Interview with Elmhurst Alumni Marlo Kempsey-Fagg

Thursday November 7^th 2024

The Elmhurst Ballet School and Birmingham Royal Ballet apprenticeship programme is a one-year traineeship that bridges the gap between full-time training and a performance career. At the end of every academic year, one graduate student at Elmhurst is selected as the successful recipient of the apprenticeship, and they spend the next 12 months performing with Birmingham Royal Ballet, with the aim of being offered a full-time contract at the end of the 12 months. The experience provides graduate year students with an insight into working within a professional ballet company. 

Previous apprentices include Ryan Felix, Amelia Thompson, and Hannah Martin, who have all gone on to secure full-time contracts with Birmingham Royal Ballet.

We spoke to Marlo Kempsey-Fagg, one of our 2024 graduates who is the latest recipient of the Birmingham Royal Ballet apprenticeship. Born and raised in Birmingham, Marlo first started dancing through Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Dance Track programme before joining Elmhurst Ballet School, where he won the Elmhurst Dance Award in 2020 and 2022.

We caught up with him just before he went on stage for the opening night of La Fille mal Gardée at Sadler’s Wells Theatre…

Elmhurst: How’s it all going, Marlo? You’re now two months into the apprenticeship programme with a run of shows of La Fille mal Gardée under your belt.

Marlo Kempsey-Fagg: Really good. It’s been a dream for me to be here for a very long time, and I’m enjoying it a lot. It’s nice being back in the studio with my brother (former Elmhurst student and BRB dancer Oscar Kempsey-Fagg), and dancing the pieces that I’ve aspired to dance for so long is also really nice.

E: How does it feel to be working with Birmingham Royal Ballet? Does it feel real that you’re now an apprentice with them?

MKF: It does now. When I first joined, I had a few moments where I didn’t know what to do, but Elmhurst prepared me well for joining the company, and it all feels good now.

E: Did you always want to dance with BRB? If someone had asked you when you were training at Elmhurst who your first-choice company would be, would you have said BRB?

MKF: Yes, definitely. I started dancing because of BRB and their Dance Track programme. Everything I knew about ballet was down to BRB, so it’s always been a place that I aspired to be.

E: Do you feel like Elmhurst prepared you for joining a professional company?

MKF: Yes, of course. We were taught about mental strength as well as physical strength, technique, and skills. We were taught to keep going. It’s more of a case of doing things for yourself when you get into a company. The corrections I was taught at Elmhurst, I will carry on forever and will continue to work on, but the mindset that Elmhurst instils in you gets you through it. 

E: What has the process of settling in to BRB been like? Is there anything that you’ve found particularly difficult or strange?

MKF: To be honest, no. But I know I’m lucky that I’ve got my brother in the Company. Because of him, I already knew and had a social circle with some of the Company members, so I was already aware of people, and they were aware of me, so it was a smooth transition into the Company.

E: What’s your first experience of touring been like? Have you enjoyed it?

MKF: I have. I’ve enjoyed it a lot, actually. Especially going to Plymouth! It’s great to be by the sea. It’s been nice to dance on different stages, get to see more of the country and perform to different audiences.

Have you been sharing digs with Company dancers while you’ve been on tour? How has that worked?

MKF: I’ve just been sharing a room with my brother, Oscar. It’s easier, isn’t it?!

E: What are you most looking forward to this season?

MKF: The Nutcracker, I think. It was the first ballet I ever watched. And since then, I’ve watched it every year with Elmhurst, while dreaming of being a part of it, and now it’s actually coming around. I’m going to be dancing the roles I’ve always wanted to do like Trepak and Cadets, and I’m really looking forward to it.

E: Are you looking forward to the BRB2 tour next Spring?

MKF: Yes, definitely. The repertoire they’ve chosen is really unusual. It’s quite old rep, it’s pieces that haven’t really been done a lot recently, so it’s nice to experiment with some older styles and to learn dances that I’ve never even seen before.

E: Do you have any personal goals for this season?

MKF: Of course, the goal is to be offered a full contract at the end of the season. Other than that, just to do my best and enjoy it.

E: What’s your must-have item for long days in the theatre?

MKF: Water!

E: What’s your dream role?

MKF: I don’t know. Strangely enough, I always want to do the smaller roles. Like, I’ve always wanted to do Trepak in The Nutcracker. I would like to dance Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake at some point, though.

E: What do you miss about Elmhurst?

MKF: Lots of things! The community, the support… But seriously, the food! Having to cook food at the end of a long day is tough.

E: What’s the best piece of advice that you would give any current Elmhurst student?

MKF: Just keep working hard. We’ve all been young lads at some point, and it’s fun to mess around a bit, but if you want to do well, then you’ve just got to work as hard as you can. Stay positive, as well. That’s something I struggle with a lot, but Mr Robinson at Elmhurst always used to say to me ‘positivity makes progress’. Keep going. Keep being positive.