Exactly my cup of tea

Authior Xavier Snelgrove
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Ballet Black, Nottingham Playhouse, 26 June 2015

Unless I am very much mistaken, the opening bars of Mark Bruce's Second Coming are a quotation from Bizet's Carmen. I was reminded of The Car Man which I saw on Wednesday. I enjoyed that show very much even though New Adventures' style of theatrical dance is not quite my cup of tea (see Motoring 25 June 2015). "Ah" I thought to myself as the ballet began, "this is exactly my cup of tea." Ballet Black are as classical as any company in the world. They are heirs to a tradition to which David Bintley paid homage in The King Dances which I saw on Saturday (see A Special Ballet for a Special Day 23 June 2015). But they are also pioneers and their work is fresh and new. That's why Ballet Black is a national treasure. That's why I love them so.

Ballet Black danced the mixed programme that I saw at The Linbury on Valentine's day (see Ballet Black's Best Performance Yet 17 Feb 2015) but it was quite a different show. The opening ballet was Kit Holder's To Fetch a Pail of Water. In February it was danced by Jacob Wye and Kanika Carr. I wrote that "this was a sweet story ...... of lost innocence." Well yesterday those roles were danced by Damien Johnson and Cira Robinson's who are two of the company's senior artists. They bring gravitas and the darkness to which Holder referred in his programme notes was much easier to notice. This is a text book example of how a change of cast can change a ballet. Now both casts are great and I hope that there will be still be nights when Wye and Carr dance that piece as well as others when we see Johnson and Robinson.

Will Tuckett's Depouillement is one of the most beautiful ballets that any company has in its repertoire. Yesterday it was danced by Alves, Carr, Coracy, Mence, Renfurm and Wye. All of them danced well but my eyes were on Coracy and Renfurm. They were very shrewd hires (see Ballet Black's New Dancers  24 Sept 2013) and they have both blossomed in the company. Coracy was a wonderful Puck in her scout's uniform in Arthur Pita's Dream and Remfurm was an unforgettable Miss Polly. Yesterday they both danced like angels. So did all the others, by the way, but there are sometimes days when individual performers shine and yesterday those two were brilliant.

If my eyes were on Renfurm and Coracy in Depouillement they were on Carr in Bruce's Second Coming. With tiny wings protruding from her costume she danced "the angel" - though not one of the heavenly variety who knows how to make Yorkshire pudding  (see Sapphire 15 March 2015 and Jonathan Watkins if you are looking for one of those). Her role is the linchpin of the work. She entered with the hoop through which she made all the initiates pass at the start and end of the ballet. She produced the dagger which the ruler wielded with such menace. One of Carr's strengths is her face which is so expressive. She can convey any emotion though it is mainly charm and wit. She is the company's great character dancer. As in February the highlight of that piece was Johnson's pas de deux with Robinson to Elgar's Cello Concerto. Its beauty brought tears to my eyes then and I had to struggle to hold them back now. Johnson and Robinson are two wonderful dancers.

I spotted Cassa Pancho, the company's artistic director, in the auditorium just before the second part of the show. "Interesting casting" she said anticipating what I was about to say. "Inspired" I replied and I congratulated her on the show, particularly on Renfurm and Coracy. "But you say that every time" said Pancho. "But then you always produce something special and something new." Although I hate to hurt dancers and choreographers' feelings I am no insincere flatterer. Gita won't let me be such. Slightly stung by the accusation or inference of flattery I was not the first to rise to my feet at the curtain call. Now I am not saying that New Adventures and Inala didn't deserve that compliment from their audiences though I did not join in either but Ballet Black definitely did, and I was there on my feet with the best of them.

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.

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.

The Choral

A view of Huddersfield from Castle Hill   Source Wikipedia

For one day a year a week or so before Christmas Huddersfield becomes the centre of the musical world. On that day the Huddersfield Choral Society which is arguably the best choir in Britain if not the world performs Handel's Messiah in Huddersfield Town Hall.

The Choral as we like to call it has a unique sound which is easier to experience than describe. It is something that is felt almost as much as heard. It can be awesome and almost frightening, a rumble like an express train or even an earthquake in the Dies Irae of Verdi's Requiem. Or it can soar majestically in the Hallelujah chorus as it did yesterday. What my late spouse called "a foretaste of Heaven". Words, incidentally, used to describe only one other shared experience during a long marriage, the beauty and tranquillity of Iona. I have heard recordings of the Choral that were made before I was born and that sound was there. I have heard other Messiahs by other great choirs, and, despite the richness of their sound, it was not there.

Although  this Huddersfield sound is a constant each year every Messiah is different because there are different conductors and different soloists. Last night the conductor was Martyn Brabbins and he understands us the subscribers. How we clapped and how we cheered and, at one point, Brabbins conducted our cheers. We, the audience, good solid Yorkshire folk are part of every performance, you know. We could sing it ourselves from memory. Every word. Every note.

In fact we do sing a little because every Messiah begins with the Christmas Hymn, 

"Christians, awake, salute the happy morn
Wherein the Saviour of mankind was born;"

Yesterday we were conducted by the Choral's chorus master Joseph Cullen. And he understands Yorkshire folk too.

We had four wonderful soloists, Susan Gritton, soprano, David Allsopp, countertenor, Ben Johnson, tenor and Neal Davies, bass.  Allsopp brought out qualities of the score that I had never previously noticed. I was particularly moved when he sang the air "He was despised". We had a great organist in Darius Battiwalla. And last but not least the magnificent Royal Northern Sinfonia.

"So what's all this got to do with ballet or even dance?" I hear you say. Well I did reserve the right to go off topic occasionally for an exceptional concert and this was certainly exceptional. And we dance in Huddersfield as well as sing (see "The Base Studios, Huddersfield"). We produced David Bintley of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. I don't know whether he had any connection with the Choral or even attended a concert but you can't live in this part of Yorkshire without knowing about it. The Choral must have been part of Bintley's cultural heritage.