Ballet

Royal Ballet baby boom! Dancers take advantage of cancelled performances to get pregnant

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Royal Ballet baby boom! Dancers take advantage of cancelled performances to fall pregnant as Principal Dancer says there’s been so many births, the company now has its own NCT group

  • Principal Dancer Lauren Cuthbertson, 36, gave birth three weeks ago
  • Told Woman’s Hour there had been ‘lots of babies’ in the company since March 
  • Cuthbertson said many dancers had taken advantage of performances cancelled by lockdown to try and fall pregnant
  • Star admitted to anxiety over leaving her daughter to return to perform again 

The Royal Ballet is experiencing a baby boom, sparked by months of cancelled performances because of the global pandemic.    

Principal Dancer at the prestigious dance company, Lauren Cuthbertson, said there had been ‘lots of babies’ since lockdown began in March after dancers were able to take a break from the often demanding training and performance schedules at London’s Royal Opera House.  

Cuthbertson, 37, gave birth to daughter Peggy a few weeks ago by elective cesarean, and told the new host of Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, Emma Barnett, that there had been so many babies there was even a Royal Ballet NCT Whatspp group. 

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Royal Ballet Principal Dancer Lauren Cuthbertson, 36, gave birth a few weeks ago to her daughter Peggy. Appearing on Woman’s Hour on Tuesday, she said there had been ‘lots of babies’ in the company since March

Tara-Brigitte Bhavnani, First Artist of the Royal Ballet, was also on the programme; the dancer is expecting her second baby in April.

Tara-Brigitte Bhavnani, First Artist of the Royal Ballet, was also on the programme; the dancer is expecting her second baby in April.

She told the presenter her new daughter was ‘glorious’ and she felt ‘very fortunate to be spending my time hunkering down with her’.  

Cuthberton said: ‘There are lots of babies in the company actually and for those of us having babies, it’s actually a really lovely network of new mothers who help each other out. 

‘We’ve got a wonderful Whatsapp group, an NCT Royal Ballet group, which we communicate on with a lot.’ 

Also on the programme was Tara-Brigitte Bhavnani, First Artist of the Royal Ballet, who is expecting a baby in April. 

She told the show that she initially fell pregnant the day before the first lockdown but suffered a miscarriage a couple of months later.

Bhavani, who has a three-year-old daughter, told the programme: ‘It was heartbreaking, it was devastating especially during lockdown when you’re already isolated.’    

Heartbreak: Tara-Brigitte Bhavnani, First Artist of the Royal Ballet, told the show that she initially fell pregnant the day before the first lockdown but suffered a miscarriage a couple of months later, She's now pregnant again expecting her second child in April

Heartbreak: Tara-Brigitte Bhavnani, First Artist of the Royal Ballet, told the show that she initially fell pregnant the day before the first lockdown but suffered a miscarriage a couple of months later, She’s now pregnant again expecting her second child in April

Speaking about the discipline required by professional ballet dancers, Cuthbertson said dancing already felt like a distant memory and that while she was ‘itching to get back’, she said: ‘I know I’ll have to sacrifice time with and energy for Peggy to do that and that fills me with a bit of anxiety.’

Bhavani said she took six months off before trying to get back into shape following the birth of her first child. 

In October, dancers Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales were able to perform on stage at the Royal Opera House – because their real-life romance meant they could be in close contact. 

The couple helped the Royal Ballet Company stage its first major production in seven months after it closed its doors in March.  The pair, who started dating after playing Romeo and Juliet last year, were able to dance closely together without having to social distance as the full company reunited on stage.

Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales (pictured) fell for each other while re-enacting one of the greatest love stories of all time and were able to help the Royal Ballet put on its first performance during lockdown in October 2020

Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales (pictured) fell for each other while re-enacting one of the greatest love stories of all time and were able to help the Royal Ballet put on its first performance during lockdown in October 2020

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