I first saw ballet on Blue Peter. I can’t remember who was dancing but I do remember that afterwards I was in the car going to Tescos with my mum and I asked her what types of dancing there were. She went through a whole list – tap, jazz, modern, and ballet. A couple of days later I came back to her and told her that I wanted to do ballet, and that was it!

In 2002 I was in Salt Lake City doing a performance with the Royal Ballet School when I received offers for contracts with both the Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet. I spent the day watching the cross country skiing at the Olympics before getting on a plane back to the UK. As soon as I got off the plane, I got onto the tube and came straight to the Opera House to sign my contract. I might even have taken ballet class with the company that day. It was straight to work!

My day usually starts at 6:30 am. I get a train to Waterloo and go to the gym from 9:00 – 10:00, after which I come over to the Opera House. I start every day at the Opera House with ballet class, which lasts for an hour and a quarter. It is important for me to take class each day so that I am warm and set up for rehearsals. It is also a good opportunity to challenge myself, as you are always learning as a dancer.

There is a fifteen minute break after class and then rehearsals or calls begin at 12 noon. At any one time we might be rehearsing four or five different ballets, and then performing another one onstage at night. You really have to exercise your memory to keep all the steps in your head. Once a ballet goes onto the stage for performance then we usually don't rehearse it again in the studio unless dancers have to change their places due to someone being injured or unable to dance in which case we would have a quick call to make sure that everyone knows where they are going.

On the day that this photograph was taken I missed some of my rehearsals because I was performing in a school as part of The Royal Opera House's 'Chance to Dance Project'.

As well as class and rehearsals I also have to find time for fittings to make sure that all parts of my costume fit me properly. In this picture I am trying on the head of the cockerel costume for 'La Fille mal Gardée'. It is vital that it fits and that I can see out, as otherwise I could end up in the orchestra pit!

One of the most important things for a dancer is that their shoes fit. Every dancer has different requirements, which is why we have our own shoe department at the Opera House.

Whenever I can fit a session in I go to the body conditioning room. Jane Paris has put together a special sequence of exercises for me. I try to combine this with going to the gym to keep up my upper body strength and also to work of specific areas of my classical technique.

Often in a dancer’s career there are little niggles in the body that sometimes need treating. Here I am working with the Moira McCormack, one of the company physiotherapists.

I finish rehearsing at 5:30 pm on most days, which give me two hours before performance begins. It’s an opportunity to get some food and rest, start doing my make-up, and warm up for the show. This is the makeup that I have to do for the ballet Sylvia. It takes me about an hour and a half to put it on which doesn’t leave a lot of time for anything else.

Before the curtain goes up there is lots of activity backstage as the dancers prepare. Once you step on stage as part of a perfomance you are immediately immersed in the onstage world. It's like a completely different reality. For me performing is almost like a drug - it produces an adrenalin rush that is incredibly magnetic and addictive, which makes all of the hard work of preparation worthwhile.

After the show is over I take off my makeup, and walk to Waterloo station. On show nights I usually get home at around 11:30pm.

Web Link > The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House