Stuttgart’s Agnes Su: Unleashing the ballerina within
By Gary Smith
For Agnes Su, the 26-year-old Stuttgart Ballet principal, old hesitancies are finally gone. The sure knowledge she belongs where she stands has unleashed a remarkable stage presence that is captivating audiences and critics alike.
“I didn’t really think of myself as a principal dancer until now,” Su says, sitting at trendy Plenum, a restaurant in Schlossgarten park where dance fans hang out after performances at the adjacent Stuttgart Opera House. “I never had a lead role, then suddenly there were four of them last season. It was a real wake-up for me.”
A principal dancer since November 2021, Su took full advantage of her new chances, digging deep inside to find the kind of diversity needed for the range of roles. From the lyric warmth of Aurora’s awakening in The Sleeping Beauty, to the dark-hearted chill of Mary Vetsera in MacMillan’s passionate Mayerling, Su created stage contrasts that revealed a blossoming dance actress.
There was Manon, as well, in Lady of the Camellias, and Katharina in The Taming of the Shrew. The former showed an ability to be in touch with vulnerability and sadness. The latter offered a chance to tap into her nascent sense of humour. “I can’t believe I can do all this,” she grins.
Su admits something transformative has happened to give her the strength and confidence to slip into these iconic roles. “Growing up, I was never a competitive dancer. My parents would fly me to New York from our home in California to take part in competitions. I never did well. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. It was just that I couldn’t stand out.”
Yet Su always knew there was dance drama in her that needed to be released. How to do it was the issue. “I had to prove to myself that I belonged centre stage. I had to let it all out. But I never really promoted myself. I never pushed enough. Then, it just suddenly happened,” Su says. “Our director Tamas Detrich talked with me about moving forward. He was sincere. I think his trust released something in me. I understand now I must make the right moves to propel my dancing into its next phase.”
The need to dance was never the problem, Su says. It was always there. “I knew I had ballet fever. I was ready to let go and just let it all out.”
Su is about to take new and challenging steps as she embraces the role of Clara in Edward Clug’s upcoming version of The Nutcracker for Stuttgart Ballet. “Ever since I was a baby ballerina at school, I remember hearing Tchaikovsky’s music each December. The images of waltzing flowers and crystal snowflakes marked Christmas for me. All those Nutcracker images are still there in my head.”
For Su, The Nutcracker is “all about the story. No matter how it is changed by new choreographers, the ballet remains golden. It is a tradition in our modern times. Clara is about innocent, vibrant youth. She’s about being brave and curious over what waits in the future.”
Clug, she says, “is an infectiously creative person.” His version “takes the traditional ballet and stands it on its head. Think outside the box. I don’t want to give too much away but the characters are all re-thought. This version is more in line with the E.T. A. Hoffmann original tale. Swap dancing snowflakes and flowers for forest fairies and butterflies. Clara is a girl about to discover she’s a woman.”
Adds Su, “There’s so much to absorb, but I’m ready to be pushed, to move on, to claim a space. That’s different from the Agnes I was before. These days I’m cool as a cucumber.” Agnes Su laughs and tosses her mane of dark hair. Hers will be a Clara to reckon with.
