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Unlucky break costs dancer place in ballet created for her

What: Ballet Rocks Where: McPherson Playhouse When : Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.,Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets: $23.50 and up. Available at balletvictoria.ca or 250 386 6121 On the morning of Sept. 4, ballet dancer Andrea Bayne stepped out of bed.
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Ballet dancer Andrea Bayne rehearses the song Out Here on My Own for Ballet Rocks.

What: Ballet Rocks
Where: McPherson Playhouse
When: Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.,Sunday at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $23.50 and up. Available at balletvictoria.ca or 250 386 6121

 

On the morning of Sept. 4, ballet dancer Andrea Bayne stepped out of bed. Then, something bad happened.

“My ankle gave out. Crack. That was it,” the dancer said.

A hospital X-ray revealed Bayne had broken the fifth metatarsal bone in her foot (her foot was asleep when she stepped on the floor). The doctor said she would have to stop dancing while it healed.

It’s her first serious injury.

For Bayne, a principal dancer with Ballet Victoria, the real heartbreak is that she’s unable dance this weekend in Shine. Choreographed by Paul Destrooper, Ballet Victoria’s artistic director, the piece is set to Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond.

Shine is part of Ballet Rocks, a program of original works Ballet Victoria is performing at McPherson Playhouse. Ballet Rocks includes Fragile, Destrooper’s homage to fallen Canadian soldiers set to music composed by Sting and harpist Julia Cunningham (the latter will perform live); a trio of Bruce Monk works set to music by B.B. King, Pink Floyd and U2; and Destrooper’s Ballet Off Broadway, danced to music from such Broadway favourites as Chicago, Sweet Charity and Moulin Rouge.

Bayne’s role in Shine — a work for three dancers — was created especially for her, with her individual strengths as a dancer in mind. In the dance world, this is an uncommon honour.

Dancer Yui Watanabe has replaced Bayne in Shine, which also features Bethany LeCorre and Jessie Gervais. Rehearsed this week at Ballet Victoria’s downtown studio, the dance is notable for its sculptural poses and brooding sensuality.

Bayne, who got her cast off just a week ago, admitted it has been “heartbreaking” viewing rehearsals from the sidelines. “Every time I watch it, I want to cry,” she said.

However, Bayne has made the best of it — even offering advice to the dancer who took over her role. Fortunately, she’s still able to participate in Ballet Rocks, albeit not as a dancer. The Ballet Off Broadway segment includes the song Out Here on My Own from Fame. And Bayne will sing it.

It’s unusual for a ballet dancer to belt out a song. However, Bayne has done this before. For example, she sang Adele’s Skyfall for a previous Ballet Victoria production, Amadeus.

Having Bayne sing in Ballet Rocks is no polite concession to making an injured dancer feel better. When she performed Out Here on My Own in rehearsal, it was apparent Bayne knows how to sing.

Early in her career, Bayne was torn between continuing in dance or becoming a singer-dancer-actor in musical theatre. Before joining Ballet Victoria, she was in Alberta Ballet’s aspirant program. When the company didn’t offer her a contract, she sent an audition tape to a Toronto production of Dirty Dancing, applying for the lead role of Baby.

Bayne was flown to Toronto for a live audition. However, upon seeing her, the director dismissed the diminutive dancer as being “too small” — before she could dance or sing a note.

Having heard good things about Destrooper’s work with Ballet Victoria, she successfully auditioned for the company.

“And I’ve never looked back, because dancing is my No. 1 passion, for sure,” Bayne said.

The doctor has given her permission to start dance training once again. During her time off, Bayne wasn’t idle. She worked on her core strength, swimming and recumbent cycling.

Rather than a defeat, she prefers to view her injury as a chance to regroup and work harder than ever.

“It’s really a learning curve,” Bayne said. “To take a positive spin on it is really the only way to do it.”

achamberlain@timescolonist.com