Francesca Hayward being carried back to her dressing room
(Picture: Instagram)Royal Ballet star Francesca Hayward has said her role as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake left her “so tired” she could “barely walk”.
The 29-year-old dancer revealed she was so tired one night that she had to be carried back to her dressing room at the interval.
She shared an image of herself being lifted back to her dressing room by a colleague on Instagram.
“I was so tired I could barely walk,” she wrote.
Despite her weariness, she battled on to appear in the tragic finale.
She has previously opened up about the emotional challenge of the role.
In a previous social media post, she wrote: “‘I’ve dreamt of dancing Odette and Odile since I was three years old. The reality of doing it was a whole lot harder than I ever imagined.
“This ballet is like a marathon to get through and I’m honestly very proud of myself for doing just that.
“I am the luckiest Swan Queen to have had @williambracewell as my Prince, it has been the biggest joy and honour to dance with him and I’ve absolutely treasured every second in the studio with him and with my coach Lesley Collier.
“I couldn’t have done any of the big ballets in my career without Lesley and it was truly special working with her on this iconic one.
“I hope I’ll have years more of learning how to master Swan Lake but it feels good to have finally started somewhere.”
“Swan Lake is one of the biggest roles for a ballerina so it’s very important to me,” Francesca previously said.
Hayward joined the Royal ballet in 2010 after winning a number of awards including Young British Dancer of the Year.
In 2019, she took time out of the Royal Ballet to take on a role in a live-action remake of Cats.
