What to Know about Constance Devernay-Laurence 

With so much excitement about the new ballet drama/ comedy Étoile, we simply had to catch up with one of it's real life dancers Constance Devernay-Laurence, Imperfect Insider and collaborator with Imperfect Pointes.  She appears in all 8 episodes of series 1, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 24 April. It was time to get Constance to spill the tea! 

On set with the Paris cast of Étoile. Constance is dressed in her Imperfect Pointes Haina Camisole leotard

Helen Imperfect: I guess for Imperfect Pointes, we have had quite a journey together. The first time we heard the name Constance Devernay-Laurence was when you ordered your first ballet leotard from our new website. I was so thrilled that you were the first Principal Dancer of a national ballet company to have ordered from the tiny dancewear brand that I founded in 2020! 

Constance: Yes, I was interested to discover a cool, new brand that was making everything from sustainable materials, here in the UK. I ordered the Cilicia leotard in Ocean Blue Ombré and then I took some photos in the studio wearing it with my pas de deux partner . There’s this one photo of me and Javier Andreu, wearing the Ombré Men's dance tights, where he is lifting me during rehearsals. You reached out to me to ask if you could use my photos on Imperfect Pointes social media channels. 

Constance with Javier Andreu, of Scottish Ballet in matching Ocean Ombre dancewear

Helen: I remember it so well. Then, when I began developing the new convertible ballet tights you wanted to introduce them at Scottish Ballet for all the shows where the dancers wore convertible tights. 

Constance: Being part of the Environment team at Scottish Ballet, I was keen for the company's wardrobe team to buy Imperfect Pointes convertible tights for the dancers, as when I tried them I loved them. Besides being sustainable, I couldn’t believe how comfortable they are, especially the waistband. Since then, we've  never looked back, as I always wear Imperfect Pointes tights - in fact I don't wear any other ballet tights in the studio. 

Helen: I’m sure our community is dying to know  about how you came to be in Étoile on Prime - the new ballet comedy drama that is everyone's latest obsession. 

Constance: When I was offered the job for Étoile, I had to make the hard decision to leave Scottish Ballet after 15 years. I had reached the highest level, as a Principal Dancer and it was time for a change. I was meant to start with Amazon Prime straight away, but the actors' strike slowed everything down and we didn't actually start filming until five, six months later. This was a challenge, but fortunately,  I was able to take part in many Ballet Nights performances and keep myself in shape.

I moved from Scotland to London with my husband and my cat, Apollo. I finally began filming Étoile in February 2024 and finished in November last year. I was lucky to be filming the whole time, between Paris and New York. After we finished shooting Season One, I went on honeymoon to the Maldives and I'm just about to start dancing with London City Ballet.

Helen: Tell us about the parts you play in the Étoile show - it's great to see that they used real ballet dancers - our friends Models Doing Ballet will approve! 

Constance: I'm the dance body double for the character Cheyenne Toussant,  who is played by Lou De Laâge. I'm also an actor and dancer for the Paris cast, and my character’s name is Melanie. The show is witty, fast-paced, it's crazy and fun. 

It's a comedy drama. It shows ballet as its best, from the creators of TV shows Gilmore Girls and The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino. 

I've got this really quick, funny dialogue, and all I can say is the same for the choreography. The choreographer is Marguerite Derricks, who makes ballet sexy and her work demands strong ballet technique.  So yeah, fast-paced, funny, beautiful, emotional,  and just a big celebration of dance, showcasing professional dancers, which is wonderful.

Helen: What was it like working with Christopher Wheeldon on the choreography for Etoile? (this can be seen in Episode 8 with the red dress) With music by Sparks 

Constance: It was really amazing to work with Wheeldon. He was super busy at the time, as he was opening MJ the Musical in London, so we had only a very limited window of opportunity to create and rehearse. Wheeldon was like a movement machine! The solo requires classical ballet technique and also, to actually have the freedom to dance like no-one is watching! For this to look authentic on the small screen it required an understanding of the movement and the angles of the camera, to the extent that the camera person becomes almost part of the choreography. So very different to being on stage with Ballet Nights or London City Ballet, where I am soon to be dancing. 

Helen: In which theatres was the Étoile series filmed? 

Constance: Some of it was filmed on dedicated sets created for the show in Paris and New York and some of it was filmed in famous well known theatres but you’ll have to try to work out which ones!  

Helen: What imperfect Pointes leotards did you wear in the series?  

Constance: My Haina Strappy Camisole leotard appears episode 3!

Sometimes you will get glimpses of Imperfect Pointes leotards throughout the show as I was always wearing them in class and during the creation period with Marguerite Derricks 

Imperfect Pointes fits the show perfectly because Cheyenne (the main female dancer character) is such an eco-warrior and activist. 

One of the scenes in episode 5 which features my choreo, inspired me to ask Imperfect Pointes to make me a jazz pants unitard with flared legs. 

I wore my signature red Mersey long sleeved custom leotard in episode 5.

Helen: Any Behind-the-scenes secrets from the show? You told us about a Hollywood switch - what is that? 

Constance: A Hollywood switch is when either the actor or the body double is being filmed by the camera. The camera then pans out. The actor or the body double follows and hides behind the camera, meanwhile the actor replaces the double and then the camera comes back to the main character.

In a lot of the Hollywood switch we did, especially in episode 8, that solo from Christopher Wheeldon, the camera is on Lou De Laâge and she brings her head up and we see her eyes and then the camera pans out to the audience so we notice she's on stage. I'm literally shoulder to shoulder with a camera operator and as the camera pans out, I rremove myself, Lou disappears behind the camera so we swap places and the camera comes back and it's me. That's a Hollywood switch.

It’s very clever because it means that the camera doesn't have to do a cut and it makes it more real because it looks like it was always the same person.

Helen: did you meet any interesting characters whilst filming? 

Constance: I actually met a real rat during episode 6 - he was such a great actor ! 

I guess you'll have to tune in to see how that scene plays out!