Colombian performer and Royal Ballet principal Fernando Montano on what moved him to create an evening of performance supporting the Marine Conservation Society, shooting incredible underwater images and an unsung hero of British theatre. Read the interview then book your tickets for Fernando Montano and Friends – Dance for the Sea.
Taking place on 18 July 2019 at the Royal Academy of Music’s stunning Susie Sainsbury Theatre, the event features world class opera, classical music and ballet, with Montano himself choreographing and performing four pieces for the evening.
Oliver Tompsett
Montano is joined in the impressive line-up by Lithuanian mezzo-soprano Justina Gringyte, who will perform a quartet of arias, West End star Oliver Tompsett, Latvian pianist Reinis Zarins, same-gender ballroom champions Axel Zischka and Thorsten Dreyer, violinist Jonathan Hill and cellist Yaroslava Trofymchuk. The evening of entertainment is hosted by TV presenter Sian Lloyd.
Montano became the first Colombian to dance with the Royal Ballet when he joined the company in 2006. His rise from poverty to making his debut in a principal role in 2015 have seen him described as “the real Billy Elliot”, and many now regard him as the leading Latin American male dancer in the world. Raised in a coastal town, he was horrified by reports about plastic pollution and created Dance for the Sea as his way to help tackle the problem.
As part of the project, Montano also commissioned underwater photographer Robin Conway to take a series of photos of him, dressed in costumes created by Mario Mise, swimming in a pool surrounded by plastic. The images were shared on LED screens around the UK on World Oceans Day and can also be seen at the Fernando Montano and Friends – Dance for the Sea post-show reception.
Fernando Montano on Dance for the Sea
How did this event come about?
I’ve been staging my own annual charity events in London for about seven years under the general name of Fernando Montano and Friends but always with a different subtitle depending on the charity and project I’m working with. Because I had already created a photographic project called Dance for the Sea and was working with the Marine Conservation Society to help raise awareness of the issue of plastic in the ocean we decided to bring this year’s event forward by a few months and hold it on 18 July.
What can the audience expect to see?
Fernando Montano performing
It will be a wonderful mix of ballet, opera, music, song and dance from some very talented artists and I’m so grateful they will be joining me on stage. I’ll perform at least four times including The Dying Swan with Philharmonia cellist Yaroslava Trofymchuk, and a solo piece from Ondine as well as an energetic Latin dance number. My close friend Justina Gringyte is one of the world’s leading young mezzo-sopranos and she’ll sing four arias taken from Carmen, Sansom and Delilah and La Favorita accompanied by an incredible pianist, Reinis Zarins. West End star Oliver Tompsett will sing in each half including a very special number from Les Misérables accompanied by Jonathan Hill, the lead violinist from the London production and my friends Axel Zischka & Thorsten Dreyer, who are international same-gender dance champions, will perform a waltz and tango.
How did you chose the venue?
It was actually suggested to me by one of the most incredible man I have ever met and an unsung hero of British theatre, George Hall. Despite having originally retired some 30 years ago, after a quarter of a century as Head of Acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama, George still teaches Musical Theatre at the Royal Academy of Music and is inspiring new generations of students every year after more than seven decades in the business. There cannot be many people who voice coached Sir Laurence Olivier and Leslie Caron, taught Zoe Wanamaker, Graham Norton, Carrie Fisher and Jodie Whittaker and are still planning lessons, directing and teaching several days a week in their 95th year. Why he doesn’t have any official recognition or honours astounds me. He and his partner John are my acting teachers and when I mentioned that I was looking for a venue they suggested the Susie Sainsbury Theatre. I’m delighted they will be my guests at the show.
Tell us a bit about your own background. How did you become a dancer?
I was born in the coastal town of Buenaventura in Colombia and although I had wonderful parents life was a big struggle because of the lack of money. But I always loved dancing and managed to get a place in the only ballet school in the country in Cali and from there won a scholarship to the Cuban National Ballet. I had a spell in Italy thanks to the help of a friend’s family and then was spotted and invited to audition in London. The first one was with the Royal Ballet and the CD broke so I had to dance in silence but they offered me a place and I became the first Colombian to dance with the company when I joined in 2006 and I’ve lived in London ever since.
What have been the highlights of your career so far?
There have been so many! To dance with the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House and at La Scala and other incredible venues around the world was something I could never have dreamed of as a child and I was so proud in 2015 when I made my debut in a principal role. It was incredible to be flown back to Colombia by the then President Santos to perform in private at the Presidential Palace for HRH Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall but it has also been a privilege to be a patron of Children Change Colombia and The Amy Winehouse Foundation and help with the amazing work they and the Marine Conservation Society do.
Fernando Montano at Presidential Palace
Tragically we lost my mother to Lupus suddenly and at a young age, just after I arrived in London, but I know she would have been proud of what I have managed to achieve and even though my Papa has not been in the greatest of health it has been very special for me to have a sabbatical this past year and spend a lot of time with him and my family back in Colombia and for them to come to the shows I’ve staged out there. That has definitely been a highlight as well.
Where did the idea for Dance for the Sea come from?
Like so many people I’ve become increasingly aware of the ever-growing levels of pollution, and especially the problem our use of plastics is creating in the oceans, so I decided to devise Dance for the Sea to do my bit to help highlight the issue and I asked underwater photography specialist Robin Conway to take the images as I swam and performed in Kentish Town Swimming Pool whilst surrounded by plastic detritus and installations made from recycled plastic waste. I wanted to contrast the freedom that comes with dance and light with the claustrophobic, strangulating and destructive impact of plastic in all its forms once it enters the global water system.
What has made this project special is its community nature. I’ve been very grateful to all the schools and local groups who gave their time and energy to collect items that they then turned into backdrops and installations for the photographic session
We have selected the best 10 photos for our campaign and hope to use them to highlight the disastrous environmental impact of plastic on our ocean and ultimately, the quality of life for this and future generations around the world. 10 limited edition prints of each photo will be used to raise funds and awareness for MCS.
What next for you?
Well, my autobiography Una Buena Ventura was published earlier this year in Spanish by Penguin Random House and the English language version is currently being translated. A major studio is turning it into a feature film, which is incredibly exciting, and an announcement about that will be made very soon. After my sabbatical I’m really looking forward to returning to dance with the Royal Ballet later in the year and before that I hope that we can sell out the theatre and have a wonderful show on Thursday 18 July and raise as much as we can for the Marine Conservation Society!
