Ballet Black's Best Programme Ever

Standard YouTube Licence


Ballet Black (Triple Bill (Pendulum, Click! Ingoma) Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds 16 Nov 2019 19:30

I suppose that a company that has danced at Glastonbury is pretty well made. There is not much that a blogger or even a critic can say that could be of much consequence.  It does not, however, hurt to repeat what I said to Cassa Pancho, the company's founder and artistic director, as I was leaving the auditorium.  This year's triple bill is the company's best programme ever.

Last Saturday's programme was the same as the one that I had described as "stunning" in March.  As I described the three works in some detail in my review pf that performance it is unnecessary for me to do so again.  However, there was one important difference between the show in March and Saturday's.  The Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre is very much smaller and more intimate than The Barbican.  There is no gap or barrier between the front row and stage. When the seats are removed the theatre becomes a rehearsal studio. The audience is very close to the dancers. Having twice danced on the Stanley and Audrey Burton's stage, I can say that the dancers are very aware of the audience's proximity.

Mthuthzeli November took advantage of that intimacy in leading the audience to the coalface as his dancers slowly approached stage left with the house lights still lit.  As those house lights dimmed the beams of light from the lamps on the miners' helmets focused on the audience.  Trapped!  The danger, the darkness, the monotony, the pain of the mine was palpable.  Heightened, of course, by the cruelty of apartheid on the surface as well as under the ground.   Ingoma is an impressive work. November had already captured our hearts as the rakish wolf spinning his tail in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Little Red Riding Hood.  He has now captured our minds with his choreography.  Nobody will be surprised that he has been commissioned to create a new baller for the company's next season at The Barbican (see Beautiful Ballet Black's 2020 Season 8 Nov 2019).

Seeing Martin Lawrence's Pendulum for a second time, I noticed similarities and parallels with Ingoma, particularly with the score which resembled a heartbeat.  It was opened by two of the company's strong young dancers, Ebony Thomas and Marie Astrid Mence.  Mence spent a year with Phoenix Dance Theatre where she became an audience favourite. We still miss her.  Their pace and the complexity of their movements increase as the heartbeats quicken.  It is an almost mesmeric experience.

Click! by Scottish Ballet's Sophie Laplane is just pure joy.  Each of the dancers in different brightly coloured suits performs solos or duets to Snapping Fingers and other snappy music carefully arranged by Kenny Inglis.  All the company's dancers except Alexander Fadayiro were in the piece.  Cira Robinson, magnificent in red, Isabela Coracey resplendent in yellow et cetera et cetera.  In many ways, this work displays the essence of Ballet Black,  its exuberance, its energy and its diversity.

In my preview of the new season, I mentioned the recruitment of Fadayiro, his training and career with New Adventures. On Saturday I saw him for the first time. He appeared only in Ingoma as one of the miners and it was possible to see him properly only at the reverence but he performed well.  He appears to be very strong and cuts an impressive figure on stage. I look forward to seeing more of him in future.

I was very lucky to get a ticket for Saturday's show. I was #13 on the waiting list and held out very little hope of seeing the company again this year.   Their performances in Stratford and Leeds were sold out weeks ago.  That may be because of their appearance at Glastonbury - though I have to say that Saturday's crowd did not strike me as the sort of folk who go to Glasto - or it may be because they gave fewer performances this evening.  Either way, it is good to see that they have developed a very loyal following not just in London and with one ethnic group but among the whole population and across the nation.

Beautiful Ballet Black's 2020 Season

Standard YouTube Licence


Beautiful Ballet Black has been so successful that it sold every seat in the house for its performances at Stratford and Leeds.  I am on the waiting list at the Stan and Audrey but at #13 I am not holding out much hope of getting one for their show next week. 

I shouldn't grumble because I saw their wonderful performance of The Suit at Sadler's Wells on 30 Oct and the triple bill at The Barbican in March which I described as "stunning".  Moreover, I have just received an email which I believe to have been sent to all Friends of Ballet Black alerting me to the sale of tickets for the launch of the company's new season at The Barbican between the 26 and 29 March 2020. Two new ballets will be presented by the company's Mthuthuzeli November and the Royal Ballet's Will Tuckett.  November created Ingoma which is one of the works on the current tour while Tuckett has contributed Depouillement which attracted me to Ballet Black in the first place.

I also note from the email that Ballet Black has acquired a new dancer, namely Alexander Fadayiro.  I am not sure whether I have had the opportunity to see him dance.  I do not remember him in The Suit but I could well be mistaken.  However, I see that he has danced with New Adventures and that he trained at the Central School of Ballet.

If you love Ballet Black as much as I do I would strongly recommend its Friends Circle.  The subscription is only £40 a year which is about the cost of an extra theatre ticket.  Friends are invited to rehearsals and often have an opportunity to discuss the work with the artists after the show.  I cannot attend many of those events as they take place in London but it is a practical way to support the company, acknowledge its work in the past and promote its values and aspirations.

Finally, there is the merchandise page.  I bought the "I ❤ Ballet Black" tee-shirt the first time I saw the company at the Bernie Grant Centre in Tottenham in 2013 and I have worn it proudly everywhere there are balletomanes from Taynuilt in Argyll to Trecate in Piedmont.  I have made it my business to make folk aware of the beauty in many senses and at many levels of Ballet Black.

Phoenix at Home

Standard YouTube Licence

Phoenix Dance Theatre Phoenix at Home Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre 27 Sep 2019 19:30

I have swelled with pride when I have watched Phoenix Dance Theatre perform at the Peacock, the Lowry or the Linbury in Covent Garden but nowhere are they better than at home in their own theatre before their local audience.  This year it was particularly good with extracts from an exciting new piece called Black Waters which will be premiered at the Leeds Playhouse in February.

Black Waters was introduced by Sharon Watson, the company's artistic director, at the start of the show. In a short speech, she explained that it was inspired by two of the most infamous episodes of British imperial history. One was the murder of 130 Africans in 1782 by the owner of the vessel Zong who actually had the nerve to attempt to claim insurance for the loss of those slaves. The other outrage was the imprisonment of Indians in the Kala Pani prison over 100 years later. Watson mentioned that she was building on the success of Windrush: Movement of the People which is another aspect of this country's imperial past.

The piece is a collaboration between Watson and Shambik Ghose and Mitul Sengupta of Rhythmosaic in Kolkatta.  The intention is to blend the heritage and strengths of both companies. That is to say, kathak and contemporary to a score by Dishari Chakraborty. The extracts that we saw are very uncomfortable to watch even centuries later but they are also absorbing.  Clearly, this will be a very important work.

Our mood changed instantly with the next piece which was a work by the students of Phoenix Youth Academy.  Those kids are wonderful.  Their energy was boundless.  They performed a work created especially for them by Sandrine Monin.  She is the choreographer who created Calyx.  Monin thrilled me as a dancer when she was with Phoenix and she continues to excite me with her choreography.

The last work of the evening was Jeanguy Saintus's Rite of Spring.  I had seen that work in the mightly Lowry (see  Phoenix Comes of Age with its Rite of Spring 27 March 2019) and in the CAST in Doncaster (see Phoenix's Rite of Spring and Left Unseen 11 April 2019) and I have described the work in those reviews.  The Stanley and Audrey Burton is a much more intermediate auditorium and I have actually danced in it.  For once I felt I was not just watching the performance but actually taking part in the ceremony.  Never have I felt closer to the performers or more involved in the show than I did that night.  It was an unforgettable theatrical experience.

Sadly, dancers move on.  Carmen, Sandrine and Prentice have gone but the wonderful Vanessa Vince-Pang is still here as are Carlos Martinez and Michael Marquez.  There are some very promising new faces whose careers I shall follow with interest. 

Shortly after the show, it was announced that Sharon Watson had received a Black British Business Award (see Sharon Watson wins big at the Black British Business Awards 3 Oct 2019). This award delights me but not surprise me in the least.  I have seen her in presentations in contexts quite unconnected with dance such as the Chinese IP Roadshow that I chaired two years ago and she is very impressive indeed.

Ballet Cymru's Dylan Thomas Programme: The Company's Best Work Ever

Standard YouTuvbe Licence


Ballet Cymru  Dylan Thomas – A Child’s Christmas, Poems and Tiger Eggs 29 Nov 2018 Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds, 1 Dec 2018 Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre, Bangor

I have been following Ballet Cymru for over five years and they have never failed to impress  In 2015 their Cinderella was my ballet of the year and their TIR was the runner-up (see Highlights of 2015. 29 Dec 2015).  In that year they were also my year and I tipped Krystal Lowe as a dancer to watch. They have continued to impress me every year but I think their Dylan Thomas double bill - Dylan Thomas – A Child’s Christmas, Poems and Tiger Eggs - is their best work yet.

It was so good that I saw it twice. The first time was in Leeds on 29 Nov and the second at the Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre at Bangor on 1 Dec 2018.  Leeds was excellent but Bangor was even better as Cerys Matthews and Arun Ghosh were on stage and the audience was even more receptive and responsive.  The show was in effect a double bill.  It began with Poems and Tiger Eggs which consisted of readings of a selection of Thomas's poems by Matthews to Ghosh's music.  The second piece was A Child's Christmas in Wales.  Both works were created by Darius James and Amy Doughty.

Poems and Tiger Eggs opened and closed with In My Craft or Sullen Art.  That is a poem I did not know before Ballet Cymru introduced me to it at the workshop on 28 Nov 2018 (see More than a Bit Differently: Ballet Cymru's Workshop and the Launch of the Powerhouse Ballet Circle 29 Nov 2018). It is now a poem that I adore.  Beth Meadway danced to it as a solo in the opening and the whole cast danced to it at the end.  In the workshop, we were taught to listen for the words "Not for the Proud Man" and then react. Meadway turned her head sharply in the solo and the whole cast moved as one when the poem was read again.

Scottish Ballet had staged Ten Poems by Christopher Bruce on the centenary of Dylan Thomas's birth which I saw in Edinburgh and reviewed in Bruce Again on 6 Oct 2014.  One of the works that Bruce had set to dance was Do Not Go Gentle Into That Food Night.  Darius James and Amy Doughty also chose that poem for Poems and Tiger Eggs.  Both Bruce and James and Doughty created duets but James and Doughty's was somehow softer and more lyrical.  Incidentally, if anyone wants to listen to a fine reading of the poem, I strongly recommend the performance by Benjamin Zephaniah which is published on YouTube by the Poetry Society.

Thomas's poems incline to the melancholy but there was some levity too in Laugharne with Krystal Lowe as the stranger who got off the bus and forgot to take it back again.  I particularly liked the bit about people coming from all sorts of places like Tonypandy and even England.  The cast made the sign of the cross at that point though I wonder whether Calvinist Nonconformist chapel folk would do that.  Maybe the Welsh Italians (of whom there are many) though there are more of them on the banks of the River Chubut than the Taf Estuary.

A Child's Christmas was very different and undiluted fun.  It began with a film clip made (I think) by my good friends Lawrence and Samantha Smith-Higgins of Red Beetle Films.   In it, children explained what Christmas (or, in the case of one little girl, Eid) meant to them. Mainly presents and lots to eat.  It proceeded with "One Christmas was so much like the others" and proceeded to snow, cats and Mrs Protheroe's fire.  That fire was better than all the cats in Wales lined up on a wall.  There was the "What would you do if you saw a hippo?" and the carol singing where the children heard a ghostly voice joining in their carol. My favourite bit of the dancing was "Still the Night" before a stained glass image. There were other favourites too such as "The Uncles". I'm not Welsh but I can relate to that for we Saes have uncles too as well as aunties who get a little tipsy and start singing about death.

The workshop on 28 Nov 2018 helped my understanding of James and Doughty's choreography considerably.  Sue Pritchard, who also attended the workshop, thought the same.  Peter Harrop (who lives in Wales) joined us the performance. Peter was not in Leeds on 28 Nov 2018 but he attended Ballet Cymru's company class and reported that it was very gruelling. Apparently, no concessions were made for the adult ballet dancers.

The Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre is an impressive building just below the Arts building of Bangor University.  It has a theatre, cinema and a FabLab (see  Liverpool Inventors Club Re-launch - Fabulous FabLab 28 Jan 2012 NIPC Inventors Club).  There has been a lot of investment by the university to build a knowledge-based economy on both sides of the Menai Straits (see Jane Lambert Anglesey and the Fourth Industrial Revolution 12 Oct 2018 IP Northwest).  There has always been a close link between the University and the community in this corner of Wales. It was actually founded by a subscription of local quarrymen, This Centre will do much for the artistic and cultural life of the region.

Northern Ballet's Mixed Programme

Standard YouTube Licence

Northern Ballet  Mixed Programme (The Kingdom of Back, Mamela, The Shape of Sound) Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds 15 Sep 2018, 19:30

A triple bill should be balanced and varied like a good meal.  The Dutch National Ballet Junior Company got it right in their fifth anniversary performance earlier this year (see "In the Future" - Junior Company's Fifth Anniversary Performance 17 April 2018). They started with a bit of Bournonville, continued with Juanjo Arqués's Fingers in the Air and finished with some vintage van Manen.  In contrast Northern Ballet's Mixed Programme was samey and far too long. 

That was a shame because each of the works in the Mixed Programme was worthy enough but they  would have been appreciated more had there been a little more variety.   Northern Ballet has plenty of works in its repertoire that it could have used - Mark Godden's Angels in the Architecture, Hans van Manen's Concertante and Jonathan Watkins's Northern Trilogy to name just three.  Had any of those works been sandwiched between say a Watkins and a van Manen the evening would have been much better.

Of the three works in the programme I liked Kenneth Tindall's The Shape of Sound  best.  His score was Vivaldi's Four Seasons recomposed by Max Richter.  There were some spectacular moments such as when his male dancers bounded onto stage in unison almost in silhouette.  There were also quieter moments when the dancers seemed to become architecture.  There was clever lighting some of which appears to have been designed by Tindall himself.  There were curious touches like linear makeup intersecting the eye line at angles of 90 degrees.  Tindall's cast included Hannah Bateman, Antoinette Brooks-Daw,  Ashley Dixon and Abigail Prudames,

Mlindi Kulashe is an exciting dancer so I had expected some exciting choreography from him.  His piece, Mamela.....  which means "listen" in Xhosa, turned out to be pensive and restrained - subdued even.  That may be because the programme states that it encompasses frustration, escapism and imprisonment though he left it to each member of the audience to create his or her own narrative.  I am mot sure how many of those themes came over. Imprisonment perhaps but only because of the greyish blue dungaree style costumes and the absence of women until some way into the piece.   Kulashe chose a score by Jack Edmonds which opens and ends with the human voices.  The movements were jerky with sudden turns and stretches.  Kulashe used 9 dancers of various levels of seniority from first soloists Joseph Taylor and Abigail Prudames to members of the corps.  One dancer who stood out for me was Ommaira Kanga Perez and I shall look out for her in future.

The Kingdom of Back by Morgann Runacre-Temple offered the only levity in the evening.  It opened with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's elder sister bearing an elaborate 18th century hair piece on her head which she removes at her brother's behest.  The piece focused on the relationship between the siblings relationship with their father and each other.   Some of my favourite dancers were in the piece including Javier Torres who was my male dancer of the year last year and Mlindi  Kulashe, Antoinette Brooks-Daw and Rachael Gillespie.  A lot of composers contributed to the score including Wolfgang Amadeus and Leopold Mozart and David Bowie.  The ballet grabbed my attention with its start but I had to work hard to follow it towards the end.  A good idea but it was rather long.

The Mixed Programme will be performed again at the Cast theatre in Doncaster tonight and tomorrow and in Newcastle in April. It is worth attending though I have seen better work including better triple bills from Northern Ballet.

At the end we begin

Time's Mortal Aspect by Charles van der Stappen

Author Ben2
Licence Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 unported

Source  Wikipedia

Richard Chappell Dance At The End We Begin 6 June 2018, 19:30 Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds


At the end we begin is a 45 minute essay in movement inspired by T S Elliot's Four Quartets.It was performed by four dancers (Iris Borras, Faye Stoeser, Francesco Migliaccio and the choreographer of the work, Richard Chappell) to a score by Samuel Hall. You can get an idea of the show from the trailer.

The poems that inspired Chappell were written between 1936 and 1942 shortly after Elliot had acquired British nationality and converted to Anglicanism. They were written during  one of the darkest periods of modern history, that is to say between the great depression and the second world war.  Having read those poems for the first time only yesterday in order to write this review my impression is of an attempt to make sense of the senseless and comprehend the incomprehensible. Or put another way (and hence the reason for the above photo) a mortals grappling with the concept of eternity.

In a Q & A that followed the performance, Chappell said that he and the dancers had been inspired by the following stanzas:-

PART 1: Burnt Norton

'At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement.' - T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton

PART 2: East Coker

'The knowledge imposes a pattern, and falsifies,
Fort he pattern is new in every moment
And every moment is a new and shocking
Valuation of all we have been.'- T.S. Eliot, East Coker

PART 3: The Dry Salvages

'The river is within us, the sea is all about us;
The sea is the land's edge also, the granite
Into which it reaches, the beaches where it tosses
Its hints of earlier and other creation...' - T.S. Eliot, The Dry Salvages

PART 4: Little Gidding

'We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.'- T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding

The last stanza is probably the key to understanding Chappell's choreography work which does have unity but not necessarily Elliot's four poems which possibly do not.  The impression that I got from the choreography was of a cycle not of an individual but of humanity as a whole. Some of the work was easy to understand - the percussion representing gunfire and the dancers dropping to the ground in The Dry Salvages which was written when the war was not going well.  Other bits were much harder to comprehend and have to be seen more than once to be understood properly.  Some audience members saw things I just couldn't see like rapid circular arm movements representing the hands of a clock.

After the show I introduced myself to Chappell as we had been following each other on Facebook for years.  He asked me whether I had enjoyed the show and I said yes but then I reflected that not all art is meant to be enjoyed.   A better word for challenging works is "appreciated".  I think that is what I should have said.   It was not a beautiful work, or an amusing work or a readily comprehensible work but it was definitely a work worth seeing. 

Ballet Central in Leeds

Standard YouTube Licence


Wendy McDermott

Ballet Central  2018 Tour 29 April 2018, 19:30 Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds

It’s been a turbulent time for Ballet Central since their unimaginable announcement via social media that their tour vehicle and its contents had been stolen. The vehicle contained everything from their production equipment to over 100 unique handmade costumes. Being able to see the tour and how much work had gone into making this a professional production then to hear of their plight was pretty shocking. Since then those that follow Ballet Central will know that much of what was stolen had been retrieved and also, thanks to the generosity of many they’ve managed to raise several thousands to help pay for replacements.

I saw Ballet central perform, for the first time I might add, at the Stanley & Audrey Burton theatre in Leeds.

The show was made up of five pieces in two Acts: ‘Black Swan’ by Jenna Lee, ‘Far’ by Wayne McGregor, ‘Valley of Shadows’ by Kenneth MacMillan, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ by Matthew Bourne and finally ‘Cinderella’ by Christopher Gable.

I think it’s fair to say that many will know of Swan Lake even if never having had the pleasure of seeing it. What Jenna Lee gave us in Black Swan was something very different, yet still referencing the classical ballet loved by so many with Tchaikovsky’s music and the beautiful swans (who looked marvellous in their black tutus). The mood was much darker, echoing the film The Black Swan. In this version however, it was not the ballerina that experienced the hallucinations, it was the Prince, confused and a little disoriented by what he was experiencing. Ayca Anil danced the principal role. Her technique seemed solid, the développés clean with extensions reaching the heights that we see in professional ballet companies of today. I thought her ports de bras were lovely, as were the swans' dancing in the corps, with their elegant swan arms, and I thought the acting of her character expressed the sultriness befitting of a temptress.

The second piece in the programme was a complete contrast of contemporary choreography. At times there was so much happening on the stage between the 10 dancers I didn’t know who to watch however there were dancers that stood out with their stage presence alone. As with most, if not all art, it’s subjective; contemporary is not a style that I personally favour, however if its premise is to showcase the movement of body and mind in fusion then this choreography does that. The Guardian (Luke Jennings to be precise) wrote of the piece when it appeared on stage:

“Muse too intently on notions of embodiment and you stop seeing the living bodies in front of you. They're the story, ultimately.”

It was a challenging piece for young dancers but on comparing clips from the original, they all performed with confidence and flare, speed and agility given that these students are on the cusp of their professional careers, potentially joining companies with both classical and contemporary repertoire, they need to be able to show their depth and breadth of skill in both styles. This choice of piece allowed them to do just that. There were three dancers that, for me anyway, particularly shone. Again, it was as much about their stage presence as their technique and quality of movement. Luckily one of those dancers has their photograph in the programme so easy to identify.

Act I closed with Valley of Shadows by MacMillan. Yet another personally unknown piece, though reading the synopsis it has very sad and dark undertones, the programme describing it as “the fate of an Italian Jewish family under fascism, Nazi occupation and the horrors of the death camps.”
Being a cast of four, the spotlight was on all the dancers. The cast had the fantastic fortune of being coached by Alessandra Ferri and Guy Niblett, who were original cast members when it was first performed at Covent Garden in March 1983. What a luxury for these dance students to inherit the experience and knowledge of these dancers to have it passed down to them. We had already seen Ayca Anil in the opening excerpt so her performance was assured, this time it allowed the male dancers the chance to show off their skills, in particular their partnering skills and they all performed with aplomb.

After the interval of 20 minutes, Act II opened with an excerpt of The Sleeping Beauty (Fairies Prologue). Gone were the tutus of the classic work, instead we saw costumes worthy of comic superheroes, of beautiful colour and imagination. It was a showcase indeed for the six dancers on stage and each deserved and duly received acknowledging applause from the audience, appreciative of the individual performances. Even the Princess Aurora as a baby in her cradle received applause in her own right as the crying baby which only added to the characterisation, humour and lightness of the whole piece.

The finale of the night was Christopher Gable's Cinderella and the audience were treated to a 30 minute shortened piece of this well known fairy tale. Despite the story depicting the ill treatment of Cinderella by her step mother and children, the performance felt just as much a celebration and in some ways echoed the journey that a dancer takes throughout their student life. The celebratory dance by the cast of apple pickers and wedding guests was light, airy and quite joyous to watch. In particular the green colour in the costumes reflecting the fresh apples that they had harvested that day expressed the emotion and worked well on stage, as if to say that the whole cast had now come of age in their early training careers and ready to advance into professional performers and spread their wings far and wide. Both the young and older Cinderella were emotive and expressive and i’m sure they, and all the touring company of 2018 will have careers to be proud of.

I’d like to give a mention to Rishan Benjamin and Harris Beattie as my own personal ones to follow in the future. There was another young woman in Far that unfortunately i’m unsure of her name. Looking at the cast list it was possibly Hikari Eumura (but perhaps Ballet Central would like to confirm?).

Finally, congratulations to all the performers and all those behind the scenes for making a thoroughly enjoyable evening of dance theatre.

Richard Chappell Dance to perform in Leeds

TS Eliot

Author Lady Ottoline Morrell.

Source Wikipedia 

For many years I have been begging Richard Chappell to bring one of his shows to the North and he has finally relented.  His company, Richard Chappell Dance, will perform at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds on 6 June 2018.

I first came across Richard's work in 2014 when he was still a student at the Rambert School.  He had been commissioned by David Murley to create Wayward Kinship on the relationship between Thomas Becket and his king - a topic that TS Elliot explored in Murder in the Cathedral and Jean Anouilh in Becket.  In MurleyDance's Autumn Tour 28 Oct 2014 I wrote:

"Chappell's Wayward Kinship was a complete change of mood. Like Gilian Lynne's A Miracle in the Gorbals which I had seen earlier in the day it considered the struggle of the temporal against the spiritual. It explored the friendship between Henry and Becket and its transition into hate with the eventual ridding of the turbulent priest. The knights who carried out the king's bidding were women and all the more sinister for that. The ballet ended with Becket nearing his cross triumphant in death. A remarkable work for any choreographer but all the more impressive for a 19 year old who has only just completed his training at Rambert. No doubt we shall see a lot of Richard Chappell in the years to come."

As Richard and I live and work at opposite ends of England it has mot been easy to catch his shows but David Murley was able to cover one of his performances at Chissenhale Dance Space (see Murley on Chappell 1 March 2015).

Richanrd's show,  At the End We Begin, is described in Northern Ballet's newsletter as "a dynamic and compelling programme". It appears to be another work inspired by T.S. Eliot.   This time it is Four Quartets. According to the company's website the piece takes four individuals "from a place of being lost to a state of empowerment and acceptance, where they have found their own voice by journeying through Eliot's text." The dramaturgy is by Neus Gil Cortes.  Samuel Hall has composed a new score for the work with cello, piano and electronics.  Hannah Taylor has designed the costumes.  The work has already been performed in Oxford, Exeter and Doncaster and will proceed to Frome, Dundee, Newcastle and Falmouth later in the year.

With any luck this will be the first of many visits to Leeds.  Richard writes:

"I love Leeds as a city and it's vibrant dance scene, and if we can sell well for the performance in the coming month, then this could really help me in developing a more regular creative presence in the city in the future."

I wish Richard a successful tour and hope he will include Manchester and other venues in the North West in his tours one day.

Phoenix - A Double Celebration

Standard YouTube Licence

Phoenix Dance Theatre A Celebration of Female Choreographers Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, 28 Sept 2017 19:30 and Celebration Gala for Nadine Senior West Yorkshire Playhouse, 8 Oct 2017 19:00

Phoenix Dance Theatre does not have a large number of dancers and only half of them are women, yet it can stage a whole evening of top-class dance in celebration of female choreographers created entirely by its own artists.  How impressive is that?  How many other companies many times its size can do anything like that? Yet that is what that company presented in Phoenix At Home on 28 Sept 2017.

That is why Phoenix was my contemporary company of the year in 2016 despite competition from Alvin Ailey, Nederlands Dans Theater 2, the National Dance Company of Wales and, of course, Rambert (see Terpsichore Titles: Contemporary Company of 2016 31 Dec 2016).

When I started to follow Phoenix I learned about Nadine Senior and everything that she did for that company:

"Phoenix Dance Company was formed in 1981 by David Hamilton (Artistic Director), Donald Edwards and Vilmore James, three young men who had their enthusiasm for dance sparked by the tuition they received in school, particularly from teachers John Auty at Intake High School and Nadine Senior at Harehills Middle School who went on to found Northern School of Contemporary Dance, and following her retirement in 2001, was Chair of Phoenix’s Board of Trustees for six years."

Nadine Senior died in 2016 and Sharon Watson, Phoenix's Artistic Director, penned this beautiful tribute to her. Last Sunday her former students, colleagues and friends as well as folk like me, who had never met her but acknowledge an enormous debt of gratitude to her, assembled at West Yorkshire Playhouse to celebrate her life and work.

Thus we had a double celebration within a few days of each other.  First, a celebration of the enormously creative female artists of the present. Then, a celebration of a remarkable woman of the recent past who created so much and inspired and continues to inspire so many.

The celebration of female choreographers began with Sandrine Monin's Calyx which I reviewed in There's a reason why Phoenix was my contemporary company of the year 11 Feb 2017 and previewed in Calyx  8 Dec 2016. I have always been impressed by the work ever since I first saw it in rehearsal but I appreciated it only on a superficial level. Watching it a second time certainly increased my understanding.  I saw the parallels between limbs and shoots or roots from the moment Sam Vaherlehto's leg emerged from the box in which he had germinated. These were not houseplants or flowers from the garden but weeds and perhaps toxic ones at that.

Tracy Tinker's Elemeotary which she created with Vanessa Vince-Pang was a welcome relief after all that Japanese knotweed and deadly nightshade which we had just seen.  Vanessa Vince-Pang, who is in reality at the very top of her art, presented herself for an audition as a nervous young dancer. We heard disembodied voices off stage. "Would you like me to do some tap?" volunteered Vanessa. "Would you mind removing your top so we can see your number?" came the reply. Not even a name. Just a number. Then commands were barked out as in Gauthier's Ballet 101: "fall", "recover", "feel the space". Vanessa threw herself around the stage with considerable grace disappearing in what appeared to be a shower of lemons.

Next came Page 24 by Carmen Vasquez Marfil to music by Paganini and Arvo Pärt. A solo work by the choreographer with an outsize chair as a single prop and a screen upon which appeared images of the dancer. Clad in a simple flowing dress Marfil seemed to interrogate first the chair as though it were alive and then the screen.  I see from my programme notes that film was made by Ana Zamorano and Prentice Whitlow. Now I know Prentice. He is a hugely talented and impressive dancer who can now add filmmaking to his catalogue of accomplishments but I don't know Ana Zamorani. So I googled her. The only Ana Zamorano that I could find was the author of a children's book called A Comer about a family with a little girl called Alicia who looks and is dressed very like Carmen in this performance. Now I may be barking up quite the wrong tree (in which case apologies all round) but this fascinating piece made me think very much of growing up. Just like Alicia in Zamorano's story.

The first Act was rounded off by Vanessa Vince-Pang's Kerenza which was my favourite piece of the evening. The stage was full of joyful energetic young people who are the pre-vocational students of Phoenix Dance Academy. A few movements from the piece appear in the YouTube video that you can see above. I love the music which was written by Oliver Davis - or so my programme tells me. I felt uplifted as I do when I see anything by Chris Marney or Ernst Meisner.  Kerenza and Elemontary have left me eager to see more work by Vanessa Vince-Pang.

Everyone I spoke to was excited by what we had seen but the best was yet to come in Act 2. The whole of that Act was devoted to a preview of Sharon Watson's Windrush which will be premiered at West Yorkshire Playhouse in February. The piece was named after the Empire Windrush which carried 497 passengers - mainly young men of African heritage - from Jamaica at the invitation of the government to ease the post-war labour shortage.  They were by no means the first Afro-Caribbean or African people to come to this country. Many others had studied here, served in two world wars or settled in great port cities like Cardiff and Liverpool. However, the Windrush is a symbol of an event of enormous significance for this country as it is of course for those who made the journey and their descendants.

Introducing the piece, Sharon told us that the work will be in two parts - first the preparation for the voyage and the voyage itself and then what happened upon their arrival. We saw the first part which was harrowing enough as it showed the separation of families. And as we know what happened afterwards - Notting Hill, Smethwick and Enoch Powell - the second part may not be a bundle of laughs either.

But, of course, this was not history but dance and I don't think I had ever seen, or would ever see, Phoenix dance better. But that was before I saw them perform Robert North's Troy Game. This is a work originally performed by men. It was created for the London Contemporary Dance Theatre in 1974 and has been staged by the Stuttgart Ballet, Scottish Ballet and many other companies. The performance that we saw last Sunday was restaged by Julian Moss for Phoenix, the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Phoenix Dance Academy and pupils of Harehills Modern School. The cast was twice as large as in the original show and, for the first time, there were women in the show.

Troy Game was the pièce de résistance in a glorious evening that included a solo by Darshan Singh Bhuller in his own work The Path, David Hughes's performance of Siobhan Davies's interpretation  of L'Après Midi d'un Faune, Northern School of Contemporary Dance's Ocean, RJC Dance's Soca Jambiez and ACE Youth's State of Mind.  There was poetry from Khadijah Ibrahim and tributes from the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Janet Smith, the Principal of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Peter Gruen and, of course, Sharon Watson.

Long though this review is it does not begin to do justice to the Nadine Senior Gala when we saw some splendid and unique things. Think of the last two paragraphs as an appetiser, folks. I shall review the gala properly just as soon as I can.  I have seen some great dance over the last few weeks and I am burning to write about it all.

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.

Ballet Black's Tour

Last year we were lucky enough to see Ballet Black for two days in Sale, one at the Lowry appropriately on Manchester Day, two days in Leeds and again in Doncaster. They also performed in Glasgow where they were much appreciated.

This year they have a particularly good programme which Joanna and I reviewed very favourably (see Joanna Goodman Sexy wolf stole the show 5 March 2017 and Jane Lambert Ballet Black Triumphant 7 March 2017). David Murley also covered Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa's workshop at the Barbican on 25 Feb 2017.

We shall see very much less of Ballet Black in the North this year. Nothing at all in the North West, a region of over 7 million people and only two days in Leeds on 17 and 18 Nov for the whole of Yorkshire and the North East with a combined population of over 8 million. However, Ballet Black are visiting Oxford, Enfield, Harlow, Canterbury, Watford, Stratford East and Pompey and they started their tour at the Barbican in London.

Save for their visit to the Stanley and Audrey Burton in November, the nearest they come to us will be the Nottingham Playhouse on 22 June 2017 and Derby on 15 Nov 2017. Ballet Black occupies a particularly warm spot in my affection but Heaven know's how I am going to make it to Nottingham on Thursday evening when I shall be at the Birmingham Royal Ballet's press night at the Hippodrome tomorrow and a breakfast meeting at Daresbury near Runcorn at 08:00 on Friday morning.

Ballet Black, you have a lot of fans in the Northern Powerhouse. Do come and see us a little more often.

Casanova Unmasked

Venice, Birthplace of Giacomo Casanova

Photo Cocao
Source Wikipedia
Creative Commons Licence

Northern Ballet, Casanova Unmasked Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds, 15 Feb 2017, 18:00 - 19:30

In my capacity as a Friend of Northern Ballet, I attended Casanova Unmasked last night. It was a preview of the work by the choreographer, Kenneth Tindall, and two of his collaborators, Ian Kelly his dramaturge and David Nixon his ballet master.  They were assisted by Giuliano Contadini, Dreda Blow, Hannah Bateman, Gavin McCaig and other dancers of the company.

The proceedings were streamed live over the internet and have been recorded at Northern Ballet - Casanova Unmasked on the company's YouTube channel. Unfortunately, the sound quality is not perfect. The sound is very faint throughout the video and appears to have been lost altogether at several points. However, the video is still worth watching. This article is intended to help those who were not in the theatre to appreciate that film. I have also written a brief introduction to the subject matter of Tindall's ballet and provided links to some of his source materials in Casanova, 24 May 2016.

The company's artistic director, David Nixon, made a short speech in which he introduced Kenneth Tindall. He spoke of his early recognition of Tindall's choreographic talent and how he had fostered it. Tindall had been a principal of the company and knew it well. It was, therefore, fitting that Northern Ballet should commission Tindall's first full-length ballet.

Tindall, in turn, introduced Ian Kelly. Tindall explained that Kelly had written the definitive biography of Casanova. He had approached Kelly for a licence but Kelly showed such interest in the project that Tindall invited Kelly to collaborate with him instead. In a fascinating presentation delivered without notes, Kelly brought to life the historical Casanova. Casanova is remembered nowadays as a libertine but he was so much more. He was a polymath with interests ranging from mathematics to gastronomy. He is remembered for his sexual exploits because he described them in minute detail (together with a lot of other things) in his autobiography which he wrote for therapy rather than publication. Kelly told us that Casanova's relationship with women was not as exploitative as might be thought. Intriguingly, Kelly said that Casanova had helped the women he knew "along their way". That gave me the impression that in some respects Casanova was a proto-feminist.

Among Casanova's relationships that Kelly discussed was the one with Bellino,  She is described on Northern Ballet's website as a "woman masquerading as a man in order to work as a castrato (castrated male) singer." Casanova and Bellino were represented on stage by Giuliano Costadini and Dreda Blow. In an exceptionally clever piece of choreography that I might never have interpreted without Tindall's commentary, the dancers recreated the couple's meeting, the tentative relaxing of their masks and the creation of trust between them. The development of trust was demonstrated by some rather scary looking tombés (I use that term in the loosest possible sense because I do not know how else to describe her fall) by Blow into the arms of Costadini. In the questions and answers that followed, Blow was asked how she felt when she performed that step. She replied that it was not easy at first but she had worked with Costadini before and gradually perfected it.

After the Q and A in which Bateman and McCaig joined Contadini and Blow. we were shown another extract from the ballet. This was by members of the corps representing Casanova's fellow seminarians when he was studying for the priesthood. There followed a fencing exercise which somehow transformed itself into a music lesson, the foils becoming violin bows. Altogether very ingenious and very attractive choreography.

There was another Q & A, this time with Tindall, Kelly and Nixon.  I asked Tindall about the mechanics of his collaboration with the composer Kerry Muzzey who was following the event in the United States. I asked him whether he worked as Petipa had with his composers specifying the phrases he needed for particular steps. Tindall replied that the collaboration went both ways. Having written music for film, Muzzey could envisage the interpretation of his work which Tindall had found useful.

After the presentations, Nixon invited the audience to drinks.  In some ways, this was the most valuable part of the evening because it afforded an opportunity to meet the collaborators and dancers informally and explore the work in greater depth. I had a particularly rewarding conversation with Ian Kelly about his methodology as history is forensic but theatre is expressive. Kelly well understood the difference having read history as a first degree.  I expect his work to be scholarly as well as entertaining.

The drinks were served in the atrium of Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre's studios at Quarry Hill. Those who have entered the building will remember a landing where costumes are occasionally exhibited. Last night costumes from Casanova were arranged along that landing. Nixon reminded us that these come at a cost and that there is an appeal for wigs and costumes to which I invite all my readers to contribute.

Ballet Central returns to Leeds

Leeds Arts Neighbourhood

Author Kenneth Allen
Source Wikipedia
Creative Commons Licence

Christopher Marney, Hannah Bateman, Kenneth Tindall, Rachael Gillespie, Dominic North, Sarah Kundi, Paul Chantry and many more of my favourite dancers and choreographers trained at Central School of Ballet. One of the reasons why that school has produced so many fine dancers and dance makers is that it provides its students with an opportunity to learn every aspect of performance through its touring company Ballet Central. According to Christopher Hampson, Central graduates can normally be spotted in the studio within a few minutes because of their professionalism and understanding of how theatre works. Sir Matthew Bourne describes them as "a valuable asset to any company".

Ballet Central consists of the school's final year students: Angela Centomini, Sophie Cottrill, Tara Cox, Augusta De Marchis, Brittanie Dillon, Eleanor Ferguson, Sophie Hull, Emily Hulme, Kanon Kihara, Iori Matsuura, Amy McEntee, Moeno Oba, Rowan Parker, Charlotte Peers, Ciara Sampson, Eloise Shepherd Taylor, Reiko Tan, Saskia Twiss, Henrietta Wolf, Emma Zeppetella, Megumi Zushi, Ruaridh Bisset, Eric Caterer-Cave, Adam Davies, James Dunn, Álvaro Feliz Olmedo, Yusuke Kuroda, Cameron Lee-Allen, Liam Lindsay, Jonathan MacDonald, Craig McFarlane, Matthew Morrell, Stephen Murray, Jaume Ruiz Xifra and Rahién Testa. Their artistic director is Christopher Marney, their musical director is Philip Feeney and their rehearsal coach is Carole Gable (see Staff Biographies on Central's website).

As part of their degree course, those students will travel some 10,000 miles around the country from Penzance in the South West to Ayr in Scotland performing in towns and cities along the way to a total audience of 5,000. Their 2017 schedule was published yesterday and one of their venues is the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre at Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre's studios in Leeds. They will visit us on 28 April 2017 at 19:30.  Save for a visit to Whitehaven on 13 May that will be the only chance to see them in the North.

This year the company will perform part of Sir Matthew Bourne's Highland Fling. Indigo Children by Liam Scarlett, a new version of the ballroom scene from Romeo and Juliet by Jenna Lee, a scene from Dracula by Michael Pink, a specially created work by Christopher Bruce and excerpts from Petipa’s La Bayadere and The Nutcracker.  I hope to see them on the 28 April and will review their performance shortly afterwards.  

Here is what I said about Ballet Central in their previous tours (Central Forward 25 March 2013, Dazzled 3 May 2015 and Images of War: Ballet Central's "War Letters" and other Works 29 April 2016). I hope to be in the audience on  the 28 April when the company returns to Leeds.

Never Better: Ballet Black in Leeds

Ballet Black, Triple Bill, Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds, 15 Oct 2016, 18:30

Every Autumn Ballet Black performs its triple bill at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre's premises in Leeds and packs it out. The company has a loyal following throughout the land, but especially in that theatre where it seems to dance particularly well. Probably the intimacy of the auditorium suits its style better than most theatres but I think another reason may be that it always feels lifted by the crowd.

As I noted in Ballet Black at Home in Leeds 7 Nov 2014 and Ballet Black return to Leeds 21 Nov 2015, Leeds is the company's second home. I visit Northern Ballet Academy at least once a week for class during term and I can tell you that there is always a buzz in the cafe and changing rooms when the posters and flyers for Ballet Black start to appear. Snippets of "Ooh I must see them!" or "Did you see them last time?" occur in conversation as we wait for the lift or relax after a class. No other company (except perhaps the resident ones when they are about to present a new work) generates that sort of excitement among my adult ballet classmates or theatre goers in West Yorkshire generally.

Audiences can now welcome back Jose Alves and Marie-Astrid Mence to Ballet Black.  It was so good to see them again. Hugs and flowers to both of them! 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.

Last night Ballet Black was as good as ever.  In fact I have never seen the company dance better. It performed the triple bill that David Murley saw at the Barbican on the 19 March (see Ballet Black at the Barbican 22 March 2016) and I saw at Salford on Manchester Day (see Ballet Black made my Manchester Day 20 June 2016). It started with Arthur Pita's Cristaux, continued with Christopher Marney's To Begin, Begin and finished with Christopher Hampson's Storyville. Pita, Marney and Hampson are three of the country's best choreographers. What could be a stronger programme than that?

Some ballets grow on you and so it was with Cristaux. I  liked it first time round but mainly for its impressive footwork - particularly the pointe work at the beginning at the beginning of the work. The music, Steve Reich's Drumming Part III, which seemed so sharp and repetitive first time round, was soothing last night. Watching Cira Robinson and Mthuthuzeli November circle the stage was like watching the life of a beautiful creation, a butterfly perhaps (or maybe even us), from its emergency from a chrysalis to its extinction. The music stressed the briefness of that existence. Then darkness. Very clever lighting design by David Plater. Beautiful costumes, particularly Cira Robinson's tutu, by Yann Seabra. Her tiara had been delayed in transit when the company visited Salford. That tiara really made a difference. Last night she sparkled literally from head to toe.

I found myself rooting for a tissue for To Begin, Begin. That was mainly because it was so beautiful. I had surmised that the blue silk that enveloped Sayaka Ichikawa at the start of the performance might represent distance such as an ocean and that the ballet might be about separation by distance when I saw it in Salford in June. I got to understand the ballet rather better when I attended the rehearsal at the Barbican a few weeks later (see Ballet Black's First Friends' Event: A Rehearsal with Chris Marney 14 July 2016). The ballet is about relationships.  Then the thought occurred to me that maybe the silk represents not just distance but death? I was reminded of those no longer with us. That was the other reason I had to fight to hold back tears last night.

Finally, Hampson's Storyville or the destruction of Nola. As I noted before, NOLA is an acronym for New Orleans Louisiana, Storyville is the red light district of that city and there are obvious parallels between Nola's story and Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire which Hampson's company transformed into dance  last year. This is a narrative ballet which requires superb acting as well as dancing. What superb dance actors there are at Ballet Black - particularly the leads Cira Robinson as the hapless Nola, Sayaka Ichikawa as the heartless Lulu, Damien Johnson as the long suffering sailor and Jose Alves as the unscrupulous Mack.  Storyville is not a very happy but a compelling one.

Ballet Black will take their triple bill to the Tramway on 28 and 29 Oct 2016 which is a similar venue to the Stanley and Audrey Burton but on a somewhat bigger scale (see No Mean City - Accessible Dance and Ballet 26 April 2015). I am sure they will do well there for two reasons. First, it is on Hampson's home turf. He is a great fried of Ballet Black as well as the creator of two of its ballets, my joint choreographer of the year for 2015 and an all round good bloke. Secondly, they should find at least as good an audience in Glasgow as they have in Leeds and for much the same reason. As I wrote in No Mean City:

"I should say a word about the Glasgow audience. Even though I am a Friend of the company yesterday was the first time I had visited Scottish Ballet's home at The Tramway. There was a buzz in the auditorium and the bar that I have felt only in London in the United Kingdom. Evidently, Scottish Ballet has cultivated an audience that understands and appreciates dance and expresses its appreciation with the same enthusiasm."

I love Glasgow and I adore Ballet Black and I would have been in the audience had I not been learning The Nutcracker on the 29 (see A Unique Opportunity to learn a Bit of The Nutcracker 12 Oct 2016).

But at least I can give them a a tip as I know from its twitter stream that the folks at Ballet Black enjoy a celebratory nibble after the show. In my humble opinion, the best eatery in the whole United Kingdom is the Ubiquitous Chip. I've been going there for nearly 50 years - ever since I was a student at St. Andrews when I first started following what was then Scottish Theatre Ballet. Even Gita the Eater was impressed (see Feed me Scotland  18 Feb 2013 Gita Mistry Food).

Why Terpsichore Yorkshire?

A few minutes ago I launched Terpsichore Yorkshire with an article about Planet Dance, a dancewear retailer and wholesaler in Baltley. By so doing I am looking after my core audience, the adult dance community in Yorkshire and the Humber.

I started this blog in a very small just over three years ago to write about my classes at Northern Ballet Academy, the University of Huddersfield, Dance Studio Leeds and other studios and to review performances by Northern Ballet, Phoenix Dance Theatre and visiting companies to The Grand, Bradford Alhambra, Stanley and Audrey Burton and other theatres in Yorkshire.

This blog has been spectacularly successful with over 10,000 hits a month. It has massive audiences in the United States and Russia and significant followings in Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands as well as the United Kingdom. My overseas readers and indeed those from other parts of the UK cannot attend classes in Leeds or Huddersfield or indeed performances in our local theatres. They want to read about what is going on at Covent Garden, the Coliseum and Sadler's Wells which they do visit occasionally as well as theatres and opera houses abroad and in other parts of the country. Consequently, my focus has moved away from Yorkshire and the North to London and overseas.

That is a pity for Leeds remains an important dance hub.  One of the reasons for increasing funding to Northern Ballet is that Arts Council England believe that

"Leeds has the potential to become a major regional dance centre. We suggested that Northern Ballet should work with Phoenix, Leeds City Council, Yorkshire Dance and others to explore how they might work collaboratively to build a broad dance culture in Leeds, capable of increasing audiences and attracting and retaining talent in the city"

(see How Arts Council England supports Dance 10 Oct 2015). I want to chronicle and if possible even to facilitate that development.

Terpsichore Yorkshire will focus on our great local companies, their talented artists, its great teachers and so on. We will give in depth previews and comprehensive analyses of their performances. We will write about dancers from Yorkshire with other companies such as David Biintley, Xander Parishm Brandon Lawrence and Dominic North. At the sane time, we will also try out adult dance classes in all parts of the county and report on them. We will check out local dancewear retailers and their merchandise.  We will report news and views on all aspects of dance from all parts of Yorkshire,

Damien Johnson

Damien Johnson in the Linbury, bar after the show 14 Feb 2015

Author Jane Lambert
(c) 2015 Jane Lambert: all rights reserved

One of the most exciting dancers on the British stage right now is Damien Johnson of Ballet Black. Just now he is at home in the United States having spent a short spell in Bermuda but he will be back in London at the end of September to perform in Ballet Black's Triple Bill at the Millfield Arts Centre in Edmonton. He will also dance with the company in Newcastle, Leeds, Glasgow, Doncaster, Exeter, Watford, Harlow and Lichfield.

David Murley reviewed the production in Ballet Black in the Barbican on 22 March 2016 and I reviewed it when it came to The Lowry on 19 June 2016 in Ballet Black made my Manchester Day 20 June 2016. In my humble opinion it is the best show that I have ever seen the company do but with works by Christopher Hampson, Christopher Marney and Arthur Pita how could it be otherwise. At Ballet Black's First Friends' Event  I was lucky enough to watch Marney work with Johnson and Isabela Coracy as well as Jacob Wye and Sayaka Ichikawa. To watch a genius (not my word but Sir Matthew Bourne's when tweeting about Marney but an opinion that I heartily share) at work with four of the most talented dancers I know was a rare delight.

I am prompted to write about Johnson again because he has just posted the following message on Facebook

"Hey everyone, check out my website... Someone special made it for me 💚😘"

I did his bidding. I visited his website at  http://damienjohnsonballet.com/ and I am very impressed. The website summarizes his history. I had no idea that he had worked with Dance Theatre of Harlem.  I loved that company when they visited London in the early 1970s and I wish they would return. There are some great photos of him as well as a video of a rehearsal at The Barbican. Johnson teachers and there is a contact form for those who wish to engage him.

I am sure my readers will join me in wishing him a very pleasant holiday in the United States and a safe journey back to the UK. I shall be in the audience at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds and the Cast in Doncaster.

Expressions 2016

Leeds by Night

Author Melfire
Source Wikipedia

Creative Commons Licence

One of my best nights out in Leeds last year was Expressions at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds which I reviewed on 16 July 2015. This was  described as "a sharing which brings together inclusive dance groups from the North of England, giving talented dancers with disabilities the chance to showcase their skills to an audience on a professional stage." Gita obtained some photos which you can see at Expressions - some Pictures 17 July 2015.

There will be a similar show on 22 June but this time it will be divided into a matinee and evening performance:
Matinée (2pm) performance:
Mind the Gap
TIN Arts’ Tees Valley Inclusive Dance Company
Yorkshire Dance’s Leaps & Bounds group
Magpie Dance’s Highfliers group
Flamingo Chicks
DAZL’s Vine cheerdance group

Evening (7.30pm) performance:
Dance 21
Mesh Dance’s ME2 group
TIN Arts’ Tees Valley Inclusive Dance Company
Yorkshire Dance’s Raised and Mind the Step groups
Phoenix Dance Theatre’s Illuminate group
Northern Ballet’s In Motion and Ability groups

These artists achieve a very high standard indeed as you can see from Northern Ballet's video, Introducing Ability.

Admission is free but tickets have to be booked in advance either 0113 220 8008 or through the theatre's website.  The evening show is already fully booked but there are still 13 tickets for the matinee.