The moment I knew: we were rehearsing a difficult dance move – and I caught her head before she hit the floor
I was a young dancer based in Queensland when in 2012 I got my first international gig at the Leipzig Ballet in Germany, and a year later a beautiful Brazilian named Naiara joined the company. Her personality was infectious and I was instantly drawn to her high energy and natural charisma.
I was attracted to her from the jump and tried to put some moves on, but we were so young – just 22 and 19. I guess she thought I was just playing the field and wasn’t interested in taking it there with me. But we were good colleagues and socialised a lot together. For three years we coasted along that way and were never paired together as dancers.
It wasn’t until I got another job in Switzerland and knew I’d be leaving the company that I goofily approached her in the studio to confess the chemistry I felt between us and the respect I had for her as an artist, and a person. It was a shot in the dark, but I could see it shifted her interest in me.
Before I left for the new job, our company toured in Colombia and romance blossomed. Back in Germany we started spending a lot of time together. By 2016 I was in love. There was this beautiful simplicity to our dynamic. From early on we could be together in silence – dancers are good at communicating without words. I could feel her, I could understand her; that happened so quickly for us.
Between gigs in 2017 – me in Switzerland, Naiara in Germany – we had a summer break and I invited her to Australia to meet my family. Our closeness grew ever deeper, but we knew we were headed into the unknown of a long-distance relationship once we got back to Europe.
It was an eight-hour journey between Leipzig and Basel, but we never let more than a fortnight pass without seeing each other. For some couples distance can create a chasm, for us it brought us closer together. But it wasn’t without its challenges and after about a year she presented me with an ultimatum – we had to be in the same city.
Despite the risk she obliged me and went into the jump 100%. Partly, I think, to prove she was right...
As the pandemic bore down in 2020, I managed to get into the same company she was dancing for in St Gallen, Switzerland. Because of the rules around physical contact during Covid, the fact that we were a couple and living together meant we were paired together for duets, finally.
I remember one day in the studio there we were rehearsing a difficult lift. Naiara assured me my grip was wrong. I kept telling her it was the right thing to do. She kept telling me, “It’s wrong, it’s wrong.”
Despite the risk she obliged me and went into the jump 100%. Partly, I think, to prove she was right, but also because she knew that even if things went wrong, I would catch her. Which I did, just before her head hit the floor.
I felt so silly that I hadn’t double-checked it and believed her, but I understood at that moment how implicit her trust in me was, and how much responsibility I felt towards her. In the moments she’s above my head and our eyes meet, it’s like we are looking into each other’s souls – it’s profound connection, ultimate trust.
I feel like we are in complete balance together. In life and in dance we know where each other’s going, it’s a joint instinct which is so beautiful to share. It’s like we are dancing our way not just through our choreography but through our day-to-day life together. In 2022 that synchronicity brought us to Australia when we joined the Sydney Dance Company.
In the studio and at home, we’ve shared many scary moments together, pushing the limits of our trust for and responsibility to each other’s hearts and bodies. But whether we are doing a duet or making dinner, that sense of vulnerability and nurturing each other makes me feel love. True love.
Piran Scott and Naiara de Matos appear in the Sydney Dance Company’s production of Momenta at the Arts Centre Melbourne, 8-12 October.
