Chelmsford Ballet Update

River Chelmer

Author Roy Gray
Licence Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
Source Wikipedia

Folk in the rest of the UK tend to be very unkind about Essex even though there is much to admire in that county. For a start it possesses some beautiful countryside as you can see from the photo of the River Chelmer from which Chelmsford derives its name. Also, it has one of the nation's oldest ballet companies of which I am proud to say I am a non-dancing associate member.

In order to graduate from associate to dancing member one has to be accepted at an audition which takes place once a year.  Those who are accepted are considered for the annual show in March as well as special events and workshops.

This year's auditions will take place on 24 June 2018. There are three classes of membership and the criteria are as follows:

"GENERAL DANCERS
Age 13 years on 1st September in the year of the audition and holding a Grade 2 Ballet certificate (or above) or be working at an equivalent level.
SENIOR DANCERS
Age 13 years on 1st September in the year of the audition – Female dancers should be working “en pointe”.
JUNIOR DANCERS
Age 10 years and not more than 12 on 1st September in the year of the audition and holding a Grade 2 Ballet certificate (or above) or be working at an equivalent level."

Those who are accepted for any grade of membership are expected to show a reasonable degree of commitment to the company.  Obviously I can't do all that from Holmfirth but I would have applied for general dancer membership like a shot had I lived in Essex. Those who can make the grade and offer the required level of commitment should apply by completing and lodging this application form before 10 June.

If you are accepted at the audition you qualify for all sorts of fun things like workshops with Ballet Central and Sir Matthew Bourne's company, New Adventures.   Ballet Central's took place on 22 April and was aptly described in the notice to members as a "perfect after show treat." You can say that again. I am green with envy.

Chelmsford's joint patron is none other than Chris Marney who was a magnificent Count Lilac in Bourne's production of The Sleeping Beauty and is now Artistic Director of Ballet Central.  The dancers from Chelmsford Ballet have an opportunity "to sample innovative and exciting repertoire and work on story telling and characterisation in dance" on Sunday 8 July 2018. The blurb from Chelmsford (appropriately on a lilac background) states:

"This is an amazing chance to participate in a workshop specifically tailored for the Chelmsford Ballet Company, which will allow all grades of dancing members an opportunity to understand the process of narrative dance and to work on characterisation."

Finally a note to my fellow Northerners. We could do this sort of thing if we ever get Powerhouse Ballet off the ground.  In the short term Karen Sant has offered us a day's intensive training in Manchester, Ballet West a week in Scotland and Terence Etheridge a fantastic experience in Cornwall. We have got Northern Ballet and Phoenix on our doorstep. They would almost certainly be willing to help. We have excellent links with all the other leading companies in the UK and even beyond.

But in order to get off the ground we need a full class of dancers in Huddersfield on Saturday 26 May 2018 at 15:00.  You have the opportunity of a FREE 90-minute class with Jane Tucker, one of the best teachers in the business, for which you would have to pay £7 plus a £5 registration fee in Leeds or £15 in Manchester. Opportunities live this do not grow on trees.

Chelmsford's Next Ballet - How Come The Essex Girls (and Boys) Get All The Fun?

Teniel's White Rabbit

Source Wikipedia

Chelmsford Ballet Company, of which I am proud to be a non-dancing associate, describes itself as an amateur company with professional standards for all its work, involving professionals in its productions, courses, teaching and workshops. It is based in Chelmsford but its dancers come from all over Essex and beyond and its associates such as I and far like Gita come from as far away as Yorkshire.

The company's Artistic Director is Annette Potter of The Classical Ballet & Theatre Dance School. She has staged some wonderful productions since I have been following the company namely The Nutcracker (see The Nutcracker as it really should be danced - No Gimmicks but with Love and Joy 20 March 2014), Pineapple Poll and Carnival of the Animals double bill (see A Delight Indeed 22 March 2015) and The Sleeping Beauty (see A Real Beauty: Chelmsford Ballet's The Sleeping Beauty 25 March 2016).

This year Annette is creating a new ballet for the company to be called Alice's Adventures based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.   This will be quite different from Christopher Wheeldon's Alice in Wonderland.   As Annette has kindly agreed to give me an interview I shall be writing a feature on it shortly. The company has published the following information in its blog:

“Alice” has not been performed in any guise by The Company since 1994. This version, choreographed by our Artistic Director Annette Potter, will bring a fresh look at the characters and story; bringing with it a different slant on an age old favourite. Dancing members will be able to audition for a part in this new production in October. Many have already indicated that they wish to participate and we’re sure that those candidates successful at audition in June will also be keen to audition again for a role in the show."

A workshop will take place on 25 Sept 2016 for any dancing members who wants to take part in the show and it is necessary to audition to become a dancing member.  The show will be performed at the Civic Theatre between 22 and 25 March 2017,

Another important event in Chelmsford's calendar is Let's Make A Ballet for children and young persons aged between 7 and 14. That will take place on 16 Oct 2017 at The Sandon School. How Come The Essex Girls (and Boys) Get All The Fun?

More Ballet in Essex

Photo Jane Lambert
All rights reserves

Sheila Beelam who keeps the wonderful Just Ballet shop in Thorpe Bay just outside Southend has just posted the following announcement on Facebook:

"We have just managed to book in a photo shoot for next Wednesday 1st April 10.30am - 1.30 pm at the Palace Theatre in Southend. We are looking for the following to help model our beautiful collection of leotards:

• 3 x adult dancers (UK 6-8, UK 8-10 & UK 10-12) 
• 3 x 8 - 11 year old dancers 
• 1 x 4 - 5 year old dancer 

Each dancer will receive a Just Ballet gift voucher, goody bag and a complimentary image from their photo shoot.:-)

Casting closes this Sunday 29th March at 10 pm".

I visited Sheila in her shop last month on the way back from Amsterdam and was very impressed.It was just like Aladdin's cave and she was running a recording of Giselle on her monitor. I had previously bought two leotards from her (she stocks all sizes even for hippos like me) and I bought another really pretty one for me plus something for a friend in Sheffield.

The shop is just round the corner from the sea front and you can park outside. There are no restrictions.

If I were an Essex girl I would love to take part in this shoot. As I have written quite a lot about ballet in Chelmsford and Harlow this week I thought that some of them might like to apply to take part.

The Chelmsford Ballet

Amelia Wallis         Courtesy The Chelmsford Ballet Company

An amateur company with patrons like Christopher Marney, choreographer of the wonderful War Letters for Ballet Black, and the great ballerina, Doreen Wells, invites attention. On the home page of their website the Chelmsford Ballet Company describes itself as "an amateur company who set professional standards for all [its] work, involving professionals in [its] productions, courses, and other teaching and workshop opportunities." According to the history page it traces its history back to 1947 which makes it older than English National Ballet, Scottish Ballet and Northern Ballet.

I heard about the company through twitter. English National Ballet had been tweeting about the work that goes into their costumes for The Nutcracker (see "Cracking" 14 Dec 2013). I commented:

"@ENBallet's tweets on the amount of work which goes into each dancer's costume for a classical ballet like The Nutcracker is an eye opener."

The Chelmsford Ballet's publicity officer Jessica Wilson replied:

"@nipclaw @ENBallet we are busy sewing ours too, mouse king head has arrived and soldiers are at the ready!"

I followed the links and found the company's website.

The dancers are staging The Nutcracker at the Chelmsford Civic Theatre between the 19 and 22 March 2014 and I shall be there to review it on the opening night. If you want to come too, the following link takes you straight to the box office.  Clara in that performance will be danced by Amelia Wallis whose photo appears above. She and the other dancers were auditioned at a Nutcracker workshop other pictures of which you can see here.

If you do see the show it is worth staying awhile to visit the city and county. It has a very pretty 15th century cathedral dedicated to St Cedd who was one of the earliest English saints. There's a fine Saxon church that is also dedicated to him by the nuclear power station on the coast. Chelmsford also has a fine Shire Hall near the cathedral where the Crown Court used to sit. I got to know the city well in my early years at the Bar because my clerk sent me regularly to cross-examine coppers and plead mitigation there.  Essex is very like the North. It also has factories, coast and even a few hills though none quite so high as ours. More importantly, it has gritty, generous hearted people with a thirst for education and a determination to get on - not la-di-da but just like us. In fact I regard them as honorary Northerners.

Returning to the company for a second, there are classes for the company and guests which I would love to take, a regular newsletter and lots of other events. You can join as a dancing or a non-dancing member for a very reasonable subscription. You can download the application form here.  If you live nearby and are into dance, what are you waiting for?