“Energetic, Vivacious and Passionate” – Her.ie Speaks To Dublin Dancer Rachel Ensor

This week Rachel Ensor, from South Dublin, will be performing for the first time in front of her home crowd. The dancer is not only playing a part in West Side Story, showing in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, but she’s also the assistant dance captain. We caught up with her to see how she’s balancing her workload and whether she’s excited about returning to Dublin…                                                                 So Rachel, were you glad to get the role of Pauline? My agent thought Pauline would be most suited to me, my talents and my expertise. Luckily I got the job. It’s really nice because now, that I have the role, I can encompass it myself and work on the character. It’s really nice to be one of the Jet girls as well. Can you relate to her? It’s completely alien to me. The Jet girls are really hard and the show is very racially based. Having grown up in South Dublin I never really encountered racial hatred so for me it’s really alien. It’s also difficult doing the show because it’s a racial war but in reality it’s your friends standing on the other side of the stage. Again it’s really good because it really pushes you and I’m stepping outside my boundaries. You’re background is in dance. Are you enjoying the acting element? I have done some acting before and I played the role of Baby in Dirty Dancing in the West End so I’m really lucky because I’ve been able to cross the two. But then again, this is pushing me and the acting in this very much influences the dancing that we do on stage. Every step has a feeling and an emotion behind it so the acting supports the dancing. And you’re also a dance captain. How are you finding the two roles? It’s tiring but I love it. I have the lucky task of teaching the cast ballet class four times a week. I’m classically trained and so much of the show is classically influenced that we do need to keep up a high level of technique. Most shows will have a 15 minute warm-up before the show but we’re privileged because we have 30 to 40 minutes of ballet training. I really enjoy it and it’s a really nice privilege. It’s an additional responsibility but it is somewhere I’d like to take my career. It’s nice to be able to help the show and keep it fresh and alive, keep the dancing neat and tidy so that when a new audience comes to us, it’s the same show we set at the beginning. We want it so that through the entire tour it’s as clean and perfect as it was at the start. Are you feeling the pressure of being in such a famous production? I quite like the pressure (laughs). West Side Story is so well renowned and even if you’re not a massive musical theatre fan, you know it. It’s just such a privilege. It’s just such an amazing feeling going on to that stage in front of thousands of people and you’re doing what you love. There is a pressure because you want to do the best you can in every show but there’s also a massive love for it as well. It’s just amazing. Do you have a favourite number in the show? I really like them all because they’re really different in style. There’s partner work, jazz and ballet which I love. It’s the one number where I can really smile. I beam from ear to ear all the way through the ballet so it’s probably my favourite. Are you excited about performing in front of your home crowd? I can’t wait! I’m so excited. I’ve been performing professionally since I left college, eight years ago, and I’ve never been in front of Dublin. This is my first show performing in my home territory and I am so excited about the buzz and everything. I’ve got people coming to see it every single night so it’s amazing. Last but not least, can you describe West Side Story in three words? Goodness… it’s energetic, vivacious and passionate. I think that encompasses what I think of it anyway. West Side Story runs in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre from October 29 to November 5 2013. Tickets start from€17.50 and are available from Ticketmaster.