Casanova Revived

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Northern Ballet Casanova  Leeds Grand Theatre 11 March 2022 19:30

I saw Northern Ballet on stage for the first time since its 50th anniversary gala on 4 Jan 2020.  It was very good to see them again.   Although I try not to be partisan and support the other classical and contemporary companies of the United Kingdom, the Dutch National Ballet and great companies around the world as well as I can, Northern Ballet is my home company.  I live 25 miles from Leeds. I have attended whenever possible Northern Ballet's over 55 and evening classes since 2013. I have seen most of its shows since I was captivated by Dame Gillian Lynne's A Simple Man. Through those connections, I have got to know and like many members of the company.

Several of those artists were in last night's performance of Casanova.  It was a particular pleasure to see Hannah Bateman as Madame de Pompadour.  I had taken part in a virtual flower throw for her early in the lockdown because it had not been possible to attend the Grand for a real flower throw in what I had understood to be her final performance for Northern Ballet. Bateman has long been my favourite female artist in that company.  She founded The Ballet Retreat which I have always promoted but never attended largely because I fear I would not be good enough for her.  She is in the very restricted sense that I use the term a true ballerina.

Other dancers in the show whom I know well and like a lot included Abigail Prudames as Bellino, Ashley Dixon as Senator Bragadin and Gavin McCaig as an inquisitor and other roles. The title role, however, was danced by Lorenzo Trosello. Yesterday was the first time I had noticed him in a major role and I was impressed.  I particularly admired his interaction with Prudames who danced Bellino.  That appears to me to be the most demanding female role.  She was also impressive.  They certainly excited the crowd most of whom rose to their feet at the reverence.

Casanova is not a particularly easy story to follow.  I had seen it several times and written quite a lot about it in Casanova Second Time Round in the articles linked to that post, but even I had to refer to the synopsis in the programme at times.  Tindall is a dramatic choreographer - perhaps most remarkable for his work with groups and the corps than for his solos and duets.  He makes his dancers create shapes that are almost sculptural.  His narrative is cinematic. Christopher Oram's designs are breathtaking as is Muzzey's score.  The success of this ballet is down to the choreographer's eye for talent and ability to bring it all together.

The house was less than full last night but the folk who did attend were vociferous and enthusiastic. Perhaps more used to Elland Road, I thought, than the theatre. When the Ukrainian national anthem was announced my friend and I stood up. Though we were joined by one or two others as the playing continued most seemed content to sit it out.  It was quite a contrast to the audience at The Lowry last week.  They did however stand and even ululate at the curtain call.  It was certainly a good show though not good enough for me to lose my sense of proportion.

The show will remain at the Grand until 19 March.  It opens at the Lyceum in Sheffield on 22 March and then moves on to Sadlers Wells and The Lowry in May.  It is one of the best works in Northern Ballet's repertoire and if you can get to any of those theatres you should see it.

Central School of Ballet's Summer Performance

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Central School of Ballet Summer Performance 18 July 2019, 19:30 Bloomsbury Theatre & Studio

Central School of Ballet has trained some excellent dancers.  They include Sarah Kundi who stole the show as far as I was concerned with her hilarious performance as Cinderella's stepmother in the Albert Hall (see Cinders in the Round 13 June 2019).  Hannah Bateman was at Central too.  She is my favourite at Northern Ballet.  So, too, was Rachael Gillespie whom I also admire greatly.  The School trained Kenneth Tindall whom I described as "a many sided genius", and, of course, its current artistic director, Christopher Marney, who is my favourite living British choreographer.  Central was founded by Christopher Gable whom I first saw as Romeo with Lynn Seymour ar Covent Garden.  I saw him again many years later in A Simple Man and it was that performance that attracted me to Northern Ballet as it is now called.  His term as artistic director was that company's golden age.

Yesterday, I got a chance to see some of those who will follow in the footsteps of those great names in Central School of Ballet's Summer Performance.  That is not the same as the annual tour that the performing company, Ballet Central, make each spring and summer.  The Summer Performance offers a chance to see the first and second-year students as well as those in the third year.  Though there is some overlap, the programmes are different.  Ballet Central visits about 20 theatres up and down the country between March and July,  The Summer Performance takes place only at the Bloomsbury Theatre & Studio on the 18 and 19 July.

Heidi Hall, the Director, opened the show with a talk about the School and the performance.  She reported that the £9 million appeal had been successful and that the School hoped to move into its new premises after Christmas.  Funds were still needed, she reminded us, and she invited everyone in the audience to join its "Friends" scheme.  She promised a great show and that was exactly what her young artists, the choreographers, staff and technicians delivered.

The show consisted of seven works divided into two acts:

• Jenna Lee's Rock 'n' Roll  
• Calvin Richardson's Dying Swan
• Louse Bennett's Twin Figures
• Sandrine Monin's Hidden
• Thiago Soares's Vossa Sinfonia
• Leanne King's All in Four, and
• Christopher Marney's Carousel Dancers.

I liked all of the works, particularly Lee's Rock 'n' Roll, Richardson's Dying Swam, Monin's Hidden, Soares's Vossa Sinfonia, King's All in Four and Marney's Carousel Dances most of all.

I became a fan of Lee when I saw her ballroom scene from Romeo and Juliet in 2017 (see Triumphant 1 May 2017) and my admiration of her work grew still more when I saw Black Swan at Stratford last year (see Half a Show is Better than None 16 July 2018). I enjoyed her Rock 'n' Roll best of all.  Set in a 1950s US diner or maybe a high school hop, the girls wore the most gorgeous full-skirted dresses with yards of tulle petticoats while the boys wore white tops and black bottoms.  The action revolved around a jukebox that played the fifties pop of my childhood.  It was fun to watch a turns on pointe to Little Richard.  I hope and suspect that it was fun to do those turns.

Next came Richardson's Dying Swan danced by Joseph Beretta.  Like Michel Decombey's which was danced elegantly by Javier Torres in Northern Ballet's 45th-anniversary gala (see Sapphire 15 March 2015), this was a solo for a male. Pavlova died nearly 20 years before I was born so I never saw her dance Fokine's work but my mother did when she was 3 years old and it made such an impression on her that she could describe every detail of the choreography up to the day she died (see In Leeds of all Places - Pavlova, Ashton and Magic 18 Sep 2013).  I have seen it performed twice by a modern ballerina - once by Elena Glurdjidze in the Gala for Ghana and a few years earlier by Marianela Nuñez of which I have no recollection at all.  Though I like Decombey's work as performed by Torres, Richardson's work was closer in spirit to Fokine. He took no liberties with the score.  Had Fokine created a version for a man I think it would have been like Richardson's.

Twin Figures by Louise Bennett was set to Boreslav Martinu's concerto for piano and cello.  A very energetic work, it offered plenty of opportunities to the first-year students to demonstrate their virtuosity. Some 20 dancers took part.  Clad in blue and green the effect was quite mesmeric.  It was a good piece to take us through to the interview.  At that point I tweeted:

Thoroughly enjoyed first act of @csbschool's annual performance, particularly @JLchoreographer's "Rock 'n' Roll" and Richardson's "Dying Swan". Looking forward to work by @_TSOARES @chrismarney and Leeds's own @sandrinemonin. Well done to all artists in Act I.

— Terpsichore (@jelterps) July 18, 2019

I dubbed Sandrine Monin as "Leeds's own" because I first got to know her work through Phoenix Dance Theatre for whom she created Calyx from Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal in 2018.  Deep currents ran through Calyx as they did for Hidden which she created for the second years.  Figures move about the stage their heads slightly bowed as though they were automatons.  I got the impression that the work was inspired by Fritz Lang's Metropolis because that was the feel of the piece and the narrative that was communicated to me - but I could well be wildly wrong.  The music which was contributed by Rusconi and Martinu added to the sense of mechanistic desolation.  A very thoughtful piece that needs to be seen again and probably more than twice.

Thiago Soares's Vossa Sinfonia was delightful.  It started with Beethoven, continued with Ernesto Nazareth, then Heitor Villa Lobos and Noel Rosa and finally back to Beethoven.  Its juxtaposition of Beethoven with recent composers reminded me a little of Arthur Pita's Dream within Midsummer Night's Dream.  The piece was the nearest we got to a classical work and in that regard, it would have done credit to Balanchine.

Leanne King's All in Four for the first years was a joyous work.  The girls were barefoot.  They wore long flowing skirts their hair in ponytails. They danced to Monteverdi's Beatus Vir (which I think means "blessed man" rather than "blessed be" as stated in the programme) arranged by Philip Feeney.  Feeny actually played the piano accompaniments with a keyboard and took a bow at the end. As a work of dance, it was my favourite of the evening.

Ballet is, of course, more than just dance.  It combines dance with drama, music, costumes, sets and more.  It grabs all the senses. That is why I described Carousel Dances as the piece de resistance in my tweets.  I saw several dancers who I think will go far.  The man who played the male lead, the female lead and the mistress of ceremonies to note just three.  There were plenty of circus thrills such as snake charmers, men crashing through hoops and acrobatics all forming the background to a romance.  Choreographed to tunes by Rogers and Hammerstein that we all know, it was the perfect end to a great show.

There will be one more performance tonight at 19:30.  If you are anywhere near Bloomsbury tonight and there are any tickets to spare go see this show.  It is one of the highlights of my year so far.

Northern Ballet's "The Nutcracker" - All My Favourite Artists in the Same Show

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Northern Ballet  The Nutcracker  12 Dec 2019 19:00 Leeds Grand Theatre

Northern Ballet does a very good version of The Nutcracker.  I have seen a lot of productions of that ballet in my time and, in my humble opinion, it is one of the best. Having said that, I can think of no good reason why David Nixon has to change the names of the Stahlbaum family to Edwards and Northern Ballet really must do something about the backdrop which is supposed to be a wall and bookcase but flaps like a flag if anyone gets too close to it. But I can forgive all that because everything else is good.

Wednesday's performance was particularly good because nearly all my favourite artists from the company were in the show.  They did not all have major roles.  Javier Torres who was my dancer of the year for 2017 was Mr Stahlbaum (or Edwards if you must) and the exquisite Hannah Bateman was Clara's grandmother.  Rachael Gillespie, of whom I can never see enough, was Clara. Abigail Prudames, another beautiful dancer, was Sugar Plum.  Gavin McCaig was in the ballet as the butler and also the Arabian divertissement.  My favourite of the evening was Mlundi Kulashe who played a blinder as Drosselmeyer.  He danced it with energy and verve in a way that I have never seen  it danced before,  Everybody in the show (and that includes the musicians) performed brilliantly.

In some versions of The Nutcracker, Clara (or Marie) is a child who does not have much to do beyond bopping the mouse king with a shoe or some other blunt instrument.  In Nixon's version, she handbags him Thatcher style.  She also performs some duets in the snow scene and again in the second act with the Nutcracker (Ashley Dixon) and joins in some of the divertissements. Rachael is a joy to watch and Nixon displayed her like a precious jewel.

The climax of the ballet is, of course,  the Sugar Plum's pas de deux with her cavalier. On Wednesday he was Joseph Taylor.  The high point for audiences is the celesta solo just as Legnani's 32 fouettés are in Swan Lake or the rose adagio in The Sleeping Beauty.  Everything else may be perfect but if something goes wrong with one of those pieces the rest is forgotten. Abigail Prudames thus bore the weight of the performance in that solo and she carried it off beautifully.  Taylor is a powerful dancer and he was thrilling to watch.

Nixon does a particularly good fight scene between mice and toy soldiers.  Riku Ito was a particularly gallant regnant rodent expiring stoically after Rachael's handbagging.  Nixon has a cavalry in his production which is one up on Sir Peter Wright and Peter Darrell's productions.

In the second act, Itu performed the Spanish dance as a solo. That was different.   It is usually danced by an ensemble though Northern Ballet School also presented it as a solo in Christmas at the Dancehouse.   I liked the Arabian dancers (Matthew Topliss, Natalia Kerner and Gavin McCaig), the Chinese (Kevin Poeung and Harris Beattie) and the Russians (Conner Jordan-Collins, Matthew Morrell and Andrew Tomlinson); The Russian dance was a big role for those three young dancers two oi whim are still apprentices,.

There are also a lot of roles for children in The Nutcracker as guests at the Stahlbaums' party, mice and soldiers.  Two of my teachers had daughters in the show though I am not sure whether either was dancing on Wednesday night.  All the kids performed well that night and were a credit to their ballet mistress who in previous years has been Cara O'Shea.

The show will run at the Grand until Sunday and I strongly recommend it.

Northern Ballet's MacMillan Celebration

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Northern Ballet A Celebration of Sir Kenneth MacMillan Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, 7 Oct 2017, 19:30

Kenneth MacMillan died on 29 Oct 1992. On the 25th anniversary of his death, Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet and Yorke Dance Project have joined in a national festival of his work. The focus of this celebration was a special season at Covent Garden to which each of those companies contributed.

Before going to London, Northern Ballet performed three of MacMillan's works at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford between the 5 and 7 Oct 2017:

• Las Hermanas;
• Concerto; and
• Gloria.

The company will dance them again in Leeds on 16 and 17 March 2018. 

These were not the jolliest of works for a Saturday night. One ended with a suicide.  Another was about the First World War.  Concerto was abstract but it can hardly be described as a bundle of laughs. MacMillan did create more cheerful ballets such as Elite Syncopations.   It would have been good to have included something like that in the programme.  There may have been some in the audience who had never seen MacMillan's work before.  Those audience members would have gained a better impression of the extent of his genius had some of his lighthearted work been included.

Las Hermanas means Sisters in Spanish and it was based on La casa de Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca which is subtitled Drama de mujeres en los pueblos de España ("Drama about women in rural Spain"). Though set in Andalusia on the eve of the Spanish civil war it was first performed in Argentina just before Juan Domingo Perón came into power. Melancholy runs through this work like the name of a seaside resort through a stick of rock.

As in Lorca's play, there are five sisters who range in age from 20 (Adela) to 39 (Angustias) plus their mother (Bernarda) but, unlike the play, there is a powerful male role for Angustias's fiancé, Pepe. Bernarda is in mourning for her second husband and she insists that her daughters mourn too. They sit at home without companionship as their lives tick by. Pepe enters the home,  He dances first with Angustias but she is tight and tense. Adela is more receptive but she is spotted by one of he sisters who betrays her.  Overcome with shame, Adela hangs herself. 

MacMillan created the work for the Stuttgart Ballet. His cast included Marcia Haydée, Birgit Keil, Ray Barra and Ruth Papendick who were among the most celebrated dancers of their time.  Appropriately,  Northern Ballet deployed its "A" team. Hannah Bateman was the eldest sister and Javier Torres her fiancé. Minju Kang was the wilful Adla, Pippa Moore the spiteful jealous sister and Victoria Sibson the tyrannical mother. Rachael Gillsepie and Mariana Rodrigues were the fourth and fifth sisters.  

Another impressive feature of this performance was the elaborate set by Nicholas Georgiadis, Georgiadis collaborated with MacMillan on many of his ballets including his Romeo and Juliet which is a masterpiece of theatre design. According to Kenneth MacMillan's website, it was Nicholas Georgiadis, who suggested the balletic possibilities of Lorca’s play.

I would be lying if I said I enjoyed the work. It is chilling, depressing and very dark. But I was very impressed by the dancers, the technicians who recreated and assembled Georgiadis's magnificent designs, the lighting staff and everyone who was involved in the production. Artistically and technically it was one of the best performances by Northern Ballet that I have ever seen.

Concerto was another work that MacMillan created while in Germany. This time it was for the Berlin Opera Ballet. His dancers included Didi Carli, Falco Kapuste, Lynn Seymour, Rudolf Holz and Silvia Kesselheim. Its score is Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2.  The work consists of three movements. The first consists of a leading lady, a leading man and six soloists. The second movement is a pas de deux. The third movement has a leading lady and the corps. According to MacMillan's website, the original performance was danced against a plain background the dancers in tunics of olive and ochre. Northern Ballet's sets and costumes were redesigned by Lady Deborah MacMillan with the dancers in brighter colours.  On 7 Nov 2017 Antoinette Brookes-Daw and Matthew Koon were the leading dancers in the first movement, Abigail Prudames and Joseph Taylor danced the pas de deux and Dominique Larose was the leading lady of the third movement.

MacMillan created Gloria for the Royal Ballet in 1980 after he had ceased to be its artistic director. It is an elegy to the youth who died or were injured in the first world war. Inspired by Vera Britten's Testament of Youth with music by Poulenc it is a highly emotional, haunting and intensely spiritual work. The males are soldiers (or perhaps spirits of soldiers) clad in khaki and very insubstantial looking helmets. If the men could be taken for ghosts the women are unambiguously ghostlike glad head to foot in white or grey. The dancers rise over a ridge as though clambering out of a trench to charge the enemy lines. On World Ballet Day, David Nixon contrasted the stage of the Alhambra with that of the Royal Opera House where the ridge looked real.  Lorenzo Trosello danced a solo, Mimju Kang and Giuliano Contadini a pas de deux. Sarah Chun, Ashley Dixon, Nichola Gervasi and Sean Bates a pas de quatre and Dreda Blow joined Hannah Bateman, Abigail Prudames and Dominique Larose in a dance for four women.

Sadly, the Alhambra was less than full on 7 Oct 2017 and I think that was because of the programming. While audiences do not expect to be jollied every time they go to the theatre there is only so much doom and gloom a body can take - especially with all the other horrible things that are happening in the world. It would also have been nice to have had a programme. I received a cast list eventually but only after I had hunted down a duty manager.

But these are niggles. Anybody who stayed the course was rewarded by some exquisite dancing. My standing order for another year's sub to the Friends of Northern Ballet went through last week. It is money well spent.

Bank Holiday Ballet: Wendy McDermott's Reflections on the latest Ballet Retreat

Wendy McDermott

The Ballet Retreat, Leeds, 26-26 Aug 2017

The August bank holiday was quite a special time for UK adult ballet dancers as the fourth Ballet Retreat of 2017 took place at Northern Ballet’s studios in Leeds, West Yorkshire. I think there have been five retreats altogether since emerging on the adult ballet scene around this time last year. I think all the ‘retreaters’ would agree that we are a pretty lucky bunch of adult dancers. We have the good fortune of using the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre for all three days, which is a studio space of around 30 metres in length (great for leaps, not so good for turns – oh the dizziness ), we are taught by professional dancers and have the added bonus of dancing to music performed by a live pianist.

As with other retreats, the day always starts with a warm up, led by the event’s organiser and producer Hannah Bateman (she’s also a Leading Soloist for Northern Ballet). There are plenty of standing and seated stretches, warming up of the spine, body and hip alignments, ports de bras and leg rotations to loosen the hips and prepare the muscles for the day’s dancing ahead. After a short loo/ballet bun/water break, we went straight into our 90 min technique class taken by David Kierce and musically accompanied by Northern Ballet’s company pianist, Andrew Dunlop.

Classes are always challenging but also injected with David’s humour and positivity. He does this in such a way that we’re able to keep the focus and concentration, particularly when giving group corrections. He has a very good knack of explaining the kinesiology, how the body works logically to stay aligned when performing everyday activities and what should (or shouldn’t) happen when rising onto demi pointe or standing with the working leg in retiré position for example.

Following class and before lunch we always start work on the repertoire and this time the female variation was Gamzatti’s Act 2 solo in La Bayadère. The men’s variation was Solor’s Act 2 coda. For days one and two the ladies had extra help in learning the rep from Dreda Blow another Leading Soloist at Northern. The men were not left out either and heartily welcomed back Gavin McCaig, now a third-year corps de ballet member after starting with the company as an apprentice (see Meet Gavin McCaig of Northern Ballet 3 Sept 2014).

Gamzatti’s variation is, I think, the longest that we have danced so far though it is less than a minute in length. That doesn’t sound long in the normal scheme of things and granted, some of the steps were modified to suit our abilities. But when you’re performing développés to relevé in retiré whilst also turning, then chassés into grands jetés, turning waltzes, turns in attitude to arabesque, posé turns into chaînés and then more grands jetés around the studio, with attitude on demi pointe to finish, this is no mean feat. Everyone did brilliantly.

As the August retreats are three days instead of two, we’re given the chance to experience a different kind of dance or movement on the second day. This year’s surprise taster class was no exception. We were given a sneaky hint when, a few days before the retreat, Hannah suggested that we follow Amaury Lebrun on Twitter. 

He is a contemporary dance teacher and choreographer, and new to Leeds. Whilst some of us may have guessed the connection I don’t think anyone was prepared for the hour long session ahead. I referred to the session on Twitter as the "Gaga Technique", but that is incorrect as it is a style created by Ohad Naharin. It is described as a ‘movement language’ that does not have a particular technique as we might think; ballet being the obvious one here. It is the antithesis, the renegade you might say. 

Amaury took our class, remarking that all that was required was our imaginations and to keep moving. Even on the spot, we did not stand still but very gently sway from side to side, shifting our weight from one leg to the other. He gave us mental images of water running through the fingers, snakes, balloons deflating in our bodies, walking through crowded streets of people without collision. With these thoughts, we moved either within our own space or around the studio imagining how we might move, or react, to that image. There was no right or wrong – just move. 

One of the last exercises was to lay in our own space, to think of something funny – a joke perhaps, and laugh out loud. We were all a little tentative, to begin with, but once the embarrassment subsided and encouraged by one or two more confident voices, we were able to release our inner reserved selves and release the laughter. Judging by people’s immediate reaction when the session ended I think it was a very successful class though perhaps a little avant-garde for some but most left feeling lifted and exhilarated.

The third and final day came around and again, following the morning class we had roughly an hour or so to put the whole variation together. This was easier for some to remember than others, partly I suspect (and confess) as nerves set in and the realisation that we’d shortly be performing to all the other dancers. We split into pairs and threes and each group performed the solo to all the other retreaters and everyone received rapturous applause.

Our final goodbyes were said, but not before a lovely lunch, vintage style with cut sandwiches, mini cream scones and an assortment of cakes and tea or coffee to drink. The tables were laid out beautifully and it was such a lovely end to what had been an amazing three days, and one which I am eager to repeat again.

Casanova Second Time Round

The Lowry

Photo Andrew Dunn
(c) 2004 Andrew Dunn: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2 Licence
Source Wikipedia

Northern Ballet, Casanova. The Lowry, 6 May 2017, 19:30

I was pretty complimentary about Kenneth Tindall's Casanova when it opened in Leeds on 11 March 2017 (see Casanova - "it has been a long time since I enjoyed a show by Northern Ballet as much as I enjoyed Casanova last night" 12 March 2017). I liked last night's show at the Lowry even better.

I think there are three reasons for that.

The first is that we had a very strong cast that included both of Northern Ballet's remaining premier dancers, Javier Torres and Pippa Moore as well as personal favourites like Hannah Bateman, Abigail Prudames, Antoinette Brooks-Daw and Mlindi Kulashe in important roles.

The second reason for last night's success is that the dancers will have grown used to their roles over the last two months and danced in the confidence that audiences around the country and most of the critics like the show.

Thirdly, I think the dancers were lifted by the venue. The Lowry is a great auditorium, certainly for audiences because seating is comfortable commanding good views of the stage from just about every part of the house, but I think also for performers as the stage is large and it is well equipped for scenery changes and special effects.

The company danced before a receptive crowd and though the house was less than full the warmth of the applause at the end when more than a few rose to their feet more than made up for it. Manchester audiences may be a little bit more critical than Leeds ones as they see Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and visiting companies from abroad such as the National Ballet of China and Alvin Ailey as well as Northern Ballet. If a show does well in the second largest conurbation of the United Kingdom it will probably do well anywhere. As the old saying goes, "what Manchester does today, the world does tomorrow."

As I have written a lot about Casanova already, I won't bore readers with a rehash of the plot or the work of the various contributors. They can get all that from Northern Ballet's website and the bibliography below. I will concentrate on the dancers and what made last night's performance even better than the first night.

As I noted above, we had a very strong cast. Giuliano Contadini was the poster boy of the show and deservedly so for he danced Casanova very well but Torres was cast perfectly for the role. Powerful, athletic and passionate, he was how I had always imagined the historical Giacomo Casanova. There is a point towards the end when he has to hold a very uncomfortable pose for what must seem like an age. That was when I appreciated just how good he was.

Another inspired bit of casting was Prudames as Bellino. One of the most touching scenes of the ballet - touching in both senses  - is where Contadini gradually winds her confidence. It was demonstrated at the preview with a commentary from Tindall by Contadini and Dreda Blow (see Casanova Unmasked 16 Feb 2017). Prudames made it work even better for she showed the vulnerability of her character and the sensitivity of their encounter given the disparity in power.

Yet another powerful performance came in the first act where MM (described in the blurb as "an aristocratic nun" and danced by Bateman) seduces Casanova thereby giving the inquisition the excuse they need to throw him into the Leads, the prison on the other side of the Bridge of Sighs.

Constraints of time and space prevent my commending everyone individually, All, dancers and musicians, did well last night.  I congratulate everyone who took part in the show.

As the orchestra pit of the Lowry is a bit more spacious than most I was able to glimpse the orchestra occasionally as it tackled Kerry Muzzey's score. Percussion is important particularly towards the end of the show and I was drawn to the percussionist seated on the back row of the pit as he sounded out the change of mood. Thr Northern Ballet Sinfonia was conducted by Daniel Parkinson last night who interpreted the music well. I am not sure that I appreciated the score as much as I did last night the first time round. Yesterday I particularly liked the first act where there were hints of the 18th century without pastiche.

I also appreciated the sets and lighting more and noticed things like the sort of white smoke that rises from the Sistine Chapel when a new pope is found which opened the show. I am not sure of its significance. I assume it was used in the Grand but, for the life of me, I just can't remember it.  It was, however, very effective owing moe than a little to the cinema which I know to be Tindall's passion (see "A Many Sided Genius, Tindall on Casanova 4 March 2017). Not everything worked quite so well. If, as I hope, this ballet has a second run, t I hope that Tindall takes another look at the flashback scene with its falling pages reminiscent of the snow scene at the end of Nixon's Wuthering Heights. A fine bit of choreography deserves a stronger and more original ending.

It was very good to see Northern Ballet west of the Pennines where the company began. As a Mancunian, I took pride in Northern Dance Theatre's existence long before I ever saw them dance. And when I did see them dance I saw them first in Manchester which is where they performed some of their best work. It would be good to see more of them in our city and there is no reason why they should not do so. After all, the Australian Ballet has a strong base in Sydney as well as Melbourne and the Miami City Ballet has homes in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach as well as Miami. As I have said many times, the company is called Northern Ballet, not Leeds City or even Yorkshire Ballet. If Birmingham Royal Ballet can manage two seasons a year in our city region I see no reason why Northern Ballet could nit do the same if it really wanted to do so.

Bibliography: Reviews and Insights

20 April	Louise Levene	Casanova, Milton Keynes Theatre, UK — a blur of conquests	Financial Times
19 April	Bruce Marriott	Northern Ballet – Casanova – Leeds	Dance Tabs
7 April	Judith Mackrell	Casanova review – too much plot, not enough passion for Northern Ballet's limp lothario	The Guardian
12 March	Mark Brown	Casanova is an impressive and exhilarating evening's ballet – review	Daily Telegraph
12 March	Jane Lambert	Casanova - "it has been a long time since I enjoyed a show by Northern Ballet as much as I enjoyed Casanova last night"	Terpsichore
4 March	Jane Lambert	"A Many Sided Genius" - Tindall on Casanova	Terpsichore
16 Feb	Jane Lambert	Casanova Unmasked	Terpsichore
24 May 2016	Jane Lambert	Casanova	Terpsichore

Casanova - "it has been a long time since I enjoyed a show by Northern Ballet as much as I enjoyed Casanova last night"

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Northern Ballet Casanova Grand Theatre, Leeds, 11 March 2017, 19:30

I started to take an interest in Northern Ballet when I first read about it in Dance and Dancers in 1969. I seem to remember that it was called Northern Dance Theatre in those days.  The first performance by that company that I actually saw was Gillian Lynn's A Simple Man in 1987 (see Northern Ballet's "A Simple Man" 14 Sep 2013). I have followed the company ever since - remaining loyal to it even after it moved to Halifax. I have therefore seen a lot of performances by Northern Ballet over the years. It is a very long time since I saw a show by Northern Ballet that I enjoyed as much as I enjoyed Casanova last night. It is certainly the best I have seen from Northern Ballet since the company crossed the Pennines.

Casanova is Kenneth Tindall's first full length ballet. He had already impressed the public and critics with his such works as The Architect and Luminous Junc•ture but as he agreed in his interview with me "the jump from one-act to full-length is an exponential and qualitative leap - not merely doubling or tripling of effort" (see "A Many Sided Genius" - Tindall on Casanova 4 March 2017). In my judgment Tindall has landed successfully in making that leap.  I liked every aspect of the production: Tindall's choreography, the story that he created with Casanova's biographer Ian Kelly, Kerry Muzzey's score, Christopher Oram's designs and, of course, the dancers.

The ballet focusses on two episodes of Casanova's life. The first is his youth in Venice where he is introduced by Father Balbi to the Kabbalah, a proscribed text, which brings him to the attention of the Inquisition or secret police. They imprison him in the Piombi. The second episode is his exile in France where he meets Madame de Pompadour and Voltaire. At various times women flit in and out of his life - two young girls Nanetta and Marta Savorgnan, a nun known as MM, Bellino and Henriette. Sex is in the story - it could hardly be avoided in view of the detail in which Casanova wrote about it and his popular reputation - but it is not the only story. The politics of the time, the repression of women of which Bellino and Henriette were victims, and other issues were also addressed.

Oram had cleverly projected Venice and Versailles in his set designs. I was reminded of the richness of St Mark's with a brief appearance of the Bridge of Sighs and the confines of the prison house crashing down on Casanova in the last scene of the first act. I was reminded of the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles in the second. Although it was not referred to as such in the programme, there was actually an epilogue representing his employment as a librarian in Prague, There he wrote his life story at the behest of his shrink as a therapy for depression. That episode was represented by a shower of falling paper and the entry of the characters he had encountered in his life.

Muzzey's score suited the story and decor well. It was rhythmic. I noticed several of those around me silently tapping out the beat with their fingers. I even caught myself doing it too at times. It was emphatic.  I particularly admired Muzzey's use of percussion. It was lyrical. In some of the softer scenes, he would repeat a refrain. Maybe not an earworm but nevertheless quite beautiful and memorable.

At the preview, Casanova Unmasked on 15 Feb, I realized that there was great depth and quite a lot of detail to Tindall's choreography. Not all of it is immediately obvious. The duet between Casanova and Bellino where Bellino tests Casanova and learns to trust him might well have escaped me had Tindall not explained it in the preview. However, there were some bits of the choreography that were eloquent. The binding of Bellino's breasts so that she could pose as a castrato and the joy of her womanhood that she expressed once those bandages had been removed. Of course, Bellino was not trans but it is a relief all trans-folk know.

Casanova was danced by Giuliano Contadini. A good choice, I thought. He is tall, athletic, muscular and, of course, Italian. I am not sure that he resembled the historical Casanova whose portrait accompanies my article but he was the right chap for Tindall's ballet. At the end of the performance, he was presented with flowers - a gesture that rarely happens in England but was entirely appropriate on this occasion. My only regret is that his leading ladies, Dreda Blow who danced Bellino, and Hannah Bateman, his Henriette, did not get any for they deserved flowers as well.  So, too, did the other women in Casanova's life such as Abigail Prudames and Minju Kang, Casanova's young initiators and Ailen Ramos Betancourt who danced the nun, MM. There were powerful performances by Javier Torres as Casanova's patron, Brigadin, and Mlindi Kulashe as his persecutor.  As I said earlier today in Facebook, at another time and in another place, yesterday's performance might well have earned a flower throw.

There has been a lot of hype for Casanova as there was last Autumn for Akram Khan's Giselle but in this case, the hype was entirely justified. All my expectations were met. All my hopes fulfilled. Northern Ballet danced in a way that I had not seen them dance for many years. I was not in the most receptive mood for ballet when the show started as I had run from Quarry Hill in my least comfortable but most fashionable heels over slippery pavements having languished for 45 minutes in a traffic jam caused, so far as I could see, quite gratuitously by appalling traffic management on the part of the local authority. It is to the artists' credit that I left the theatre on a high.

Ballet Retreat Revisited - Wendy McDermott's Experience

On 4 Oct 2016 Mary Howard kindly reported on the very first Ballet Retreat last August (see The Ballet Retreat 4 Oct 2016). Two more have taken place since then - one in London and the other in Leeds. Wendy McDermott, who attends the same classes as I do in Leeds and Manchester as well as Jane Tucker's intensive workshops at KNT, participated in the January Ballet Retreat on 14 and 15 Jan 2017. She has very kindly written this report.

"Anyone that follows my twitter account will perhaps remember that I wrote

Dear #ballet enthusiasts, miss #theballetretreat at your peril, and the chance to recreate your own expression of much loved ballets

— Wendy McDermott (@WendyMcDermott3) November 20, 2016

How right I was! I wrote that on the 20th November 2016, which was, at the time, the 2nd day of the London retreat, which I had missed myself! They were dancing Giselle solos, which, coincidentally, was the same date as Maya Plisetskaya’s birthday. But also coincidental because she’s my favourite ballerina in this role. (Marianela Núñez a close second. Anyhow, I digress).

The Leeds retreat was the third such event, produced by Hannah Bateman and David Paul Kierce, current and former dancers with Northern Ballet respectively. We were also lucky enough to be tutored, supported, and guided by Gavin McCaig, another professional dancer with Northern Ballet, so we were in good hands.

There remains a buzz of anticipation on the morning of the first day, as Mary Howard experienced and thus wrote for the previous retreat, only this time we went straight into warm up from 10am, instead of watching the Northern Ballet company class. This 20 minute warm up consisted of gentle, but thorough stretching to awaken the body ready for the day ahead. The lovely Hannah Bateman, current leading soloist with Northern Ballet and one of the Retreat’s producers, took us through the moves. I would have like to have done some dynamic stretching at the end but that’s just a personal preference.

A quick break followed for the usual necessities whilst the barres were being set up ready for the technique class (with company pianist) with David Paul Kierce. Readers; Dave is a force unto himself! Those of you who have taken the Thursday night beginner ballet class at Northern Ballet with Chris Hinton-Lewis and knows the energy, enthusiasm and fun he brings, will recognise the same, if not more, from David.

After lunch, provided by the Retreat, we went on to learning The Sleeping Beauty’s ‘Blue Bird’ variation, adjusted of course to suit our levels of ability but still to a technical standard to feel challenged. The men similarly separated to learn their variations.

The day ended with a really good stretch and cool down, instructed by Hannah.

Day two (and sadly the final day) took the same vein, culminating in performances from all dancers, in small groups of between four and six persons so everyone had more than enough space to spread their wings in the amazing Stanley and Audrey Burton Dance Theatre (incidentally, we had the same space for the whole two days; a luxury!) We all took thunderous applause after our solos, some taking a little longer for the reverence than others (moi , tu me dis? Pas du tout).

Judging by the dancers attending, it’s becoming a firm favourite with adult dancers from London and Yorkshire alike and will become a diary staple in the months to come. So to dancers young and not so young, male and female, I say to you, add this event to your dance diary as it is an event surely not to be missed."

WENDY McDERMOTT

Thank you, Wendy, for this great report. I am so glad that you enjoyed this Retreat. You weren't the only one. Mary also attended the January Retreat as did several of my other classmates. All spoke highly of Hannah and David.

Hannah and David have announced two more Retreats - one at Rambert's studios in London between 29 and 30 April and the other in Leeds from the 26  to 28 Aug 2017,

Romeo and Juliet after the Shrew

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Northern Ballet Romeo and Juliet, Alhambra, Bradford 14 Oct 2016, 19:30

I have to be frank. It was the Bolshoi who sold me my ticket to Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet last night with their exquisite performance of The Taming of the Shrew at the Royal Opera House in the summer (see Bolshoi's Triumph - The Taming of the Shrew 4 Aug 2016). It was they who turned me into a Maillot fan (see Jean-Christophe Maillot 5 Aug 2016 and World Ballet Day: Les Ballets de Monte Carlo 10 Oct 2016).

Had it not been for the Bolshoi I think I would have used my precious ballet going weekend to see Ballet Black last night and then hop on a train to London to see the matinee performance La Fille mal gardee today. No disrespect to Northern Ballet which is a fine company but I had already seen its Romeo and Juliet twice last year (see Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet - different but in a good way 8 March 2015 and Leebolt's Juliet 13 March 2015). Fille is one of Ashton's masterpiece which is performed only by the Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet and then not every year.

Now there is a lot of difference between the massive 240 year old company founded by Prince Ursov with all the resources of the Russian state and a mid-size 41 year old company in Leeds and I came to the Alhambra wondering whether I had done the right thing in letting Lise and Colas go for a year or so. I am glad to say that I think I did for Northern Ballet danced very well  last night. It was far better than either of the performances that I had seen in 2015 even though the cast was the same it was as the first time that I had seen the show.

Perhaps one of the reasons why yesterday's performance was so good is that they danced in the Alhambra before a Bradford crowd. From the theatre goer's point of view it is the best dance venue in Yorkshire and second only to the Lowry in the North. The Grand at Leeds is all very well but there are pillars and all sorts other obstructions to spoil the view, the bars are crowded and leg room in the cheaper seats is terrible. The Quarry at West Yorkshire Playhouse has none of those disadvantages but its capacity is limited to 750. I also find that a Bradford audience is generally more discriminating and appreciative. The Alhambra is on the circuit for world class touring companies like NDT II and Alvin Ailey. Also, they are that much closer to Manchester and thus more likely to see Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and other visitors to the Lowry and Palace.

The title roles yesterday were danced by Tobias Batley and Dreda Blow. Blow fits naturally into Juliet's role. As I said in Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet - different but in a good way:

"She was a perfect Juliet. Playful and feisty. Loving but conflicted. Brave but fearful. Blow is elevated to my pantheon of favourites."

That was still my view of her last night. Batley has to work at Romeo.  We are used to seeing him as mature men such as Heathcliff, Marc Antony and Gatsby rather than as a callow, headstrong, teenage boy, but he did work at it and was quite convincing in the balcony and bedroom pas de deux. However, the most arresting scene was Lady Capulet's explosion of rage and that will be the image that I will retain from the show. Hannah Bateman was magnificent in that role. Also impressive was Mlindi Kulashi who portrayed Tybalt as a bit of a thug. Rather unusual perhaps but quite logical when you think about it. Antoinette Brooks-Daw won the crowd's affection as the loyal, long suffering, much put upon nurse. Abigail Prudames was an adorable Rosaline. At least three people including Romeo would still be alive had Romeo stuck with her. Joseph Taylor interpreted Friar Lawrence's role quite differently from Isaac Lee-Baker whom I had previously seen in that role. Maillot had invested some of the authority that in other productions is vested in the duke in the friar's role. Yesterday we saw Taylor as the guardian of the public interest crumble as the corpses piled up from his loss of control.

That brings me back to the reason why I was in the theatre. As I explained in  Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet - different but in a good way Maillot's production is quite unlike Lavrosky's, MacMillan's, Nureyev's or any other production of Romeo and Juliet and that is because he has rewritten the play. He did very much the same even more successfully with The Taming of the Shrew.  He is now working on an interpretation of Midsummer Night's Dream called Le Songe which, despite using Mendelssohn, appears to be as different from Ashton's Dream as his Shrew is from Cranko's and his Romeo and Juliet from MacMillan's. The glimpses of the rehearsal on his World Ballet Day slots were tantalizing. Maillot appreciates Shakespeare and understands him but that does not stop him from taking the occasional liberty with him - and getting away with it.

The Lowry CAT

There are in England nine Centres for Advanced Training in Dance ("CAT") which identify children and young people with exceptional talent for dance and develop them through contact with leading dancers, teachers and choreographers. One of the Centres is in Leeds and Mel and I attended its 10th anniversary gala and "decadent afternoon tea" at Northern Ballet's studios and the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre just under two years ago (see Coming Down to Earth Gently 30 June 2014). It was a glorious afternoon and much if not all the credit belongs to Hannah Bateman who was in charge of it.

Just across the Pennines, however, is another CAT in the Lowry at Salford in Greater Manchester. As you can see from the film that Centre does great work too. Like the other schemes the Lowry is

"a part time, pre-vocational course, providing access to high quality training and nurturing in dance to young people who have a passion for the art form and who wish to progress toward full time training."

It is funded by the Department of Education and offers intensive training opportunities with professional dance teachers, choreographers and practitioners.  Anyone aged between 10 and 16 may apply for the scheme and those who are accepted may stay until they are 18.

Students are expected to take between 10 to 14 hours of class a week which should include ballet, contemporary dance and creative workshops of which 3 hours should be at the Lowry.  The instructors have glittering credentials.  Paul Bayes Kitcher was a soloist with Birmingham Royal Ballet and Rob Bell spent 15 years with the Dutch National Ballet. Students have worked with Akram Khan, Christopher Marney, Hofesh Shechter and many other choreographers and companies during their training.

Those who complete their training successfully proceed to vocational training at schools like Ballet West and Central. One of the programme's graduates is Isaac Bowry who impressed me with his performances as Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker (see Ballet West's The Nutcracker 25 Feb 2013) Rothbart in Swan Lake (see Swan Loch - Ballet West's Swan Lake, Pitlochry 1 March 2014 3 March 2014)  and Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet (see Ballet West's Romeo and Juliet 1 Feb 2015) when he was with Ballet West. I am not sure where he is now but I snatched a fragment of conversation at a recent London Ballet Circle event when his name was mentioned with a commendation.

Fees appear to be £3,649 per year and parents with household incomes under £65,840 can qualify for grants.  Those who want to find out more should call 0161 876 2018 or email CAT@thelowry.com.

Jane Eyre Update

Brontë Parsonage

Author SpaceMonkey
Source Wikipedia

Licensed with the kind permission of the author

On 20 Sept 2015 I wrote about Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre. I based my article on the press release of 17 Sept 2015 so did not have a lot to go on. I mentioned the career of the choreographer, Cathy Marston, the theatres where the ballet would be performed and a little bit about the novel.

We knew nothing about the casting at the time, so I wrote:

"No casting has been announced yet. I guess Tobias Batley and Martha Leebolt must be favourites for Jane and Mr Rochester. Blow and Bateman are also obvious alternates for Jane and maybe Takahashi for Rochester. I can only speculate who will be unfortunate enough to dance poor, mad Mrs Rochester. I can see a nice role for one of the younger dancers in Helen and two horrible ones in Aunt Reed and the Rev Brocklehurst."

We now have a lot more information thanks to the short film Jane Eyre/ by Cathy Marston for Northern Ballet - preview and interviews with Marston and Bateman which indicates that Hannah Bateman will dance Jane. I am delighted to hear that because I am a big fan of Bateman. The rehearsal photos show Javier Torres whom I believe to be an excellent choice. I am glad to see Abigail Prudames, Gavin McCaig, Antoinette Brooks-Daw and Sean Bates in those photographs too.

In the film Marston gives some details about the score. I had said in September that it had been composed by Philip Feeney but Marston explains that he had arranged music by Fanny Mendelssohn (1805 - 1847) who was a near contemporary of Charlotte Brontë (1816 - 1855) with insertions from Felix Mendelssohn and Schubert.

I am looking forward to this work for a number of reasons.  I like the story, the characters, the film and photos which I have discussed above. I think it will be the best that Northern will have done all year and a lot of people seem to agree because the performances in Doncaster are sold out. Given this show's likely popularity the choice of venues is odd. Richmond at the end of the District Line is not the easiest place to reach for balletomanes in say Hampstead or Woolwich or even Wimbledon and there are no performances in Manchester, Mliton Keynes, Nottingham, Southampton, Edinburgh, Sheffield or even Leeds where the company has an audience. No doubt there is a reason.