LOVE en pointe

Woody Allen once described Arnold Schwarzenegger as “having muscles in places I don’t even have places”. The American film director would probably say the same about the Royal New Zealand Ballet dancers.

I’m at their Wellington headquarters, in the shadow of the Michael Fowler Centre, watching the 36-strong company go through their paces for the national tour of The Sleeping Beauty.

Lithe bodies fling themselves around the rehearsal studio, muscles ripple and slender legs do things I could never do with my own. This is life in the rarefied world of elite ballet dancers, a punishing schedule of long days, gruelling tours and staying at the top of their fitness and diet games.

At clock-off time, most of these dancers