And they have the cheek to call Balletomanes obsessive.

Apparently something to do with Dr. Who    Source Wikipedia

This Saturday I shall see the Stuttgart Ballet dance Taming of the Shrew at Sadlers Well's.  The next day I am catching an easyJet flight from Luton to see the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company dance at the Staddschowburg in Amsterdam.  Then next Sunday I shall be in the audience of the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre for MurleyDance.

"Aren't you being a teeny weeny bit obsessive?" asked one friend who is a Dr Who fan.  Another friend who is a Chelsea supporter told me to get a life.  "Like watching 22 grown men chasing an inflated pig's bladder around a freezing stadium?" I replied.  If you ever want a study in obsession find yourself a football fan. When I was at St Andrews I learned of somebody's dad who demonstrated his allegiance to Rangers by planting forget-me-nots in his lawn as that was the only part of his dwelling that he could not paint blue. And as for Dr Who I remember being dragged around industrial estates in South Wales after a strenuous hearing in the Trade Marks Registry by a former clerk on the hunt for David Tennant. "Now there's obsession for you" as the locals would probably say.

Now balletomania isn't like that.  It can save lives and civilize as I mentioned in my article on "The New Mariinksy" of 4 May 2013. Tamara Karsavina's brother probably owed his life and certainly his liberty to the fact that his interrogator loved ballet.  And I don't think that loving ballet is an obsession for it is nothing more than the pursuit and admiration of beauty. A dancer like Sarah Kundi actuates an electrochemical switch in the brain that induces a feeling of contentment and well being.  Look at her "Dépouillage" in "Ballet Black's Appeal" of 12 March 2013 or her "Dépouillement" after the terrible events in Woolwich.  See what I mean.  That's why I can hardly wait for MurleyDance (a company that I would have longed to see anyway for the reasons I set out in "Something to brighten up your Friday" on 8 Nov 2013).

As for the trip to Holland I think we shall see a lot of Michaela de Prince in the opera houses of the world but at seat prices greatly in  excess of a return flight on a budget airline.  Often a dancer is at his or her best when he or she is young and I shall have seen this remarkable young artist while she is still young (see "Michaela dePrince" of 4 April 2013).

As for "Taming of the Shrew" see my post of 21 Sept as why John Cranko's masterpiece is one ballet everybody should see before they die.

If you are still unconvinced go, find yourself a dalek to play with.

London Ballet Circle

I mentioned the London Ballet Circle in August on 31 Aug 2013. I have now joined the Circle or rather rejoined it as I was a member while I was an undergraduate at St Andrews in the early 1970s but allowed my membership to lapse when I went to UCLA for graduate studies in the USA. Now that I have rejoined I am getting all sorts of useful information in its newsletters and Facebook page.

For instance there is an announcement about the English National Ballet School's special public performances at its studio theatre on Hortensia Road on Saturday 19 October, at 14:00 and 16:00 as part of the Chelsea Festival.  It also celebrates the school's 25th anniversary.  Tickets are £10 for adults £10 and £5 for children and further information can be obtained from galinawilkinson@enbschool.org.uk  on 020 7376 7076.  If I lived in or near London I would be there like a shot.

While talking about the English National Ballet School I should add that two of its students did well at the Genée which I mentioned in "Yet More Good News from Ballet West - Natasha Watson's Medal in the Genée" 30 Sept 2013. . Isabelle Brouwers received a silver medal and John-Rhys Halliwell a bronze. John-Rhys Halliwell also won the audience award.  Belated congratulations to those guys and all the best for the future.  I look forward to seeing them on the stage soon.

More useful information that I have just received from the London Ballet Circle is about Dance UK, the national voice for dance. The website of this organization has information about auditions, events, fitness, jobs and campaigns.  One of the items is Launch in Leeds on 23 Oct which is on my home turf. It is a day long seminar on "How to make a living in dance and how to have a long career" which is run by Northern Ballet, Phoenix, Leeds Met and Yorkshire Dance. Jolly interesting even to someone like me who is far too old and far too fat and arthritic to have any aspirations to a career in dance.

Finally the London Ballet Circle is holding a special event for its new president Sir Peter Wright on the 28 Oct 2013. I would love to have attended the event but I will be on my way back from a meeting of arbitrators that takes place at the UN agency for intellectual property in Geneva that day. The evening for Sir Peter promises to be splendid and I hope everybody who can attend has a great time.  I shall look forward o reading all about it.

You should by now have realized that it is worth joining the London Ballet Circle even if, like me, you live nowhere near London and give the Big Smoke the widest of all possible berths.  If you want to join here is their membership page with details of subs and how to join up.