KNT Summer Intensives

In her article "We’re a Bunch of Adult Ballet ‘Super’ Commuters!" 1 July 2017, Wendy McDermott wrote:

"It was about this time last year that I started to look for ballet Summer intensives for adults, as I had seen so many advertisements for young people to attend the same, for a week or more. Disheartened by what I thought was very little opportunity for adults to dance beyond their class of 60-90 mins per week, I tweeted a comment expressing my (I guess) frustration at becoming invisible as an adult dancer. This turned out to be one of the best things I did, as, through various new followers and chatting with other dancers (and more thorough research on the internet), discovered many more opportunities to dance than I could have imagined."

The intensive to which I think Wendy refers was La Bayadère taught by Jane Tucker of Northern Ballet Academy. We both attended it last year and enjoyed it tremendously.  Here is my write-up La Bayadere Intensive Day 3: No Snakes 17 Aug 2016.

Not only did I enjoy the intensive but I also appreciated the Dutch National Ballet's performance of the ballet in which Sasha Mukhamedov danced Nikiya and Jozef Varga Solor so much more. In my review of that performance, I wrote:

"Having recently attended a three-day workshop in Manchester to learn bits of the choreography from Jane Tucker of Northern Ballet Academy I had a personal interest in this ballet (see La Bayadere Intensive Day 3: No Snakes 17 Aug 2016). As the experts performed the steps that Jane had taught us my fingers traced the steps. It was like the icing on the cake, the fulfilment of last August's intensive. I felt even more chuffed with myself for attending the intensive than I did in August,"  (see Dutch National Ballet's La Bayadere 14 Nov 2016).

Now KNT, which offers classes in the studios of the Northern Ballet School in  Manchester, proposes another series of intensives in jazz, musical theatre and contemporary as well as ballet in August. The ballet intensives will be taught by Jane Tucker again.  As I have noted more than once, she is an excellent teacher.  She has already taught me Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker as well as La Bayadère.  

These intensives tend to fill up quickly so if you want to join Wendy and me at the barre, get in touch with Karen Sant through her Facebook page.

Where can I get a Ballet Class in August?

Standard YouTube Licence

Not in Brum for a start!

"Classes are currently on Summer Break!" proclaims the DanceXchnage's website. "Our NEW autumn term starts Monday 19 September – Saturday 10 December 2016." And they try to make out they are the nation's second city.

No such problem in the real second city. Danceworks has classes through the summer as you can see from their timetable. Sodoes Pineapple.

Classes don't stop at Leeds, or Liverpool or indeed Newcastle-Under-Lyme according to Picturesinthefirelight. 

But in Manchester our modern Ithaca, there are classes throughout the year at KNT in the Dancehouse Theatre's studios. And for the next few days something wonderful will happen.

I don't know whether there are still places on these intensives. I suspect not. But if you don't enquire on info@kntdanceworks.co.uk  Tel: 07783 103 037 you certainly won't be able to come.

Welcome Home Paul and Rae

Grantham, Home of Chantry Dance - and also the late Lady Thatcher

Photo Thorvaldson
Source Wikipedia

Paul Chantry and Rae Piper get around a fair bit.  Earlier this year they were in Japan and more recently they have been in Italy working on La Dama di Picche at the Rome Opera House with Rae as assistant director and Paul as revival choreographer.  The test as to whether they have been away too long will come when they see their dog, Bracken. If it still runs to them for a cuddle that's fine. But if it barks at them ..........

Quite apart from the fact that Bracken needs his walks Chantry Dance Company have a very busy programme in England. They have an Autumn tour starting on 10 Sept 2015 which will take in Grantham, Stamford, Birmingham, Worcester, Halifax and London which I discussed in Chantry Dance's Autumn Tour 13 May 2015. They will perform Wooderverse (a combination of dance and poetry) for the patients of the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham this month and in September.  In August they run their summer school at Dance Pointe in Grantham.  I attended the awards ceremony last year and spoke to several of the students who had enjoyed the course (see Chantry Dance Summer School 2 Aug 2014). They also have their busy associates programme which runs for most of the year.

Chantry Dance are one of only two ballet companies based in the East Midlands - Ballet Theatre UK being the other. They are in Grantham which is famous for being close to the birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton and infamous in some peoples' books (though not entirely in mine) for being the birthplace of our first and so far only female Prime Minister. They seem proud of their town (as well they might be) contributing to its science and arts festival, starting their tours and basing their summer school there. They gave me the confidence to dance in public for which I shall always be grateful (see Chantry Dance Company's Sandman and Dream Dance 10 May 2014).

KNT Danceworks Summer Intensives

I have already mentioned KNT Danceworks' Adult Summer Intensives in More good news from Manchester 14 April 2015 and KNT Danceworks Adult Summer Intensives 7 May 2015. Yesterday Karen Sant published the curricula vitarum of the course teachers and their credentials are impressive.

Here is what she wrote about Jane Tucker:

"Born in West Yorkshire, Jane undertook her early training with the Northern Dance Centre and completed it at Central School of Ballet and Northern Ballet School where she performed and toured with Manchester City Ballet.
Jane began her professional career with Hong Kong Ballet in 1994, touring extensively through Asia, north America and Canada.She returned to her roots joining Northern Ballet Theatre in 1999 and enjoyed three years touring around the UK and China.Throughout her dancing career Jane has performed in most of the classics and premièred in many new works: The Last Emperor, A Streetcar Named Desire and Madam Butterfly to name a few.
Jane gained Distinction for the Professional Dancers Teaching Diploma at the RAD, London in 2002 and has accumulated extensive teaching experience to date.Since graduating from the RAD Jane has toured Australia undertaking workshops and classes in companies and vocational colleges including the Western Academy for Performing Arts. Within the UK Jane has taught for various schools - Northern Ballet School, Elmhurst, NSCD, SLP college and Theatreworks. She helped produce sleeping Beauty for the Liverpool Proscenium Youth Ballet Company, and provided classical training for contemporary companies Darkin Ensemble and Diversity Dance. She has also coached boys for the West End production of Billy Elliot."

Pausing there,  Jane taught one of the vacation classes at Northern Ballet last year. It was hard work but I enjoyed it very much. I should add that Manchester City Ballet is still going strong and that they performed The Nutcracker delightfully last year (see Alchemy 13 Dec 2014). Jane will teach both the beginners' and the advanced ballet courses. The beginners will be based on Swan Lake and the advanced on Giselle.

Jazz will be taken by Dane Quixall and contemporary by Gavin Persand.  Karen warns that the places are filling up. If you want to take part you should contact her through her Facebook page and ask for an application form. You will be asked for a £50 deposit and the balance must be paid not less than 4 weeks before the start of the course.

I am in a quandary. I love to dance and I know that I would appreciate Swan Lake so much more when I see it on stage if I have actually danced some of it myself - but I have come to ballet very late in life. While I can just about struggle through Fiona Noonan's 90 minute mixed age and mixed ability class at Huddersfield I am not sure that I can keep up with the agile young people who danced so well in Move It last month (see Didn't They Do Well 27 May 2015). My balance is not as good as it was last year and I struggle to stay on demi-pointe for more than a micro-second these days. On the other hand, maybe I should go for it while I can still dance at all.