Ballet Black at Home in Leeds

Ballet Black Limbo Two of a Kind Dream Highlights 26 Feb 2014 from Wizard Video Productions Ltd on Vimeo.

Ballet Black may be based in London but when they come to Leeds we welcome that company as one of our own. It packs the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre.  We applaud the dancers until our hands are sore.  They clearly feel at home in Leeds for they dance here better than anywhere else.  The ambiance helps.  The theatre forms part of the complex of offices and studios in which Northern Ballet, Phoenix Dance Theatre and the Northern Ballet Academy are based.  It is designed for dance and I can attest from personal experience that it is a great stage on which to dance. The seats are very close to the stage which makes it possible to catch detail that would be missed in a bigger auditorium.

I had already seen this triple bill three times - at the Linbury (Extra Special - Ballet Black at the Linbury 26 Feb 2014 27 Feb 2014, Southport (What could be more thrilling than a Ride on a Roller Coaster? A performance by Ballet Black! 23 May 2014) and Nottingham (Best Ever - Ballet Black at the Nottingham Playhouse 3 July 2014) - but when I saw it for a fourth time last night it still seemed fresh. I discovered  new things in each of the ballets.  In previous performances I had not really understood Limbo although I had always admired the dancing.  Yesterday the choreography and the music started to make sense. Exasperatingly because Ballet Black will have a new programme when it returns to the Linbury in February. Yesterday was almost the last opportunity to see Limbo for some time. Two of a Kind remains my favourite work for its soaring lifts and expression of joy to a beautiful score but I love Arthur Pita's A Dream Within a Midsummer Night’s Dream too.

Some important things have happened to Ballet Black since I last saw the programme at Nottingham in July. They have been nominated for the Best Independent Company award of the National Dance Awards and Pita's Dream as the best classical choreography. They have created their first children's ballet Dogs Don't Do Ballet (see Woof 12 Oct 2014). They have recruited Marie-Astrid Mence whom I had described as an adorable Anna in Dogs.  Last night she danced a spirited Helena in Dream.  She is a dancer to watch.

Everyone danced well last night.  I was a fan of Isabela Coracy even before I saw her dance last year (see Ballet Black's New Dancers 24 Sept 2013).  Every time I see her she impresses me more.  The same is true of Christopher Renfurm who joined the company at about the same time last year. Great in character roles but also in the pas de deux in Two of a Kind.   Jose Alves and Jacob Wye are always exciting to watch and Kanika Carr is charming.  I have only met her briefly once but I am sure she is enormous fun in real life. She seems to get her head stuck in things: a butterfly net last night and a French horn in Dogs. Damien Johnson and Cira Robinson are magnificent. Johnson dominates the stage, particularly in Two of a Kind and the opening and closing scenes of Dream. Robinson is a a ballerina in the traditional sense, a classical dancer of the highest calibre.

After its second performance in Leeds tonight the company moves on to Watford and Winchester.  If you live anywhere near those towns do go to see the show.

Woof

The day I danced in public I presented the nearest I have to a grandson with a copy of Anna Kemp's Dogs don't do Ballet. A few weeks earlier I had actually met the extraordinarily gifted young choreographer, Christopher Marney, and scolded myself for not thinking of asking him to sign that book because Cassa Pancho had told me that Ballet Black had commissioned Marney to base a ballet on that book a few weeks before the official announcement. Ironically I met two other choreographers, David Nixon and Kenneth Tindall, the day after I had performed and I could have asked either of them to sign something else for little Vladimir but it wouldn't have been the same. Anyway, yesterday the first performances of Dogs don't do ballet took place in Harlow and I was there with three year old Vlad to see the show.

The ballet is for children aged 3 or over so the acid test is: "what did a 3 year old child think of the show?" Well Vlad the Lad liked it.  In his short life he has seen no less than three ballets if you count the Northern Ballet Academy's end of term show (and I think you must because there were some good performances in that show which more than made up for my poor efforts) and he liked them all. But he particularly liked Dogs don't do Ballet for he sat through the whole 50 minutes quite entranced. He's an active boy and to hold his attention for all that time says a lot about the show. So guys, you passed the Vlad test.

So what did this 65 year old think of it?  I loved it. Though it was a children's ballet there was plenty to appeal to grown ups. For instance, the ballet teacher, Miss Polly, swigging from her hip flask and sleeping through her students' barre exercises.  She was danced by Christopher Renfurm who has blossomed as a character dancer. He is a good Slvador Dali but a brilliant ballet teacher. Though I am glad to say that none of my ballet teachers is anything like Miss Polly, Renfurm fitted the popular stereotype of a ballet teacher to a tee. The expression of delight on Anna's face changing to embarrassment upon her first kiss was another moment to savour. Marie Astrid Mence, Ballet Black's latest recruit, was an adorable Anna. The study of canine behaviour by Cira Robinson - so familiar to anyone who has ever kept a dog - was yet another delight. There was Bif's whining, her friendly slathering over Miss Polly, the playfulness with which she toyed with a tutu and her pas de deux with a dalmatian. Just like a real dog - in fact, just like Harvey*.

As I said in my appreciation of Christopher Marney the quality that distinguishes him from other choreographers is his remarkable sensitivity to music. This was reflected in the construction of the score - Ketèlbey, Baranowski, Strauss, plenty of Tchaikovsky and above all Fauré's Dolly Suite - and of course the interpretation of that score. The movements that he created were extraordinary - particularly those that required Robinson, Kanika Carr and José' Alves to dance on all fours. Also the barre exercises - the foundering "Kanikova" -  with a French horn over her head - and of course Bif's pas de deux. I was already quite a Marney fan before I saw that ballet and my admiration for his work is now even greater.

All the dancers seemed to have fun - Isabela Coracy as the coquettish Felicia with her poodle (Carr) and her pink mobile. Jacob Wye as the bashful TJ, Damian Johnson as the kindly dad - and it showed in their wit and exuberance.   Gary Harris's costumes - particularly Robinson's dog suit and Miss Polly's hats and shawls - were inspired. So, too, was James Lewis's set and of course David Plater's lighting.   I ought to say a word about the programme which was unusually cheap but also very informative and came with a set of crayons for colouring Bif in her tutu.  I now know which dancer keeps a pet and what it is. Although I have only met a few of them briefly on one occasion I feel I now know them.  I am looking forward to seeing them all in Leeds on 6 Nov 2014.

This show is moving on to Bournemouth on the 19 and Exeter on the 21 Oct and finally to Winchester on 29 Nov. If you live anywhere near those towns - or even if you don't - do go and see it.  Yesterday, Chris Marney's dad asked me how many miles I had driven for the show. The answer is 520 and the ballet was well worth every inch of the journey.

Post Script
I am starting a resource page on that company at Extra Special - Ballet Black at the Linbury 26 Feb 2014 27 Feb 2014

There are some lovely pictures of Dogs don't do Ballet on Ballet Black's Facebook page.

*The pet dog of one of my ballet teachers

Best Ever - Ballet Black at the Nottingham Playhouse

Yesterday I was in Nottingham where I saw Ballet Black's Triple Bill at the Playhouse. This is the third time I have seen this programme the other times being 26 Feb 2014 in London ("Extra Special - Ballet Black at the Linbury "267Feb 2014") and 22 May 2014 in Southport ("What could be more thrilling than a Ride on a Roller Coaster? A performance by Ballet Black" 23 May 2014). Of the three performances this is the one I enjoyed the most though I cannot be sure whether that is because the company danced better than ever before or because I had seen the works before and knew what to look out for.

The programme began with Martin Lawrence's Limbo.  As in Southport the female role was danced by Isabela Coracy. In Southport I had admired Coracy's power and energy. This time I marvelled at her grace which was best exemplified in a lift towards the end where she runs towards stage right and is caught and raised by Jose Alves and Jacob Wye. She is a very versatile dancer as we saw later when she danced Puck in A Dream Within A Midsummer Night's Dream.  I had high expectations of her ever since I saw a scratchy video of her Diana and Actaeon from Brazil (see "Ballet Black's New Dancers"  24 Sept 2013) and I became a fan and these were more than realized when I saw her in The One Played Twice in Leeds (see "Ballet Black is still special" 7 Nov 2013). Coracy would not have shone had it not been for Alves and Wye who are both attractive dancers. Hindemith's score and Lawrence's choreography challenge audiences as much as dancers. There can be no smiles in Limbo as it is a place of lost souls and that is not always easy to sit through but they conducted us through it (albeit not comfortably) by the magnificence of their dancing.

For me the highlight of this programme is Christopher Marney's Two of a Kind.   You can see a photo of it here. I love Marney's work because of his enhanced sensitivity to music.  All choreographers have to be sensitive to music but Marney is exceptional in that regard. On the one occasion I met him I asked him whether he visualized the choreography from first hearing a work and he replied that he did.  His ballets are beautiful and they show off the dancers to best advantage. I have always enjoyed watching Cira Robinson and Kanika Carr (whom together with Damien Johnson and Christopher Renfutm I once had the pleasure of meeting) but last night they (together with Johnson and Renfurm) were particularly beautiful.  My eyes moistened throughout the work. It was over far too soon. There is only one other work that moves me in that way and that is Fokine's Dying Swan. It is amazing how Marney - still a young man - has mastered his art to such a high degree.

While sitting in the bar over my orange juice reflecting over what I had just seen someone called my name. It was Cassa Pancho, the company's founder and artistic director. She is a remarkable woman who has done great things with this company and I was flattered that she remembered me.  I blurted out my admiration for Coracy in Limbo, how much I was moved by Two of a Kind and my admiration for Ballet Black. She accepted those compliments with  considerable grace.  They were sincere.  I had seen some great ballet in the last few weeks - Northern Ballet's mixed programme, Birmingham's Fille and Ballet Cymru's Beauty and the Beast and I had loved them all - but yesterday's programme is the one I liked best. When I was in Glasgow to see Hansel and Gretel just before Christmas a very dear friend from St Andrews who knows me better than I know myself interrupted a stream of superlatives about Scottish Ballet with the observation "But your real favourite is Ballet Black." "No" I protested "I have no favourites. I love them all though perhaps Scottish Ballet has a special place in my affection because I have known and loved it the longest." Maybe my friend was right. Perhaps I do have a favourite in which case that favourite would be Ballet Black.

The last work of the programme was Arthur Pita's Dream.  That is another work I like a lot. There are lots of layers to this work and I think I understood the structure better. It begins and ends classically with the dancers in white, the women in tutus dancing to Handel. It is interrupted by Puck dressed as a scout scattering tinsel. Some of that tinsel had landed on Mel and me when we were in Southport and Mel tweeted how she had danced particularly well after putting some of it in her pointe shoes. Anyway Puck holds a flag of soft fabric through which the dancers pass and they are transported to a tropical wonderland (let's pretend it is Sierra Leone which I know) with storms, exquisite bird song and exotic music. It is there that Carr performs a remarkable samba on pointe, where Robinson falls in love with Alves in his ass's ears, Johnson roars around the stage with a butterfly net, Ichikawa and Carr perform a delightful duet after one is spurned and the other is chased by Alves and Wye and Christopher Renfrum appears as Salvador Dali and receives half a moustache from Oberon. At the end of the work the dancers pass through Puck's flag again and are restored to Handel, sashes, tutus and pointe shoes.

There is a chance to see this programme one more time in Leeds on 6 and 7 Nov at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre (the stage upon which I danced last Saturday). The company is moving on to new works including its first children's ballet "Dogs Don't Do Ballet" which opens in Harlow on 11 Oct 2014. After watching me perform my grandson manqué, Vlad the Lad, believes that anything (including a dog) can dance but he did ask what Biff, who is a boy dog, was doing in a tutu in Anna Kemp's story which I couldn't answer. According to Cassa all will be revealed on opening night.

Ballet Black is still special

You can see the same company perform the same works with many of the same dancers in two different venues and come away feeling that you have seen two different shows.  Why is that?  I think it is because each theatre has a different atmosphere. And each audience interacts differently with the cast.

Yesterday evening I saw Ballet Black's Quadruple Bill at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds. Exactly the same show as I had seen at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham 6 months ago (see "Why Ballet Black Is Special" 20 May 2013).  And yet it wasn't the same show.  There were different dancers and a very different audience.  The audience in Leeds last night was predominately white, female and middle aged and probably drawn largely from comfortable North Leeds suburbs like Bramhope and Headingley or towns like Harrogate and Ilkley. The sort you see in Bettys who had almost certainly seen and possibly even studied a little ballet before.  The audience in Tottenham was younger, more racially mixed, there were far more young men and from conversations that I overheard in the Blooming Scent and the queue for the loo there were many for whom that performance was their first experience of ballet

Sayaka Ichikawa and José Alves danced Dopamine very differently from the way it had been performed by Sarah Kundi and Jazmon Voss.  Ichikawa is a delicate dancer and her movements are precise.  She revealed detail in Ondviela's choreography that I had missed before.  Alves partnered Ichikawa with equal precision and grace.  The adjective that I scrawled on my cast list was "pretty".  My notes last May contained the nouns "elegance" and "power".

Powerful is an adjective that I would use for Isabela Coracy, one of the company's two new dancers. We saw something of that power in the YouTube clip that I inserted into my article "Ballet Black's New Dancers" on 24 Sept.  She reminded me of dancers of the Soviet era like Maya Plisetskaya and I was not surprised to read in the cast list that she had toured Russia extensively.  She shone in Frutos's The One Played Twice.  This was also our first opportunity to see the company's other new hire, Christopher Renfurm who performed fluently. In that ballet they danced with Damien Johnson and Cira Robinson who are regarded as Ballet Black's stars and were not eclipsed.

The last work before the interval was Robert Binet's Egal, elegantly danced by Kanika Carr and Jacob Wye.  I had seen Carr in that role May but yesterday she was partnered deftly by Jacob Wye.

Christopher Marney's War Letters is a very moving piece and it resonated with the audience in Leeds last night even more than it had done in London.  Possibly because it was danced in poppy season.  Two movements brought many including me close to tears.  The hospital visit to a seriously wounded soldier and the Winter coat.  Beautiful chorepgraphy giving every dancer an opportunity to show what he or she can do.

Though I do miss Kundi and would love to see her dance again I enjoyed yesterday evening's show at least as much as the one in May.  I can't wait until February when I shall see them in their home in Covent Garden.

Ballet Black's New Dancers

I have just received a newsletter from Ballet Black announcing two new dancers: Isabela Coracy from Brazil and Christopher Renfurm from the Netherlands.

As there is nothing about those dancers on Ballet Black's website I tried googling them and came across the above clip of a pas de deux dated 3 Jun 2012 which appears to come from the Companhia Brasileira de Ballet. She looks good as does her partner. Brazil has already produced one superstar, Marcia Haydée. Perhaps Coracy will be another.

I have not been able to find a clip of Renfurm but I have found a site which indicates that he has enjoyed his first week with his new company.

I hope to see them both when Ballet Black visits the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre on 6 Nov.  I have booked my ticket and you can buy yours by clicking here. 

My only disappointment is that I won't see Sarah Kundi this time because she left the company at the end of last season.  She used to be with Northern Ballet and has many fans in the North f whom I am one (see "Why Ballet Black is Special" 20 May 2013 and "Dépouillement" - another beautiful Pas de Deux by Kundi and Christofi" 22 May 2013). I am not sure where she has gone but as soon as I find out I will let everybody know.

In the meantime ballet companies don't run on air so if you can spare a few bob here's their support page.