A Treat For Us Old Ladies

In my post on Northern Ballet's open day on the 15 Feb 2014 I wrote how I had intended to spend an hour at Quarry Hill out of loyalty for Northern Ballet as a Friend of the Company but ended up spending the whole day there rooted to my seat watching a succession of brilliant teachers pass on their art to the students of the Northern Ballet Academy. One of those teachers was Cara O'Shea and I wrote:

"She is another wonderful teacher and again I could see that the kids were devoted to her. I would have loved to have been taught by her."

Well little did I suspect that less than 2 weeks after writing those words I would actually be taught by Cara.

Our usual teacher, Annemarie Donoghue, was unable to teach us today so Cara took us instead.  We were a large class with several new students at least one of whom I recognized from the taster class at the open day. We warmed up in the usual way walking, exercising our arms, skipping and jogging and finding our posture. There were some slight differences in the barre exercises but generally they followed very much the same pattern as Annemarie's class.

However we did learn some new things of which perhaps the most important was to imagine a story for each exercise and to act that story rather than just perform the exercise. Cara told us that she gets the kids to do that and a typical story is "I am imagining throwing a rotten tomato at my brother." Poor brother! However, the technique really worked for me. Having seen Ballet Black yesterday I visualized myself as Titania approaching Bottom in Arthur Pita's A Dream within a Midsummer Night's Dream. I concentrated on that instead of worrying about whether I was properly stacked and, you know what, I was able to balance when I lifted my back foot inro the air without even thinking about it.

We picked up lots of other useful tips such as imagining holding a mirror when doing the port de bras so that we would look into our hands as our arms unfurl and we had some real fun with the jumps though I must confess that I got a bit muddled  at that point.  The hour passed far too quickly and we left to the changing room chattering and giggling like teenagers.

I was very tempted to bunk off class today. really struggled to come in this morning. I had a really hard day in London before I went to Covent Garden with a meeting at Middlesex University and a drive into Central London to pick up a heavy banker's box of papers from chambers as well as helping some of the juniors in our IP team. I then went to see Ballet Black which was of course uplifting but anything but relaxing. A quick supper with my former ward who is the nearest I have to a daughter at the Masala Zone  And then the long trek North through umpteen roadworks and speed restrictons on the M1, howling gales and driving rain. I was utterly zonked by the time I made it back at 03:45 this morning.

But I am so glad I forced myself to make that effort.

After the class I texted a friend with a daughter in Cara's class at The Academy. She told me that her daughter adores Cara to which I replied "so did we." The years simply rolled away. We old ladies were young, energetic and happy today.

Extra Special - Ballet Black at the Linbury 26 Feb 2014

Salvador Dali - danced by Christopher
Renfern in Arthur Pita's "Dream within
A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Source Wikipedia

I have already said that Ballet Black are special (see "Why Ballet Black Is special" 20 May 2013 and "Ballet Black is still special" 7 Nov 2013). Well yesterday at the Linbury they were extra special.  They presented three new works:

• Limbo by Martin Lawrence
• Two of a Kind by Christopher Marney, and
• A Dream within Midsummer Night's Dream by Arthur Pita.

Each of those works was exquisite and drew out a different quality in the company: Limbo its virtuosity, Two of a Kind its fluency and elegance and A Dream within Midsummer Night's Dream its theatricality and sense of fun. I had listed the company's performances at Bernie Grant and the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre as highlights of last year (see Anniversary Post 25 Feb 2014). Last night's performance was even better than those shows.

Writing in the programme Lawrence explained that Limbo is "a speculative idea about the afterlife of a human being dying in 'original sin' without being assigned to the hell of the damned." He explained that this work was "not a narrative but a deep feeling of striving for one's life ... surviving it or leaving this world for another.

Dedicating this work to the memory of his late grandmother, Annie Lawrence, the choreographer added:

"The notion of death and whether there is life after death played a big part in the process of making this piece. When someone is dying you do not want them to go. You hope that they will be around forever."

And then he speculated

"If someone is in Limbo can they also be brought back to life?"

With costumes designed by Rebecca Hayes and lighting by David Plater the dancers,  Jose Alves, Jacob Wye and Cira Robinson, gave the impression of flickering embers. Obviously it was not intended to be comfortable to watch. Similarly Hindemith's Sonata for Solo Voila (1922) Op 25 No 1 was not supposed to be easy to listen to.  The interaction between the dancers was combative.  Each of them was grim faced. But the choreography gave each dancer an opportunity to display his or her virtuosity. Altogether, a very moving and compelling work.

The mood of Two of a Kind was very different. In place of combat there was love. Flowing and lyrical this work was a joy to watch. At various points I was reminded of War Letters by the same choreographer that I loved so much last year.  This recollection was bolstered by the costumes that had been designed by Yukiko Tsukamoto - simple almost military uniforms for the men (Damien Johnson and Christopher Renfurn) and gorgeous full skirted dresses in vivid fabrics for the women (Kanika Carr and Sayaka Ichikawa). Combining Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence String Sextet in D minor and Adagio cantabile e con moto in D major with Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess Chris Marney chose a delightful score. Having been scoured emotionally by the first work we were soothed by the balm of the second.  As the curtain fell the audience departed for the bar happy and chattering.

There must be something about Midsummer Night's Dream that brings out the best in a choreographer. Something special happened in Leeds on the 14 Sept 2013 ("Realizing Another Dream" 15 Sept 2013) and something of the same kind happened in The Linbury last night.

The ballet starts with three couples - Titania and Oberon (Robinson and Johnson), Demetrius and Helena (Alves and Ichikawa) and Lysander and Hermia (Wye and Carr) - dancing to Handel. The women are in classical tutus Titania and Obseron wearing blue sashes to show their status with a crown for Titania. Suddenly the music changes to Malambo and everyone is in dappled light. In comes Puck (Isabela Coracy) dressed as a boy scout scattering star dust first on the dancers and then on the first 4 rows of the audience including me. Coracy's casting as Puck was a surprise and a delight.  A surprise because she is a powerful athletic dancer (see "Ballet Black's New Dancers" 24 Sept 2013). To see Coracy as a talented character artist was something as a revelation.

Although Pita had written in the programme that his ballet was not at all faithful to Shakspeare he seemed to follow the story far more closely than Nixon did in his Dream.  Spells are cast over the lovers, Titania and Bottom and there is a charming pas de deux of Robinson and Alves with ass's ears to the sound of Streisland's Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered.  The only bit of the ballet that I could not quite fathom was the role of Salvador Dali danced by Renfurn. Nevertheless if Nixon can have the Flying Scotsman in his ballet Pita was at least as entitled to have Dali in his.  After a downpour in a tropical rain forest and a variety of songs the score reverted to Handel and the first scene resumed.

Visual designs were by Jean-Marc Puissant and sound designs by Andrew Holdsworth and Frank Moon. Lighting was provided again by David Plater.  If anyone wants an impression of the ballet John Ross has exhibited some lovely photos on his website.

The entire season at the Linbury has been sold out for some time but Ballet Black are taking this new programme on tour (see "Ballet Black's Tour" 22 Fb 2014).  If you live anywhere near Cambridge, Guildford, Exeter, Southport or Nottingham you really should see them.

Further Reading

17 Feb 2015  "Ballet Black's Best Performance Yet" - a review of the 2015 mixed bill
10 Feb 2015  John  Ross Ballet Black: triple bill, London, February 2015 BalletcoForum
7 Nov 2014  "Ballet Black at Home in Leeds"
12 Oct 2014  "Woof"
17 Sept 2014 "My T-shirt says it all"
3 July 2914 "Best Ever - Ballet Black at the Nottingham Playhouse"
9 March 2014 "David Lister's Post on Ballet Black"
23 May 2014 "What could be more thrilling than a Ride on a Roller Coaster? A performance by Ballet Black!"
7 March 2014 David Lister "Ballet Black is a wonderful company. But it's a shame on the arts that it still exists" Independent Voices
2 March 2014   Luke Jennings  "Ballet Black review – old-school charm, new-age wit" Guardian
27 Feb 2014  Zoe Anderson  "Ballet Black, A Dream Within a Midsummer Night's Dream, dance review" Independent

Anniversary Post

I started this blog a year ago today with a review of Ballet West's performance of The Nutcracker in Pitlochry. That was one of the highlights of the year and I am looking forward to returning to Pitlochry on Saturday for their Swan Lake. Last August I spent a very pleasant afternoon in Taynuilt on the way to Oban to catch the ferry to Mull (see "Taynuilt - where better to create ballet?" 31 Aug 2013). No wonder one of the students at the ballet school attached to the company won a medal in the Genée.

Here are some of the other highlights in no particular order:

1.  Dutch National Ballet Junior Company

I was in the Staddshouwburg in Amsterdam on the 24 Nov 2013 when Ernst Meisner's amazing young dancers began their tour of the Netherlands. I had come to the Netherlands to see Michaela DePrince. She was magnificent with Sho Yamade in the pas de deux from Diana and Actaeon. But in the same performance I saw the others and they were all as beautiful. It was a wonderful night. The crowd went wild. Every single member of the audience rose to his or her feet. One of the very few occasions in my life that has happened.  The Junior Company are coming to the Linbury on 28 and 29 May 2014. If tickets are still available - go!

2.  MurleyDance

Much the same thing happened a week later. I had come to Leeds to see Sarah Kundi who is one of my favourite dancers. On a particularly terrible day in May I drew solace from watching her dance "Dépouillement". But then I saw all the other wonderful dancers of MurleyDance.  I can't wait to see them all again in their Spring tour.




3.  Ballet Black

I was so sad when Kundi left Ballet Black. I had loved her performances in "Dopamine (you make my levels go silly)" and Chris Marney's "War Letters" when I saw the company at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham.  But just look whom Ballet Black have recruited now!

I shall see Isabela Coracy together with all my other favourites, including Cira Robinson, Sayaka Ichikawa, Damien Johnson and Joseph Alves, at the Linbury tomorrow (see "Ballet Black's Tour" 22 Feb 2014). Yippee!

4.    Scottish Ballet  Hansel and Gretel

Scottish Ballet was my first love  (see "Scottish Ballet" 20 Dec 2013).  It is still one of my favourite companies.  Christopher Hampson's Hansel and Gretel which I saw in Glasgow just before Christmas was outstanding (see "Scottish Ballet's Hansel and Gretel" 23 Dec 2013).  Hampson reworked the story masterfully involving the public in the process with writing competitions, forest tours and many other events.   I first got to know the company when Peter Darrell was its artistic director and Elaine McDonald was his ballerina. I am looking forward to seeing Scottish Ballet again in Romeo and Juliet in May.

5.   Antoinette Sibley

There were great ballerinas in the early 1970s when I first took an interest in ballet - Fracci, Seymour and, of course, Foteyn. But my favourite was (and remains) Antoinette Sibley. I saw Dame Antoinette at the Royal Ballet School in conversation with Clement Crisp earlier this month (see "Le jour de gloire est arrive - Dame Antoinette Sibley with Clement Crisp at the Royal Ballet School" 3 Feb 2014).  Here is a clip of the great ballerina in Manon.

6.   Gala for Ghana

That same afternoon, thanks to the good people of BallertcoForum, I got to get a ticket to see Edward Watson, Lauren Cuthbertson and other great dancers at the Royal College of Music in a  Gala for Ghana. That evening I saw the wonderful Elena Glurdjidze dance The Dying Swan thus fulfilling a lifelong ambition that had been sparked by my mother's account of Pavolva to see a modern ballerina perform it on the stage. Glurdjidze is another dancer whom I greatly admire. There were many other memorable performances that evening including Ashton's Rhapsody pas de deux by Yuhui Choe and Valentino Zucchetti, Volver, Volver by Watson, Avant La Haine by Camille Bracher and Thomas Whitehead but the work that stands out in my memory is Requiem Pie Jesu by Lauren Cuthbertson.

7.    Northern Ballet, Midsummer Night's Dream

Something remarkable happened at West Yorkshire Playhouse on 14 Sept 2013 when Yorkshire Ballet danced David Nixon's Midsummer Night's Dream (see "Realizing Another Dream" 15 Sept 2013). This was one of only three occasions that I have witnessed a standing ovation  in the ballet. Somehow the chemistry was right. A lovely, intimate theatre.  An inspired cast who gave that little bit extra. A receptive crowd.

8.  Northern Ballet's Open Day

I had not intended to stay long at Northern Ballet's open day on the 15 Feb 2014 but I sat transfixed by a succession of the Academy wonderful teachers: Yoko Ichino, Cara O'Shea, Chris Hinton-Lewis and my own teacher, Annemarie Donoghue. I learned more about ballet in one afternoon from watching them than from reading a shelf of books or a week of performances.  A few weeks earlier Dame Antoinette had spoken fondly about Tamara Karsavina who had been her teacher.  Watching Yoko Ichino lovingly pass on her skills and knowledge to the young dancers of the Academy reminded me of Dame Antoinette's words. I love the Academy. I was already a Friend of the Company but today I have become a Friend of the Academy as well.

9.   Birmingham Royal Ballet, Prince of the Pagodas

I was so excited about the first performance in the UK of the Prince of the Pagodas at The Lowry on the 30 Jan 2014 that I had to write the review that very night. Great choreography, great sets, great score and great dancing  (see "Lear with a Happy Ending - Birmingham Royal Ballet's Prince of the Pagodas 30 Jan 2014" 31 Jan 2014). The Birmingham Royal Ballet brought two other great works to Salford - Aladdin on 28 Feb 2013 and The Sleeping Beauty on the 29 Sept 2014 - but Pagodas was my favourite.

10.  Royal Ballet. Giselle

The Royal Ballet is the gold standard and Giselle is in the repertoire of all the world's great companies. I have seen many of the world's finest ballerinas dance Giselle - Fracci, Sibley, Fonteyn and now Osipova. I have also seen many great Albrechts including Nureyev at the height of his career but I don't think I have ever seen anyone dance the role better than Carlos Acosta on the 18 Jan 2014 (see "Giselle - Royal Ballet 18 Jan 2014"  20 Jan 2014).

Chelmsford Ballet's Nutcracker - Not Long Now!

I have already mentioned the Chelmsford Ballet's Nutcracker which opens at the Civic Theatre on the 19 March 2014 ("The Chelmsford Ballet" 15 Dec 2014). Well now I have some casting news.

Richard Bermange will dance the cavalier. Since graduating from Central School of Ballet, Bermange has worked with English National Ballet, K-Ballet, Tokyo, Tivoli Ballet, Copenhagen, Peter Schaufuss Ballet and The National Ballet of Ireland. He has danced many solo and principal roles in Napoli, Cinderella After the Ball, Romeo and Juliet, Schehezarade, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker and choreographed Virus for the Cloud Dance Festival in 2011.

Michael Budd will dance King Mouse. He is an Essex lad who studied at The Royal Ballet School. Budd has danced with many leading companies including Matthew Bourne, the Vienna Festival Ballet where he was a principal and the English National Ballet at the Royal Albert Hall.

Emma Lister of the National Ballet of Ireland will dance The Sugar Plum Fairy.  Born in Canada and trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Lister has danced ballet in the round in the Royal Albert Hall with the English National Ballet as well as more exotic locations such as Alaska, Bermuda - and now Chelmsford.

The opening performance on the 19 March 2014 will be in aid of PARC Essex. According to its website

"PARC exists to provide support to families who have a child or children with any type of additional need from a very early stage. We have a range of children on our books including those with speech and language difficulties, autistic spectrum, epilepsy and those with physical and learning difficulties."

There will be a collection on the day so if you are coming - and as a proud associate non-dancing member of the company I certainly shall be  - do dig deep.  PARC seems a very worthwhile cause.

Tours en l'air - a Really Useful Resource

The CN Tower Toronto   Source Wikipedia

Tours en L'air is a specialist travel service based in Toronto which us one of my favourite cities in North America. According to its website:

"Tours en l'air organizes ballet-themed escorted holidays to see the best companies perform great ballets in beautiful places."

It is run by a lady who describes herself as "a highly knowledgeable balletomane" (I can attest to that) who has enjoyed hundreds of performances in over 20 cities around the world.  She speaks English, French, and German, and is a Travel Industry Council of Ontario certified Travel Counsellor. She teaches ballet appreciation and arranges group ballet outings in Toronto. Email:toursenlair@gmail.com Twitter: @thewordlady.

There are two reasons for consulting this website.  First and most obviously to take a tour somewhere or if you are in or near Toronto at the right time a ballet appreciation course or outing.  The other reason is that it contains lots of useful information such as a pretty comprehensive spreadsheet of forthcoming and recent performances in "What's on in Ballet" to "Travel Tips for Ballet Lovers" with titbits about hotels and other local information including links to other resources.

I have often contemplated taking one of the tours to Russia and other places advertised from time to time in About the House but I have always been deterred either by the cost or time constraints. I see a lot of ballet as you can tell from the Reviews page of my blog. I do a lot of travelling for work (mainly in the UK but sometimes abroad) and I take at least one or two weeks holiday a year when I try to pack in as much theatre as possible. In the past I have made my own arrangements which was time consuming (particularly in the days before the internet) and although I do not buy from touts or even concierges I am pretty sure that I have paid over the odds. So it is good to know of a service that makes all the arrangements and perhaps even supplies travelling companions with whom one can discuss a show as theatre going has been a solitary exercise since the death of my spouse.

Although many of the tours are in North America (which is exactly where I would want to go because that is where many of my favourite companies are to be found) it also arranges trips here including one for Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet with day trips to Blenheim and the Cotswolds. In big red letters the site promises

"You can join in from anywhere in the world."

So one day I will take a tour en l'air and I shall let you know how I get on.

Ballet Black's Tour

Linbury Theatre  Source Wikipedia

Ballet Black are on the move again with new works by Christopher Marney, Martin Lawrence and Arthur Pita. They are at the Linbury between the 25 Feb and the 4 March 2014. Then they go to Cambridge, Guidford, Southport, Exeter and Nottingham. Their performances at the Linbury have been sold out for some time but you can still catch them at the other venues and they are well worth any journey. I shall be in the Linbury on 26 Feb 2014 and in Southport on 22 May. I just can't see enough of Ballet Black.

Last year I saw them at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in May (see
"Why Ballet Black Is special" 20 May 2013) and the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds ("Ballet Black is still special" 7 Nov 2013). They now have recruited  two exciting new dancers, including Isabela Coracy from Brazil who is already one of my favourites (see "Ballet Black's New Dancers" 24 Sep 2013) joining Cira Robinson, Sayaka Ichikawa, Damien Johnson and Joseph Alves on my list of very special dancers.

Although I admire Ballet Black for its work I also admire the company's founder and artistic director, Cassa Pancho, for her vision. On 6 Oct 2013 she wrote a very thoughtful article on the company's Facebook page which I discussed in "Ballet Black: 'we don't talk about stuff, we just do it'." Through their performances in all parts of the UK and beyond (they have just returned from a very successful tour of Bermuda) and through their school Pancho and Ballet Black have accomplished some wonderful things.

No Excuses! If the Dancers in Big Ballet can do it so can I

St George's Hall, Bradford       Source Wikipedia

I was very suspicious of Channel4's Big Ballet for many reasons. First, I am not a fan of reality TV. I have never watched an episode of "Big Brother". I have watched the odd episode of "The Apprentice" but I get very cross at the bitchiness particularly when members of the losing team turn on each other. I have tried to watch "Dragons' Den" but am infuriated at the arrogance of the investors. The second reason I was suspicious is that I live in Yorkshire and I have seen far too many shows that take the mickey out of my county. I also dance for fun even though I am the wrong shape and size and have not the slightest natural aptitude.  The idea of gathering a bunch of plus size dancers to dance Swan Lake  struck me as the modern equivalent of watching the lunatics at Bedlam.

Nevertheless, I did watch highlights of the show on Channel4oD and was pleasantly surprised. Now this was not great ballet. The choreography was very simple. There was just one lift and nobody danced on pointe but it was not a shambles either. Far from it. When one considers the time available for training and rehearsal the dancers and their teachers, Wayne Sleep and Monica Loughman, did very well indeed.  Indeed, I drew some inspiration from them for myself. Until I saw the video I had blamed my wobbliness in arabesque and my very unsteady pirouettes on being the wrong shape and size but lo and behold folk who are even less well proportioned than me were getting arabesques and pirouettes right before my very eyes.  So I have no excuses.  I must just work harder.

The ballet was performed in St George's Hall in Bradford which is really a concert hall. I have seen opera there but never ballet.  That usually takes place at The Alhambra a few hundred yards away. The Halle and other visiting orchestras perform there and when they appear they seem very tightly packed together. How the dancers managed to move on a stage of that size beats me. If only for that they deserve a medal.

The story of Swan Lake was tweaked a little. Scene 1 was set in a New York art gallery in the 1920s which was fine except that I could not quite see the advantage of that setting since all the other scenes seemed to follow the story. There were some very clever adaptations of the music - the cygnets for example was used in part of the dance of Siegfried and Odile to underscore their intimacy as I think Sleep said in the preceding programme. I also liked the divertissements - particularly the Neapolitan dance - different choreography from when Sleep used to dance it but still good to watch.  All the artists did well but I particularly liked the men, AJ who danced Siegfried and Raj who was Rothbart.

The programme received a lot of help from Northern Ballet.  The dancers rehearsed in Quarry Hill, the music was provided by the Northern Ballet Sinfornia and David Nixon was in the audience. That is one of the good things about Northern Ballet. They cultivate excellence like every other company but they bring ballet to everyone: not just to elderly hippopotamuses like me but also to folk who have far greater challenges to overcome than simply being the wrong age, shape and size and bereft of any obvious talent.  When everything is taken into account I am very proud of my beloved Northern Ballet for facilitating this project and even more proud of my fellow Yorkshire folk who danced before a live audience and cameras on very little training. It has motivated me to work that much harder when Northern Ballet Academy reopens after its half term break.

Post Script
21 Feb 2013  Northern Ballet has just published s press release on its contribution to the series entitled  "The door is always open with Northern Ballet Big Ballet may have seen their last curtain call but the stage door is always open with Northern Ballet".

Related Articles
7 Sep 2013 "Adult Ballet Classes" on adult ballet classes throughout the UK
12 Sep 2013 "Realizing a Dream" on Northern Ballet  Academy's over 55 class
6 Dec 2013 "It's an Ill Wind - Review of Northern Ballet's Beginner's Class"
12 Feb 2014 "Migrating Swans - Dance Classes for the Over 50s in the North"
18 Feb 2014 "Northern Ballet Open Day" on the Academy and its teachers in acton

And for a little bit of background on Monica Loughman see "Ballet in Ireland" 8 Feb 2014