Another Award - Terpsichore is now one of the Top 35 Ballet Blogs

I have just received the following lovely email:

Hi Jane Lambert,
Congratulations! I am pleased to inform you that your blog has been included in our Top 35 Ballet Blogs which can be found on our website.
My team has been in constant search for the best top dance blogs and during my own exploration I stumbled upon your site. Your blog contains a lot of interesting blog posts, I especially enjoyed the article about "Windrush" at the Peacock - "More than just art. It was an education."
I hope you will enjoy being included in the list, and the extra promotion this creates for your blog.
We have also created a special badge for you that you can post on your blog:
I would like to answer any questions you may have, or hear your feedback about the list. Please feel free to send me a message.
Keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Lisa Kok,
Junior Project Manager
cupondedescuento.com.co

I am particularly pleased that Lisa has singled out my review of Sharon Watson's masterpiece for commendation.  It is another opportunity for me to congratulate Sharon and her beautiful dancers, Christella Litras, Eleanor Bull and everyone involved in that work.

Michaela DePrince to return to London

Michaela DePrince in "A Million Kisses to my Skin"

Author Angela Sterling
(c) 2015 Dutch National Ballet, all rights reserved
Licensed with the kind permission of the company

Danceworks has just announced that Michaela DePrince will teach at its studios in London between 23 July and 3 Aug 2018.  According to the studio's press release:

"Michaela will be teaching our young dancers at the Danceworks Ballet Academy Summer Intensive, a two-week programme that offers young dancers from ages 6 up to pre-professional, the chance to be coached by leading ballet stars. Students will perform at the prestigious Lilian Baylis Studios, Sadler's Wells on the final day of the course."

She visited the studios in 2015 and 2016 and on each occasion Lesley Osman sent me some lovely photos of her with her students, including an account by one of them who showed a talent for journalism as well as dance (see Michaela's Masterclass 8 July 2015 and Michaela DePrince revisits Danceworks 7 Aug 2016).  If you or one of your offspring would like to attend one of Michaela DePrince's classes you should email balletschool@danceworks.com for further information.

I first heard about Michaela DePrince when she was still in America.  I was interested to learn that she was born in Sierra Leone because my late spouse and daughter manquée also came from that country.  When she joined the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet I attended its first performance at the Stadsshouwburg in Amsterdam.   In my review of that performance I described her as  "quite simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while" (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 25 Nov 2013).  Michaela led me to the Junior Company who in turn led me to the mighty Dutch National Ballet which has been a source of great pleasure for me.

If you want to meet Michaela but are too old for her class at Danceworks you might do so at the opening night gala of the 2018/2019 ballet season.  The evening consists of a performance followed by a party in the Stopera and it was at that party that I encountered her (see The best evening I have ever spent at the ballet  13 Sep 2015).   Now there is quite a crowd at that party and I can't guarantee that you will meet Michaela as I did but you would be very unlucky not to make the acquaintance of at least one or two members of that brilliant company. 

Tickets for the gala will be on sale from the beginning of June and they are usually snapped up like hot cakes.  If any of my readers from anywhere in the world would like to join me at the Stopera on opening night do let me know and maybe we can form a party. If there are enough of us we may even be able to get some discounts and so some other fun things like take a day trip to IJsselstein for an adult ballet class at the Jos Dolstra Dance Institute.

Another Goodbye

Author: Mtaylor848
Licence Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 international
Source Wikipedia

Another departing artist who will be greatly missed is Northern Ballet's first soloist Victoria Sibson (see Saying Farewell 3 May 2018)  .  Like Moira Shearer who was the subject of my Christmas Day appreciation in 2016, Sibson has the most beautiful hair and features that must be a choreographer's canvass.  I have never had the good fortune of meeting her. Now that she is about to go I don't suppose I ever shall. But if dancing is any indication of personality, I imagine she is full of fun and just lovely in every possible way.

The first time I noticed Sibson was when she poked her face through the curtain in Kenneth Tindall's Luminous Junc*ture which I reviewed in Angelic - Northern Ballet's Mixed Bill 9 June 2013. Although I can't remember her in any leading roles she has danced some very important ones.  I think her performance that impressed me most was as Bertha (the first Mrs Rochester) in the wedding scene in Cathy Marston's Jane Eyre in Richmond (see Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre: the best new Ballet from the Company in 20 Years  2 June 2016).

Sibson has glowed (and occasionally smouldered) in so many roles:  La Fée Magnifique in Beauty and the Beast, the mother in Las Hermanas, Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby and Ellen in Wuthering Heights to name a view. The last time I saw her was as Aunt Reed in Jane Eyre at Sheffield last month (see Jane Eyre Second Time Round 18 April 2018.

The notice announcing Sibson's departure does not mention where she is going or what she will do when she leaves the company but I wish her well in all that she sets out to do.  She has given me a lot of pleasure over the years for which I am very grateful.

Dreda Blow

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It is always sad to say goodbye to a dancer - especially a leading lady - but I for one will miss  Dreda Blow prticularly.  According to Northern Ballet's news item, Saying Farewell, she will dance with the company for the last time at the Lowry on 9 June 2018.

I have chosen a clip from Romeo and Juliet because it was the work in which I first appreciated her qualities.  In Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet - different but in a good way 8 March 2015 I wrote:

"I also saw another side of Dreda Blow. I had last seen her as Mina in Dracula in which I had admired her dancing but did not warm to her. .........  Casting Blow for the role was an inspiration. She was a perfect Juliet. Playful and feisty. Loving but conflicted. Brave but fearful. Blow is elevated to my pantheon of favourites."

I was of the same view when I saw her in that role a second time in Bradford 18 months later (see  Romeo and Juliet after the Shrew  18 Oct 2016).

Dreda Blow is a joy to watch.  She is of course a virtuoso but also so much more.  She has a lovely face with wonderfully expressive features.   Qualities that make her one of the finest dance actors that I know.  Some roles she has made her own.  I cannot imagine any other Jane Eyre but her.  When  I first saw her in that role in Richmond, I remarked:

"Hannah Bateman had tweeted that Blow was lovely in the title role and she was right. Blow is a fine dancer but I have never seen her dance better than she did tonight." (see Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre: the best new Ballet from the Company in 20 Years 2 June 2016)

I said very much the same when I saw her again in Sheffield last month (see Jane Eyre Second Time Round 18 April 2018). I have tried to think of the work in which I have liked her best,  The beautiful but vulnerable Bellino, perhaps, in Kenneth Tindall's Casanova perhaps or maybe her cheeky and playful role in Demis Volpi's Little Monsters (see Sapphire  15 March 2015).

The news bulletin does not say where she will go or what she will do after 9 June 2018 but I wish her all the best.  I thank her for all the pleasure she has given her audiences in her 11 or so years with the company.

PS   Dreda came to us from Amsterdam where she trained and began her career. Through the Junior Company I have made the acquaintance of several leading ballet teachers in the Netherlands. One of them added this lovely comment:
 
 

Manon in the Cinema

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Royal Ballet Manon 3 Nay 2018, 19:30  Royal Opera House (streamed to cinemas)

Although Manon is probably Sir Kenneth MacMillan's most popular ballet after Romeo and Juliet I have yet to see it live on stage.  I have seen a recording of it once before in the cinema (Manon Encore at the Huddersfield Odeon 20 Oct 2014).

I missed the ballet when it first appeared in 1974 because I was at graduate school in Los Angeles but the reports that I read in the British press to which my university subscribed were not particularly encouraging.  As Wikipedia reports:

"Critical responses to the opening night performance were mixed. The Guardian newspaper stated, "Basically, Manon is a slut and Des Grieux is a fool and they move in the most unsavoury company", while the Morning Star described the ballet as "an appalling waste of the lovely Antoinette Sibley, who is reduced to a nasty little diamond digger". The opening night audience gave the ballet a standing ovation."

I doubt that they would have put me off as I often find myself in disagreement with ballet critics.  I think it is more a question of inertia.  I don't live in London. My time and means are not unlimited. There has always been something I have wanted to see more. Right now, it is Liam Scarlett's Swan Lake.

I leaned a little bit about the ballet from Dame Antoinette Sibley in an interview that she gave to Clement Crisp at the Royal Ballet School in 2014 (see Le jour de gloire est arrive - Dame Antoinette Sibley with Clement Crisp at the Royal Ballet School 3 Feb 2014). Dame Antoinette produced a copy of the book by Abbé Prévost which Sir Kenneth had sent to her and she read from his note in the cover. Kevin O'Hare mentioned that story in an interview that he gave to Ore Oduba and Darcey Bussell before the show. The libretto does not follow the novel exactly but it is close enough in essentials.

MacMillan created some striking choreography for this ballet.  Vadim Muntagirov who danced Des Grieux referred to lifting the ballerina behind his back. Particularly memorable, in my view, was a pas de trois  in the first act in which Sarah Lamb (as Manon) appeared to be contorted into positions from which I feared she would never recover. More contortions in the party scene at which Manon's brother, Ryoichi Hirano,  who is very drunk, attempts to dance with his mistress.

One of the advantages of watching ballet in the cinema are the closeups of the dancers' facial expressions.  For the first time I appreciated Lamb's genius as an actor.  She expressed every emotion, every state of mind, almost every thought through her eyes.  The character that she dances is not a nice woman.  Greedy, capricious and deceitful, she richly deserves her comeuppance, yet she somehow wins the audience's sympathy. What greater proof could there be of her dramatic qualities.

Tall, slender, athletic, dreamy, passionate and at times explosive, Muntagirov is exactly as I would imagine Des Grieux. Also impressive were Gary Avis as the louche aristocrat who first makes and then breaks Manon, destroys her brother and disgraces her brother and Yorkshire's very own Thomas Whitehead as Manon's thuggish and lascivious gaoler.

Anyone who has seen his Romeo and Juliet will agree that MacMillan does fights better than almost any other choreographer.  There is one good sword fight in Manon in the second act but the knife fight in which Des Grieux dispatches the gaoler is particularly exciting.

The sets and costumes were designed by Ncholas Georgiadis who also designed the sets and costumes for Romeo and Juliet.  I am sure that on the stage they must have been magnificent but except for vines of the mangrove swamp in the very last scene they were barely visible which is a pity.

I doubt that Manon will ever be my favourite ballet but I have resolved to see it live next time it is staged which I did not do after the last screening of this work.

St Andrews University Dance Club's 50th Anniversary Gala

St Salvator's College, St Andrews 30 April 2018

© 2018 Jane Elizabeth Lambert
All rights reserved

St Andrews University Dance Club 50th Anniversary gala 30 April 2018, 19:30 Byre Theatre, St Andrews

I wrote about how the St Andrews Dance Society was formed in Ballet at University 27 Feb 2017. Last Monday I attended the 50th anniversary gala at the Byre although I think the celebration is slightly premature as I did not go up to university until October 1968.  I think we set up Dance Soc in 1970 or 1969 at the earliest. I say that because our first outing was to see Scottish Theatre Ballet perform Peter Darrell's Beauty and the Beast  at the King's Theatre in Edinburgh and that was not staged until 1969 according to the Peter Darrell Trust.

Never mind! It was still a long time ago and the 50th anniversary (more or less) provides a good excuse for a celebration. And what a celebration it was with a programme comprising nearly 30 different pieces in dance styles ranging from ballet to Highland fusion.  When Sally Marshall (our founding chair) and I were about to graduate we discussed the future of the Society. "Oh it'll just pack up after we leave" suggested Sally.  Sadly I had to agree. Well it didn't. Congratulations to the present members and all the other generations of students for keeping the Club and dance alive in St Andrews over all those years.

The Byre Theatre

© 2018 Jane Elizabeth Lambert
All rights reserved

The Byre Theatre was packed to the gunwales.  Many of those present were students but by no means all.  There was at least one contemporary of mine in the audience who is now a distinguished Scottish lawyer. Although I don't think she was ever a member of the Dance Society she certainly remembered it.  She has seen a lot of dance over the years and her opinion counts. When we met for drinks in the interval we were both greatly impressed by the quality of the work that we had seen so far.  We were unable to compare notes at the end because we lost each other in the crush but my admiration grew right up to the last piece.

On entering the auditorium the stage was lit with a soft purple glow.  Purple and gold appear to be the colours of the Club because many members of the audience wore purple tee-shirts and hoodies with the words "Dance Club 50th Anniversary" in gold characters. About an hour before the show I met several students wearing those garments in South Street on the way to the theatre. I introduced myself to Katie who now does the job I used to do as Club Secretary. "Oh are you Jane?" she asked.  I was flattered to find that at least somebody in my alma mater reads Terppsichore.  Not only that but I was acknowledged by the Club president at the start of the show and thanked for helping to set up the Club.

I admired all the works.  I have no particular favourites.   I commend all the choreographers, dancers, set and costume designers and makers, lighting designers and other technical and support staff equally. However, a review has to be selective and in singling out particular pieces I intend no slight to those I do not mention.

I was very impressed by the pointe work in Jessica Linde's Nouvelle Liberté which she described as "choreographed predominately in the Balanchine style of ballet." In the programme notes she explains that Balanchine had brought an angularity and looseness to ballet allowing his dancers to be more expressive. I had always thought of Balanchine as being a pretty strict and demanding choreographer but after considering some of his early works such as Serenade I think I know exactly what Jessica means and I agree with her.  I should add that I loved all the ballets and, in particular. Ailsa Robertson's setting of Colour of Love to the Bollywood film song Gerua.  It was an ingenious juxtaposition of two art very different art forms that worked brilliantly.  I also cheered and shouted "Brave!" for Catherine Mitzen's Sospiri by the beginners' class.  That was my class when I was at St Andrews though I never reached the high standard I saw on Monday night.  I was hoping to rejoin that class briefly on Sunday for the first time in nearly 50 years but time constraints made it impossible. However, I did get a class at Ballet West which I mentioned in Visiting Taynuilt 3 May 2018.

One genre of dancing that was new to me was Highland fusion  I loved the choice of music and the multicoloured costumes in Holly Alexander's From Here On.  When I was at St Andrews Highland dancing was largely the preserve of the Celtic Society and the OTC and performed to bagpipes. It has moved on. Holly wrote in the programme notes:

"Highland dancing s no longer just about old tradition. It is no longer about sticking to strict rules and regulations. It is no longer just about the sole dancer competing alone. It is no longer solely danced in Scotland. Highland dancing is now about modernizing old traditions."

Holly's was the furthest departure from my perception of  Highland dancing but all the pieces in that genre were innovative and interesting.

Dance is now a competitive sport and the University dance team, the Blue Angels, have distinguished themselves at the Loughborough University Dance Competition before Steven McRae. Members of the team presented different genres all of which I enjoyed tremendously, Stuart McQuarrie's Minions impressed me with its wit, Clair Davison's Mamba with its sense of fun and Charmaine Hillier's The Tide Can Hold You Out with its polish.

All the jazz, tap and contemporary pieces were danced with energy and passion, the Irish with precision and the theatre and lyrical with flair. In the finale wave after wave of members came on stage. They were magnificent.  I am so proud of them.

Visiting Taynuilt

Ballet West's Grounds

© 2018 Jane Elizabeth Lambert: all rights reserved 

In my very first blog post I wrote:

"I was intrigued to receive a mailing for a performance of "The Nutcracker by Ballet West". Now I had heard of a company by the name of Ballet West in the United States which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year but if that company ever came to the United Kingdom I would have expected it to tour major cities rather than towns in the Highlands of just over 2,500 souls. It occurred to me that there might be a company from the West Country which is where Scottish Ballet originated, I googled "ballet, west, uk" and was surprised but delighted to find a company and school in Taynuilt. Delighted because where could be more idyllic to study dance than by the banks of a real lake (or more properly loch) which might even host the occasional swan?"

I attended that performance and enjoyed it so much that I returned to Scotland the following and each subsequent year to see other shows by that company. Over the years I have made the acquaintance of the school's principal Gillian Barton, her children Jonathan and Sara-Maria, the choreographer Daniel Job and teachers, alumni and students of the school.

When I was in Greenock to see Giselle and the Rossini Cocktail earlier this year I told Gillian Barton that I would be in the area at the end of April.  The reason for my visit was to see Scottish Ballet's Highland Fling in Oban on 29 April and the St Andrews University Dance Club gala on the 30. Gillian invited me to call in to Ichrachan House on the way which invitation I readily accepted.

When I first made contact with the St Andrews Dance Club just over a year ago I asked whether I could attend one of their classes 50 years on.  I was told that I would be most welcome.  I checked the Dance Club's Facebook page and found that there was a beginners' ballet class between 16:00 and 17:00 on Sundays.  As St Andrews is only 120 miles from Oban I thought there would be ample time to dash along the A85 and arrive in time for Scottish Ballet's Highland Fling at 19:30. When I checked it out on Google maps I found that the journey would take at least 3 ½ hours with expected traffic and roadworks delays. Sadly, I had to abandon that idea and I tweeted my disappointment.

Gillian Barton picked up my message and invited me to one of her classes.  Even though I am old and slow and fat with no real aptitude for ballet, her invitation was irresistible.  I had often thought of attending one of Ballet West's outreach classes when next in the area (see Taynuilt - where better to create ballet? 31 Aug 2016).  I had even asked about private lessons because the leading contributor to BalletcoForum who has also attended my over 55 class in Leeds makes regular visits for that purpose. However, I had never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever attend class with exceptionally talented students who were training for the stage. It would be like meeting Roger Federer on the tennis court. I consulted Fiona Noonan, the teacher who had led me back to ballet after a break of 45 years, and my good friend, Mel Wong, who know my limitations.  "Go for it and enjoy it" they replied as if in chorus adding their personal tips on how to survive.

I very nearly fluffed the opportunity.

The hotel that I had chosen because it seemed to be the closest to Ichrachan House turned out to be worse than Fawlty Towers, The description on Booking.com was idyllic. The rate of £65 for a twin (I had intended to travel with a companion and had made double bookings for everything) seemed reasonable enough. When I arrived after driving from Ecclefechan I found the place deserted.  There was a sign stating that check in was between 16:00 and 18:00 with a mobile number to ring for arrivals outside those hours.  "Not to worry" I thought "I'll take tea at the Robin's Nest." When I arrived at the nest I found that the redbreast had flown that day.  The tea shop normally opens on Sunday but not that particular day.  "Roosting perhaps with my landlady" I thought.

Loch Etive

© 2018 Jane Elizabeth Lambert
All rights reserved

I drove down to the pier and to my relief and joy I found that Loch Etive and its majestic, surrounding hills were still there. Indeed, there was even a swan on the loch.

I returned from the pier and found my landlady who was lovely. She was also interested in dance and thinking of attending Highland Fling.  I told her the story and the story of La Sylphide from which it was derived. I thought I had encouraged her though she did not like the idea of cutting off wings with garden shears.

As I mentioned in Scottish Ballet's "Highland Fling" in Gurn and Effie Land 2 May 2018 I skipped supper to attend Scottish Ballet's pre-performance talk and I had skipped lunch in anticipation of Oban's legendary fish and chips. By the time the post-performance talk was over all the purveyors of that delicacy were closing and I did not fancy a curry or chow mein the night before a ballet class. Breakfast at MacFawlty's did not begin before 08:00 which was when I was supposed to be at the barre.  Pangs of hunger, heavy lorries on the Oban road, strange groans from the bathroom fan and the failure of the radiator to take the chill off the air kept me awake all night  The result was that I was half comatose when I should had had my wits about me on Monday morning.

Worse.   My landlady had directed me along a road that ran parallel to the road I should have taken and Google maps seemed to back her up.  Then Google maps led me a merrier dance than any ballet teacher could have done.  I eventually found the entrance to Ballet West a few hundred yards from my hotel with the result that a journey that should have taken a few minutes actually took more than half an hour.  Instead of arriving at the studio 15 minutes before time which I had always been taught to do, I arrived right in the middle of glissés.

The class was taken by Jonathan Barton who had danced the lead roles brilliantly in The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet.  Graciously he admitted me to his class despite my tardiness.  The students welcomed me with smiles. I recognized some of them from Rossini Cocktail which I had reviewed in Fizzing! Ballet West's Rossini Cocktail 6 Feb 2018.

I rattled through the warm up exercises facing the barre that Karen had taught me.  I rather prefer Jane's warm up of running round the studio, suddenly changing direction on a sixpence, skipping facing in, skipping facing out, jumping jacks and stretches but obviously that was not possible on that occasion. I followed it up with my own pliés and side bends in 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th, tendus with foot flexes and glissés before joining the class exercises.

The class was unlike any that I had ever attended before.  First, it lasted two hours although 30 minutes was pointe work which I did not do. With the benefit of hindsight I could have participated in a lot of that on demi but I never thought to ask.  Secondly, it was much faster than any class that I had ever attended before. Normally, in adult ballet classes there are breaks in exercises from stage right and stage left but on Monday the pianist kept playing and we kept dancing.  Thirdly, the instructions were more complex than anything I am usually asked to do.  I don't think that we were asked to do anything that I had not been taught at some point or other though there was plenty that I had never mastered.  Fourthly, there was not much actual teaching though I did learn a lot as I will explain blow. The experience was very like the company classes that I had seen in Amsterdam, Leeds and Oxford. Jonathan was more like a ballet master putting his cast through their paces than an adult ballet teacher.

I learned a lot by observing the regular students.  For instance, between barre exercises they stood in 5th with their arms in bras bas and their faces inclined towards the centre.  "I can at least do that" I thought.  In fact, they may have taught me something much more valuable and that is to concentrate on the instructions and get on with the exercise in hand. Miraculously, despite my lack of sleep I woke up in class. I forgot my hunger, The aches and pains that usually start after 40 minutes didn't bother me. I normally want to rest on the barre. Nobody did that on Monday so neither did I. The result was that I attempted everything.  Even the exercises where I did not have a clue winning a round of applause for trying at one point.

Of course, I also learned a lot from Jonathan. In particular, never look at yourself in the mirror when trying to dance. As he put it: "You can watch a performance or you can do a performance but not both at the same time." This is a very bad habit that I had acquired and it will not be easy to break but if I can crack it I am sure it will improve my dancing.  Jonathan is an inspiring teacher.  In a grand jeté en tournant exercise he pointed to the surrounding hills urging us to "soar like the mountains".  Even I cleared a few inches with that exhortation ringing in my ears.

I have had two lessons since Monday.  One with Karen Sant in Manchester on my way back from St Andrews and the other with Jane Tucker in Leeds on Wednesday. I doubt if my dancing can have improved much from just one class but my mental attitude and self-confidence certainly have.  I emerged from both classes much happier than usual feeling as though I had achieved something.

After the class Jonathan invited me to watch him coach Joseph Wright and Uyu Hiramoto for the grand pas de deux in Paquita.   I had seen both of them in Giselle earlier this year and they both impressed me.  Particularly Uyu.  In Ballet West Amplified 11 Feb 2018 I wrote:

"The last scene was enchanting. Mist (dry ice) wafted across the stage. Lights flashed. Myrtha (Uyu Hiromoto) glided onto the stage. She was as regal last night as she had been the week before. I have been a fan for some time and yesterday I had the chance to meet her. It is as hard to pick stars in dance as it is winners at Aintree but occasionally a student or member of the corps seems to stand out from his or her peers. Xander and Demelza Parish did so at the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School gala in York on 31 Dec 2007 (see "Review: A Summer Gala of Dance and Song, Grand Opera House, York"31 July 2007 The Press) . So, too, Michaela DePrice did in Amsterdam in 2013 (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 25 Nov 2013). I saw the same signs in Hiromoto yesterday. Now I could be wrong but I was right about the Parishes (especially Xander) and I was right about DePrince though she was already in the Junior Company and on her way to great things when I first saw her."

Grounds of Ballet West

© 2018 Jane Elizabeth Lambert
All rights reserved

I also saw a contemporary class after that session.

As I wanted to spend some time at my alma mater, my visit to Ballet West was necessarily brief. I did not see any of the students' quarters or dining or recreation facilities so I won't attempt to discuss the learning experience or compare it to other ballet schools.  All I will say is that the surroundings are magnificent and the teaching staff that I have met - Gillian, Jonathan and Sara-Maria Barton, Daniel Job, Natasha Watson inter alios - have impressed me greatly. Students and alimni have brought back an impressive haul of medals and trophies from the Genée and other competitions (see the Student Achievement page of the Ballet West website) so Ballet West appears to be doing something right.  They have also trained some of my favourite young dancers such as Isaac Peter Bowry and Sarah Mortimer.

However, none of them are in the Royal Ballet or other great  national companies so I asked Gillian Barton why not.  Actually I already knew the answer because a very similar situation exists in my profession.  The bench contains a disproportionate number of judges because they are recruited from the best chambers and the best chambers tend to recruit from the Russell Group and particulalry Oxbridge because any vacancy can be filled many times over with good candidates from those law schools. That is not to say that there are not even better candidates from the other universities but they are harder and require more resources to find.  If you can fill a vacancy immediately with excellent candidates from the Royal Ballet School (and possibly a handful of other schools) there is very little incentive to spend time and money looking further. Rather unfair perhaps but perfectly understandable. There are ways round the problem.  Ballet West has set up its own touring company which will provide some opportunities for its alumni and it is developing ever closer links with the big companies but these are  long term projects that will take time to achieve.

As Ballet West is already training an adult ballet student I asked Gillian Barton whether she would be prepared to train any more of us to which she replied that she would.   I asked about costings and she replied that she charged £600 for a week's summer school which includes accommodation.  She could probably do the same for adults or less if they found their own accommodation and transport.  I asked about content to which she replied that she would give us anything that we needed - repertoire, technique - anything.  I suggested talks on putting ballet in a cultural and historical context. She said that Daniel Job is an authority on dance history and theory. I also asked about day courses to bone up on something awkward as pirouettes and other turns are for me.  She said that she could do that for £40 per hour.

Argyll is breathtakingly beautiful and if I could learn some ballet there I would be in 7th heaven.  If anyone would like to join me on an adult ballet residential course, do let me know.