On 5th September 1976, a new television programme aired on the UK channel, ITV. Created by American puppeteer, Jim Henson, The Muppet Show soon achieved a mass following in over 100 countries. The worlds of ballet and the muppets met when Rudolf Nureyev took the guest spot on The Muppet Show.
Since defecting from the Soviet Union in 1961, Nureyev achieved a celebrity status almost unrivalled by any other ballet dancer before or since. His numerous performances for companies across the Western world ignited interest in the dancer and his art form, raising the profile and technical level of male dancing in the West.
In an episode first broadcast on 22nd January 1978, viewers saw him dance with a ballerina pig – if not Miss Piggy herself, as has often been assumed (the original muppet has no legs), surely a close relation of the diva, karate-chopping, French-versed muppet. Their sketch together, Swine Lake, is a parody of the White Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake. Fans of Nureyev and The Muppets might be familiar with these facts, but less well known is who was inside the porcine puppet. I spoke with Graham Fletcher, “Flecky” as he is known in the business, and he revealed more about being the ballerina pig and told me of other memorable moments in his career.
Fletcher had been in The Royal Ballet eight years when he was summoned to the company secretary’s office. Iris Law explained that Nureyev’s assistant had called requesting a short male partner for a Muppet Show sketch. Wayne Sleep was unavailable, and Fletcher was busy with The Two Pigeons. Not taking ‘no’ for an answer, Nureyev called back personally to insist that Fletcher be allowed time off. Although he adored dancing The Two Pigeons, Fletcher was overjoyed at the prospect of appearing on The Muppet Show. He says, “It was like a religion in my household: compulsory viewing for my two young children every Sunday evening.”
Filming took place in Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire. The choreography, by Norman Maen, was part White Swan, part slapstick. Nureyev had recently seen a performer with a puppet attached to his legs and wished to have the idea incorporated. Fletcher vividly remembers the day of filming wearing his pointe shoes from 6am until 1pm. He tells me, “When I took them off for the lunch break there was blood everywhere.”
He also recalls a nervous Henson wondering when or whether he could begin to shoot. Seemingly oblivious to the tight filming schedule, Nureyev calmly went through his warm-up at the barre. The clock ticking, Fletcher was sent as an intermediary to ask Rudi when it might be possible to make a start. The Russian star looked him in the eye and with a grin said, “I make them wait a little!” Fletcher reported back to Henson, “He will be ready in two minutes.” Nureyev is reputed to have been difficult at times, but Fletcher recalls how brilliantly Nureyev partnered him throughout the rehearsals and filming of Swine Lake: a challenge for both dancers given the large costume and cumbersome pig head.
The editing of Swine Lake is seamless, but part of its comic value lies in moments when the costume is obviously inhabited and then mercifully not – such as when Nureyev swings the ballerina pig around himself and sends her flying. Fletcher remembers being instructed by Henson to lie face down on the floor and make his whole body jump to affect the impact of landing so the edit could be realised effectively. During the curtain calls, the pig curtseyed a little deeper each time, snout a touch closer and the more the crew laughed the more outrageous Flecky became, running into the wings and back, flinging himself at Nureyev, until even Rudi was laughing hysterically as ‘Miss Piggy’ embraced her Prince’s muscular legs, feigning exaggerated, super-fan adulation: “Oh Rudi! Oh Mr. Nureyev!” – not included in the final cut of the family show.
Inhabiting an animal costume wasn’t a novelty for Fletcher, nor was dancing on pointe. He had been selected by Sir Frederick Ashton for the 1971 film, The Tales of Beatrix Potter in which he played both a mouse and a pig. It was Ashton, he says, who first made him aware about making a costume live, he remembers, “You must be the costume, you can’t just be in it, you must use its full extent.” And Flecky concludes, “We all learnt so much from Beatrix Potter.”
Swine Lake was Fletcher’s first engagement working outside The Royal Ballet. The Bolton-born dancer had been at both Royal Ballet Schools, White Lodge and Talgarth Road. In his final year at Upper School, company members were injured, and he was ordered by ballet master Michael Somes to attend company rehearsal, “Whatever’s going on in that studio, learn it.” Following Somes’ command, Fletcher, only 17, opened the studio door to find Nureyev waiting to rehearse the Chinese Dance in his Nutcracker. Soon after, Fletcher was told by another ballet master that he would have to join the company as, “They couldn’t possibly allow a student to dance a soloist role.”
Those who saw Fletcher’s performances with The Royal Ballet will remember his gentle humour as part of the trio with Sleep and Lesley Collier in Ashton’s Tweedledum and Tweedledee, or as the subtly mischievous Puck in The Dream, also the shy boy in Jerome Robbins’ The Concert.
He danced the Alaskan Rag, with Vergie Derman in Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations. At a performance in Bristol, an appreciative audience brought the pair back numerous times to acknowledge the applause after their duet. Deciding seven times was enough, Fletcher came back on stage with a chair, plonked himself in it, arms folded – the audience applauded even harder. After the show, in a crowded dressing room at the top of a long flight of steps, he heard a knock: Michael Somes. Never one to give compliments easily, especially not in public, Somes had climbed the staircase solely to congratulate Fletcher on his performance. He said, “In the old days, billboards outside the theatre advertised who was on that night. After your performance today, your name would top the bill. In large print.”
Fletcher breathes music; whether considering the accents that Sir Fred insisted on for the coupé jetés in Kolia’s manège in A Month in the Country, saying ‘it shouldn’t be even,’ or the thrill of rehearsing with Sir Adrian Boult who also conducted the performances of Enigma Variations, (Sir Adrian to Fletcher, “Can you dance it faster?” with Fletcher responding, “I would love to!”) or setting a class enchaînement, music is integral to his being.
He cites William Meath Baker in Enigma Variations as one of his favourite roles and remembers a Victorian toy that was dressed in a similar type of large bell-shaped coat and how, when pushed along, its legs would move inside the coat. Using this picture, Fletcher would lift his legs up making it look as if they had disappeared into the costume. In the cross step, he would grasp the coat firmly to himself, emphasising the movement happening underneath. Speaking with Fletcher, you realise he understands stagecraft and theatre in its fullest sense – he is not only a dancer, but an artist who has the creative imagination to make a performance come to life.
The premiere of MacMillan’s Mayerling took place less than a month after Swine Lake was first broadcast. In it, Fletcher created the role of Bratfisch, an entertainer and Crown Prince Rudolf’s cab driver. During our interview, the 71-year-old entertains me with a move made famous by John Travolta in the 1977 film, Saturday Night Fever. Fletcher explains that in a pause during rehearsals, as Philip Gammon practised at the piano, he practised his Travolta impression at the back of the studio. MacMillan noticed and instructed him to jump keeping the Travolta hips but leaving out the arm: it became Bratfisch’s first step of the tavern solo.
Henson asked Fletcher to join The Muppets permanently but having just been made a principal dancer of The Royal Ballet, he declined. He eventually left The Royal Ballet to take over the role of Mr. Mistoffelees in Cats, joining original cast members. Swine Lake marked the beginning of a periodic association with The Muppets. He appeared several times as the Fletcher Bird and Timmie the Martian in episodes that included guests Diana Ross, Liberace and Alice Cooper. Perhaps his most fascinating Muppet incarnation is Spider, with Raquel Welch. He worked alongside Brian Henson, Jim’s son, as the man-eating plant Audrey Ⅱ in the 1986 film Little Shop of Horrors. He remembers the kindness of Jim Henson, Frank Oz and the whole muppet family. Of Nureyev he says, “He was the warmest person you could ever meet.”
Fletcher has many more stories: accidentally upsetting Jerome Robbins; being chased around the studio by an irate Nureyev who was, in turn, hurriedly pursued by Dame Monica Mason and Diana Vere as they attempted to restore calm; at the London Palladium apologetically brushing aside Gene Kelly who tried complimenting him on his Act 1 appearance as Little Titch, then a mad dash through Soho in a bid to reach the Palace Theatre in time to perform Act 2 of Song and Dance. But, as Kermit the Frog might say, “I guess that’s all we have time for.”
