What's it like to partner your real-life partner? Matthew Lawrence spills the beans.
Matthew Lawrence and Gaylene Cummerfield were both born in New Zealand, growing up in Christchurch. “We were both born in the same hospital, believe it or not,” says Lawrence. “We were born in the same month, a year apart.” Cummerfield smiles:“Though we didn’t meet until some time later.” “It’s a big place, New Zealand,” agrees Lawrence. “You get lost in it.”
– Zoë Anderson, Dancing Times (UK), 2008
Please excuse my two-mirrored vanity, opening an article about us – my wife and I - with a quote from an article about us. Even Narcissus only owned one mirror. But objectivity comes from others. For instance, I need Anderson to tell you, “He’s [me] open, lively, talkative.” Nice. And, “She’s quieter, but will often prompt him, raising ideas that Lawrence will run with.” My wife will agree; she is the brain and I am the mouth.
Audiences love the art imitating life - “They’re playing Romeo and Juliet, and they’re married!” – stories. As former ‘Z-list’ celebrities, we had our fair share of ‘romance articles’. My favourite was written by the Australian Women’s Weekly, headlining: “Prince charming swept me off my feet!”, which managed to breach at least ten popular clichés.
As Anderson rightly noted, my wife and I started life in the same hospital, but met 18 years later at the Australian Ballet School (ABS). As aforementioned, New Zealand is a big place. It has two main islands and we grew up separated by the Cook Strait. Apparently, upon our first meeting at ABS, I was rather dismissive and rude – this story has two versions. Fortunately, our initial misunderstanding was short lived, and we were soon flirting in ‘Kiwi’. Relationships, however, were not overly encouraged at ballet school, viewed as a temporary training distraction. One of my tutors even advised, “Don’t let her [my future wife] hold your career back.”...
You can read the rest of this article in the October/November issue of Dance Australia. Don’t miss out! Buy your copy from your favourite magazine retailer or subscribe here, or purchase an online copy via the Dance Australia app.