Darcey Bussell
Desert Island Discs
BBC
4.3 • 14.3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2006
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the ballerina Darcey Bussell OBE. At the age of twenty, she became the Royal Ballet's youngest Principal and went on to dance on the international stage in Paris, New York, St Petersburg and Milan. She was spotted by the great choreographer Sir Kenneth Macmillan at the age of 16, and though tall for a ballerina, she had an energy that he found refreshing. In 1989 she made her debut in Covent Garden as Princess Rose in The Prince of the Pagodas, a role created for her. Her classical repertory has included principal roles in Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker.
Her first child was born prematurely as a result of the life-threatening condition pre-eclampsia. Her speedy recovery she put down to her strength and fitness, and she returned to dance three months later. She has announced her decision to retire as a Principal of the Royal Ballet next month, though she will continue to dance as a guest artist.
[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]
Favourite track: Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai Book: A biography of Audrey Hepburn Luxury: Eye lash curler
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello I'm Kirstie Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive. |
| 0:05.0 | For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music. |
| 0:08.0 | The program was originally broadcast in 2006, and the presenter was Sue Lolly. My cast away this week is a ballerina. At the age of 19, she was plucked from the |
| 0:34.5 | court of ballet at Sandler's Wells and went on to dance the principal role in a new full-length |
| 0:39.2 | work at the Royal Ballet called Prince of the Pagodas. The first performance was rapturously received by the audience |
| 0:45.7 | and when the curtain fell she was invited to become principal ballerina of the company. |
| 0:50.0 | Are you sure, is all she could say. |
| 0:52.6 | They were sure, and rightly so, since that night 17 years ago she's danced to mighty |
| 0:57.6 | applause through most of ballet's classical roles and many of its newly created ones too, on both the national and international stage. |
| 1:05.0 | Recently she announced she was going to bring her full-time career to a close this summer. |
| 1:10.0 | Perhaps it's the discipline on which she thrived as a dancer that's helped |
| 1:14.4 | her make such a tough decision. I was determined, she says, that my career would |
| 1:18.8 | not just fizzle out. She is the principal ballerina of the Royal Ballet Darcy Bustle. |
| 1:24.0 | You made that announcement back in October Darcy. |
| 1:27.0 | Have you had any second thoughts since? |
| 1:29.0 | My husband has. |
| 1:30.0 | Well, he'd like you to keep going. |
| 1:32.0 | Yeah, and he says, you know, you can change your mind, |
| 1:34.4 | you don't just because you've made an announcement, |
| 1:36.4 | but actually it's taken me long enough, you know, |
| 1:39.0 | to make it, and I know the decision is right. |
| 1:41.9 | Why do you know it's right? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.