Helen Moulderrecalls being a wide-eyed 21-year old school teacher and watching, for the first time, Sir Jon Trimmer dance on stage in the comic ballet Petrouchka.
She was entranced. Helen always wanted to learn to dance, but her singing and acting talents prevailed. Neverin her wildest dreams did she imagine one day she'd be dancing and performing alongside Jon in a two-person theatre-ballet production.
Meeting Karpovsky is a pas de deux that interweaves ballet and theatre to unravel the poignant story of Sylvia. Sylvia once travelled the world and visited its famous ballet theatres. Now she spends time alone in her attic, filled with her daughter's unwanted possessions and photographs of herfavourite ballet dancer, Alexander Karpovsky. Then Alexander magically appears and teaches the sad Sylvia how to dance ... and to live.
Helen says dancing with Sir Jon was a tick off her bucket list. "I've always wanted to dance. The dance we do is fairly simple and effective, and Jon made it easy for me."
Helen says she faced new challenges as the Alexander character is silent throughout the performance. "It was a whole new way of relating onstage. I have the only speaking role and Jon can only communicate with gestures...so it was about learning to give him that room to communicate."