KNT's Beginners' Adult Ballet Intensive - Swan Lake: Day 3

Marius Petipa

Source Wikipedia

Well it's over. We did our show. We have all had a stab at dancing four of the best known dances from Swan Lake. I feel a massive sense of achievement merely to have taken part in all the classes and rehearsals and the final performance even though I am conscious that much of the choreography was well beyond my physical strength and skill. I am enormously grateful to Jane Tucker for teaching this course and to Karen Sant for organizing it. I am also grateful to all my teachers for conducting me to the point where I could contemplate a workshop of this kind. Finally, I want to say a big thank you to all the other participants for making me feel so welcome notwithstanding my antiquity, awkwardness and lack of talent.

Our day started with warm up exercises on our pilates mats. Depressingly they included some that I could do perfectly well just a couple of years ago which were now quite beyond me. Sit-ups from a flat on the back position, for example. I could only achieve that by enormous exertion which was clearly not a good idea so I raised myself as much as I could and sank back with somewhat greater alacrity than anybody else. The exercise that I found particularly useful was for the feet. Just over a year ago my right foot started to give me trouble to the extent that I can no longer rise on it on demi. Jane showed is how to flex and stretch the toes. That really helped with some of the barre work later.

I felt very much at home in Jane's class for it started just like every class at Northern Ballet with a walk, skip and run. We did tendus at the barre, followed by pliés in second, first, fifth and fourth, then more tendus. glissés, ronds de jambe, cloches, grands battements and stretches. In the centre we did a port de bras, pirouettes of various kinds, chaînés and all types of jumps. A bit more difficult than the Over 55 improvers at Northern Ballet perhaps but still doable.

The last hour before lunch and the first hour after lunch were taken up with rehearsals. We did the Hungarian dance, Siegfried's solo, cygnets and the swans' entry.  There were sequences of each dance that I never mastered but the prince's dance was by far the most difficult for me.  It required assemblés, tours en l'air (which I had never tried before) and multiple pirouette turns which I have never managed in class. The swans' dance was the most satisfying to learn and execute.

The last event of the day was our show. We had been asked to bring white leotards, flesh coloured tights and a black skirt. I had ordered mine from Just Ballet in Essex. Those garments took their time to arrive because the rain had smudged the address. The Royal Mail in its wisdom had sent the package to Harrogate rather than Holmfirth. Happily I picked them up on the morning of the show. This was the first time I had worn ballet tights and I found them difficult to put on in the confined space of the ladies' shower cubicle. Nevertheless, I managed somehow.

As often happens the excitement of performing raised everybody's game - even mine - but it was over so quickly. I savoured every single second of the show.  Karen and Jane clapped us generously.  Jane asked us whether our expectations had been met. "Oh indeed they had" we replied. "They had been exceeded." Jane commended the progress that we had made in the three days of the workshop.

So was this workshop worth £200 and three days off work. Emphatically yes! I think the real benefit will be a heightened appreciation and understanding of the ballet when we next see Swan Lake on stage. In my case that will be Birmingham Royal Ballet's at Sadler's Wells. I shall be looking out for the changements and échappés of the cygnets and I will say to myself "I did that". I will share the pride of the noble Magyars in the Hungarian dance. My heart will leap with each of Siegried's tours en l'air. And I know what it is like to be a swan under a magician's spell. This experience will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Swan Lads - Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, Bradford Alhambra 4 March 2014

The swans in Matthew Bourne's 2005 Tour     Source Wikipedia

Last night I saw Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at the Bradford Alhambra. It was great entertainment: gripping drama, humour, spectacular choreography and powerful dancing. It is easy to see why this production won so many awards and ran and ran on Broadway and in the West End. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

When I reviewed Bourne's Sleeping Beauty on 6 April 2013 I asked "Why can't I be nicer to Matthew Bourne?" Well, this time I think I can. That does not mean to say that I don't have reservations about his work.  As I said last year:

"I have mixed feelings about Matthew Bourne. He has won so many awards. His ballets are dramatic. His choreography spectacular. I have seen Cinderella and Nutcracker as well as Sleeping Beauty. Two of those performances were at the Alhambra and the third was at the Wells. On each occasion the crowd went wild. And the crowd is part of the ballet. And yet...... The trouble is that one can sometimes be too clever by half and Matthew Bourne is very, very clever. He knows how to raise a laugh from the audience with the puppet baby Aurora. And then to make them shiver as she climbs the curtain. Brilliant! But is it ballet?"

Bourne's Swan Lake was even less like conventional ballet than his Sleeping Beauty with no tutus (except in a spoof romantic ballet with monsters and an axe-wielding maiden), hardly any (if any) dancing on pointe and no great ballerina roles but if ballet can be defined as dance drama there was plenty of that.

For those who have not yet seen the work there is a good synopsis in Wikipedia.  The fairy tale about a handsome prince falling in love with a princess under the spell of a wicked magician is jettisoned.  In its place is inserted a study of an insecure and unstable individual who is heir to his country's throne but cannot quite live up to the responsibilities for which he is being groomed. He is briefly distracted by a brassy, flashy blonde who makes a thorough nuisance of herself in the royal box during the performance of the absurd ballet and later snubs him when he shows up in his underwear in the Swank (Swan + K get it?) bar. His mother, the queen, (a Volumnia type who places public duty before everything including her son) denies him any signs of affection.  Haunted by nightmares of menacing swans who first show him love and then molest him he eventually flips.  He produces a pistol, shoots at everybody in sight, is committed to a secure hospital where he receives something like convulsive electric shock treatment and after more nightmare images of molesting swans he eventually dies. With its corgi on wheels it was the best propaganda for republicanism since the days of Cromwell. It is perhaps no coincidence that the ballet was first staged in 1995 just a few years after so called annus horibilis.

According to a notice board in the foyer of the theatre, the prince was danced by Liam Mower, the swan by Chris Trenfield, the queen by Saranne Curtin and the brassy flashy blonde by Anjali Mehra. I am not sure how accurate that was because the photos in the programme seem a little different from the faces I saw on stage (albeit from a distance and some height) and there was no cast list but whoever danced those roles last night did an excellent job. Growing up as I did in Molesey by the Thames I have no illusions about swans. Nasty hissing brutes that chased small dogs and indeed small boys they had far more in common with Matthew Bourne's boys in feathery breeches than with the sweet teenage girls of Ballet West last Saturday (see "Swan Loch - Ballet West's Swan Lake, Pitlochry 1 March 2014" 3 March 2014) or even Wayne Sleep's in his Big Ballet (see  "No Excuses! If the Dancers in Big Ballet can do it so can I" 21 Feb 2014).

There were two other stars of this ballet, Lez Brotherston who designed the sets and costumed. I was amazed how he transformed the prince's bed into a balcony from where the prince and queen acknowledged the cheers of the adoring crowds. Gently teasing the Bradford audience he dressed the brassy, flashy blonde in a pink dress that was very similar to several outfits that I spotted in the theatre bar. Clearly the blonde was cast as a "Brat-ford" lass. It is no wonder that she raised a massive cheer when she took her bow. The other star creative was Rick Fisher who arranged the lighting. The enormous shadows of the clinicians in the hospital and the swans in the last two scenes were striking and frightening.

There was so much in this ballet that I liked - the way Bourne reworked some of the familiar old tunes like the music to the 32 fouettés and the divertissements, the kiss that the prince gave to a bag lady who had come to feed the swans as the curtain fell on Act II - I am so glad I can be nicer to Matthew Bourne. He deserves some praise.

Migrating Swans - Dance Classes for the Over 50s in the North

Whooper swans which migrate from Northern Europe Source Wikipedia

I mentioned Scottish Ballet's outreach programme for senior citizens in "Scotland" on the 6 Nov 2013. The programme came to the attention Emma Ailes of the BBC who published the video and article "'Silver Swans' taking to the barre later in life for ballet lessons". The name "Silver Swans" seems to have stuck and there is now a similar programme in the North of England.

According to the RAD Silver Swan workshops offer a specially designed morning programme for the mature dancer. They includes "a gentle ballet class alongside the opportunity to socialise with other like-minded people, as well as providing the chance to experience another dance genre". They are aimed at the over 50s who either already enjoy ballet and want to improve and develop their interest in dance or for those wanting to start dancing again after a break. The classes can also accommodate complete beginners for whom this may be their first experience of dance. These workshops take place at

• St Peters Community Centre in Haslingden, 
• Richmond Dance Centre and 
• Heatherlea Dance Studio in Glossop. 

Further information can be obtained from Louise Wilkie  of the RAD.

Northern Ballet already runs wonderful beginners and intermediate classes for the Over 55s in Leeds which I reviewed in "Realizing a Dream" on the 12 Sept 2013. Prospective students can attend a taster class as well as many other events at Northern Ballet's Open House at Quarry Hill on the 15 Feb 2014.

I have written a little bit more about adult ballet (including a clip of the class that I attend) in "Adult Ballet Classes" on 7 Sept 2013. Reviews of all the classes that I have attended are indexed at "Adult Ballet Class Reviews".

You can get some good tips from the Doing Dance section of the BalletcoForum website, particularly the "Simply Adult Ballet" and the "So, You Want to Learn to Dance? - but....uh...I'm an adult...." threads. Some of the contributors are dance teachers from all parts of the world.  One from San Diego California is particularly  helpful.

Blogs on learning ballet as an adult that I enjoy are

• Adult Beginner a young mum in Los Angeles with an infectious sense of humour;
• Dave Tries Ballet  a young man who started ballet as a graduate student in the USA a few years ago who progressed to the point that he can now appear on the same stage as Elena Glurdjudze and Arionel Vargas; and
• Pointe till you Drop a lady from Helsinki called Johanna who has also made a lot of progress.

I am sure you will find your own favourites.

Post Script

I emailed Ms. Wilkie for further information just before I went to sleep and I have just received the following reply from her together with an application form and flyer which is impressive in itself.  Here is the material part of her reply:

"Royal Academy of Dance Silver Swans events are specially designed mornings including two classes for the over 50’s led by RAD teachers taking place in March 2014. For some, these mornings will be an opportunity to try out dance for the very first time. Others in attendance may have danced in the past and want to rekindle their interest. For those who have previously experienced ballet and want to further their interest, the workshop includes a second class in which participants will be introduced to another dance genre for example tap or jazz.
Recently featured on BBC News, these classes are aimed at the mature dancer and include gentle ballet and non-ballet classes that will get your whole body moving to music. The workshops, which include both classes, costs £10 to attend and take place at the below venues.

Venues;
Tuesday 4 March
Manchester Road Methodist Church, Haslingden
Ballet & Jazz (teacher Charlotte Omerod)

Saturday 8 March
Richmond Dance Centre, North Yorkshire
Ballet & Jazz (teacher Maureen Mundell)

Wednesday 26 March
Heatherlea Dance Studio, Glossop
Ballet & Tap (teacher Joanne Craven)

Timetable
10.00-11.00 Ballet class
11.00-11.30 Cakes and coffee
11.30-12.30 Non-ballet class

Anyone over 50 who is either new to dance or is keen to re-join, or wishes develop an existing interest can attend. The mornings all include the essential social aspect where participants can meet new like-minded people, enjoy refreshments and hopefully make plans to get ‘back to the barre’ at the next available dance class or RAD event."

I have inserted a link to the locations on Google maps

I think this is a wonderful initiative. The scheme in Scotland which I mentioned above seems to have worked very well. I shall certainly try to participate though the timings and locations are inconvenient. The nearest centre to me is Glossop but I work very long hours and I already do ballercise and core on Wednesday afternoons and ballet on Wednesday evenings at Huddersfield University (see "Team Hud Adult Ballet Class" 22 Jan 2014 and "For those who may be interested ........" 25 Jan 2014).  I have to remind myself that I am a barrister not a ballet dancer.  The Saturday class would be ideal but Richmond Dance Centre is nearly 80 miles from my home and and between 90 minutes and 2 hours drive away. 

Nevertheless. I will try to find a way and will report back here as to what happens.

Scotland

I'm going to Pitlochry this weekend to see The Steamie. It was at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre where I first saw Ballet West (see "Ballet West's: 'The Nutcracker'" 25 Feb 2013) and it is good to know that one of Ballet West's students - Genée medallist Natasha Watson - has joined Scottish Ballet and will be dancing in Christopher Hampson's Hansel & Gretel shortly.  I shall follow her career with interest and wish her well.   

The company that she is joining is one that I have followed even before it was Scottish.  It moved to Glasgow shortly after I moved to St Andrews.   I played a small role in bringing it to St Andrews for the first St Andrews Arts Festival.  It performed the day that decimal currency was introduced. How do I remember that? I was on the Festival's organizing committee and did the sums.  It was at Scottish Theatre Ballet that I learned to appreciate ballet - even tempting me to take my first lessons.

Scottish Ballet is one of the partners of Get Scotland Dancing, a project to encourage more people to get active and participate in dance.  As part of the Genée legacy there will be "Get Dancin' Week" between the 19 and 26 January when free dance lessons will be offered to those who have never danced or who last danced a long time ago. Like Northern Ballet and Rambert Scottish Ballet holds classes for those of us who won't see 21 again. Those classes were featured by the BBC in "Silver Swans' taking to the barre later in life for ballet lessons" 18 Oct 2013.

That influence of that video has already spread far beyond Scotland.  A class of seniors in Barnsley who have been inspired by the Silver Swans is looking for a teacher.   I am sure there must be more all around the UK.