Great News About Madame Kanikova

Author BenP
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In Never Better: Ballet Black in Leeds 16 Oct 2016 I acclaimed the return of Jose Alves and Marie-Astrid Mence but noticed that somebody very important was missing:

"But where was Kanika? She has such expressive features and a delightful sense of humour. Vlad the Lad will be devastated if Madame Kanikova has gone for good. So, too, will his granny. If she has indeed left Ballet Black I send her my best wishers wherever she is. I hope to see her back on stage soon - but even if that is not possible I wish her well."

Well actually I was told what had happened to Kanika Carr.  On 7 July 2016 Cassa Pancho posted the following announcement on Facebook that I together with 126 other people "liked":

"Our special #ThrowbackThursday is dedicated to Senior Artist, Kanika Carr who is leaving BB to join the Dance Theater of Harlem!
Kanika joined Ballet Black after graduating from Central School of Ballet, and was one of our first ever apprentices. During her six years she has performed in many, many ballets and worked with some of the best choreographers around - too many to name here! Here are just a few of her best moments...
GO GET IT, NEEKS!! ♥"

I became a fan of DTH when they first came to London nearly 40 years ago. I was in the audience on the opening night of their first season at Covent Garden and saw them perform on several other trips. They are a wonderful company with a great heritage. Several of my favourite dancers have performed with them. I am delighted that Kanika is now among their number.

One of Kanika's many roles was Madame Kanikova, the ballerina in Dogs Don't Do Ballet who managed to jam her head in a French horn. My little grandson, Vlad the Lad, attended the premiere of that ballet in Harlow and was very concerned at the fate of that distinguished artiste (see Woof 12 Oct 2014). He was delighted to learn not only that Madame Kanikova managed to extricate herself from her incumbrance as you can see from the photo above but also that she is still dancing. True, she will be quite a long way away, but we both have something to save up for. One little boy went to bed very happy ..... as indeed will his granny.

In the meantime ..............

Author BGVPipe
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............. congratulations and all the best dear Kanika!

I never tire of Dogs Don't Do Ballet

Ballet Black's Dogs Don't Do Ballet seemed so fresh and new yesterday that I was convinced that there must be some new choreography (see As Fresh as Ever: Ballet Black's Dogs Don't Do Ballet in Sale 7 May 2016).

"No new choreography tweeted" Cassa Pancho.

"That's amazing" I thought, I tweeted back

Ah right. Then it is an even better work than I thought because I am still discovering new things about it. https://t.co/GipPZUPa1C

— Terpsichore (@jelterps) May 7, 2016

Cassa replied:

@jelterps but there is a lot of detail that you might miss with only one viewing

— Ballet Black (@BalletBlack) May 7, 2016

She was right, of course. Even though I hadn't intended seeing it twice in the same weekend I returned for a second viewing (fifth all told) at 11:00 today.

I was able to sit much closer to the stage today so I caught some of those details.

There was the toy dalmatian which Bif handed to Anna just before the storm when she dreamt about a real one and in the morning a real one - or as close to real as ballet can conjure - appeared.

I took a closer look at the poster on the wall of Anna's room. "Kanikova" it read and if I am not mistaken it was Kanika Carr dancing with Jacob Wye in the video.

I noticed the intricate choreography of the ballet class with the boys pirouetting while the girls did chaînés.

Though I loved Marie-Astrid's Anna, Sayaka is such a good actor that she brought whole new dimensions to the role. I particularly loved the kiss that Tutu snatched. Her expression changed from delight to embarrassment as it did for him. Tutu and Sayaka are so well matched.

So now Ballet Black's tour to Sale is over and the dancers may be on their way home. It was good to see them here and I look forward to their return next month with their triple bill.

Finally, it was Isabela Corcy's birthday today. I left her a card on behalf of Team Terpsichore - everyone who had ever contributed to Terpsichore namely David, Gita, Joanna, Mel and me. I have been one of her fans ever since I saw her dance the pas de deux from Diana and Actaeon on YouTube, a role that requires enormous grace as well as strength. I am sure that all my readers will join me in wishing her many happy returns of the day.

As Fresh as Ever: Ballet Black's Dogs Don't Do Ballet in Sale

Waterside Arts Centre

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Ballet Black, Dogs Don't Do Ballet, Waterside Arts Centre, Sale, 7 May 2016

I was charmed by Christopher Marney's Dogs Don't Do Ballet ever since I saw its first performance in Harlow on 11 Oct 2014 (see Woof 12 Oct 2014). I enjoyed it again when  I saw it twice in Leeds last year (see Not Just a Children's Ballet 19 April 2015 and Le chien mal gardé 21 April 2015), I wondered whether I would still like it as much as I crossed the Pennines on the way to the theatre.

The answer was an emphatic "yes". It was as fresh as ever. I am not sure whether that is because of new choreography or because I noticed things that I had missed before. It may be because of cast changes since I had last seen the show. Sayaka Ichikawa was a delightful Anna and Mthuthuzeli November brought his panache and style to the ballet. While I liked Marie-Astrid Mence and Christopher Renfurm well enough it is always good to see another interpretation.

Loosely based on Anna Kemp's children's story, the ballet is about a ballet mad little girl called Anna and her pet dog Bif danced by Cira Robinson. Anyone who has ever kept a dog will be amazed by Robinson's performance because she has every canine mannerism down to a tee.  Anna takes her dog to ballet class kept by the slightly ridiculous Miss Polly. Bif wants to join in the class and after a few faltering steps at the barre proves to be rather good at it. Her mistress encourages that interest and during the night a storm breaks out. As it is whining and shaking Anna comforts the dog and they both watch a scene from The Nutcracker. They fall asleep and Bif dreams of dancing a pas de deux with a handsome dalmatian. The next day the children meet in the park with their dogs where they come across their teacher fast asleep with a hip flask by her side. There is a hilarious scene where they make fun of her. Miss Polly wakes up suddenly by the dogs licking her face, In the last scene Anna's father produces two tickets to the ballet. The dog wants to come but. of course, dogs are not allowed.  Nevertheless Bif gets into the auditorium somehow which is just as well for when Madame Kanikova jams her head in a French horn Bif is ready to jump on stage and dance the principal role.

It may be my imagination but I think there has been some new choreography to show Bif's progress at ballet. When the children do the centre exercises in front of the mirror she shows that she can perform the adagio quite as well as any of them. The audience is treated to two delightful duets between Bif and the dalmatian and Bif with the male principal.

If it was Marney's intention to inspire it worked.  As I left the theatre one small child asked her mother when she could start ballet.  Alarmingly another, who could not be aged more than 7, was on pointe in trainers. Several other kids were practising port de bras.  

As a Mancunian it was good to see one of my favourite companies in my native city. Well, almost, for I was born in Didsbury just the other side of the Mersey. They are dancing again at the Waterside Arts Centre tomorrow at 11:00 and 14:00 and if you can get to see them you should. They are also coming back to our metropolis on the 19 June to dance their triple bill which David Murley reviewed at The Lowry.

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