Celebrating our wonderful pianist

In Realizing a Dream 12 Sept 2013 I described my first ballet class with Northern Ballet Academy. It was a very special day and one of the reasons why it was special was that we had an excellent pianist. Pianists are special as I explained in The Miracle that's wrought by tickling the Ivories of the Old Joanna 27 Jan 2016.

I wrote:

"Because last week's class at KNT was so good (see So what was so great about it exactly?" 20 Jan 2016) I feared tonight's would be something of an anticlimax. In fact it was even better and one of the reasons why it was even better is that we had a pianist. There are some lovely recordings for ballet classes on the market but there is nothing like a live pianist especially when he or she plays something from a well loved ballet. I remember being transfixed by strains of Mendelssohn's Dream from the next door studio at Quarry Hill and fighting back tears as memories of Sibley and Dowell flooded back.
Although we have pianists for most of our classes at Northern Ballet we are taught to honour them. We curtsy to them in the reverence. One instructor, Elizabeth Rae, taught us to curtsy with our hands over our hearts. "You've always got to show respect to the maestro" she explained. A classmate who had studied at one of the best ballet schools in London corroborated her. "They have real power" she warned. She told me a story about a pianist from her student days,

"If you got on the right side of the pianist he would play 'I feel pretty' for your turn. If you upset him he would serve up 'Nellie the Elephant'".

Consequently, I always make a point of thanking the pianist as well as the instructor though I would probably do that anyway."

The pianist at my first ballet class with Northern Ballet Academy was Ms. Alena Panasenka who appears in the YouTube video above. Alena has composed the short work that you can hear in the film called Truth. She has entered Truth in a competition to win a Clavinova digital piano. Now there are some lovely pieces in this competition and I wish I could vote for all of them but my favourite by a country mile is Truth. If you agree with me you can vote for that work here.

I wish all the competitors well in their musical careers and an in particular, our wonderful pianist, Alena Panasenka.

More Photos of Mata Hari

Mata Hari's vision of the god Shiva danced by Young Gyu Choi

Photo Marc Haegeman
Copyright 2016  Dutch National Ballet All rights reserved

The Dutch National Ballet's Mata Hari ended its run on Friday to rave reviews including one from me (Brandsen's Masterpiece 14 Feb 2016). Here are some more photos of  that the company has kindly allowed me to reproduce. In each instance Mata Hari is danced by Anna Tsygankova.

Mata Hari as a young woman in Frisia

Photo Marc Haegeman
Copyright 2016  Dutch National Ballet All rights reserved

Mata Hari and her husband danced by Casey Herd 

Photo Marc Haegeman

Copyright 2016  Dutch National Ballet All rights reserved

Mata Hari on station in the Dutch East Indies (Modern Indonesia)

Photo Marc Haegeman

Copyright 2016  Dutch National Ballet All rights reserved

More photos tomorrow folks.

5

Clara Superfine

Photo: Michel Schnater

Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet, all rights reserved

Reproduction licensed by the company

Another lovely photo of the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's performance of Ballet Bubbles at the Meervaart Theatre in Amsterdam on 14 Feb 2016 (see my review Ballet Bubbles 16 Feb 2016). This shows the young American dancer, Clara Superfine, in David Dawson's 5.

More pictures over the next few days.

Arts Council of Wales grants to Dance in Wales

The Arts Council of Wales has published its portfolio allocations for 2015-2016 and recommendations for 2016-2017 and has some good news for Ballet Cymru.  The company's grant will increase to £193,842 for the current year and an extra £50,000 is recommended for the year after. The National Dance Company of Wales will get £835,209 this year and £805,977 next year.

Ballet Cymru will start a nationwide tour with Little Red Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs on 20 May 2016 (see Tour Dates). It will also take Romeo a Juliet (which I reviewed in They're not from Chigwell - they're from a small Welsh Town called Newport 14 May 2013) to Portsmouth, Llanelli and Stevenage.

The company is also doing great educational and outreach work with ballet and body conditioning classes in Newport between 18:00 and 19:30 on Mondays.  Next time I find myself in Swyddfa Batent I shall bring my shoes and leotard with me.

The Hungarian National Ballet's Sleeping Beauty

Budapest Opera House

Photo PDXdjSource WikipediaCreative Commons Licence

On 17 April 2016 the Hungarian National Ballet will present Sir Peter Wright's production of The Sleeping Beauty at the Budapest Opera House. As patron of the London Ballet Circle, Sir Peter has invited members of the Circle to attend the opening night.

According to Wikipedia the company was established in 1884 with the opening of the Budapest Opera House which seems to be a magnificent auditorium.  The theatre has an excellent internet radio station called Operadio Budapest to which I am listening right now.

I regret to say that I do not yet know much about the company. The only dancer I know is Ryosuke Morimoto who has recently joined the corps de ballet. The reason I know him is that he was a member of the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company last year. I included him in my feature on the Junior Company (see Meet Ryosuke Morimoto of the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company 3 Dec  2014). I had the pleasure of meeting him briefly at a reception that followed the Junior Company's performance at the Stadsshouwburg on the 6 Feb 2015 and found him to be a very personable young man as well as a fine dancer. I am delighted that he has landed a job with the Hungarian National Ballet.

The company's artistic director and ballet master appears to be Tamás Solymosi The Étoile of the 2015-2016 season is Lili Felméry. a soloist with the company. That lady seems to have studied at a lot of ballet schools including the Royal Ballet School between 2008 and 2009. Her latest role is  in Manon. There are four women principals in the company (Alexandra Kozmér, Tatiana Melnik,  Aleszja Popova and Aliya Tanykpayeva) and five men (Máté Bakó, József Cserta, Gergely Leblanc, Zoltán Oláh and Dmitry Timofeev). 

In staging the Sleeping Beauty Sir Peter has been assisted by Dennis Bonner  and Miyako Yoshida from the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Sets and costumes have been designed by Philip Prowse. The cast has not been announced but the orchestra will be conducted by István Dénes.

Members of the Circle who want to attend are expected to make their own way to Budapest. Tickets for the show can be booked online. The top price is 25,000 florints (about £62.50 at current rates of exchange) and there are plenty of cheaper seats. The low cost airline Wizzair flies several times a day from Luton. Yhe K & K Opera Hotel which is a few yards from the opera house charges £190 for a 2 night stay, 

Anna Tsygankova as Mata Hari

Anna Tsygankova in Ted Brandsen's Mata Hari

Photo Marc Haegeman
Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet, all rights reserved

Reproduction licensed by the company

In Brandsen's Masterpiece 14 Feb 2016 in which I reviewed Ted Brandsen's Mata Hari I described Anna Tsygankova's portrayal of the life of the tragic adventurer and dancer, Margaretha Geertruida "Margreet" MacLeod, as compelling and observed that "it is not often that one sees theatre like that in any medium" I added that I thought the sounds and images of that performance would remain with me for the rest of my life.

Here is just one of those images.  It shows the heroine advancing towards her place of execution on pointe. I believe that is significant.   According to the British reporter, Henry Wales, who witnessed her death, Mata Hari showed remarkable courage and dignity as she approached the firing squad (see "The Execution of Mata Hari, 1917," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2005)). She was not bound and refused a blindfold.  The courage and dignity of the historical character is reflected in the choreography.

The Dutch National Ballet have sent me several other photos from that production which I shall make available over the next few days. But I will start with this one because it is the most compelling.

Fuse

Belle Beasley with Thomas van Damme and Antonio Martinez in Fuse

Photo Michel Schnater
Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet
All rights reserved

Reproduction licensed by the company

Another great photo from the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's matinee performance at the Meervaart Theatre on 14 Feb 2016 which I reviewed in Ballet Bubbles on 16 Feb 2016. This photo shows Belle Beasley with Thomas van Damme and Antonio Martinez Cegarra in Charlotte Edmonds's Fuse.

Two other bits of news about the Junior Company.

Tomorrow they will perform Fresas ("Strawberries"), a new ballet by Juanjo Arques on Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights in 's-Hertogenbosch which was the artist's home town.

The above triptych hangs in the Prado in the choreographer's capital city. A neat link between the Netherlands and Spain.

The other news is that it Bart Engelen's birthday. Bart wowed the Linbury last year with his solo performance of Full Moon (see Junior Company in London - even more polished but as fresh and exuberant as ever 7 June 2015).

Bart is now with the Norwegian National Ballet.  I am sure I speak for everyone who saw him in London in wishing him a happy birthday and continued success in his career.