DARCEY BUSSELL
The Royal Opera House September 2000

I first met Darcey Bussell in June 1999, a chance meeting due to my wife who had a mutual friend, but some sixteen months elapsed before we were able to work together…after some correspondence I suddenly had a phone call to say Darcey was available for a sitting the following week. I dropped everything and rushed to the wonderful new rehearsal studios at Covent Garden where I spent several delightful hours observing, chatting, sketching and photographing her. The series of relaxed studies and oil paintings
were the result.

It wasn't difficult to understand how Darcey had earned the reputation of the UK's favourite and one of the worlds greatest ballerinas and for my part I have endeavoured to capture a little of this magic…I hope you enjoy the work as much as I did creating it.

CHARLES WILLMOTT