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York Grand Opera House

Author RM Calamat
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A lot of anniversaries fall on 29 July. It was my father's birthday. It was the day I was called to the Bar. It was the day I was married.  And it was also the day almost 10 years ago that I first saw two outstanding young students from Hull who turned out to be brother and sister at the Yorkshire Ballet Seminar Gala at the Grand Old Opera House in York.

I am talking, of course, about Xander and Demelza Parish.  I did not blog about dance in those days so I have to rely on Charles Hutchinson's Review: A Summer Gala of Dance and Song, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday 31 July 2007 The Press to remind me who else was there. Samara Downs, Marianela Nunez, Wayne Sleep, Anthony Dowell, Lauren Cuthbertson. Big names! But the two that stick out in my memory are still Xander Parish and his sister Demelza.

"Those two will go far," said my late spouse who was an even bigger ballet fan than I am. "Especially the lad. In 10 years time, he will be topping the bill at Covent Garden".  Today I read Zoe Anderson's review in The Independent:

Swan Lake, Royal Opera House, London, review: Xander Parish reaches stardom

The first British dancer to join the Mariinsky Ballet was promoted to principal after his performance on the opening night of the St Petersburg company's 'Swan Lake'

Well, how about that! 

Sadly, my spouse did not survive long enough for that prophesy come true. Very shortly afterwards symptoms of a disease developed which was later diagnosed as motor neurone or Lou Gehrig's disease and my spouse died in March 2010. But I have lived to see it and while I am not in the least surprised by Xander Parish's elevation I could not possibly be more delighted.

The 29 July used to be a day of joy. After many of the people associated with the good times died it became an anniversary of sadness. And what with missile tests in Korea, the US government practically tearing itself apart, the Russians imposing sanctions, the Chinese building fortresses in the South China Sea not to mention Brexit there's precious little joy about.

But Xander Parish's news made me smile and not for the first time. I once had the pleasure of meeting him at the London Ballet Circle and I hope to do so again at 19:30 on Wednesday 2 Aug at the Civil Service Club at New Scotland Yard next door to the Nigerian embassy, The meeting is open to the public and only costs £5 for members and £8 for the rest. See you there.

Sergei Polunin

There is a difference between appreciation of excellence and the cult of celebrity. The former is to be encouraged but not the latter.  The distinction between the two is not always clear. Sometimes the former leads to the latter. Rarely, if ever, does it work the other way round.

I have seen Sergei Polunin only once since I started this blog. That was at the gala for the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School on 29 Sept 2013 (see  More Things I do for my Art - Autumn Gala of Dance and Song 30 Sept 2013). Polunin had jetted in from Moscow earlier in the day to perform a solo at the gala and had a taxi was waiting in Rosebury Avenue to whisk him back to Heathrow for his return flight. I didn't write anything about his performance at the time.  I remember a lot of jumps and turns and the loud applause at the end.

The reason I have not seen Polunin since that gala is that he has not been very visible on this country.   In Dancer which I saw yesterday at the Huddersfield Odeon, there were shots of his winning a TV competition in Moscow in 2012 called Bolshoi Ballet though I think "bolshoi" (which I understand to mean "big" in Russian) was used in its descriptive sense rather than to suggest a connection with the famous Moscow ballet company and of his performing with the Stanislavsky Ballet in Moscow, at the Novosibirsk Opera House and in Hawaii where he made the video "Take Me to Church" by Hozier, which was directed by David LaChapelle.

I enjoyed Dancer and I warmed towards him in a question and answer session which followed the screening of the film and a live performance by Polunin of Take me to Church on the stage of the London Palladium. I particularly liked two of his answers - one which revealed a sense of internationalism and a hate of visas and the other a hint that his relationship with the Royal Ballet was improving and that we might one day see him in Covent Garden again.

I had a question for the question and answer session but it was not picked up by the interviewer:

#dancermovie would Sergei have been happier had he trained at Bolshoi or Vaganova Institute.

— Terpsichore (@jelterps) March 2, 2017

The reason I asked that question was that the film opened with shots of Polunin's birthplace in Ukraine. The landscape reminded me of the countryside around Newark on Trent. He had trained locally and was then whisked off to White Lodge at age 13. The move to London would have been startling enough for a kid from the East Midlands. How much more traumatic for a child who had to master a new language and to accustom himself to quite different social norms.

It is true that Russia is not Ukraine but it is Slavonic and Russia is the country where he has spent much of his time since leaving the Royal Ballet. Maybe his career would have been smoother, possibly we would have seen more of him in the world's opera houses and, most importantly, perhaps this extraordinarily gifted artist would have been happier, and he trained and made his career in Moscow or St Petersburg.

While at the Royal Ballet School Polunin made friends with Jade Hale-Christofi. He had partnered Sarah Kundi in Dépouillage which I described in Sarah Kundi and Jade Hale-Christophi dancing in the same Ballet again 18 July 2014 as "to my mind one of the most beautiful clips on the internet." Christofi, who had worked with Polunin on Take me to Church, was a major contributor to Dancer.  It was good to hear him speak.

Finally. the current London Ballet Circle newsletter notes that the film will be launched on DVD on 24 April 2017 and contains some very interesting information and links about the making of the film and Polunin generally.

Happy Yorkshire Day

Today is Yorkshire Day. I believe the 1 Aug has been chosen because it is the anniversary of the battle of Minden when the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry distinguished themselves. Although I was born just the other side of the Pennines in Manchester which is where my first loyalties will always lie I have deep roots in this county. My mother was born in Leeds, brought up in Bramhope and spent her last years in Harrogate and I have lived in Holmfirth since 1985.

So today I want to celebrate Yorkshire and Ballet.

First up are Xander and Demelza Parish. I first saw them dance at the Grand Opera House York at the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School Gala in 2007  (see Charles Hutchinson's review for The Press 31 July 2007). There was a great array of that talent that night but those two stood out even then. It was obvious that they had great futures and so it has transpired. Whenever I see either of them dance (and nowadays it is more likely to be Demelza than Xander) I feel more than a little tug of pride. It was so good to see Xander in Romeo and Juliet  a year ago (see Reet Gradely: Romeo and Juliet, Mariinsky Ballet, Royal Opera House 29 July 2014 31 July 2014) and even better to see him in Ballet 101 at the Sapphire gala in March. I am also a cricket fan and I think Gita may be too. Should Xander ever tire of ballet we would still come to watch him at Headingley (The ballet dancer who could have played cricket for Yorkshire 11 Jan 2015).

The next village to mine is Honley and that is the home of David Bintley, one of the most celebrated choreographers this country has ever produced.  I had the pleasure of listening to him at the London Ballet Circle a few weeks ago and I was in the Birmingham Hippodrome on 20 June to celebrate his 20th anniversary as artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the 25th anniversary of the company's move to Birmingham (see In Praise of Bintley 21 June 2015), One of the best nights I have ever spent in the theatre.

One of Bintley's most exciting dancers is Brandon Lawrence who comes from Bradford. When the company performed at the Grand Opera House at York his presence in Yorkshire seemed to give him a little extra pzazz. In my review of the performance I wrote:

"But if I have to single out anyone it has to be Brandon Lawrence, a Bradford lad who clearly relished his return to God's own county. He danced proudly and magisterially. There was no doubt that he was glad to be back on home turf."

Lawrence danced in The King Dances at the special double bill that I mentioned above (see A Special Ballet for a Special Day 23 June 2015) and again he shone.

Since I started writing this post a whole slew of names occurred to me. If I were to include them all this post would be as long as the Leeds telephone directory. I should like to wish all of those great dancers and the many I have missed out a very happy Yorkshire Day.

We still have some of the best dancers in Yorkshire

In IP Yorkshire, one of my other blogs, I was bemoaning Yorkshire's indifferent performance in the number of patent and trade mark applications and almost bottom of the list in registered design applications (see Jane Lambert "Well at least a Yorkshireman invented Cats' Eyes" 20 July 2014 IP Yorks). We are doing rather better in cricket which is just as well for they say that when Yorkshire's cricket is strong England is strong. But it is in ballet where Yorkshire folk are really doing well.

One of our best is Xander Parish who is with the Maryinsky Ballet in St Petersburg. Here he is dancing in the second act of Giselle.  His company is coming to London soon and I have booked to see him dance the title role in Romeo and Juliet on 29 July 2014.  I last saw him and his sister Demelza Parish at the Grand Opera House in York on my silver wedding anniversary on 30 July 2007 which was one of the most memorable performances of my life (see "Review: A Summer Gala of Dance and Song, Grand Opera House, York" 31 July 2007 The Press). This is a particularly precious memory because it was just before my late spouse began to show signs of fatigue that were eventually diagnosed as motor neurone disease.

As if seeing Parish on the stage again was not treat enough we all have the opportunity of meeting him at the Civil Service Club on 13-15 Great Scotland Yard at 19:30 on Monday 4 Aug 2014 for he is to be the guest of London Ballet Circle. In a reminder sent to all London Ballet Circle members Audrey Allen wrote:

"A reminder, if one is needed, that we are greatly looking forward to welcoming Xander on 4 August. Many of our members remember him and his sister, Demelza, as young students taking part in the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars, now Summer Schools, and they were awarded a special bursary in 2005 at The Royal Ballet School’s Annual Prize-Giving ceremony to honour the memory of our former Patron and President, Dame Alicia Markova. Since the Mariinsky’s London season was announced Xander has received a great deal of media attention and there have been a number of very interesting articles on his career since joining the prestigious Russian company."

This event, like most London Ballet Circle events, is open to the public.  Visitors pay £8 at the door. Members of the Circle are admitted for £5.  As the annual sub is only £12 it is well worth joining even if you live nowhere near London.   As Audrey Allen mentioned the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School  I should add that it started yesterday at Askham Bryan College and continues until the 1 Aug 2014. As you can see from the Events page members of the Circle are allowed to attend part of the programme for a modest charge.

Another exceptionally promising young Yorkshire dancer with Russian connections is Tala Lee Turton of Barnsley. Ms Turton is at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow and she will be only the ninth Briton to train there. When I attended the Tenth Anniversary Gala at Northern Ballet last month I sat next to Laraine Penson for afternoon tea (see "Coming Down to Earth Gently" 30 June 2014). Over sandwiches and scones I told her about the compliment that Christopher Marney had paid to our dancers when he spoke to the London Ballet Circle. Ms Penson thought those talks were a great idea and offered to host something similar at Quarry Hill. On Friday I asked Ms Turton whether she would like to be guest of honour at one of those talks when she is next in Yorkshire and I am delighted to report that she would.

So while we may not be doing as well as we should in patents, trade marks and registered designs our county is doing very well at the two things for which I have a passion, namely ballet and cricket. And that's quite good enough for me.

New Connections - London Ballet Circle, Chelmsford Ballet and BalletcoForum

Hieronymus Bosch: Garden of Earthly Delights     Source Wikipedia

I have just returned from the London Ballet Circle's annual general meeting and party.  Although I had been a member of the Circle when I was an undergraduate and I rejoined it a few months ago this was the first event I have been able to attend.   It's a long way to London and I set off with a degree of trepidation because those of us who follow ballet are either incredibly sweet or crashing bores.  An evening with the former is delightful.   A couple of hours of the latter brings to mind Sartre's Huis Clos.

I am glad to say that I found only the sweet type last night.  The Circle's Chair, Susan Dalgetty-Ezra, and her husband, with whom I chatted yesterday, are particularly delightful. So, too, is their webmaster, Istvan Lengyel.   Also Audrey Allen who edits the Newsletter. Alas, I did not meet the lady who keeps the Facebook page and twitter feed with whom I had already exchanged pleasantries. Although I had come a long way I had certainly not come the furthest distance. I met a delightful gentleman from Ilkley who was connected with the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School.

You can see from the Newsletter that the Circle has a very full programme of events:

• Patricia Linton on the 20 Jan
• Elena Glurdjidze on 10 Feb
• Tamara Rojo on 3 March
• Ruth Brill on 24 March, and
• Peter Wright on 14 April.

Most of the Circle's events take place from 19:30 at The Dining Room, Civil Service Club, 13-15 Great Scotland Yard, London SW1A 2HJ and are open to the public for a small additional entrance fee. The annual subscription, which has recently increased by 50% is still only £12 which I for one regard as a bargain.  It does excellent work to support young dancers, including the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School which is particularly dear to my heart.  So please join.

One of the great and the good at the Circle's party was Doreen Wells who is now the Marchioness of Londonderry. I had last seen her when she danced with the Royal Ballet's touring company (which is now Birmingham Royal Ballet) nearly 40 years ago.  She was a magnificent ballerina then and she remains radiantly beautiful now.  It was good to see her again when she drew the raffle.

Doreen Wells is one of the patrons of the Chelmsford Ballet Company which I have also joined as an associate member  The subscription is another snip at £13 per year.   I have yet to meet any of the members but I have exchanged tweets and emails with some of them and they are all definitely of the sweet kind. Apart from the satisfaction of promoting a good cause there seem to be two main benefits of associateship membership. News of their shows the next one of which is The Nutcracker at Chelmsford Civic Theatre between the 19 and 22 March. Secondly, if you are good enough (Grade 6 or above) the company classes taught by people like Sandra Madgwick of the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

And that brings me on to my last new connection because I mentioned those classes in BalletcoForum. This is a free on-line discussion forum on such topics as recent performances and dance education.   I joined just before Christmas and have picked up quite a few interesting titbits of information ranging from a ballet based on Pushkin's The Fountain of Bakhchisarai to how to pivot in arabesque.   One service that Istvan Lengyel of the Ballet Circle recommended yesterday is a ticket exchange for when a show is sold out.  I have not tried it but I am sure it is useful.  As I had about 10 months of reviews of ballets and ballet classes in this blog I had contributed quite a lot by writing a summary in the forum and linking to the relevant article here. However, they have recently changed their rules to prevent such references. As I do not have time to write two lots of copy and as I do not intend to neglect this blog I may not be able to contribute quite so much in future. However, it costs nothing to join and there are some good conversations so I still recommend the forum.

More Things I do for my Art - Autumn Gala of Dance and Song

Star Studded Gala in aid of the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School, Sadler's Wells, 29 Sept 2013

This elegant monogram stands for Yorkshire Ballet Summer School. It is a 2 week residential summer school at the York St John University where students between the ages of 9 and 19 and their teachers can learn from some of the best dancers in the world. To appreciate the value of this school just take a moment to watch this video. The enthusiasm of those students is infectious.  As I am sure that at least some of you will want to support this worthwhile cause here is a link to the Summer School's support page.

Every so often a gala of dance and song is held to raise funds for the Summer School.  In previous years it has been held at the York Grand Opera House and my late spouse and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary there in 2007. It was a great show as you can see from the review in The Press. This year the gala was held at Sadler's Wells and I followed it to London.  I have just returned after driving through the night. Hence the title "More Things that I do for my Art".

However, my journey was by no means the longest. Sergei Polunin had woken up at 05:00 to take a flight from Moscow to perform at the show and according to Sir Derek Jacobi who compèred the show with Sir Anthony Dowell a taxi was waiting to whisk him back to the airport for his return flight. Scottish Ballet's Sophie Martin and Christopher Harrison had come from Glasgow. And I had seen Birmingham Royal Ballet's Samara Downs dance Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty the night before in Salford (see "The Sleeping Beauty - a Review and why the Ballet is important" 29 Sept 2013).  The difference was that they danced - powerfully in Polunin's case  - whereas I had only to watch, clap until my palms stung, cheer until I was hoarse and, of course., drive to and from Luton Parkway,

The show was, to use the language of the Guide Rouge "vaut le voyage". Many of the stars I saw in York in 2007, such as Wayne Sleep, Samantha Bond and of course Sir Anthony and Sir Derek were there but there was plenty of new material:

• Birmingham Royal Ballet's Brandon Lawrence whom you saw in the film.
• Kenneth Tindall's "Bitter Earth" danced by Northern Ballet's Tobias Batley, Jessica Morgan and Nicola Gervasi;
• the Royal Ballet's Elizabeth Harrod whom you also saw in the film who danced "You" choreographed by the Summer School director Marguerite Porter;
• English National Ballet's Lauretta Summerscales and Fernando Bufalá in the pas de deux from Le Corsaire;
• the all male company BalletBoyz who danced Serpent from  The Talent spectacularly;
• Rambert's Dane Hurst who danced "Inala" to music by Ladysmith Black Mambazo;
• Lawrence and Downs in Kenneth Macmillan's "Solitaire";
• the Royal Ballet's Stephen McRae dancing "I got Rhythm" to his own choreography;
• Harrison and Martin dance the pas de deux from Christopher Hampson's "Perpetuum Mobile"; and of course
• Polunin.

There were songs from Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton and a lot of levity from Jim Carter who auctioned off a back stage pass to Covent Garden for a whopping £2,000.   All in a very good cause.