KNT's Day of Dance: Rachael's Musical Theatre Class

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I described KNT's Day of Dance last Saturday in Vampires (19 Aug 2018).  While I was trying to dance like a vampire in Karen Sant's class Rachael Crocker was teaching this routine to our colleagues in the musical theatre class.  After we had performed our piece they invited us next door to watch them.

I described them as "very good indeed. Very slick, very polished and you could tell from the smiles on their faces that they were having a whale of a time."  You can see for yourself what I meant,

I am so fortunate still to be dancing with the graceful, athletic and generous students of KNT.  They welcome me as one of my own even though I am decades older, so much slower and far more ponderous than they are.  I am very well aware of my limitations as a dancer and am reminded of them whenever I see myself on film, especially when I get in the way of what would otherwise have been a much more polished performance.  Usually that does not matter but recently it very nearly did.

That brings me to two announcements to those who have put their names down for Powerhouse Ballet's audition on 15 Sept.   As promised I have spoken to Mark Hindle about extra coaching for the audition on 15 Sept and he has suggested a mock audition for those who want it in the Dancehouse on one of the Saturdays before the audition.   I will find out about availability of studio space with the Dancehouse on Tuesday but in the meantime it would be useful to know who intends to turn up for this session with Mark either on 1 or 8 Sept by emailing me at jane@powerhouseballet.co.uk.

The other announcement is that I have arranged for the chef whom Jay Rayner described as "Britain's best home cook" and "the greatest  Indian chef in Britain" to prepare a healthy but tasty energy giving lunch for those who show up at Dance Studio Leeds on 16 Sept 2018 to work with Terry Etheridge.

Flash Back to the 80s

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Jazzgalore (NBS Musical Theatre Dance Co.). Flash Back to the 80s  24 March 2018, 19:30 The Dancehouse, Manchester


Northern Ballet School in Manchester claims to be  "an international centre of excellence in training for classical ballet and musical theatre."  I can personally endorse that claim as many of my teachers at KNT Danceworks and Northern Ballet trained there.  Students at Northern Ballet School can focus on classical ballet or jazz and musical theatre and both focuses have their own performance companies, Manchester City Ballet for classical dance and Jazzgalore for jazz and musical theatre.

Between the 22 and 24 March Jazzgalore presented Flash Back to the 80s, a two act review featuring the dance and singing from the 1980s.  I attended the show on 24 March and had intended to review it months ago.  The reason I did not do so is that I had asked for one or more photos from the show for my review which unfortunately never arrived.  What has arrived, however, is the above video which appeared on YouTube a few days ago.  It is a compilation of highlights of the show and  I think it is pretty fair and accurate.

I enjoyed the show and judging by the whooping and cheering I think the audience did too.  I particularly liked the numbers from Fame, especially Hard Work and the title song which were staged and choreographed by Andrew Margerison, Anton Alexandrov's Chess Ballet, Sarah Lawson's I can do that from A Chorus Line in Act 1.  In Act 2 my favourites were Helen Vidotti's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Emma  Woods's Raspberry Beret and two more works by Margerison, Whitney and the finale, Where's The Party.  Congratulations to Patricia McDonald who produced the show and Lee Lomas and Andrew Margerison who directed it.

Sadly I seem to have missed a couple of Northern Ballet School's recent shows. That is a pity because I am one of its well wishers.  I train at least once a week in its studios and I have danced several times in its theatre.   Above all I am a Mancunian even though I now live in Summer Wine country. I missed The Nutcracker because the rickets sold out very quickly and The Showcase of Dance because of conflicting commitments.  The school has published a video of highlights from The Nutcracker which suggests that it was very good.   I hope I shall not miss Manchester City Ballet's next performance in December. 

A Day Not To Be Missed: KNT's "Day of Dance" in Manchester

When I told colleagues at work a few years ago that I had spent three days of my summer holidays in Manchester they did a double take.  Even more so when I told them that I had spent the time learning Swan Lake and it was one of the best three days ever. I did the same a year later to learn La Bayadère and again the year after that to learn Coppélia.  

That was great fun but this year we regulars at KNT are ready for something different.  Accordingly we are offered "A day of dance with industry professionals at the Dancehouse Theatre Manchester." In other words, wall-to-wall classes on Saturday 18 Aug 2018 from 10:00 in the morning to 17:00 in the afternoon.

Two of the industry professionals have already been announced.  They are Rachael Crocker and Harriet Mills.  Rachael will be teaching advanced jazz, beginner and pre-intermediate ballet and musical theatre and Harriet advanced ballet.  Both have very impressive credentials

Here is Rachael's bio:

"Rachael trained at Northern Ballet School and was a Royal Ballet senior Associate whilst training she qualified and took part in the prestigious Adeleine Genee Awards and also won the IDTA ballet scholarship.
Rachael recently finished performing at the London Coliseum in Kiss Me Kate (choreographed by Will Tuckett) as Dance Captain. Prior to that she was part of a small group recording the soundtrack to the new Mamma Mia movie ‘Here We Go Again”.
Other theatre credits include: ‘Dick Whittington’ at the London Palladium, ‘Strauss’ (National Tour); ‘Kiss Me Kate’ (Welsh National Opera); ‘Cats’ (RUG Australia) as Tantomile understudy Jemima, Demeter and Victoria Graziella in ‘West Side Story’ (National tour); first understudy Meg Giry in ‘The Phantom of the Opera – 25th Anniversary tour’ (National tour); ensemble and first understudy Wendy in ‘Peter Pan’ (Mayflower theatre); ‘We Will Rock You’ (Antwerp Belgium); ensemble and understudied and played Wendy in ‘Peter Pan’ (Grand Canal theatre Dublin); first understudy Cinderella in‘Cinderella’ (Orchard theatre); ensemble and 1st understudy Iris in ‘Fame’ (National tour); ‘We Will Rock You’ (Dominion theatre); swing in the original London cast of ‘Movin’ Out’ (Victoria Apollo); alternate Ice Princess in ‘The Snowman’ (Peacock theatre); swing and first understudy Zsa Zsa in ‘Love Shack’ (National tour); Dance Captain and swing in ‘Grease’ (Victoria Palace, Japan and National tour); ‘Cinderella’ (New Victoria Woking), Rumpleteaser, Demeter, Jemima and Tantomile in ‘Cats’ (Stuttgart Germany); Meg Giry in ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (Hamburg Germany) and the Spirit in ‘The Spirit of the Dance’ (US tour).
Film and TV credits include: ‘Devils in the Disguise’ for the Discovery Channel, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ directed by Joel Schumacher and ‘Finding Neverland’ directed by Marc Forster.
Radio Credits include: BBC radio production of Smith of Wooten Major.
Rachael has also appeared on the Al Murray Show, took part in the 2008 Olympic handover ceremony and guested for Rock of Ages for their performance at West End Live. She also regularly performs for Incandescence Contemporary Circus Theatre Company and Private Drama Events.
Teaching: Rachael graduated from the Royal Academy of Dance gaining a Distinction for The Professional Dancers Teaching Diploma and teaches at various schools and colleges across London. She taught scholarship classes for the IDTA and RAD along with various workshops in ballet and jazz."

Harriet is a principal with the Karlsruhe State Ballet.  I was lucky enough to attend one of her classes earlier this year (see One of the Best Ballet Experiences Ever  14 Feb 2018).   This is her bio:

"After attending her first vocational school from the age of 11, Harriet Emily Mills left the Hammond School, Chester, to start at the Royal Ballet Upper School in London. She graduated after 3 years with her first job with the Staatballett Karlsruhe and has worked as a professional ballet dancer there for 6 years. Harriet has danced roles such as Odette/Odile in Swanlake, Myrtha Queen of the Willis in Giselle and Katharina in Taming of the Shrew. She has been involved with many creations by choreographers such as Davide Bombanas (Der Prozess), Terence Kohlers (Misia Sert, Das Kleine Schwarze/ the Riot of Spring) and Reginaldo Oliveiras (Edith Frank in Anne Frank). After 6 years of working her way through the company Harriet is now a Principal Dancer."

Space is limited and bookings have to be made and classes paid for in advance.   The email address and phone number for further information appear on the poster above.  The Dancehouse is a short walk from Oxford Road station which is on the Leeds to Liverpool mainline.  There is an NCP multistory car park in Chester Street which is literally round the corner from the Dancehouse.  The car park offers a discount for daytime parking on Saturdays. There is usually plenty of free street parking on Saturday afternoons.  There is a bus stop outside the studios which is served by several routes. The nearest tram stop is at St Peter's Square which is a few minutes walk from the Dancehouse.

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.

Great Theatre where you Least Expect to Find It

Birdwell

Author Carol Rose

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Take 2 Performing Arts Academy, Barnum, The Academy Theatre, Birdwell, 13 May 2016

Just outside Barnsley lies the village of Birdwell.  I have lived over 30 years in the vicinity and have driven by Birdwell scores of time without knowing until a few hours ago that it has two great claims to fame. One of those is the obelisk erected in 1775 which appears in the photo. Imposing though it is the obelisk is essentially an outsize milestone marking three miles from Wentworth Castle. The village's other claim to fame is the Academy Theatre and Take 2 Performing Arts Academy. I should mention in passing that that Academy is not the village's only connection with theatrical education for Silvia Young, the founder of the well known London stage school is a native of the place.

Take 2 Performing Arts Academy aims:

• "To promote musical theatre and dramatic performance.
• To encourage creativity and develop confidence.
• To develop communication skills and movement co-ordination.
• To encourage fun, enjoyment and the thrill of working together."

To those ends it offers a range of dance classes including ballet, tap, modern and lyrical jazz and gymnastics as well as drama and musical theatre. On the site of the Academy is a fully equipped theatre with a very full play list.

I discovered the Academy Theatre and Take 2 yesterday evening as a guest of the parents of one of the pupils of the Academy who is playing a leading role in the musical Barnum which is running until this evening.  The show is based on the Broadway and West End musical on the life of the American showman, P T Bowman, the founder of the Barnum and Bailey Circus. It has many catchy numbers such as I Like Your Style and The Prince of Humbug and demands both virtuosity and versatility from the performers. Barnum, in particular, has to perform several circus tricks himself such as walking a (not-particularly) tight rope while singing a song and allowing himself to be swung round the stage with some velocity. It was all the more impressive on reflecting that several of those parts were played by school kids, several of whom are swotting for"A" levels and other public exams.

Yesterday's audience contained a lot of proud parents, siblings and other relations and they had much of which to be proud. The chorus sang and danced well. Their costumes, which ranged from a yellow cat suit to a multicoloured tutus, were colourful and striking. They were good performances from young Felix Yates who played the micro-general Thumb, Ffion Tandy as the beguiling Jenny Lind, Harry Steel who held the ring majestically, Ellie Cooper, a delightful Mrs Barnum, and Jacob Steers as Barnum himself. I was particularly impressed by Cooper who has a lovely voice and remarkable stage presence for one so young, Steel who can act, sing and dance with the best of them and, of course, Steers who had the most demanding role of all and performed it magnificently.

In a charming touch after the show, the entire cast lined up in the lobby to greet their audience. Such eager, excited, young faces. I know that at least one of those young players has his sights set on the Urdang Academy. If he performs in his auditions as well as he did last night he has as good a chance as most of a successful career on the stage and I wish him and all the young artists all the best in their studies.

There is only one thing that I would change in the show.  Many, though not all, members of the cast wore microphones which were visible from row D of the stalls. They should not have needed them but, if they did, they have to learn how to project their voices at some stage of their careers.  The Academy Theatre is not a massive auditorium and every actor's voice should have been clearly audible from the back row.

As I said before the show ends tonight. If you live in Barnsley, Rotherham, Sheffield, Wakefield or anywhere in the North of England within easy reach of the M1 there are worse ways of spending this Saturday night than at the Academy Theatre at Birdwell.

Serendipity

Horace Walpole

Artist Rosalba Carriere 

Source Wikipedia

Northern Ballet School, A Showcase of Dance, The Dancehouse, Manchester 14 July 2015, 19:30

The set text of the English language "O" level paper for the Oxford and Cambridge Board in July 1965 was on the origin of the noun serendipity. It was coined by Horace Walpole to describe the fortune of three princes of Serendip who "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of”. The word now means "fortunate happenstance" or "pleasant surprise".

A good example of serendipity occurred yesterday evening when I attended KNT Danceworks. I noticed that The Dancehouse  was busy. I asked what was going on and leaned that Northern Ballet School was presenting A Showcase of Dance in the theatre. My class ended at 19:39 so I scurried down to the box office for a ticket.  Save for the pas de trois of Le Cotsaire I think I caught the whole show.

As the programme states, Northern Ballet School in Manchester (not to be confused with Northern Ballet which started life and was based for many years in Manchester very close to where the School is now located) is "an internationally recognized centre of excellence in the training of dancers for classical and musical theatre careers". The School has a company called Manchester City Ballet in which students gain stage experience. Every year, the company stages a full length ballet.  Last year it was The Nutcracker which I reviewed in Alchemy 13 Dec 2014 and its next production will be Giselle between the 10 and 13 Dec 2015.  A Showcase of Dance displays the whole range of the School's activities starting with tutus and pointe shoes in one of Petipa's most popular ballets and ending with the razzmatazz of a West End musical.

The progranme started with Le Corsaire and I caught the pas de deux by Luca di Martino and Sayaka Sagimoto and the pas de six. These are difficult pieces and they were both executed well, This was followed by Earth Song, a contemporary piece on environmental damage and some distressing projections of deforestation and environmental destruction on stage. There was ballet again with Last Promenade to some great cello music which I could not recognize. Everybody recognized the music to Pandora's Box which was the Dance of the Knights from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. I was reminded of Milena Siderova's Full Moon for Bart Engelen of the Dutch National Ballet (see The Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's best Performance yet 8 March 2015) except this was a fight between Alexander Smith and some shadowy caped and hooded figures over a sinister looking box, It was impressively staged and very dramatic. Eye of Horus was also mysterious but much softer with haunting Middle Eastern music. A pretty duet by Carlos Oliviera and Peri La Riche to The Sound of Music followed. Then there was Bolero which was my favourite with the girls in gorgeous long dresses engaging almost flirtatiously with the audience. Finally there was The Night Shift featuring Carlotta Tocci and Daniela Pinto,

The second act began with cats - or rather dancers dressed as cats - scurrying from the top of the auditorium hissing and spitting at the audience on the way to the stage. I hissed back at two of them. That was The Jellicle Ball from Cats which was a fun piece. It was followed by more dancing from the shows - Too Darn Hot and Sweet Charity - and contemporary pieces like Sanctuary and Slum.  I was particularly impressed by the all male cast of Slum for their energy, It had more roars and grunts than the centre court of Wimbledon, Although this was A Showcase of Dance we had a song from Charlotte Russell who has a lovely voice though one which could have benefited from more projection to where I was sitting which was the top of the gods. She gave way to Come on Everybody which was 1959s rock n' roll with the boys in tight jeans and the girls in long flowing skirts. Finally there was Something Better Than This by Gabriela Brough, Alarna Morgan and Daniela Pinto and finally the whole company in Brass Band and a glorious finale.

There is an abundance of talent in this School and as a Mancunienne I was very proud of the young artists I saw yesterday. Until the second largest conurbation of the UK gets a resident world class ballet company back again this School carries the torch for dance in Manchester and it deserves to be supported. The show continues at The Dancehouse tonight and tomorrow and I strongly recommend it,

There's more to Harpenden than Thameslink

I've discovered that the easiest and cheapest way to London is to drive to Luton Parkway which takes just over two and a half hours from Dodworth (the "w" is not pronounced  by the locals and they glare at you if try to do so) where I join the M1. I park in the multistorey for £2.50 so long as I arrive after 17:00. Then I make my way into town by Thameslink which takes me to Farringdon that is close to the Wells and within walking distance of the House and Coli for £10 return. "Easy peasy lemon squeezy" as they say. So much more convenient than East Midlands Trains from Sheffield or Virgin from Donny.

Just past Parkway there is a station called Harpenden. For a long time I thought that was all there was to Harpenden but on Friday I learned that there is also The Harpenden Summer Dance School. Not only that but one of the teachers is Hfbrew (Helen Brewer) who tells me who is dancing in Ballet Theatre UK's performances. Without her help I could never review that company's shows because BTUK does not publish cast lists and the chap who sells the programmes never knows who is dancing.

According to its home page The Harpenden Summer Dance School "is primarily a week long dance course that takes place every August during the week prior to the Bank Holiday." Apparently it is suitable for keen dance students of all levels and its ethos is to provide top quality dance training during the summer break in a friendly and informal atmosphere. I have already said that Helen is, one of the teachers. The others are Mary Schon and Richard Reynard. All three have impressive credentials.  There are classes in ballet, jazz and musical theatre at junior, senior and advanced levels as well as coaching for the more advanced students.

Fees start at £12 for a single class with discounts for second and subsequent classes on the same day. A weekly pass costs £150 which is not bad for the Home Counties, the land of milk and honey, where everybody drives a Bentley and the average mortgage is bigger than the GDP of several UN member states.So if you are interested you can download the application form here. The school has a really pretty logo (or device marks as we sad old fossils call such things) and a t-shirt emblazoned with that design will set you back £12.

If you want to learn more about this course you can call Helen on 07818 448400 or send her an email.