Matthew Ball’s cerebral ballet

Matthew Ball’s cerebral ballet

The pas de deux in The Nutcracker – also known as the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy – is one reason people want to become ballet dancers, but it is also six minutes of extreme cardiovascular endurance, much of which is invisible to the naked eye. From the stalls, you’ll never hear the desperate gulps for breath but in a rehearsal studio at the Royal Opera House, the sprung floor moves a couple of inches with every landing. Yasmine Naghdi, a prin…