a long time, but now he has five days at the Royal Opera House, with his musicians and music. “So it was actually a good way,” he says. “I’m glad I waited this long.” It’s not the first time I’ve heard Núñez make changes that some might see as minor changes, a sign of courage that should keep him at the top of a tough job for a long time.
Núñez is known for his sunny disposition. The morning we spoke he had the weather, he started feeling feverish doing yoga the night before (he swears by yoga at the beginning and end of every day), but here is the first thing, laugh and smile. The ultimate ballerina, all effort is hidden. When it comes to ballet, for her, it’s not an effort, it’s what gives her life, especially doing a daily class.
“Class, to me, is everything,” he says. “Ballet class is where I can be to hear body, every little…” he speaks to the tiniest atom. You have the same position at the barre that you had when you first joined the company. ” They call it a safety net, it’s a form of meditation. What’s it like to have such a strong, lifelong relationship? He said: “It’s very strong, and I feel very good. Even if it’s not good, it’s good. “You know, today I don’t feel good, and I know I won’t have big rehearsals, but just being here, I’m sure something will come out,” he says. “Ballet doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.”
Years have brought Núñez to accept himself. He scolded himself for being afraid. Now, he says: “Okay, you’ve done the job. Accept it and get on with the job. “It’s all insecurity: now I’m like, yes, you feel insecure. What are you going to do?” Does he feel insecure? “No, I won’t bore you with this,” he says, closing the door.
For Forever, Núñez chose based on the program who wanted to dance – Vadim Muntagirov, Matthew Ball, William Bracewell is the new principal teacher of the Royal Ballet Patricio Revé — friends who “have given me confidence, ways to step out of my comfort zone to be vulnerable, to be free on stage, to be vulnerable,” she says. And with these four boys, I was laughing the whole time even though I was rehearsing. Each of them, perhaps unknowingly, helped me a lot during the most difficult times.
Some of the program remains surprising, but they will be dancing the magic of Jerome Robbins In the Night, set to Chopin nocturnes (“It is simple but it is very deep. It is very high”), and Frederick Ashton’s Marguerite and Armand, a drama about an old man and his young lover, created by Rudolf Nurenteyn. Some break dancers choose it as a farewell song, but Núñez is not about to say goodbye. “There is no expiration date!” He says. Contrary to the rumors of his retirement swirling around another player, Núñez looks as strong and successful as ever.
