Jen Bowden quizzes a law student from Glasgow University on his transition from trainee barrister to pursuing his childhood dream of becoming a ballet dancer at the Central School of Ballet in London

It’s not everyday that you meet someone whose latest decision resulted in a complete change in lifestyle, but for Alexander (Sandy) Nuttall from Edinburgh the decision to take time out from a Law degree to study ballet seemed the natural thing to do....

How did your love of dance begin?

I started dancing when I was two, mainly because my older sister started. Apparently I would stand outside her class and peek through the door, and when my mum asked why I said, “I want to do that”. Ever since it’s been a huge part of my life, and I’ve experimented with lots of different types of dance, ranging from ballet and jazz to tap and contemporary. I didn’t really win any competitions when I was younger but I had a lot of chances to perform with actual companies.  The Pacific Northwest Ballet Company’s “A Midsummer Nights Dream” at the Edinburgh Playhouse just fed my appetite to perform.

How did you come to choose law over dance?

When I was about eleven my mum was taking me to lots of auditions (though not really in a pushy parent way.) It didn’t  feel right, and I asked her to stop setting them up so she did. Ironically, I regret that now. I don’t think I knew I wanted to dance professionally at a young age, I only knew that I loved it. The regimes scared me a little, and I knew it would be really tough to do so that put me off a little. One of my good friends at my dance school left to do professional dance down South, and I was really quite jealous. I came up with a sort of “he can do it for the both of us” mentality, because I honestly believed I was too old to start professional training. There was nothing I really liked at school enough to study, I looked in to new subjects and law came up. It sounded really interesting, and was quite prestigious, which made the attraction greater. So I applied for law and decided to continue dancing while I was still at university. Then when I got to Glasgow I didn’t dance for about eight months. It was actually quite hard. I wasn’t as happy as I could be, and it took me a long time to realise why. I went to a class at Scottish ballet and just thought, “I’m meant to be here”, cheesy as it sounds! That’s when I started to dream of doing professional dance. I only wrote to dance schools asking if it was still possible for me to do professional dance and they sent me application forms for entry in September 2008. I knew that if I didn’t do it now it would be too late so I went for it and luckily it worked out.

Is ballet a more academic discipline than people realise?

Well, it’s not really about academic stuff anymore. I had the opportunity academic study and I enjoyed it and found it engaging, but it wasn’t really enough. I chose to dance because it’s what I love, not just what I happen to be good at. There is an academic side to it: you learn about the history of the art form and the various ballets that are most popular. There’s also a physical aspect, where we learn about relevant anatomy and how best to train. We also do nutrition lessons so we can maximise performance, because all these things are very important in a professional career. In a company you’re not told about the history of what you’re dancing, you’re expected to either know it or to research it, so that’s mostly where academia comes in. There’s also an option to do A-levels.  I don’t think I can really compare it to law because it’s so varied. Although both are academic, the information is used totally differently so it isn’t really comparable. 

How different is your daily routine? Do you have to look after yourself more than the average student?

Well, I have to get up earlier! Most of the time around 6am because class starts at 8.45 and you’re expected to be warmed up and raring to go (something I initially found difficult because I’m NOT a morning person!) I suppose it depends what you term as “average”. Obviously you have to be physically careful. You have to avoid high-risk sports, and there can be a lot of day-to-day injuries. It’s very demanding! Energy is important, because it’s very easy to run out and it takes a long time to build levels back up. I don’t think you have to watch your diet as much as everyone thinks you do, I do actually eat! It’s all about eating the right thing, so really junk food is best avoided, but everything in moderation is fine.

What do you think your future will be? What sort of people have you met? Who do you aspire to be like?

I aspire to be great. I see no point in doing it any other way. If I don’t aim to be the best how do I know that I couldn’t have been the best?  My future will be hard work and that’s all I know at this point. It’s going to be fun work but without passion it wouldn’t be worth it, so you really have to love it. And I do. I have met such a varied group of people since I got here and we’re all unbelievably close considering we’ve known each other for such a short time. It’s a very close-knit community, and everyone really does know everyone. I personally think it’s brilliant. I made friends for life at uni for definite, but I’m making friends here in a totally different situation. I don’t really know if I aspire to be like anyone. I want to be an individual. And lets face it, good start! But obviously I could say the big names like Carlos Acosta and Nureyev, but I’m not so ignorant to say “I want to be just like them”- I don’t really know of enough people yet! Every one of the great dancers of the past and the present excel in different areas, and until I have my own opinion I don’t think I’ll know. Maybe I never will. But I prefer it that way; I dance to be me, no one else.

Do you miss home?

Yes. I love London so much already, but home is home. I think you always miss home, no matter how old you are or where you go. It’s a lot easier to stay in touch nowadays though, so I think it’s more what home represents rather than the people there because I speak to them all the time! I love Edinburgh as a city, and I hope that my parents always stay there so I can go back. But I think it’s foolish to say that I can see myself in any one place. I could end up in a company anywhere, and because of that I’ll be happy going wherever it takes me, in Britain or abroad.

Could you see yourself ever going back to Law or even to Glasgow or Edinburgh?

Law maybe later in life, I initially took a year out but I’m thinking I may not go back. But I can see myself doing it later in life because I still have the interest in it. Maybe after my professional career. Mind you, after many dancers retire, a lot of them teach because without dance life just seems weird. So who knows? I would like to return to study though.

Do you have any regrets regarding such a big change?

I do have regrets. I miss everyone from Glasgow Uni, and worry that without me there they’ll forget me. It was only for a year that I was there. I think most people will only remember me as the guy who left to dance, but I don’t mind. As long as the people that matter to me the most, my best friends and of course my flatmates, remember me then I can live with that. I will see them less and we have less in common now. But I always think about things they say or how they would react because they were so much a part of making me who I am. When I left home last year, I grew up a lot, and they took care of me in a way and I will never forget that. I miss them but I still see them. I also regret the loss of stability. I don’t want to insult any lawyers, but I think the dancing world is more temperamental than that of law. One injury could easily end a career and the careers are much shorter, with less money too. None of that really matters to me because I’m doing what I want to do, so I’ll just deal with it as it comes. Sometimes I don’t think I was ready to do this earlier, and sometimes I wish I had. However, if I had the choice I would do it the same way again because I had a chance to experience two totally different lifestyles and meet so many people. Both of them made me who I am, and I could never have done one without the other.