Cognitive Dissonance

There's always something odd when performing artists get involved in politics:

The demonstration outside the Coliseum threatened to upset the genteel world of pirouettes and arabesques as Simone Clarke prepared to play the lead in the romantic classic Giselle.

The English National Ballet's principal dancer was named in a newspaper last month as a member of the British National Party (BNP), a minority anti-immigration party.

Campaign group Unite Against Fascism called for Ms Clarke, 36, to stand down, saying she has been used to "promote and prettify extreme right-wing politics."

"There is no place for fascist ideas in the arts," said Donna Guthrie, 36, a campaigner for the group. "We're calling on her to resign from the party or leave the company."

Thirty police lined the street outside the theatre as ballet-goers arrived for the afternoon show. Most patrons expressed support for Clarke, calling the protest undemocratic.

"They talk about their freedom, but what about ours?," said secretary June Mitchell, 58. "She shouldn't stand down because of her political beliefs."

... "I will be known as the BNP ballerina. I think that will stick with me for life," she told the Mail on Sunday newspaper. "I would rather it wasn't like that but I don't regret anything. I will stay a member.

"I have been labelled a racist and a fascist because I have a view on immigration – and I mean mass immigration – but isn't that something that a lot of people worry about?"

She said her partner Yat Sen-Chang, a dancer with Chinese-Cuban roots, had urged her to join the party. Ms Clarke could not immediately be reached for comment.