Text by Ellesca Helderberg
Photography Fred Homage
Conor Walmsley, a 21- year old ballet dancer born in Yorkshire, England. Now living in Amsterdam, is one of the rising stars of the prestigious Dutch National Ballet. As a kid I always loved to dance and I’ve always received support from my parents, they are not pushy. If I do things on my own it’s okay for them. But they thought, because of the fact that I’m a boy, that I would be bullied. Conor compared his life with the movie Billy Elliot, because the main character also took dance classes secretly on an age of twelve.
He mentioned how a lady walked up to him, after a dance audition and said that he had to do ballet, so from that point on he ended up in London and travelled the world. At the age of 16 he moved to Amsterdam, where he studied ballet. He idolizes the great ballet and contemporary dancer Rudolf Nureyev because of his timeless techniques, it’s simple, impressive and bad ass. He would do things on stage no one else does, he was a great diva too, he influenced the industry a lot, according to Conor.
How do you balance work and pleasure? It’s always going to be difficult to balance those two. “We are athletes but it’s not a sport, it’s an art. We are professionals, we know when to be ready”. The competition is like physical demand; it’s like an Olympic sport. You’ve always got to be at your peak and find the balance to keep yourself fit.
To be a principal in this company, The Dutch National Ballet, would be a dream that comes true, Conor doesn’t do ballet just the fun of it. It’s his passion he loves the choreography and being on stage gives you a great feeling you can not describe. He would like to continue doing ballet until he can’t walk. Just as the famous Rudolf Nureyev said “you live as long, as you dance”.
Styling Anna Pavlovna
Hair by Radostin Bekirski
Make-Up Anastacia Hunter
Model Livia Petillo
Special thanks to Studio AHM