Classes in Lockdown

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After I felt obliged to postpone the Snowflakes workshop that Mark Hindle had kindly agreed to give us on 14 March 2020 I had reconciled myself to a long delay before I would ever do a plié again. I did broach the subject of online classes with a teacher for whom I have particularly high regard but she was sceptical.  She was worried about limited space, unsprung floors and insurance and so was I. 

On 21 April, Maria Chugai of the Dutch National Ballet gave us an online class which made our spirits soar (see An Unforgettable Class 7 May 2020).  Encouraged by Maria's success, I asked Charlotte Ingleson of Ballet North UK to give us an online class on 2 May in lieu of the March company class which she had agreed to deliver.   Again, that was very successful.   She made us work very hard for the full 90 minutes.    As we have also missed our April class I have arranged with Jane Tucker to give us an extra class on 16 May.  Jane will also deliver her usual class on 30 May.

As Maria and Charlotte have shown that online classes are not only possible but fun I have been trying out a few more.  Online classes fall into two categories.   Some are given by ballet schools and companies over Facebook or YouTube,   They offer training by the likes of  Ernst Meisner and Tamara Rojo for free.  The disadvantage is that the teachers can't see us so there is no chance of corrections.   The other option is to enrol in a class that is held over Zoom. That is the next best thing to a class in a studio because the teacher and see and correct her students and give corrections.  For those classes, there is, of course, a fee.

Of the classes offered by schools and ballet companies, my favourites are those by Ernst Meisner.  Recordings of those classes are available on the Dutch National Ballet's YouTube channel  I am not an unbiased critic because I am a big fan of Meisner for the work that he has done for the Junior Company and the Dutch National Ballet Academy.  However, my opinion appears to be shared by two experienced teachers who certainly know what they are talking about. 

Our guest ballet mistress, Yvonne Charlton of the Dolstra Dance Centre in IJsselstein, wrote:

"Jane Lambert he is a great teacher i am doing his classes."

To which I responded:

"Yvonne Charlton de beste leraar ooit!"  

Taxing the very extremity of my command of the Dutch language.   She agreed with me.

The other person who commented on Meisner's class was our first choreographer, Terence Etheridge.   Having been one of the founder members of Northern Ballet and later its ballet master, as well as ballet master in Hong Kong, Terence knows everything there is to know about classes.   When he wrote in Facebook that it was a very good class we can be sure that it was.

I have also attended two Zoom classes.   One was given by Karen Sant of KNT Danceworks, my usual teacher in Manchester.   The other by Sonya Pettigrew of Brighton Ballet School. 

KNT usually offers classes in Northern Ballet School's studios.   I first came to KNT in August 2014 when my over 55 class in Leeds was on vacation and I have been a regular visitor ever since.  I have taken classes at various levels with all of the teachers and I have got on well with every one of them.  I have also attended some excellent choreography workshops on  Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Coppelia, Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker given by Jane Tucker and Martin Dutton as well as days of intensive classes known as "Days of Dance".  Over the years I have made some good friendships and close acquaintances with many of the other students.  I love KNT and am very fond of Karen.

Since the lockdown, Karen has created a portal to her online classes called the class manager.  As far as I could see from the "upcoming classes" section, everything that KNT offered in the studio is available online.  I joined my usual "Pre-Intermediate Class" which meets on Tuesdays between 18:30 and 19:45  The barre was almost identical to the studio but we had a few modifications for the centre work. Nevertheless, we finished with a joyful temps levé carrying me from the kitchen through the hall to my sitting room and back again.  Karen charged £3.50 for that class and I shall certainly be back.

Although Sonya had invited me to attend and review one of her classes several months ago I never had an opportunity to take advantage of it.  After the lockdown, she invited me to attend one of her online classes which I did on 24 April.   I joined the entry-level class and found that it was quite rigorous.  Again, there was a full barre and some demanding centre exercises.   I counted 8 of us in gallery view, mostly women but one gentleman.   Sonya is a good teacher.  She gave me several corrections for which I am grateful.   She has a very easy manner and it is clear that she is well-liked by her students.  If I lived in Sussex I would almost certainly be one of her regulars.

New online classes are coming onto the market all the time.  On 7 May Northern Ballet Academy announced that it is about to launch a new online class for the Over 55s to be given by Viki Westall from 11 May.   As it meets in office hours I am not sure how many classes I can attend but I shall certainly do one and report back to you with my findings.

Powerhouse Ballet - What comes next

Kirklees Leisure Centre

© 2018 Jane Elizabeth Lambert: all rights reserved

At about 3 pm today. a group of dancers will meet in the studio shown in the photograph above to begin a 90 minute class with Jane Tucker of Northern Ballet Academy. I have no idea how big that group will be. Some 20 people have registered for the class but several have had to drop out. On the other hand, I have received at least one intimation through twitter from a dancer who has not yet registered that she is looking forward to meeting everybody. All I would say is that if you want to come and have not yet registered is please let me know as soon as possible so that I can ask the staff at reception to let you in.

The class will take place at the Kirklees Leisure Centre at Spring Grove Street, Huddersfield, HD1 4BP which is just to the west of the Castlegate ring road. It is just down the hill from junction 24 on the M62 with oodles of onsite parking at 70p per hour and a short walk from the bus and railway stations for those who will use public transport.

There will be a short meeting after the class to decide whether we want to form a company and to elect a small steering committee to draw up a business plan and constitution. Several of the people who have had to drop out have stressed that they still want to form a company. Several others who can't be here today have said the same. We have even had messages of support from Mel Wong and David Hotchkiss in Hungary. I think we have enough support to plan for our next activity.

It is important to keep the momentum. Chelmsford Ballet holds company classes with a different teacher on the first Sunday of every month. Cara O'Shea, who once danced Princess Aurora for the the Chelmsford Ballet, gave her old company a very good class a few years ago. We need to do the same. Jane Tucker has very kindly agreed in principle to give us another class as have a number of other teachers.

As many of us have progressed from beginners to improvers and beyond without mastering all the basics and have acquired bad habits I have asked Karen Sant of KNT to arrange a day long ballet boot camp to iron some of these out (see Ballet Boot Camp Pilot 9 May 2018 Powerhouse Ballet). As it is likely to take a little more than a day for folks like me I have discussed the possibility of residential courses with Gillian Barton in Scotland and Terence Etheridge in Cornwall.

Chelmsford arranges all sorts of other events throughout the year such as workshops, an annual coach trip to London to see a show, a performance with the Brentwood Choral Society at Christmas and a children's workshop called "Let's make a ballet" in the Autumn. As workshops and summer schools require time off work I was thinking that we may as well hold them in places where we might well go on holiday such as Taynuilt and Truro. I was also thinking of inviting artistic directors of visiting companies, choreographers, dancers and musicians to dinner meetings where we talk to them over a glass of wine or coffee after a light supper. If I can persuade them to sit down with us, Christopher Marney, Yoko Ichino, Cira Robinson and Koen Kessels are high on my list. Finally, I hope we can persuade Northern Ballet, Phoenix Dance Theatre and visiting companies to arrange special events with us where we can explore the choreography and maybe meet their dancers, creatives and technicians.

I emphasize that we need artists, craftsmen and women, designers, managers, musicians and technicians as well as dancers. If you would like to help us in any capacity even if you live outside the North, do get in touch.

No Ordinary Nutcracker - Duchy Ballet's 20th Anniversary Performance

Sara-Maria Barton as Sugar Rum Cherry

Author Zoe Green Photography

© 2018 Duchy Ballet
Reproduced with kind permission of the company

Duchy Ballet  The Nutcracker Hall for Cornwall, 10 March 2018, 19:30

In my very first blog post just over 5 years ago I reviewed Ballet West's performance of The Nutcracker at the Festival Theatre in Pitlochry.  The ballerina in that performance was Sara-Maria Barton and she danced brilliantly. It is a long way to Pitlochry from Clegg and Compo Land but that show was well worth the journey. Today I travelled approximately the same distance in the opposite direction to see another performance of The Nutcracker - this time by Duchy Ballet. Again, Barton was the lead dancer.  Once again she danced brilliantly as did everybody. Yet again, the show was worth every single millimetre of the journey.

Tonight's show was no ordinary Nutcracker.  Shortly after the house lights dimmed and the music started my row of the stalls was bathed in light as Mr and Mrs Stahlbaum's guests stepped in front of us. In a questionnaire that was circulated to the audience, we were asked "What was the most memorable part of Duchy Ballet's Nutcracker and why?" Not an easy question to answer because there was much that was memorable but I wrote down that entrance because it invited the audience into the show allowing us to feel part of the story.   It was the first of many clever touches by the choreographer and producer, Terence Etheridge.

Another difference in Etheridge's version is that Clara was quite grown up. Her role was danced appealingly on Saturday night by Grace Hazeldine. Drosselmeyer - slightly sinister in most productions and sometimes a little dotty - was danced dashingly by Jamie Constance.  In this production, he was a tall, slender and handsome ballet student - not a wizened wizard or batty inventor.  There were some lovely little touches such as Clara gently cradling her nutcracker, Bethany Hoskins, Kira Allen and Amy Shakerley as mechanical ballerinas, Stuart Strongman and Amy Robinson as a soldier automaton  and his vivandière and some of the youngest dancers holding a Roman numeral turning in sequence to represent the passing of the hours up to midnight.

Strongman led his soldiers into a fierce battle with the rodents led by Riley McLoughlin. In my review of Scottish Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker I said that Lez Brotherston's vermin are the best in the business (see Newcastle Nutcracker (16 Feb 2018). Well Duchy Ballet's were pretty fearsome too. But for Clara's intervention they would have won the day in Truro. She seemed to show a pang of remorse after she had dispatched King Rat which made me warm to her all the more.

The first act ended traditionally with a blizzard of snowflakes with Laura Miners as their queen. Joined on stage by young dancers bearing lanterns they were quite charming.  Nothing like last week's "beast from the east".

Although Etheridge had made the changes that I mentioned above, tailored the choreography and tweaked the libretto to suit his dancers, the first act would have been recognizable to Petipa and Ivanov.  The music was Tchaikovsky's. The story was based on Hoffmann and Dumas.  The second act was rather different.  For a start there was live music provided by the talented students of Truro School Senior Jazz Orchestra conducted by their teacher Peter Thompson.  Instead of Tchaikovsky's composition they played Duke Ellington's adaptation of Tchaikovsky's score. In place of the kingdom of the sweets there was a jazz café imaginatively designed by Sandra Goodenough.  In substitution of a Sugar Plum Fairy there was a Sugar Rum Cherry danced quite deliciously by Barton.

I should stress, however, that though the link with Tchaikovsky, Petipa and Ivanon was stretched it was never strained to breaking point. Tchaiovsky's tunes remain recognizable in Ellington's variations. In traditional productions the Spanish dance represents chocolate, the Arabian coffee and the Chinese tea.  Etheridge extended the analogy to all the divertissements so that we had "Manhattan Sunrise", "Sassy Sangria", "Bucks Fizz" and "Liquorice Cocktail" as well as other concoctions to the dance of tje mirlitons, flowers and all the other familiar pieces.  All the divertissements delighted me but if I had to choose a favourite it would be the Chinese dance.  It is seldom done well because the music is tingly and often it is clowned.  Etheridge created a children's dance which suited both mood and music.  I should add that I was greatly impressed by the strength and skills of the waiters, Strongman, McLoughlin and, Constance though I am not sure that their dance could be described as a divertissement.

It was a joy was to see Barton again.  I had greatly enjoyed her performances as Sugar Plum, Odette-Odile and Juliet for Ballet West (see Ballet West's "The Nutcracker" 25 Feb 2013 and Thinking our Loud about Ballet West 8 Feb 2016, Swan Loch - Ballet West's Swan Lake, Pitlochry 1 March 2014 3 March 2014 and Ballet West's Romeo and Juliet  1 Feb 2015). She has now moved to Glasgow to pursue other interests and no longer performs with that company.  Despite outstanding performances by Natasha Watson and Uyu Hiromoto, I had missed her very much.  Well, her presence last night in Cornwall more than made up for her absences over the last two years in Scotland.  In a rôle created especially for her she seemed to dance better than ever.  Certainly, she delighted me more than ever.

Because this year is the 20th anniversary of Duchy Ballet, Kay Jones, the artistic director, came on stage after the curtain call. She congratulated the cast and the musicians from Truro School on their performance.  She acknowledged the massive contributions of Sianne Strasberg, Maureen Pascoe and Terence Etheridge to the company.   She announced that the Hall for Cornwall will close for several years  from July for extensive renovations during which time the company will require a new temporary home and perhaps new venues.  She appealed to the audience to complete the feedback questionnaire that I mentioned in the second paragraph so that informed decisions could be made as to how the company should use that time.

As I noted in Ballet in Cornwall 17 Sep 2016, Duchy Ballet is very important to Cornwall as it provides stage experience for talented students and an opportunity for Cornish residents to see high quality ballet locally. However, Duchy Ballet is also important to the rest of the country for three reasons.  First, students who have danced with Duchy Ballet study, work and teach elsewhere.  Secondly, the company has developed an audience in Cornwall not just for its own performances but also for those of Birmingham Royal Ballet's southern tour and other companies too.  Thirdly, Duchy Ballet has created works on Cornish themes like The Mermaid of Zennor and the Mousehole Cat that might otherwise never have been made.  It is therefore in everybody's interest to support the company. For those who wish to do so there are Friends of Duchy Ballet, "Sponsor a Dancer" and other fund raising schemes.

Duchy Ballet's Auditions for the Anniversary Nutcracker

Later today Duchy Ballet, Cornwall's classical ballet company, will hold auditions for its annual show at Poltair School in St Austell. The timetable and other particulars of the auditions appear on the Info page of the company's website. I hope everyone who takes part has a good day.

The company will dance The Nutcracker in March which it first performed in 1998.  According to the Performances page

"Duchy Ballet was formed to celebrate the opening of a long awaited theatre in Cornwall in November 1997. Our first production just three months later, with a live orchestra, and professional soloists was 'The Nutcracker'."

As it will be the 20th anniversary of that first performance, next year's show is likely to be special. I shall make every effort to attend and review it.

I wrote about the company in Ballet in Cornwall 17 Sept 2017 when I was on holiday near Looe last year. In that article, I discussed Cornwall's cultural identity based on a strong literary and musical tradition upon which the company has drawn from time to time for the subject matter of its ballets. At that time I had not actually seen the company but I took an interest in it because I have connections with Cornwall having spent two significant periods of my life there as well as many holidays.

I saw Duchy Ballet for the first time last March when it performrd The Sleeping Beauty.  I was very impressed as you can see from my review, Cornwall's Coup: Duchy Ballet's Sleeping Beauty 19 March 2017.  The lead roles were danced by Tom Thorne and Laura Bosenberg of the Cape Town City Ballet but, as I noted in my review

"....... the company had its own stars. Terence Etheridge, who choreographed the show, was a magnificent Carabosse in the tradition of Robert Helpmann. The lilac fairy (danced, I think by Alabama Seymour) was delightful. Matthew Phillips was a great bluebird and he was partnered well by Amy Robinson. Jasmine Allen was a charming white cat. I need to credit the wardrobe, those who made the sets, the lighting designer - I could go on but it's late and I have a long journey tomorrow. The company won a standing ovation for its performance and that is all I need to say."

I later learned that Seymour had been offered a place at Rambert's school which delighted but did not surprise me at all (see A Spark of Excellence 23 March 2017).

Even though Truro is not a big city and Cornwall does not have a large population, the performance that I saw was well attended and there had already been others earlier in the day and the day before.  I mention that because the info page mentions sponsorship and advertising opportunities which must be worth considering for businesses based in, or doing a lot of business, in Cornwall.

Finally, the company relies on volunteers for technical, wardrobe, chaperoning, front of house and other jobs. I can say from experience that preparing for a performance is always great fun.  If you live in Cornwall this is your opportunity to experience the excitement of the theatre.

Cornwall's Coup: Duchy Ballet's Sleeping Beauty

Tom Thorne and Laua Bösenberg in The Sleeping Beauty

Photo Zoe Green Photography
(c) 2017 Duchy Ballet: a;; rights reserved 

Duchy Ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, Hall for Cornwall, Truro, 18 March 19:30

Cornish folk are as different from Yorkshire folk as it is possible to be. Whereas denizens of my adopted county make exaggerated claims of excellence for everything even when it is quite ordinary, Cornish folk tend to hide their lights under a bushel even when they have something to be proud of. There seemed to be genuine surprise that anyone would drive from Holmfirth to see their show. "You mean to say you have driven nearly 400 miles just to see us" I heard more than once last night. "Well, yes," I replied, "it is a long way but not nearly as far as Cape Town from where your guest artists have flown." And how else am I to see a company that attracts the likes of Roberta Marquez and Laura Bösenberg. Nobody would say that in Yorkshire about the Huddersfield Choral Society which is indeed good. If you want to see the Choral sing The Messiah in Huddersfield Town Hall well you have to come to Huddersfield - if you can get a ticket, mind - and that's that.

Duchy Ballet is beginning to get some recognition outside Cornwall. Vanessa Roebuck wrote two and a half columns about them in the education section of this month's Dancing Times  (page 122 if you want to look it up) but that is not comparable with the attention that other youth ballets get and Duchy Ballet is at least as good. 

Why do I say it is good?  I offer two reasons.  It takes children, young people and those not so young from an enormous county and coaxes the best out of them but it never asked the impossible. Yesterday's production involved some tricky choreography - especially for the young soloists who carried it off magnificently - but it skipped the rose adagio for the obvious reason that the company would have to train up four strong male dancers and rehearse them for some time with Bösenberg which would have been asking far too much of them. Instead, several new divertissements were introduced for different age groups of children who were brilliant.  Secondly, it involves a wide section of the local community. Truro is not a big city but the Hall for Cornwall which seats well over 900 was not far short of full and there had been several other performances that weekend. There were deafening cheers for the corps. You could see families' involvement from the lovingly sewn costumes and the cleverly constructed forest to the slickness of the front of house.

Turning to the show itself I was impressed by the guest artists.  Rachael Gillespie of Northern Ballet, who had trained with Tom Thorne at Central, wrote: "Tom is a lovely guy and beautiful dancer." I did not get a chance to meet him though I am sure she is right but I can confirm that he is a beautiful dancer.  He is tall and very strong and commands the stage effortlessly.  Bösenberg is attractive in a different way. A winning smile combined with virtuosity, she follows in the tradition of Mason and Nerina.

Of course, the company had it's own stars. Terence Etheridge, who choreographed the show, was a magnificent Carabosse in the tradition of Robert Helpmann. The lilac fairy (danced, I think by Alabama Seymour) was delightful. Matthew Phillips was a great bluebird and he was partnered well by Amy Robinson. Jasmine Allen was a charming white cat.  I need to credit the wardrobe, those who made the sets, the lighting designer - I could go on but it's late and I have a long journey tomorrow.   The company won a standing ovation for its performance and that is all I need to say.

My congratulations to all involved - especially to the artistic director, Kay Jones, and Terence Etheridge whom I met briefly. I will follow the company and its talented young dancers with considerable interest.  I will write more about them by and by as I get to know this company better.

Thinking Big out West

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I first learned about Duchy Ballet on 29 March 2014. The reason I can date it so precisely is that I wrote in The Guys of the Golden West 30 March 2014:

"Other Golden Guys are Duchy Ballet whose existence I discovered only yesterday. This evening and yesterday they were performing The Mousehole Cat & Other Ballets at The Hall for Cornwall in Truro. Roberta Marquez of the Royal Ballet appeared as a guest artist. According to the company's website Duchy Ballet was formed to celebrate the opening of The Hall for Cornwall with the aim was of establishing a youth ballet company for Cornwall providing the opportunity to train, rehearse and perform within a professional setting. The company's choreographer is Terry Etheridge who was a guest choreographer of the Chelmsford Ballet Company some years ago and inspired and taught Andrew Potter who danced Drosselmeyer in that company's recent production of The Nutcracker (see "The Nutcracker as it really should be danced - No Gimmmicks but with Love and Joy" 20 March 2014). Potter acknowledged his debt to Etheridge on twitter this morning:

"Mr Etheridge, Found me, taught me and inspired me."

Having seen Potter's performance I congratulate Etheridge on a very good job."

I mentioned Terence Etheridge and Duchy Ballet again on 17 Sept 2016 in Ballet in Cornwall while I was on holiday in Looe.  I added that their next production will be The Sleeping Beauty at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro. 

Today I learned that Aurora will be danced by Laura Bosenberg, one of the senior principals of the Cape Town City Ballet. To get some idea of how she dances watch the YouTube clip of her performance in Camille with Tom Thorne, one of the male principals of the company.  Founded only 3 years after the company that eventually became the Royal Ballet the Cape Town City Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in the Commonwealth.  According to Wikipedia John Cranko was a member as was Phyllis Spira Africa's one and only prima ballerina assoluta. Margot Fonteyn has danced with the company as have Carla Fracci, Beryl Grey, Nadia Nerina and many other famous stars.

I suppose I should not be surprised.   A company that can attract a principal of the Royal Ballet of the stature of Marquez thinks big. It is not only in America that they think big out West.

Back to Class

Author Lambtron
Source Wikipedia
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With the honourable exception of Danceworks which has remained open for business throughout the Christmas holidays (see  Working off the Christmas Pud 21 Dec 2016) there have been no dance classes since the third week of December. In case there were other classes open in this period don't moan at me for not mentioning them. At the end of that article I wrote:

"Should any dance studio or accredited teacher run a class in any dance style anywhere in the UK between now and 9 Jan 2017 I will publicize it here, in Facebook and on twitter. Indeed, I shall even try to attend and review it if it is at all possible."

Did you get in touch with me?  Well then.

For most of us adult ballet classes start this week.  Yippee!  Not a moment too soon in my book. I attend improvers classes at Northern Ballet Academy and occasionally Dance Studio Leeds in Leeds and KNT in Manchester.

I am aware of excellent classes in Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newport and Sheffield and will put you in touch with them if you care to contact me.

"All very well for you" I hear you say, "you live close to three big cities but I live in the back of beyond."  Well, there are great classes even in rural neighbourhoods. Ballet West runs adult ballet classes in the Western Highlands and Terence Etheridge teaches ballet in Cornwall.  Ask around and if you still can't find one I am sure I can find you an RAD or ISTD accredited teacher with full insurance near a church hall, gym or community centre who can take you on.

"I would have loved to have done ballet when I was young but there wasn't time because .................." Usual  reasons are competing attractions, lack of time, pressure of exams or more immediate priorities on the family budget.
"That's OK, you can start now."
"But I'm much too old aren't I?"
"Rubbish! I reply. "I started when I was 64. I shall be 68 on Valentine's Day. I am a relative stripling. There are students years older than me in Leeds and the BBC reported that there was a student in Scotland who was over 100."
Northern Ballet run 4 classes in Leeds for students aged 55 or over and I am aware of similar classes in Glasgow, London and elsewhere. There is also the RAD's "Silver Swans" programme. No. You are never too old to take up ballet. Or even perform it.  I have danced twice in Northern Ballet's Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre and once in the Dancehouse at Northern Ballet School.

"How much will these classes set me back?" About £6 or £7 a session in Leeds or Manchester. A little bit more in the Smoke but, even there, the cost of classes won't break the bank.

"But I'm not the right shape or size. I'd never fit into a leotard."

First, you don't need a leotard. Trackie bottoms or leggings and T-shirt will do and, at least for the first few classes, you can dance in bare feet. Secondly, I am not exactly sylphlike as anyone who has met me can confirm but I have bought kit to fit me from Just Ballet in Southend, Planet Dance in Batley and Mr Frog in Huddersfield.

You can spend a fortune on dancewear but you don't have to. All you need are a couple of leotards which you can get from £20 or less each, a couple of pairs of shoes, again for £20 or less, maybe some dancers' tights which are a bit more than you would pay for a pair of opaques in Tesco and a devil to put on and a ballet bag to keep them in. Oh and a towel.

"How long does a ballet class last and what happens?"

Between 60 and 90 minutes.

First, there is the warm up. Different teachers have different techniques. My favourite way is to start with a gentle walk around the studio, then move the arms in a clockwise and anti-clockwise direction, then a gentle run, then change direction 30 seconds in, skipping facing out, skipping facing in, Jumping Jacks up and forwards.  Warm up finishes with some stretching exercises.

The class starts with pliés. Plier means "to fold" in French and this exercise consists of bending the legs - like a badger or maybe a copper (the constables in this clip can also do some tendus, simple jumps and even lift their serjeant). Then there are leg and foot exercises known as tendus. After that there are glissés, ronds de jambe and several others that you can look.   In all of those exercises the student can hold a rail known as "the barre" to steady him or herself.

After about 20 to 30 minutes at the barre the teacher calls the class into the centre of the studio and repeats some of the tendu or other exercises so that the student can find his or her balance. The teacher then combines some of the steps he or she has taught the class into a simple exercise known as an enchainement which the students practise as a group and then try to repeat in smaller numbers.

Next come turns - either chaines or pirouettes which is a sort of pons assinorum in ballet - a bit like Pythagoras's triangle in maths. You either pick it up immediately if you are well co-ordinated or you struggle and I am sorry to say I am one of the strugglers.

Then there are the jumps and they are my favourite part of class. Simple ones to start with and then more complex ones with the evening ending in joyful soaring grands jetes or temps leves which I shall leave you to look up.

Quick cool down exercises. Bows or curtseys to the pianist and instructor.  Then everyone leaves chatting and giggling and wondering where the time went.

There's a picture of a dance classs circulating the internet with the words

"Money can't buy you happiness ....... but it can buy you a dance class which is kinda the same thing."

I'd go along with that.

Ballet in Cornwall

The peninsula in the far south west of our island is a magical land that I know well. I am told that I took my first steps on the sands at St, Ives where my parents lived when my father taught at Redruth. They returned to Cornwall for a few years while I as at St Andrews. During that time my address in St Austell was one of the remotest in the student directory. I have also spent many holidays and weekends in the duchy particularly in Looe and its environs.

"I can't believe that I am in England" remarked my friend on her first trip to Cornwall to which I replied "You are not." Administratively it may be part of England but it has an identity that is quite distinct despite centuries of emigration to the Americas, Antipodes, other parts of the British Isles and the rest of the world and a massive influx of migrants and visitors from every part of the world over the last 100 years or so. That identity is based largely on culture with a strong literary and musical tradition inspired by a rich folklore with its tales of mermaids and pixies.

Drama and dance are part of that tradition including the famous passion plays and furry dance. Duchy Ballet, Cornwall's national ballet company, has drawn on that tradition from time to time with such works as The Mousehole Cat and The Mermaid of Zennor (see the Productions page of the Duchy Ballet website). Some of those works were created or staged by Terence Etheridge who has enjoyed a distinctive career as a dancer and choreographer with some of the world's leading companies including the London Festival Ballet which is now known as the English National Ballet.

According to Kay Jones, the artistic director of Duchy Ballet, the company started because
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many children and indeed adults in Cornwall had never seen a full length classical ballet. Thanks largely to Jones, Etheridge and their collaborators that lacuna has now been filled.The company performs a full length work at the Hall for Cornwall every year which gives young Cornish dancers valuable stage experience. Some of those young people have been accepted by the Royal Ballet School, the Rambert School, Northern Ballet School and other well known ballet schools (see the "Springboard" column of the About page on the Duchy Ballet website).

According to the company's Facebook page, its next performance will be The Sleeping Beauty which it will dance on 17 and 18 March 2017. Somehow Team Terpsichore will get a reviewer to that show for Duchy Ballet is just the sort of initiative that this website and its associated blogs are keen to support.  The company seems to have created an audience for dance for the Hall for Cornwall is visited regularly by the Birmingham Royal Ballet, Rambert and other companies. Also, Plymouth, whose hinterland includes much of South East Cornwall, has always been visited by the leading national touring companies.

Of course, most of those who study ballet have careers or ambitions that lie outside the stage and it is good to see that there are many ballet schools in Cornwall some of which offer classes to adults (see the Dance Schools page of Duchy Ballet). The dance agency for Cornwall is Dance and Theatre Cornwall and Plymouth Dance is the dance agency for Plymouth and surrounding districts.