Powerhouse Ballet Celebrates Dance

 

Powerhouse Ballet Extract from La Sylphide Chrima Q Theatre, Leeds, 25 Nov 2023 15:00 and 19:00

Every Autumn The Dance Studio Leeds presents a Celebration of Dance at the Chroma Q Theatre in Leeds. It is a gala to which the studio's students and dance groups and companies from Leeds and beyond contribute.   We took part in it for the first time last year when we danced an extract of Giselle (see A Celebration of Dance: Wilis and More 23 Nov 2022).  We were invited back this year to dance an extract from La Sylphide on 25 Nov 2023. (see Powerhouse Ballet's Romantic Ballet Workshop 26 Sept 2023 Powerhouse Ballet's website).

For the first time since our formation, we staged a show with a mixed cast. We have always welcomed gentlemen to our classes but we have been unable to persuade any of them to perform in public.  This year Frank Lee danced James for us, a role that he performed with flair and gallantry.   He was supported by the ladies in the above photograph who excelled themselves.

Our performances could easily have gone wrong because two of our most talented and experienced members were indisposed through illness and injury.  I sensed a ripple of despair as the news sank in which was arrested abruptly by our wonderful choreographer, director and producer, Jane Tucker, by assuring us that our show would be wonderful.   I have to say that I thought she had her work cut out because the tech rehearsal had exposed several issues.   In a rehearsal in our dressing room which she called immediately afterwards, she adjusted the choreography and reassigned roles.  Confidence quickly returned and our cast was ready for anything.

There were two performances on 25 Nov: a matinee at 15:00 and an evening show at 19:00.  Jane and I watched the matinee and were very impressed. Many styles of dance were represented. All had been thought out well and rehearsed.  I enjoyed all the pieces but I particularly liked the Indian dancers.   I have invited their teacher to give us an exhibition class in the New Year.   Having been one of the founder members of the St Andrews Dance Club I was delighted to make contact with the director of the Leeds Union University Ballet Society.   I shall do all I can to support the Society with reviews and announcements,   Their dancers will be very welcome at all our classes and workshops.

Our dancers performed magnificently in the matinee.   I think the absence of two of our number encouraged them to dance as they had never danced before.   I have never been more proud of them.  They also danced well in the evening though I only saw them from the wings.  After the matinee the cast presented Jane and me with beautiful bouquets of roses,   I am glad to say that mine are still going strong.

The purpose of the gala is to raise money for charity.  This year the cause was bowel cancer research and relief which this publication is proud to support.  We were one of the sponsors of this year's show.  Anybody who wishes to contribute to the charity can donate to Bowel Cancer UK.

Powerhouse Ballet is now on a roll.   We have been invited to dance in Shake Your Tutu (Northern Dance Academy's Christmas show) at the Creative Centre Theatre, York, YO31 7EX on 10 Dec 2023 at 19:30. Karen Lester Sant has offered us a slot in KNT Danceworks's next show in Manchester.   Our next company class will take place on 27 Jan 2024 between 09:45 and 11:15 at Dance Studio Lees when we shall welcome back Annemarie  Donoghue of Northern Ballet Academy.   Karen will give us our next class in Manchester on 17 Feb 2024,   Anyone wishing to join any of our activities should call me on 07966 373922 or send me a message through this contact form.

Powerhouse Ballet August Update

Leeds Company Class 28 July 2018

© 2018 Powerhouse Ballet: all rights reserved

Last week's class with Annemarie Donoghue of Northern Ballet was the best class ever in terms of numbers with 21 attendees, and it was also very enjoyable.  But the excitement generated last week has been quite overtaken by events,

On 31 June 2018 I wrote that we had been offered a slot at Move IT in Manchester on 16 or 23 Feb.  I had originally planned to stage the pas de six from Bournonville's Napoli because there seemed to be nothing in the piece that I had not been taught at one time or another by my teachers at Northern Ballet or KNT.  However, Beverley Willsmer, who had actually danced that pas de six, warned me that it was nothing like as easy as it looked.   She advised us to commission our own work if we could.

As a result of her warning, I wrote on Powerhouse Ballet's website:

"I thought of the pas de six from Napoli but Beverley who has danced that work tells me that it is nothing like as easy as I had supposed. I should be very grateful for suggestions from members of the company and indeed anyone else."

I was wondering where on earth I could find a choreographer as I penned that article.

As soon as I had published that article,  the eminent dancer, choreographer and teacher, Terry Etheridge, contacted me through Facebook with an offer to create a ballet for us.   This was an exceptional opportunity and I grasped it with both hands.  Not only has Terry enjoyed an impressive career as one of the first members of the company that is now Northern Ballet, a soloist at Festival Ballet, artistic director of Hong Kong, head of dance at Urdang, principal of Rambert school and guest choreographer for the Royal Swedish Ballet school, he has many years experience of teaching and creating ballets for dancers just like us for he is resident choreographer of Duchy Ballet in Cornwall.

One of the dancers with whom Terry has worked at various times in his career is our ballet mistress, Beverley Willsmer.  She has also danced with Festival Ballet as well as in Germany and she was ballet mistress to Chelsea Ballet which is another amateur ballet company.   I am proud to say that I danced with Beverley in my very first show at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds in 2014.  Until Jonathan Barton advised me last April that one can watch a performance or one can do a performance but not both at the same time (see Visiting Taynuilt 4 May 2018) I used to position myself close to Beverley at the barre in the hope that some of her brilliance would rub off onto me. I am not sure that any did though I certainly learned a lot from her.

Terry will be in  Leeds on 15 and 16 Sept 2018.   He will hold an audition in the form of a class on 15 Sept from which he will select his cast.  He will invite the dancers he chooses back the next day to create the ballet.  I shall take thorough notes and so will Beverley.   We shall film the choreography at the end pf the session. 

Beverley will then invite the cast back for rehearsals starting immediately after each company class beginning with the 22 Sept in Liverpool.   Other rehearsals will take place in Leeds on 27 Oct immediately after Jane Tucker's class, Manchester on 1 Dec immediately after Karen Sant's and Leeds on 26 Jan 2019 immediately after Fiona Noonan's. We might even be able to squeeze in a rehearsal on 28 Nov immediately before or immediately after our workshop with Ballet Cymru.  Yet more rehearsals will be arranged by Beverley as and when necessary.  If you want to be in the show and can commit to the rehearsals here is the link to our Evenbrite page. We have room for only 6 more dancers so if you want to audition don't leave it too late to register.

The show is only one of a number of great events for you.   Don't forget Yvonne Charlton's master class on 22 Sept in Liverpool and Ballet Cymru's workshop. Fiona Noonan, who has CRB clearance, will also teach a class for  younger dancers.  We need to find a Clara (aka "Marie"), her horrible little brother who smashes the nutcracker, his even sillier little chums who disturb the girls with their drums and trumpets while they are playing with their prezzies, mice and some toy soldiers for The Nutcracker which we hope to dance at least in part next year.

Powerhouse Ballet Update

Author Mark Hindle
© 2018 Mark Hindle: all rights reserved
Reproduced with kind permission of the copyright owner

I wondered whether anyone would turn up to our first company class in Manchester which took place in a studio that lacked air conditioning on one of the hottest afternoons of the year.  As you can see from the photograph, we had excellent attendance.

Mark Hindle took the class and we had a great time.  After foot limbering warm up exercises he led us through a brisk barre, a delightful port de bras, pirouettes starting with quarter and half and finishing with full turns, sautés and jetés and a joyous final exercise across the studio.

Mark is a very thorough teacher with a great eye for detail.  I think most of us received at least one correction and I got four which I now record immediately after class in a small notebook that I keep in my dance bag.  One of many tips that I have picked up from fellow company class members.

I am now close to completing a draft business plan which I shall circulate to everybody who has attended class or expressed interest in the company.  I think we need to grow a little bit more before we can contemplate staging even a short piece.

Not everybody who supports the idea of a ballet company in the North of England can make company class each month.  Indeed, not everybody wants to dance in public.  We need to offer something for such well wishers.  One of the benefits that we can offer is an opportunity to hear and meet well known dancers, choreographers, composers and other important figures from dance in an informal setting.  The London Ballet Circle offers a good model.  Yesterday the well-known dance critic, Gerald Dowler, interviewed the American dancer, Chase Dansey, at the Civil Service Club.  I am in negotiations with various organizations about holding similar meetings in Leeds and Manchester and I already have a first guest in mind.  I hope to make an announcement shortly.

As I announced in Powerhouse Ballet's Leeds Company Class  26 June 2018 our next company class will be given  by Annemarie Donoghue of Northern Ballet Academy at the Dance Studio Leeds in Madgate Mills at 14:00 on 28 July 2018.  I have attended Annemarie's classes regularly since 2013 and have learned a lot from her.  Though she teaches with endless patience and good humour her classes are challenging.  She expects nothing less than the best and she draws out the best from each and every one of her students.  Like other teachers at Northern Ballet Academy, she teaches in accordance with the Ichino technique so expect a very brisk warm-up, a thorough barre, challenging centre exercises, a charming port de bras  and a joyous final exercise at the end. 

The class is filling up nicely but we still have some space. You can register for Annemarie's class by clicking this button. 

Powerhouse Ballet's Leeds Company Class

I am delighted to announce that Powerhouse's Ballet's July class will be given by Annemarie Donoghue of Northern Ballet on Saturday 28 July 2018 at 14:00 in Studio 1 at Dance Studio Leeds in Mill 6 of the historic Mabgate Mills on Macaulay Street.  As before I shall pay for the teacher and studio hire.  All you have to do is register and turn up.

Annemarie was my first teacher at Northern Ballet and I have attended more classes with her than I have with any other teacher.  I described my first class with her in Realizing a Dream 12 Sept 2013. While she appears to have endless patience and good humour her classes are anything but easy.  She pushes her students hard, expects the very best from them and consistently draws out the best.  You can see her in action in  this YouTube video of her over 55 class at Northern Ballet.

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As its name suggests, Mabgate Mills is located in Mabgate, an interesting quarter of Leeds with a rich industrial heritage.  There are several listed and historic buildings in the neighbourhood including the Mills themselves.  The studios are half a mile from Northern Ballet and a little over a mile from Leeds railway station.  The 42 run bus runs from Infirmary Street nearthe station to Lincoln Green Road which is close to the Mills.  There is free parking in the Mill yard on Saturdays.

We still have space on the June class in Manchester.  It will be given by Mark Hindle of KNT Danceworks between 13:30 and 15:00 on Saturday 30 June 2018.  There is no charge but you must register in advance.  You can do so by clicking the button below.

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Happy New Year! Christmas is over. Now if you want to work off those Mince Pies .....

KNT Dancworks Manchester: Ailsa Baker, Josh Moss and Karen Sant
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I was 63 when I took up ballet. Save for a few classes when I was an undergraduate at St Andrews in the early 1970s I had no experience of ballet. My first classes were at The Base in Huddersfield. They were not easy because I was the oldest member by several decades but we had a good teacher and I persevered. In September 2013 I joined Northern Ballet's Over 55 class where all the other students were about my age. That was one of the best decisions I ever took in my life. We have an excellent teacher in Annemarie Donoghue and the other students are lovely. Here is what I wrote after my first class with Annemarie: Realizing a Dream 12 Sept 2013.

My classes with Annemarie gave me sufficient confidence to try classes with other teachers. I tried Adam Pudney's class at Pineapple which I enjoyed tremendously (see Pineapple 20 Nov 2013 and Another Slice of Pineapple 12 July 2015). I took classes with Christopher Hinton-Lewis (see It's an Ill Wind - Review of Northern Ballet's Beginner's Class 6 Dec 2013) and Elizabeth Rae and attend regulalry Jane Tucker's class at the Northern Ballet Academy. I have appeared in the Academy's end of term shows (see The Time of My Life 28 June 2014 and My Second Ballet 5 July 2015) which we even took or tour to Morley (see Growing Old Disgracefully in Morley 28 Sept 2015). I ventured south to Sheffield (see More than just Hype - Beginners and Improvers Classes in Sheffield 14 May 2014), across the Pennines (see So Proud of Manchester - KNT Danceworks Complete Beginners Class 29 Aug 2014) and I even found myself dancing in the ballroom of Liverpool Town Hall (see It's not every Class that you can use Lord Canning's Eyes for Spotting 9 Sept 2014).

My favourite dance studio is KNT' in Manchester. Classes take place in the studios of the Northern Ballet School on Oxford Road.  There are some great teachers as you can see in the video and I have yet to meet kinder or more supportive classmates. There are classes in all sorts of dance every day of the week except Sunday (see Adult Dance Class Timetable). Last Summer I attended Jane Tucker's Swan Lake intensive and enjoyed it tremendously (see KNT's Beginners' Adult Ballet Intensive - Swan Lake: Day 1 18 Aug 2015, KNT's Beginners' Adult Ballet Intensive - Swan Lake: Day 2 19 Aug 2015 and KNT's Beginners' Adult Ballet Intensive - Swan Lake: Day 3 20 Aug 2915). KNT are presenting a show on 30 Jan 2016 and I am in it. :-)

Another good class that I have discovered very recently is Katie Geddes's at Dance Studio Leeds (see Dance Studio Leeds Beginners' Ballet Class 23 Oct 2015). Again, there is a great teacher and some lovely people in the class. Katie organized a delightful Christmas party on 4 Dec 2015 and a trip to Northern Ballet's The Nutcracker on 18 Dec 2015 (see Northern Nutcracker 19 Dec 2015). One of the delights of just about any dance class is the opportunity to meet interesting new people in all walks of life and I have made some great friendships through ballet.

So this is how I spend my week.  On Mondays I go to the beginners' class at Dance Studio Leeds between 1945 and 21:15. On Tuesday's I attend Karen Sant's beginners' class at KNT in Manchester from 18:30 to 19:30. On Wednesday I attend Jane Tucker's improvers' class at Northern Ballet between 19:00 and 20:15. That is a particularly challenging but also very worthwhile class because if you aim for the stars you may actually clear the bar. On Thursday's I attend Annemarie Donoghue's over 55 improvers class at Northern Ballet between 11:00 and 12:15 which is also pretty stretching. If I miss a class earlier in the week for any reason I cross the Pennines for Sarah Butler's beginner's class at KNT between 18:30 and 19:30 on Friday. I have also attended the Saturday afternoon mixed ability class between 15:00 and 17:00.

If you live anywhere near Manchester or Leeds those are the classes I recommend. If not, here are some tips to find a class that's right for you. If you live in or near London you are spoilt for choice. Londondance.com lists dance classes in just about every dance style in every part of the metropolis on its Dance Class and Workshops page. I have only attended Adam's class at Pineapple but I have watched some of the classes at Danceworks and can't wait to try some of them.  KNT runs classes at Studio 76 at 76 West Derby Road and Dolphin Dance Studio at Dolphin Dance Studio at 42 Devon Street in Liverpool on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (see Timetable). Dancexchange runs all sorts of classes in Birmingham. Scottish Ballet runs a wide range of adult ballet classes at the Tramway in Glasgow (see the Get Dancing page on Scottish Ballet's web site). Ballet West offers body conditioning for adults at Taynuilt on Tuesdays and Thursdays (see Ballet West Outreach Timetable 2015/16) as does Ballet Cymru in Newport on Mondays between 18:30 and 19:30 (call Jenny Isaacs 01633 892927 or email jennyisaacs@welshballet.co.uk for further details).

We are busy compiling a database of adult dance classes up and down the country. If we find any gaps we shall do our best to find a teacher and premises to fill them. If you are an RAD or ISTD teacher, carry the appropriate insurance and accreditations and are prepared to teach adults in your area do get in touch.

Growing Old Disgracefully in Morley

On 4 July 2015 I danced again at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in the Northern Ballet Academy's end of year show (see My Second Ballet 5 July 2015). Gita reviewed our performance in Northern Ballet Academy's End of Year Show 9 July 2015. Last Saturday we took out show on tour and danced in A Feast of Music and Dance by Older Performers at Morley.

We contributed to a lunch time cabaret organized by LEAF partners (Yorkshire Dance, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Northern Ballet, Phoenix Dance, Leeds Grand Theatre and City Varieties and Opera North) at Morley Town Hall. The cabaret was part of a project known as Young at Arts which is itself part of a 6 year programme called Time to Shine that will bring the arts to older audiences in community centres, health centres, care homes, shopping centres and leisure centres so that they can get creative, active and connected. The Time to Shine programme is funded by the Big Lottery's Fulfilling Lives: Ageing Better scheme to reduce social isolation of 200,000 older people.

The cabaret took place in the basement of the Town Hall between 11:30 and 13:00. For those who are not from these parts, Morley is a town of about 44,000 people a few miles south of Leeds. Although it forms part of the metropolitan district of Leeds for local government purposes it remains a distinct community in its own right with its own mayor and town council who meet in their own town hall. We were asked to meet Selina McGonagle, Northern Ballet's director of learning at the town hall at 11:30. I reported to Selina at the appointed time and found most of our troupe already seated around a table which had been reserved for us. That table was one of several that had been arranged around a wooden dance floor. A screen had been erected just behind the stage and there were also trestle tables with sandwiches and cake and tea and coffee urns in a corner of the room.  The room was already quite full by the time I arrived. Almost all those who were present appeared to be aged 55 and many much older. They seemed to be a representative cross-section of the population of Morley.

As we needed to warm up someone found a corridor with handrails just outside the room where the event was to take place.  It was not ideal because it was on a slope and very narrow but we each did out own barre exercises. I started in the way that I had been shown by most of my teachers and faced the rail in first position. I did three tendus to the front with my right food rotating my toes on the third, three to the side and three to the right, repeating the exercise with my left and then reversing with a plié and a rise on demi pointe after each set. I then did a set of demi and full  pliés in each of the five positions with side bends in second and fourth and a back bend in third, followed by more tendus, glissés, ronds de jambe, développés, cloches, grands battements and finally the very deep stretches on the barre that Karen Sant had originally taught me at KNT and which Jane Tucker had refined in the Swan Lake intensive. In the corner of my eye I could see that most of my classmates were doing the same.

Selina called us back form a film from a dance group from Canberra called "The Golds" who seemed to be very similar to us. They were also aged 55 or over and their number included folk who had danced or taught dance to quite a high level as well as several individuals like me who had taken up dancing in the last year or so. I subsequently learned that Gold is an acronym for Growing Old Disgracefully and that it is "an exciting dance class for movers and non movers over 55 years with a focus on fitness, mobility and creativity." That class was originally part of a performance project for over 55s in early 2011, in association with the National Library of Australia and Belconnen Arts Centre, and supported by the ACT Government under the ACT Health Promotion Grants Program.

I had actually visited Canberra on the way to an International Bar Association conference in Sydney and had spent a very pleasant weekend touring the city and its environs. My late spouse and I visited the Houses of Parliament and saw one of the earliest copies of Magna Carta. We heard part of an appeal to the High Court of Australia which is the federal supreme court of the country and were surprised to find the judges who were sitting en banc in American style gowns which reminded us of night shirts rather than the sort of robes that our judges wore at that time. We patronized a restaurant called The Republic where the local politicians, lobbyists, journalists and others are said to hang out. We marvelled at the local bird life which made one hell of a racket at nightfall and somewhere spotted a family of kangaroos. We explored the mountainous countryside nearby. It was very beautiful but also very cold and actually snowed quite heavily in the hills and briefly even in the city while we were there.

The Golds did not dance at the lunch but they did answer questions from the audience. Unfortunately I had to miss the Q and A in order to rehearse.  We were then called back for lunch after which we changed into our costumes. I think the Feeling Good Theatre Company and a group from Yorkshire Dance did a turn or showed a film but we missed them because we had to get into costume. Then it was us. We were nearly forgotten by the compère who was about to close the show but her co-presenter reminded her that we were still to dance.

We entered the dance floor, took up our positions and danced.  We raised our right arms in sequence, then our left and tuned in out sets. We swayed back and forth and turned. Then we did a couru in demi flapping our arms like swans. Half of us them did balancés and pas de bourrées while the other half prepared to jump. We ran back to allow them to do their glissades. Then a dancer from stage left followed with a balancé and a temps levés while two if us did the same from the other side. We took up our final positions in a semicircle lifting an arm in sequence and then finally a post de bras to right and left. I think it went very well except that my hand bashed the hand of another dancer as we were both turning which was entirely my fault. We had to change our choreography a little as we had a much smaller stage, fewer dancers and were dancing in the round but we remembered the changes and executed them well. We received very generous applause from the audience. An elderly lady in a hijab congratulated me and told me how much she and her companion had enjoyed the show. She said that it was her first taste of ballet and that she hoped to see more ballet in future. As the object of the exercise is to bring the performing arts to members of the public who do not attend the theatre regularly I chalked that up as a success.

After the show I introduced myself to some of the Golds. I suggested challenging them to a cricket match but they had to prepare for their next engagements in Bradford and Vienna and I am not sure that everyone in our class would have been up for a game. One of the Golds asked me how long I had been dancing. I replied that I had been with the Northern Ballet Academy over 55 class for two years but that I had also had a year from an excellent teacher from Brisbane and had also benefited from classes from Adam at Pineapple and Sarah at KNT who were also Australian. The Golds positively purred at that answer.

Selina thanked us for performing. So did the compère and her staff. Most importantly our teacher Annemarie seemed genuinely pleased with us. I enjoyed the afternoon enormously and hope we can do something like that again very soon.

Northern Ballet Academy's End of Year Show

The Academy of Northern Ballet in Leeds says that it "provides world-class, non-residential dance training to all ages and abilities." I have attended some of those classes including several that have been given by Annemarie Donoghue and one by Chris Hinton-Lewis,  On Saturday 4 July 2015 some of the students who had attended those classes showed off their skills in Northern Ballet Academy's end of year show  in the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds.

So many students attend Northern Ballet's classes that their show has to be divided into several separate performances each with a different cast.  The performance that I attended was the last of the day which started at 16:30. It consisted of the Academy of Northern Ballet, Saturday Ballet Classes 1 and 2, Jazz 1-2 and the Over 55 Class. As their name suggests the Over 55 Class consists of individuals (mainly but not exclusively women) who are aged 55 or above.  Although I would never have guessed it from their appearance or performance, I happen to know that several of those members are well over that age. The Academy dancers are those who have already studied dance to a high level and plan to continue their training at such establishments as Elmhurst and Central. The students in the Saturday Ballet and Jazz classes are much younger. I am aware that at least one of them is aged 9.

I was impressed by all the students but the ones that I had come to see were the Over 55 class as I had attended some of their classes and had made the acquaintance of several of them. They danced Lullaby by Lulaby, a composer I had never heard of but whose music I like very much. Jane Lambert, who took part in the performance, has described the choreography in My Second Ballet 5 July 2015. Earlier in the week I had attended the technical rehearsal where I took video  and the still pictures which I reproduce here with the kind permission of Annemarie and each of her dancers.

Each of the performers danced well and it would be unfair for me to single any out for special praise. The complicated sequences at the start and end of the piece where each dancer raises her hand in turn went off without a hitch. The dancers synchronised their arm movements in the courou and I was impressed by the jumping group and the temps leves of the balance group. Some of the dancers managed quite an elevation which is all the more remarkable given their age. Having seen the rehearsal I know the amount of work that the dancers had put into this show through their classes and rehearsals. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves. The one thing that they could have done better would have been to dance off stage. They seemed to walk off into the wings after they had performed their dance which detracted a little from the overall slickness of the performance. Having said that it may be that I am a little sensitive to that issue as the choreographer of a show in which I had appeared had been very hot on that point.

The crowd seemed to like the piece for they clapped enthusiastically.and I think I heard at least one whoop. The show finished with a curtain call by the whole company which was nice. The compeer thanked the choreographers who had made the show possible. Annemarie and Cara O'Shea (who had worked with David Nixon and Yoko Ichinoa on the Academy's opening and closing pieces and the children's dances) acknowledged the well deserved applause. There was a short speech from the compeer, the drawing of a raffle and the presentation of prizes before the curtain fell for the last time.

I see from the programme that many of the graduating students are going to first rate schools for their professional training and I join with the company in wishing them well in their further training and subsequent careers. 

My Second Ballet

Yesterday I danced in  my second ballet. It did not have quite the same edge as my first time on stage because I already knew what it would be like to dance in a commercial theatre (see The Time of My Life 29 June 2014). Nevertheless, it was still a thrill.  One of the reasons why it was such a thrill was that I knew that I would be dancing before people who mean a lot to me. In particular, Fiona, the teacher who coaxed me back into class a month after I had lost my spouse to a horrible disease when my life was at a very low ebb.

The performance in which I appeared was the over 55 class's contribution to Northern Ballet Academy's end of year show. Northern Ballet Academy does great work in the community. Consequently, there are a lot of classes many of which were represented in the show.  There were so many that we had to be organized in four performances each with a separate cast.  Our's was the last performance which began at 16:30. It included students from the CAT (Centre for Advanced Training) programme as well as some younger kids such as Fiona's daughter who is already something of a pro at the tender age of 9 having already danced Pammy in the Great Gatsby, the young Ondine and one of the mice in The Nutcracker.

As happened last year, we were mustered in the lobby of Northern Ballet at 14:45.  Our teacher and choreographer, Annemarie Donoghue, led us to one of Phoenix's studios on the 6th floor. We had a short class of pliés, tendus, glissés and cloches at the barre and then a couple of run throughs of our piece to the music. To our great surprise and delight we got most of it right. Annemarie took us down to the theatre where we rehearsed a couple of times on stage. Annemarie corrected a few details but otherwise we were OK.

We returned to our studio where we waited for our call which came very quickly. Rather than take the goods lift which gave us our only anxious moment last year we crept down the back stairs and waited our turn. There were some children on stage before us dancing to Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock. They finished their routine and we found our way on to the stage in the dark. The lights came on and our music began. The programme described it as Lullaby by Lulaby.   Now I must confess I have never heard of Lulaby and neither (so it would appear) has Google, YouTube. iTunes or Spotify. One of the members of our class who is a retired teacher attributed it to Thomas Schoenberger but I can't confirm that. Be that as it may it is a lovely composition which I have enjoyed listening and dancing to.

The choreography was very different from last year's. It was less spectacular but required much more concentration.  We started in groups of three.  The left hand dancer of each group raised her arm and she was followed sequentially by the middle dancer and the dancer to her right. That was mirrored by the dancer on the right, followed by the middle dancer and the dancer on the left. We then followed a weaving movement that reminded me of a figure of eight of the Dashing White Sergeant or Eightsome Reel in Scottish country dancing. We repeated that exercise with more épaulements and figures of eight. We advanced, retired and turned to the right. We retired, advanced and turned to the left.  We then courued on demi-pointe flapping our arms like wings. Annemarie told us to think of ourselves as swans.

As the music changed we broke into two lines, the front line to do some jumping and the back line to do balancés. The jumpers retired and we advanced doing balancés to the right and left followed by several pas de bourrés. We retired to the wings as the jumping group did their sautés.  The balancés group entered stage left with two temps levés.  We entered from the right with two more and ran across to the front of the stage where we waited for the next music change.

In the final movement we formed our two lines again and repeated the épaulement exercise but this time in the style of a Mexican wave, We concluded with a lovely port de bras exercise that we had done in class for several weeks before the show.

The applause was deafening. We curtseyed and exited and made our way to the stairs but were told to stop before we had reached the first landing. We learned that we would be required for a curtain call of the whole company. That had not happened the year before and I felt very proud.  While waiting for our call Fiona's daughter spotted and greeted me. It was lovely to see her.  The children were called on first.  Then I ran on followed by the rest of my class.  The CAT dancers came on last.  There were speeches and prizes and finally the curtain fell.

I think our performance was more polished than last year though one of my guests said he preferred last year's show because it lasted longer and there was more jumping.  Another said that we had performed better in the technical rehearsal. I wanted to learn what Fiona thought about our show but she had warned me that she had another appointment to attend and I never got to see her. She has however texted me this morning to say "well done for yesterday" and that I had "smiled the whole way through." I am glad if that was so because I was pleased to be there and I had hoped to communicate my pleasure to the audience in the way that Ruth Brill and Rachael Gillespie do.

Annemarie told us that there was some doubt as to whether we could run a show next year because there will not be time for a choreography class. However, she also told us that there will be one final chance to perform on the 24 Sept 2015 as part of a new community project to bring the arts to older people who are living on their own. Performances are very important for any ballet student including very elderly ones like me because ballet is a performing art which belongs in the theatre rather than the rehearsal studio. I do hope that September will not be my swan song.

Please don't bring TOO MANY rotten eggs or tomatoes

Tomorrow, for three and a half glorious minutes, I shall forget I am one of these:

And I shall pretend that I am one of those:

The corps de ballet in Swan Lake

Photo  Paata Vardnashvili
Source Wikipedia

I am dancing at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds on the same stage that my favourite dancers from Northern Ballet, Ballet Black, MurleyDance and so many other companies have graced. Just think. My feet will tread where Kenneth Tindall, Cira Robinson, Damian Johnson and Sarah Kundi and all the other stars in my firmament have trod. The thrill will be for me what opening the batting for Yorkshire at Headingley would be like for a Sunday cricketer.

I am taking part in Northern Ballet Academy's End of Year show.  All the classes at the Academy will be represented from tiny tots to old crocks. There are so many of us that there will be four performances with four separate casts. Ours takes place at 16:30 and our class (the over 55s) will appear at about 17:15. If you come to our show you will see some really talented young people as well as us. This is what Mel wrote about us last year (The Dance DID go on - Northern Ballet Academy Show 2014 29 June 2014). And this is how it felt to dance with them last year (see The Time of my Life 28 June 2015).

Our instructor and choreographer, Annemarie Donoghue, has chosen some lovely music for us. She has created a dance that covers some of the exercises that we have learned in class this year. Gita will review the show for Terpsichore. The house is pretty full but there may still be some tickets if you call the box office on 0113 220 8000.

"I felt elongated and taller and stronger too"

Chris HintonLewis as Heathcliff in Wurthering 

Heights

Last week I attended two beginners' classes at Northern Ballet.

The first was promoted as  "a one off extra ballet beginners drop in class with Chris Hinton Lewis from 19:00-20:15" on Monday evening.  The second was Annemarie Donoghue's over 55 class between 11:30 and 12:30 on Thursday morning.

I thoroughly enjoyed both classes and I felt that I had learnt so much.

By the time I attended my second class I had invested in some "skins" or "thins" as I have often heard them referred to. "Ballet slippers" to you and me.  I have to say that it is not easy for me to get used to them as I have always danced with bare feet in Indian dance, contemporary and even ballet up to now.

All classes start with a warm-up. It is so much better when there is a pianist to set the mood. Actually, I have to say that out of all the ballet classes that I have taken so far, those with a pianist are best. The whole feel of the studio sets me up to work at my best. It really stretches me.  It motivates me at least to try each move correctly.  It helps me concentrate on the instructions which is vital to avoid damaging the body as well as executing the stages of each move correctly.

So what did I enjoy about Chris's class? Well, firstly, his smile, his positivity and his encouragement. Secondly his way of engaging with the class which consisted of students who had reached different levels making sure that we were all doing the moves correctly as best we could. I liked his big sense of humour and the grace with which he directed both the pianist and students.

I had attended Annemarie's class once before (see Coming Back to Ballet 13 March 2015). As on that occasion I found her very welcoming and the class very friendly, I don't think I have ever been in a class with such nice people. But Annemarie is also very professional. She concentrates on the work in hand. No chitchat about children, chocolate or other distractions. She seems very conscious of safety and takes every reasonable precaution. Her students adore her and she brings out the best in them.

After the class Annemarie told me about the Ichino method in which technique all the teachers of Northern Ballet had been trained.  This is very systematic and it works very well for me.  In a previous ballet class I had been shown a pirouette and was told to get on with it. I like to break down moves into stages in order to master it. So that each stage is imprinted in my mind and in turn flows through my body. There is no point in trying to turn clockwise on your left leg with your foot on demi pointe and spotting until you have mastered balancing on one leg in retiré, For some of us that does not come easily particularly as we get older.

I felt elongated and taller after I had finished both classes and stronger too. Most of all I felt confident. I believed for this time I could actually change my posture and body alignment through regularly attending classes at this standard.

Will keep you posted with my progress.

Coming Back to Ballet

I've danced all my life including 30 night show at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. But I haven’t done much ballet. 

It wasn't something that many kids of Asian heritage did when I was growing up in Bradford In the 1970s. I did have a friend at school who was taking ballet lessons. She would show me what she had learnt and was not best pleased when I was able to do the exercises somewhat more easily than she could. She gave up in the end and passed some of her ballet things on to me. 

The only other time I had a go was when I kept Jane company at The Base in Huddersfield. I took a few classes on Tuesday evenings which I enjoyed very much until the teacher moved the classes to a local university on Wednesday evenings which clash with other commitments.

Just before Christmas I created a lavender and sweet martini dessert to celebrate Isaac Lee-Baker’s performance as Wilson in The Great Gatsby. Jane wrote an article about it called Food and Ballet which was read by one of the members of her over 55 class at Northern Ballet.

“We ought to get her in here” said Jane’s friend.

“But she’s not 55 yet” replied Jane.

I understand that the teacher said that wouldn't matter if I wanted to try ballet again, so Jane passed the invitation on to me.

I turned up to Annemarie Donoghue’s class at Northern Ballet a few weeks ago and enjoyed it very much. We did all the barre exercises that I had done in Huddersfield - pliés, tendus, glissés, ronds de jambe and battements tendus – and then some exercises in the centre. We did rises, marches and little sautés with our feet in parallel and then first position. Then a lovely port de bras. Finally some travelling exercises in which Annemarie showed us a movement and got us to imitate it.

Annemarie is a very good teacher and she taught a very friendly crowd. Several of the students complimented me on my dancing which made me feel very welcome. After the class I joined the students for a hot drink and a bite to eat at Café 164. Altogether it was a lovely day.

One thing I enjoyed in particular about Northern Ballet's class was that we had a live pianist. Dancing to the piano and feeling that rhythm was great. Piano is another of my passions. I longed to indulge it. After pestering my parents for lessons which they could not stretch to, I used to sit on the fence at the home of the piano teacher and watch others take their lesson through the lead patterned windows in the hope that would help me learn a thing or two. 

Anyway life is for living and its never too late. So I now attend ballet classes and I am heading back to taking a few more piano lesson too this year. 

There were only two problems with the Over 55 class. The first was that it met during the day which is difficult for me as I run a business. Most of the other students seemed to be retired or in jobs that allowed them a lot of flexibility. The other problem was that I don’t yet have any shoes and had to dance in bare feet which was a bit stressful for my poor soles... I wish I could do ballet in soft cushioned trainers but that would be sin I think... I dare say I will get used to that... So I’ve been looking for classes that meet in the evenings and found Ailsa Baker’s at KNT Danceworks in Manchester.

Ailsa is another good teacher and clearly very popular. I counted 50 students in her beginners’ class. She let me dance in socks - much easier than dancing barefoot . She was very friendly but still commanded everybody’s attention. She made us work very hard in the stretching and strength building exercises. There seemed to be a wide range of ability and experience from professionals to newbies. Ailsa was very encouraging. Because the class was large the vibe was magic and very chatty. Like all the other classes we started with barre exercises and stretches and then proceeded to port de bras and jumps. It was great fun.

As Manchester is a bit of a trek from Bradford I am checking out Chris Hinton-Lewis’s Thursday evening class at Northern Ballet. I’ll let you know how I get on.

Cafe 164 to screen "First Position"

After Annemarie's class at Northern Ballet her students slip round the corner for a cup of tea at Café 164 on Duke Street. Their teas are the best I have so far tasted in Leeds though I am told their coffee is even better and their toasted sandwiches are delicious. My favourites are the Moroccan mint and chicken and chorizo  I dance with a remarkable group of ladies all of whom seem to have achieved so much and lived such interesting lives. We chat for hours.

The café is located in Munro House which also contains a gallery. And in this gallery they show films. One of those films is First Position which is where Michaela DePrince came to the public's attention. I've had the pleasure of seeing her dance on two occasions. On the first of those occasions I wrote:

"She is quite simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while"

(see  The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 26 Nov 2013).

The film will be shown at 19:00 on 2 April 2015 and tickets cost £5. I am looking forward to it very much.

Class

Edgar Degar  Ballet Class

Photo Wikipedia

Exactly two years ago I took my first ballet with Fiona Noonan at The Base Studios in Huddersfield.  It was my first class for 45 years. It wasn't easy. Most of the other students were young. Some were still at school. All had studied ballet for years. I was so unlike them. An overweight 63 year old barrister. I didn't even have the right kit. I took my first class in jogging trousers, tee-shirt and socks. I am sure the other students wondered why I was there and I certainly did. I can't say I enjoyed that class because I could  do hardly any of the exercises. I still can't do all of them even now. And my body ached for ages afterwards.

But I came back. I took private lessons from Fiona who patiently taught me to stack my body and balance first on two legs in demi and then one leg with the other in retiré. I managed to do the barre exercises and some of the jumps. Turns are a different matter - soutenus are all right and even chaînés but I just can't stay in relevé with my non-supporting leg in retiré long enough to do a full pirouette (see A Really Useful Video on Pirouettes 22 Nov 2014). And when I tried posé turns in Leeds I fell flat on my back.  I did wonder then whether I was getting a little too old for this ballet malarkey but I got up, dusted myself down and carried on.

I'm so glad I did because I love class and I have been trying to work out why. The music is one reason. We have some lovely pianists at Northern Ballet, particularly Alena Panasenka whom you can hear in the video but even the recording that Fiona and some of my other teachers use for the adagio is beautiful.

Camaraderie is another reason. The ladies in the film speak about it and it was that video that drew me to Northern Ballet. Those ladies and I danced together last June in And The Dance Goes On in which I had the time of my life and I am glad to say that the ladies are now my friends.  I have also made friends in my other classes in Huddersfield, Sheffield and Manchester.

I have also been fortunate in having wonderful teachers.  None of them resembles the awful Miss Polly in Ballet Black's Dogs Don't Do Ballet. The bond between dancer and teacher is very special. Dame Antoinette Sibley spoke of it when she talked about her classes with Tamara Karsavina (see Le jour de gloire est arrive 3 Feb 2014) as did Elena Glurdjidze and indeed my friend Pamela Newton when remembering Olga Preobrajenska. Look at the interaction between teacher and students in the classes in Moscow and San Francisco in Adult Ballet in Moscow and San Francisco. I have experienced something like that in my own short ballet career as you may recall from my dialogue with Fiona after I told her that I had spent the afternoon listening to Clement Crisp and Antoinette Sibley:

"'Oh super jealousy' she replied.
'Don't be jealous' I responded 'You are also part of the tradition. You live it, I just see it. And you pass on your gift to others.'
'Awwwww Thanku xxxx'
'When I go to class you or Annemarie represent every dancer, choreographer and teacher who ever lived'.
'Aw Jane! I won't be able to leave the room soon'
'I am only paraphrasing Sibley. She should know. Through you I am linked to your teacher who is probably linked to someone at Ballet Russes who is linked to Petipa.'
'xxxxx wise woman!'"

And that brings me onto my final and most important reason which I only appreciated fully this month after watching the company classes of English National Ballet and Chantry Dance who do some of the same exercises that I do with my teachers. It is the sense of being part of a worldwide community with a 200 year heritage. 

That is why I push myself to class even when I feel rotten and why I am always so glad to have done so after we bow or curtsy and clap our teacher and pianist.

Further Reading

Adult Beginner   First Class Stories  Adult Beginner 

David Wilson    Just Started Ballet  Dave Tries Ballet

Greta Wright   How to choose a Ballet class  Danceworks

Jane Lambert  For Emma 28 April 2914

Jane Lambert  Realizing a Dream 12 Sep 2013 

New Term at Team Hud - and around the World

I may be wrong but I think there will be thousands of people around the world (if not millions) who will have been inspired to take up ballet by World Ballet Bay. Although it is always best to start as a child it is possible to start and go quite a long way as am adult. Dave Wilson is proof of that.  He started as a graduate student in the United States and I have seen him dance with Arionel Vargas and Elena Glurdjidze in Stockport and Weston Super Mare. It is also true of The Adult Beginner in Los Angeles and my learned friend The Legal Ballerina who is also in the United States. Even some professionals came into ballet late.  Matthew Bourne who established New Adventures is said to have had his first lesson in his late teens. Even I have ventured onto the stage of the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds before a full house and managed to avoid rotten eggs and tomatoes and I make dance teachers despair.

So where to start. Well if you are in Huddersfield you could do worse than try Team Hud in the sports hall of Huddersfield University. I reviewed it when classes began in January 2014 (see "Team Hud Adult Ballet Class" 22 Jan 2014). Yesterday was the start of the new academic year for Tam Hud with a crop of eager  young students including four blokes. It was taken by Fiona Noonan who trained and started her career in Queensland. "I can see she is a good teacher" muttered a chap from Barnsley whom I had met at Tristram Dance Studios a few weeks earlier. I had recommended Fiona's classes at Hype and the University and I was glad to see that he had followed my recommendation. "One of the best", I replied. "and believe me I have done the rounds." Fiona is now teaching two classes at Huddersfield: a beginners' class at 18:30 which I attended yesterday and an improvers' class at 19:30 which the chap from Barnsley was about to take. Both cost £5 if you are a member of the general public but students can subscribe to the gym for a few quid and take all the classes in all the sports and activities at no extra cost.  A larger but still affordable subscription is also available to the public and if you want to find out more you should call the University on 01484 422288.

A good teacher is everything and, as I told the bloke from Barnsley, Fiona us one of the very best. She is also teaching an intermediate and advanced class at Hype in Sheffield on Monday evenings for the time being. While I would not recommend an intermediate class for an absolute beginner it is good to be pushed and challenged and Fiona certainly does that. But she does it in a nice way and if you get something right you feel a real sense of achievement. She also has a wicked sense of humour. Try blogging or tweeting that you have had a hard class elsewhere and boy does she make you work the next time she sees you.

If you can't make it to Huddersfield then there are some great evening classes at Northern Ballet Academy in Leeds. I took two in the vacation and one with Chris Hinton-Lewis that I really enjoyed. My favourite class in Leeds is the Over 55 class with Annemarie Donoghue which runs on Tuesdays for improvers between 10:30 and 11:30 with an extra half hour for the keen types from 11:45 to 12:15 and Thursdays between 11:30 and 12:30 for beginners.  Annemarie is also a wonderful teacher and you can see her in action in this video with some of my friends. Not only do you get instruction from an excellent teacher but you learn in the studios of one of the world's best ballet companies - it's official Northern won one of the Taglioni awards - and you have Ollie, Elena or some other pianist tinkling away on the old Joanna.  The only drawback is that you have to be over 55 to join that class but anybody can take one of the evening classes. Not bad for £6.50 plus a £5 registration fee.

If you live in the North West KNT Danceworks run evening classes for adults in Manchester and Liverpool. They also have great teachers, Alisa and Karen, whom I can't recommend too highly.  I have only had two classes with Ailsa and one with Karen but I learned a lot from both and had a lot of fun. The students in both cities were friendly and keen to learn and we all smiled and laughed a lot afterwards.

I have had only one class in London from Adam at Pineapple but that was ace. Pineapple was recommended to me by Joanna Goodman who takes Amber's class nearly every week and she did me a real favour in recommending it. You have to take out temporary membership and then pay for the class which makes it somewhat more expensive than the classes in the North but then hey this is London. A class that I have not yet tried but would dearly love to do so is Paul Lewis's class at the Royal Ballet School. One day, perhaps, one day.

It is a long time since I last visited LA but the Adult Beginner reviews adult ballet classes there and her articles are always a good read.  Johanna writes about adult ballet in Helsinki in Pointe Til You Drop.  There are adult ballet classes everywhere - even in India. Wherever you are, enjoy yourselves and have fun.

Northern Ballet Open Day

I very nearly gave Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre Open House a miss this year because it clashed with the last day of English National Ballet's Le Corsaire in Manchester. Tamara Rojo and Matthew Golding were billed for the matinee and Daria Klimentová and Vadim Muntagirov in the evening. I was even more tempted when I learned that Klimentová and Muntagirov were to leave the company and this would probably be the last opportunity to see them together. As I was busy the rest of the week and do not like to see the same ballet back to back or even in the same season with different cases it was either Friday or Saturday for me and I chose Friday. Thank goodness I did for if I had gone to Manchester on Saturday I would have missed something very special.

The Open Day consisted of a series of rehearsals, classes, talks, tours and family activities. As I had done the tour before (see "The Things I do for my Art: Northern Ballet's Breakfast Meeting" 23 Sept 2013) and seen plenty of rehearsals I did not expect to stay very long. To be quite honest I had intended simply to put in an appearance out of loyalty to the company and then scarper.  The only objectives I had set myself were to meet Phil Garnett (Phill up North) and Dolly Williams who run the company's website and social media because we follow each other on twitter. The day before I had given Phil a piece of my mind for sloppy coding because Northern Ballet's Valentine's Day Quiz had landed me with that twerp Lysander when I should clearly have had Oberon or Octavian (though it could have been worse as I might have ended up with Bottom - Eeyore!).

I managed to meet both Phil and Dolly.  Phil is an even bigger ballet fan than me and we talked about the history of the company and our favourite works.  I met Dolly almost as soon as I arrived on the face painting stand. She was wearing a wolf's mask and asked me whether I wanted to dress up as something. As she had a lot of kids around her I left her to entertain them.  On  the same floor as Dolly there was a gallery overlooking one of the studios on the floor below. I recognized Yoko Ichino and stood mesmerized as she took a class. Although I could not hear nothing from the studio below it was clear that something remarkable was going on.  I went downstairs and slipped into the class.

The previous Monday I had heard Elena Glurdjidze talk about her teachers at the Vaganova Academy (see "Elena Glurdjidze - So Lovely, So Gracious" 11 Feb 2014) and on 2 Feb 2914 I heard Dame Antoinette Sibley speak  affectionately about hers ("Le jour de gloire est arrive - Dame Antoinette Sibley with Clement Crisp at the Royal Ballet School" 4 Feb 2014). Ichino had danced with some of the world's leading companies and something of her art is preserved on these YouTube clips of Don Quixote and Le Corsaire. She is now head of the Northern Ballet Academy and Ballet Mistress of the company. Watching Ichino at work enabled me to witness the great tradition of the art being passed on from ballerina to student much as de Valois passed it on to the young Fonteyn, Preobrajenska to Tallchief and Karsavina to Sibley

Dressed simply in trousers and a long cardigan as in the photo on Northern Ballet's website Ichino commanded that class with great authority.  She spoke softly.  Indeed she said very little but her gestures communicated much.  Her class consisted of senior boys in the front row and two larger groups of girls of different ages behind them. Though my attention was focused on Ichino I did glance occasionally at her students.  I could tell from their expressions that they adored their teacher and she them. I marvelled at their physique: slender, muscular, sleek like race horses or greyhounds.  It was exhilarating to watch those magnificent young artists and athletes run powerfully around the studio at the end of their session.

Ichino was followed in the studio by Cara O'Shea who taught two groups of junior boys. Her style was very different from Ichino's but equally effective. She has a mellifluous voice which she used as an instrument to coax the best from her pupils. "You've always wanted as audience" she said referring tot us. "Well now you have an audience and if they like you they may clap you." The children, who were already working hard, gave us their very best. They did indeed delight us and how we clapped.  She is another wonderful teacher and again I could see that the kids were devoted to her.  I would have loved to have been taught by her. In a way she did teach me for I think I learned more about ballet on Saturday from watching the teachers at work that I could from a score of performances or a pile of books,

After she had finished teaching the boys I followed Cara O'Shea to the next studio where she was taking a mixed class of boys and girls through a recording of an excerpt from Don Quixote. This was more like a rehearsal. After a while the class was joined by the boys I had seen earlier in the day with Ichino. They practised a different piece and were joined eventually by Chris Hinton-Lewis who had taught me when I had missed my usual class owing to a tree on the A1 (see "It's an Ill Wind - Review of Northern Ballet's Beginner's Class" 6 Dec 2013). He has yet another teaching style but one to which the boys readily responded.

Far from wondering what I could find to do in Quarry Hill I was riveted to my seat for nearly three hours watching those wonderful teachers.  I left just before 16:00 because my own teacher Annemarie Donoghue was due to teach a taster class for the over 55 age group. That is the class that I take every Thursday and I love it. I had thought of registering for the taster class earlier in the week but decided against it as I had doubted that I would still be at Quarry Hill by 16:00 and in any case I would have taken up a place that someone else could have used.  Although she had less than half her usual time Annemarie took the taster class (which included a gentleman from Cambridge) through everything that she does on a Thursday from finding ones posture, the warm up, barre work and a simple centre exercises. Her students had a great time and I got to speak to one of them: a lady who had studied ballet as a child and was keen to take it up again. We went down in the lift together stopping at reception so that she could register.

I have often heard dancers and choreographers speak of their companies as a family.  Despite being a long standing fan of Northern Ballet and more recently a Friend and student I had always regarded myself as an outsider.  On Saturday I felt for the first time that I was part of the family.  A very distant relation, of course, but still a member.

It's an Ill Wind - Review of Northern Ballet's Beginner's Class

I got up at 05:00 yesterday so that I could make Annemarie's 11:30 class for the over 55s in Leeds. This was more of a struggle than it sounds because I had come to London for our chambers Christmas bash at the Luce e Limoni the night before. Barristers are a fairly gregarious bunch as Lucentio noted in Taming 

of the Shrew

"And do as adversaries do in law, strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends;" 

and Luce e Limoni is not a bad eatery if you ever find yourselves in the area (which you might if you go to Sadlers Wells for a ballet or even consult me about a patent).  So I rolled up to my long suffering daughter manquée's home in the early hours of the morning. But I hate to miss a class so I set off at 06:00 clearing the Blackwall Tunnel in no time at all and belting up the M11 and A1 towards Leeds with bags of time.

And then just south of Donny disaster struck. I found myself in a massive queue of trucks on the A1 (M). Yesterday's storm had blown down a tree which closed both lanes of the motorway. I found myself wedged between lorries, the hard shoulder and the central reservation unable to do anything except scan the ether for traffic information of which there came forth none.   As Melvyn Bragg gave way to Woman's House which in turn gave way to something else I realized that I was not going to make my class. Doubly galling as I shall have to miss next week's as well because I am speaking at a conference on Middle East intellectual property law at the Langham Hotel on the 12 Dec 2013. As Annemarie is a great teacher I rang the Northern Ballet Academy to send her my apologies. "No problem" said the kind lady at the other end. "there's a beginners' class at 19:00 tonight if you can make it in time".

Eventually the tree was moved and I reached my humble abode in time to prepare myself a late lunch or early dinner and make my way to Quarry Hill by 18:45.  The class took place in studio 3 which Annemarie had used on a couple of occasions. It has mirrors on only one wall and that is the wall where there is no barre. The class was very much like the one I had taken at Pineapple a few weeks earlier, lots of earnest looking disgustingly fit and thin young men and women one third of my age.

I understand that the class is usually taken by Fiona Beale but she was indisposed last night so it was taken by a teacher who introduced himself as "Chris". "Could that be Christopher Hinton-Lewis?"  I wondered.  One of my favourite dancers. Dancers look so different when you see them off the stage without makeup, lighting or costume. Well I couldn't think of any other Chris on the teaching staff so I guess it must have been. "What am I an ageing female version of Horace Rumpole of "traditional build" like Mma Ramotswe doing in the presence of this Adonis?" I thought to myself.

Class started with pliés though the sequences were a bit more complex and energetic than I am used to starting in second with port de bras, rises and quite brisk turns but I survived.  I also survived tendus and frappés plus a brush through which Chris described as "getting shit off your shoe" and an exercise which so far as I can remember was tendus to en plat front, side and back with the right foot culminating in a  retiré.  Quite a lot for an old lady.

Then we went into the centre which started off tamely enough with port de bras but became increasingly complex. The next exercise was pirouettes and that is something at which I am not very good. However, I did pick up some good tips and to my great surprise I was able to complete first 90, then 180 and finally 360 degree turns - more or less.

We next did chassés and pas de bourrée and even managed something approaching a port de bras which Chris commended.  I felt quite confident about that because Annemarie is mustard when it comes to port de bras. Finally we did some jumps which is about the only thing I can remember from my very first ballet classes in St Andrews 44 years ago. My teacher, Sally, used to get me jumping like a jack in the box. Chris started us with simple jumps in first and finally got us to do échappés.

It was very hard work but a wonderful class and great fun.  "See you next week" said one of the girls afterwards which was a wonderful boost to the self-confidence. "Was this your first class?" asked another which brought me back to earth with a bump. Was I really that bad? Anyway Chris invited me back though I am not sure how often that will be possible as I am already taking one regular class on a Thursday and nobody pays me to take ballet classes.