Interview with Gareth Haw
Photo credit: Andrew Seidel
Welsh born, Gareth Haw, trained in Chepstow before joining the Royal Ballet Lower and Upper School. Upon graduation, Gareth joined the Semperoper Ballett Dresden in 2015, where he grew through the ranks, before joining the English National Ballet as a First Soloist in 2023. He was promoted to Principal in 2024.
Gareth has danced Principal roles in Watkin and Smith’s Nutcracker; Watkin’s Swan Lake, La Bayadere and Sleeping Beauty; Watkin and Beechey’s The Nutcracker; Dawson’s Giselle. Soloist roles in Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, Symphony in C, and Four Temperaments; Forsythe’s The Second Detail, Artifact, and New Suite; Graham’s Errand into the Maze; Inger’s Walking Mad, and Carmen; Bausch’s Iphigenia auf Tauris; Ashton’s The Dream; Peck’s Heatscape; Ekman’s COW. His created roles include Paris, in Dawson’s Romeo and Juliet; Winter Principal Couple in Dawson’s The Four Seasons.
Gareth, can you tell us what you are currently rehearsing and performing?
I have been pretty busy of late performing as the Prince in Sleeping Beauty and I have just returned from Romania where I performed Giselle Act II and Metamorphosis by David Dawson. I also had the honour of performing the UK première of Slingerland Duet by William Forsythe.
Photo credit: Yoonsik Kim
What made you decide to join the Covent Garden Dance Company and perform at Hatch House this July?
I have been following CGDC for the past two years and really love the ethos. In February I was unable to join the Bahamas cast, but there was no way I could turn down the opportunity to dance with Lauren Cuthbertson. There is only one answer to that question! I have idolised her since I was in school and it was a dream opportunity.
What will you and Lauren be dancing?
We will be performing a double debut! We are both very keen to dance Le Parc as we saw the Paris Opera Ballet performing it a long time ago. We also will be performing Florent Malec’s beautiful piece Moonlight. There is such meaning behind both works that we both wanted to perform them for the first time.
What do you hope people feel when watching you?
If we manage to captivate an audience for a brief moment in time, enable them to forget the day to day, we will have done our job.
Photo credit: Yoonsik Kim
What excites you most about performing at Hatch House?
I love that it is not a conventional setting. Being outdoors rather than in a standard theatre in a big city, brings a different energy to the performance, it changes the atmosphere of the piece and it brings a different style of performance. I can’t wait.
You’ll be performing alongside some incredible artists, who are you most excited to watch?
William Bracewell. He is an extremely unique artist and what he represents as a male dancer is unique; he makes every role his own. It helps that he is also from Wales! I think we are the only two Welsh Principal dancers and that is something lovely. I am a massive fan and have been since I first saw him dance when I was 9 years old. It will be a full circle moment to dance alongside William.
Many children will be coming to watch the rehearsal on the 24th July - how important are these opportunities for future generations of dancers?
I experienced that thrill of watching professional dancers on stage when I was little. I grew up in rural Wales and I remember when I first watched the Royal Ballet perform. It is so important that we branch out of cities to expose a younger generation, include and inspire them. It is our responsibility to ensure ballet is not an elitist form but an accessible art.
What is your favourite role to dance?
I have performed as Albrecht in Giselle recently and it is a key pillar in classical ballet but it also explored the human emotional journey. Male dancers are often in white tights, but Albrecht’s emotional journey allows us to dance with freedom. Albrecht is my favourite role.
Can you share something people don’t know about you?
Before ballet, I was a slalom ski racer and I speak fluent German!
