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One of the most interesting press releases to have emanated from Northern Ballet recently was the announcement of the appointment of Kenneth Tindall as artistic director digital and choreographer in residence (see Northern Ballet appoints Kenneth Tindall to Artistic Staff 31 May 2018). Many congratulations to Kenneth!  It could not have happened to a nicer fellow. And congratulations also to Northern Ballet.  A very savvy decision.  I am sure that Kenneth will do an excellent job.

Kenneth is, of course, very well established.  Two young dancers who are beginning to rise in their careers are Thomas van Damme and Yuanyuan Zhang of the Dutch National Ballet. Thomas and Yuanyuan have their own YouTube channel called "The Ballet Couple".  I first wrote about them last September in The Ballet Couple. Since then, Yuanyuan has been promoted to grand sujet and Thomas from élève to the corps. 

Every week they offer some tips about dancing.  Last Friday, for instance they discussed the ideal age to take up and the time to retire from ballet.  On when to start ballet they said that it is possible to begin at any age unless you want to dance professionally. For adult ballet students - particularly for those of us who have taken it up or resumed it very late in life - that is very encouraging. But it is also good to know that you don't have to start too early even if you want to go on stage.

As for when to retire Thomas and Yuanyuan said that it is very much a personal matter and they discussed some of the factors that dancers consider. When I asked Yuanyuan about her long term ambitions five years ago she said that she said her immediate aim was to get into the main but company but in the future she could see herself as a ballet master.

In other clips Yuanyuan talks about pointe shoes and there is a lovely film on the opening night gala.

However, it is not all about ballet.

On Tuesday for example they suggested using a pint class as a loud speaker. It does work Thomas.  It's the same principle as a megaphone. I am a bit more dubious about hanging a second hanger from the aluminium ring pull of a drinks can. I can think up all sorts of problems like collapsing wardrobe rails and scrunched up clothes. Probably cheaper and easier to buy Probably cheaper and easier to get another wardrobe or at least a clothes rail from Ikea. I preferred the previous film about an elegant way of opening a packet of corn chips and I guess it would also work for crisps.

There are also some charming videos about celebrating a national holiday, food that dancers really eat, opening a package of Chinese goodies and a really soppy one "Yes together until we die."

Ballet Cymru's Cinderella Second Time Round

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Ballet Cymru Cinderella Waterside Arts Centre, Sale 2 June 2018, 19:30

I expected great things from Wales's national ballet company (see Ballet Cymru 2018 Summer Tour 21 April 2018). I was not disappointed. Cinderella is the best work in Ballet Cymru's repertoire and their Cinderella is (in my humble, northern, rustic opinion) pretty well the best anywhere. But then what do I know? After all, I have only seen Ashton's, Bintley's, Bourne's, Gable's, Hampson's, Nixon's, Ratmansky's, Wheeldon's and probably one or two others that I have forgotten. While I love nearly all those other works, Darius James and Amy Doughty's is the one I love best.

There are four reasons why I love James and Doughty's version so much. The first is that it is very pure.  The libretto sticks closely to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's story which is actually quite short and very tight. So, too, is the ballet.  As I noted in Ballet Cymru's Cinderella 15 June 2015:

"This is a very tight production that adapts well to touring with ingenious costume and stage design and lighting. It is dramatic and poignant in parts but also witty. It is exactly the right length. It tells the story in full but does not drag for a second. It makes maximum use of the company's small but very talented troupe of dancers."

That brings me on to the second reason why that ballet is so good which is that James and Doughty give every character his or her moment in the spotlight. Let me give just one example.  In the first act Cas (Cinderella's stepbrother) spins Seren (her stepsister) spectacularly around the stage. Those names lead me to the fourth point. The ballet is very Welsh by which I mean that it is free of frippery and frivolity like a Calvinist chapel but, like the singing that might emanate from such chapel, emotionally very strong.  And most Welsh of all (the fourth reason why I love this ballet) is Jack White's simple, moving, beautiful score.

There have been a few changes to the production since 2015. The company relies heavily on its lighting design to set the scene and there seem to have been some new projections. There seem to be fewer voice overs from the Grimms' text. The ballet opens with the words:

"Dear child, remain pious and good, and then our dear God will always protect you, and I will look down on you from heaven and be near you."

But I can't remember any others which is a shame because I think they were useful cues for the audience in the performance that I saw in Lincoln. I think there may have been some minor changes to the libretto. I remember a chair in which Cinderella's mother died which seems to have disappeared but I do not remember a bike for Prince Madoc or his chum Maldwyn which seems to have added this time.

The biggest change of all, of course, is in the dancers who have joined the company.  Beth Meadway was an enchanting Cinders. Before the show I noted on Facebook that she comes from Hull, the city of Xander Parish and Kevin O'Hare. Xander picked it up and reacted with a "like". Well, all I can say is that they would both have been proud of their fellow codhead.  Another dancer who impressed Gita, in particular, was Eka Mastrangelo. Gita, who has studied Indian dance as well as ballet, noticed how Eka moved. "She must have studied Bharatanatyam" remarked Gita during the interval.  And so it transpired when we met the cast briefly after the show. Eka also confirmed that she worked with her eyes which help to tell the story in Indian dance. Gita also had a fair old chinwag with Alex Hallas who comes from Baildon near Bradford, another city that has produced more top class dancers.  I congratulated Isobel Holland who doubled as Cinderella's dying mum and the bird that looked after her and Maria Teresa Brunello who danced Seren.

It was good also to see again the dancers we already knew: Robbie Moorcroft who danced Prince Madoc, Miguel Fernandes who danced Maldwyn and Dan Morrison who danced Cinderella's father.

Much as I love this ballet there is one aspect that saddens me deeply.  The last time I saw it was a  rehearsal of the second act that the company performed in its studio for the members of the London Ballet Circle (see Ballet Cymru at Home 5 Oct 2015).  Maldwyn was danced by Mandev Sokhi who died a few days later.  Mandev was a beautiful dancer. What was particularly poignant last night is that he had connections with Cheshire. He certainly trained there - possibly at the Hammond.  In Remembering Mandev Sokhi 27 Nov 2015 I wrote:

"Mandev will be remembered tonight far beyond Newport and indeed well beyond Wales for he danced wth Ballet Cymru in every part of the United Kingdom."

I suggested two practical ways of remembering him one of which was to attend an even that has now passed. The other is still available and that is to become a Friend of the company.  Ballet Cymru is a national treasure not just of Wales but of the whole United Kingdom and we owe it to ourselves to help it grow and flourish.

If you you live in Northwest England and missed the show last night you can still catch it tonight in Preston, Otherwise you will have to travel.  But like a restaurant in the Guide Rouge with three rosettes, this show is well worth the journey.

Class Review - Ballet North Halifax

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Ballet North, Charlotte Ingleson, The Dance Mil, Halifax, Thursday 31 May 2018 19:00 - 20:00 £8.00

As several of the dancers who turned up to the first class of Powerhouse Ballet last week train at Ballet North with Charlotte Ingleson every Thursday, Amelia Sierevogel and I paid them a visit last week.

Charlotte teaches at The Dance Mill in Whiterose Mill on Holdsworth Road in Halifax which is nearly 4 miles from the town centre.  That is no problem for those who come by car because there is a large visitors' car park just across the road from the mill but I am told that it is not so easy to reach by public transport.   Having said that, Google maps states that the 526 bus leaves Halifax bus station at 18:30 and arrives at the mill at 18:44 on Thursdays.

From what I could see, the Dance Mill is palatial.  There are several studios all with barres and well spring floors.  It has spacious changing facilities with showers as well as lavatories. A long corridor is lined with comfortable chairs and I spotted at least one common area at the entrance.

Charlotte's credentials are impressive.  She trained at English National Ballet School winning all sorts of awards and accolades and has performed important roles with major companies.  She has a very pleasant manner and sense of humour in class but she is also very thorough.  We packed a lot of exercises into 60 minutes.

After warming up we progressed through pliés, tendus and glissés fairly briskly.  She combined tendus with glissés with piqués and plenty of rises, retirés and turns at the barre.  We then proceeded through ronds de jambe, grands battements, fondus and développés before finishing with stretches  The centre exercises built on what we had practised at the barre with a delightful adagio followed by an allegro ending with turns.

Charlotte has her own way of preparing for pirouettes which seemed to work for me better than most despite my problems of coordination and remaining on demi long enough to complete a turn. We practised pirouettes from first to fourth.  Charlotte has a very similar exercise to Jane Tucker's chassé and three sets of pirouettes which worked better than in Huddersfield where I lost my balance and landed unceremoniously on the floor. We spent the last few minutes with warm up jumps - simple sautés in 1st and 2nd, changements and échappés and finished with some joyous grands jetés and pas de chat.

The class ended with a very thorough cool down.

The other members of the class were pleasant and welcoming. In addition to those I had met at Huddersfield there was a regular from Jane Tucker's class in Leeds who has expressed interest in Powerhouse Ballet.

Amelia and I compared notes on the drive back to Huddersfield. We were both impressed with Charlotte and we thoroughly enjoyed the class. I for one will certainly be back though perhaps not every week as I hope to resume regular Thursday classes in Leeds now that rehearsals for Move It! are over and visit Hype in Sheffield as often as possible. The 19:00  start suits me very well as I have had to miss more than a few classes in Leeds and Manchester owing to late running cons and pressing deadlines.  Halifax is slightly closer to Holmfirth than Leeds and the roads less congested.

How to get to the Dutch National Ballet's Gala

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Tickets for the Dutch National Ballet's gala on Saturday, 8 Sept 2018 have just gone on sale and they are going like hot cakes.  Last year they sold out well before I got round to buying one.  This year I took no chances and ordered mine as soon as I could get onto the company's website. The tickets are not cheap but remember that there is a lovely party afterwards where you may get a chance to shake hands with such gigastars (if not terastars) as Artur Shesterikov and Sasha Mukhamedov.

I described the 2015 gala in The best evening I have ever spent at the ballet 13 Sept 2015 and Dutch National Ballet's Opening Night Gala - Improving on Excellence 8 Sept 2018.

So how to get to the gala.   Well it takes place in the Stopera in Amsterdam which doubles as the town hall and the national opera house.  The word "Stopera" is what we trade mark lawyers call a portmanteau combining the words "stadhuis" (or town hall) with "opera".  Be that as it may, the Stopera is in a splendid position overlooking the Amstel river and there is no better way of spending the interval than gazing out over the river. Every seat commands a good view of the stage which is cavernous. I once stood on that stage as part of a birthday treat in 2015 (see Double Dutch Delights 17 Feb 2015).  There is much less of a crush than at the Royal Opera House because the walkways and stairs are broad.   There is plenty of seating for the intervals. It is also a lot easier to get served at the bar than in the West End and you don't need a second mortgage to buy a round.

The Stopera is next door to Waterlooplein tube station which is served by thee lines all of which go to the Central Station.  From there you can get a train to just about anywhere on the continent and even to St Pancras via the channel tunnel nowadays.  It also serves the airport which is a major hub from where you can travel to just about anywhere in the world.

When I am in Amsterdam for business I like to stay at the Radison Blu which is on a street called "Rusland" that I think means "Russia".  It is a short walk from the Stopera.  It is also close to a the Hemelse Modder (literally "Heavenly Mud") which Ted Brandsen once told me is his favourite restaurant and it is certainly mine.   It is important to get a good meal inside you because there is no restaurant in the Stopera.   There is a pub next door but it is not particularly special and service is slow.  I recommend the Heavenly Mud and I have already reserved my table there.

If I am in Amsterdam for leisure I stay at one of the hotels in the Bastion chain. They are very like Travelodges, Fairly cheap and cheerful but not always in the best locations.  Probably the most convenient is at Duivendrecht which is about 6 stops on the underground from Waterlooplein.

To get around Amsterdam you can buy a combined bus, rail, tram, underground and ferry card known as an Amsterdam Travel Ticket starting at €16 for one day and  €21 for the weekend.  Remember to check in and check out every time you use a public transport service.

You can fly to Amsterdam from Leeds with Jet2 or from Liverpool and Manchester with easyJet.  There are probably more services from  London than you can shake a stick at and there is also a through train to Amsterdam from St Pancras.  I am sure there are good connections from Scotland, Newcastle, East Midlands, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff but I have never flown from any of those cities.  There are some excellent bargains from both airlines and Eurostar if you book far enough ahead.

The Dutch National Ballet is one of the most beautiful, friendly, innovative and thrilling companies that I know with some of the world's best dancers.   I do hope you can join me on 8 Sept.

Ballet Central in Leeds

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Wendy McDermott

Ballet Central  2018 Tour 29 April 2018, 19:30 Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds

It’s been a turbulent time for Ballet Central since their unimaginable announcement via social media that their tour vehicle and its contents had been stolen. The vehicle contained everything from their production equipment to over 100 unique handmade costumes. Being able to see the tour and how much work had gone into making this a professional production then to hear of their plight was pretty shocking. Since then those that follow Ballet Central will know that much of what was stolen had been retrieved and also, thanks to the generosity of many they’ve managed to raise several thousands to help pay for replacements.

I saw Ballet central perform, for the first time I might add, at the Stanley & Audrey Burton theatre in Leeds.

The show was made up of five pieces in two Acts: ‘Black Swan’ by Jenna Lee, ‘Far’ by Wayne McGregor, ‘Valley of Shadows’ by Kenneth MacMillan, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ by Matthew Bourne and finally ‘Cinderella’ by Christopher Gable.

I think it’s fair to say that many will know of Swan Lake even if never having had the pleasure of seeing it. What Jenna Lee gave us in Black Swan was something very different, yet still referencing the classical ballet loved by so many with Tchaikovsky’s music and the beautiful swans (who looked marvellous in their black tutus). The mood was much darker, echoing the film The Black Swan. In this version however, it was not the ballerina that experienced the hallucinations, it was the Prince, confused and a little disoriented by what he was experiencing. Ayca Anil danced the principal role. Her technique seemed solid, the développés clean with extensions reaching the heights that we see in professional ballet companies of today. I thought her ports de bras were lovely, as were the swans' dancing in the corps, with their elegant swan arms, and I thought the acting of her character expressed the sultriness befitting of a temptress.

The second piece in the programme was a complete contrast of contemporary choreography. At times there was so much happening on the stage between the 10 dancers I didn’t know who to watch however there were dancers that stood out with their stage presence alone. As with most, if not all art, it’s subjective; contemporary is not a style that I personally favour, however if its premise is to showcase the movement of body and mind in fusion then this choreography does that. The Guardian (Luke Jennings to be precise) wrote of the piece when it appeared on stage:

“Muse too intently on notions of embodiment and you stop seeing the living bodies in front of you. They're the story, ultimately.”

It was a challenging piece for young dancers but on comparing clips from the original, they all performed with confidence and flare, speed and agility given that these students are on the cusp of their professional careers, potentially joining companies with both classical and contemporary repertoire, they need to be able to show their depth and breadth of skill in both styles. This choice of piece allowed them to do just that. There were three dancers that, for me anyway, particularly shone. Again, it was as much about their stage presence as their technique and quality of movement. Luckily one of those dancers has their photograph in the programme so easy to identify.

Act I closed with Valley of Shadows by MacMillan. Yet another personally unknown piece, though reading the synopsis it has very sad and dark undertones, the programme describing it as “the fate of an Italian Jewish family under fascism, Nazi occupation and the horrors of the death camps.”
Being a cast of four, the spotlight was on all the dancers. The cast had the fantastic fortune of being coached by Alessandra Ferri and Guy Niblett, who were original cast members when it was first performed at Covent Garden in March 1983. What a luxury for these dance students to inherit the experience and knowledge of these dancers to have it passed down to them. We had already seen Ayca Anil in the opening excerpt so her performance was assured, this time it allowed the male dancers the chance to show off their skills, in particular their partnering skills and they all performed with aplomb.

After the interval of 20 minutes, Act II opened with an excerpt of The Sleeping Beauty (Fairies Prologue). Gone were the tutus of the classic work, instead we saw costumes worthy of comic superheroes, of beautiful colour and imagination. It was a showcase indeed for the six dancers on stage and each deserved and duly received acknowledging applause from the audience, appreciative of the individual performances. Even the Princess Aurora as a baby in her cradle received applause in her own right as the crying baby which only added to the characterisation, humour and lightness of the whole piece.

The finale of the night was Christopher Gable's Cinderella and the audience were treated to a 30 minute shortened piece of this well known fairy tale. Despite the story depicting the ill treatment of Cinderella by her step mother and children, the performance felt just as much a celebration and in some ways echoed the journey that a dancer takes throughout their student life. The celebratory dance by the cast of apple pickers and wedding guests was light, airy and quite joyous to watch. In particular the green colour in the costumes reflecting the fresh apples that they had harvested that day expressed the emotion and worked well on stage, as if to say that the whole cast had now come of age in their early training careers and ready to advance into professional performers and spread their wings far and wide. Both the young and older Cinderella were emotive and expressive and i’m sure they, and all the touring company of 2018 will have careers to be proud of.

I’d like to give a mention to Rishan Benjamin and Harris Beattie as my own personal ones to follow in the future. There was another young woman in Far that unfortunately i’m unsure of her name. Looking at the cast list it was possibly Hikari Eumura (but perhaps Ballet Central would like to confirm?).

Finally, congratulations to all the performers and all those behind the scenes for making a thoroughly enjoyable evening of dance theatre.

Remarkable Stuff - St Andrews University Dance Club Videos

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According to The Guardian's University League Table for 2019, St. Andrews lies # 3 in the nation. A mere 2.8 points behind the leader, Cambridge, 0.2 of a point behind Oxford which is #2 and almost 10 points clear of Loughborough which is #4.  Now I know that there are other league tables and in any case one should never believe everything one reads in newspapers but there is no denying that St Andrews is what Americans would call "a good school". It is not easy to get into St Andrews and students have to work very hard once they are there.

It is all the more remarkable that many of those students find time to dance between handing in essays or laboratory work. "Ballet," as the wise teacher who led me back to ballet once said, "is a jealous mistress who is out to see you fail". Dancers have to put in the hours to see that they don't.

I danced when I was at St Andrews. In fact I was one of the founder members and first secretary of "Dance Soc" as we used to call it.  I danced then for the same reason that I dance now.  It helped relieve the pressure of a heavy workload. Then it was essays.  Now it is pleadings, opinions and court work. I don't think I could have endured the pressures then without my weekly class with Sally Marshall in the Athletics Union on the North Haugh and I certainly couldn't do so now without my Tuesday evening classess with Karen Sant in Manchester or my Wednesdays with Jane Tucker in Leeds.

Last month I returned to St Andrews to watch the Dance Club's 50th anniversary gala.  I was impressed by all the pieces but there were several that were particularly interesting.  They included the intermediate ballet class's combination of ballet and Bollywood.  In my review, St Andrews University Dance Club's 50th Anniversary Gala 5 May 2018 I wrote:

"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."

Colour of Love has been uploaded to the Dance Club's YouTube channel together with videos of much of the rest of the show. If, like me, you had never heard of Highland Fusion before then take a look at "From Here On In".  It is very beautiful.  Not a bagpipe in earshot nor a tartan in sight and just look at those gorgeous costumes. There is a lot of other good stuff up there "so feast your eyes" as they say in Australia where Fiona, the teacher who led me back to ballet, learned her skills.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary (more or less) of its formation, the Dance Club procured these anniversary t-shirts two of which arrived through the post a few days ago. They were a gift from my friend, a distinguished Scottish lawyer, who also attended the anniversary show.  I wore one of them proudly to Move It at the Dancehouse in Manchester on 19 May 2018 which I mentioned in The Importance of Performance 20 May 2018 and the other at Ballet West's Showcase in Stirling on Sunday.

Dance was not formally on the curriculum when I was at St Andrews but it was certainly one of the most useful things that I learned there.

Ballet West Showcase 2018

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Ballet West Showcase 27 May 2018 19:30 Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling

Each winter for the last 5 years I have come to Scotland to see a performance of a full-length classical ballet by Ballet West.  On Sunday I returned to Scotland for Ballet West's 2018 Showcase.

The Showcase took the form of a gala consisting of 18 separate works divided into two parts or "acts".   Each act began with an extract from a classical ballet and included a solo and original choreography by the school's teachers, Natasha Watson, Indra Reinholde and Martin Fenton. Ballet West performed the Showcase at the Conran Halls in Oban on 19 May 2018 and the Macobert Arts Centre at Stirling University on 27 May 2018.

The first act opened with the grand pas de deux from Paquita which I had seen in rehearsal on my visit to Taynuilt on 30 April 2019.  The full work is not performed very often in the United Kingdom but the pas de deux is seen more frequently in competitions and galas. As in the rehearsal Paquita was danced by Uyu Hiromoto and Lucien by Joseph Wright. I admire both dancers but especially Hiromoto. As I wrote in Ballet West at the Beacon 13 Feb 2017 which was the first time I saw her, Hiromoto has a certain quality that is difficult to pin down but I spotted it in Xander Parish and Michalea DePrince. She danced delightfully on Sunday. In her dancing I saw not just a talented and accomplished student but Paquita herself. Congratulations to Wright for his partnering and also to the soloists and corps de ballet who accompanied them.

The solo for the first act was the victim's dance from The Rite of Spring.  It was performed by Francesca Rees who is still in her first year at Ballet West. The sharp, angular, movements to Stravinaky's throbbing score still manage to shock after 105 years.  It cannot be an easy work to perform even for an experienced dancer and it must be particularly challenging for one so young. Rees responded to that challenge splendidly. She is clearly someone to watch and I shall look out for her on next year's winter tour.

Watson contributed no less than five works to the the first act   They ranged from Symphony No 3 which was reflective to Who Lights the Sun which was playful.  The contrast in mood was the difference between a deep, dark, pool and a fountain.  Until last night the only work by Watson that I had seen was the piece that she had prepared for Oscar Ward and Uyu Hiromoto in the BBC Young Dancer Competition. Having seen her several times in principal roles and having blogged about her achievements in Lausanne and at the Genée even before I saw her I knew that she was an outstanding dancer. Now I see that she is at least as talented as a dance maker.  The nation's - indeed the world's - artistic directors, impresarios, angels and others who commission dance would do well to take note.

Hey Now by Martin Fenton was in complete contrast to everything that had gone before. The programme stated that the music was by "London Generation" but I wonder whether that should have been "London Grammar". Be that as it may it was a pleasure to watch. The girls wore jeans and trainers with their hair in pony tails. They danced freely and vivaciously. It was the first time I had seen them like that.  I was delighted.

One of most interesting works of the first act was Indra Reinholde's November to Max Richter's music. This was a fluent classical piece for third year dancers.  Reinholde's A Mid-Autumn Night's Dream appeared to be an intriguing study of the unfulfilled aspirations. It consisted of a soloist with one group dancing reality and the other dreams. With layer upon layer of meaning I need to see it again and probably several times to understand it properly.

The first act finished with Sarajevo, a piece that Watson had made for the company's Glasgow Associates to Max Richter's score.  A deeply moving piece that those excellent young students performed brilliantly.

The second act opened with the scene from La Sylphide in which James abandons Effie and follows the sylph. The work is performed regularly overseas but rarely in the UK which is odd as it is set in Scotland. We may see more of it in future as it has been staged recently by English National Ballet and Sir Matthew Bourne has produced Highland Fling for Scottish Ballet which is based on  La Sylphide. Dylan Waddell, whom I knew from MurleyDance and Ballet Cymru, danced James and Sarah Nolan was the sylph.  Nolan performed her role charmingly.  I think hers will be yet another name to watch.  Waddell partnered her sensitively enabling her to shine. In what I believe to be a variation to Bournonville's choreography, the ballet mistress, Olga Savienko, created roles for the sylphs which they performed delightfully.

Watching a Scottish company perform that beautiful work just south of the Highland line gave me considerable personal satisfaction. As long ago as August 2013 I wrote in Taynuilt - where better to create ballet: 

"I don't know whether Ballet West has ever thought of staging La Sylphide but they might because Taynuilt is Gurn and Effie territory."

Well now they have and I am over the moon.

The solo for the second act was From Within by Hortense Malaval who is in the second year.  It had been created for her by Watson.  A very different work from the Rite of Spring but probably no less challenging. Malaval displayed not only considerable virtuosity but also the power to possess a stage and command an audience.  The audience warmed to her and rewarded her with thunderous applause.

The solo was followed by three more works by Reinholde: Light and Ash, A Song of Sorrow and Pride and, my favourite of her works, Symphony No 41.   The last work was created for the young women who had welcomed me to their class on 30 April 2018. They were my team.  They had a difficult score.  Late Mozart to me sounds a little like Beethoven and that's what I thought it was. I remembered one of the pundits at Northern Ballet's symposium on narrative ballet on the alleged impossibility of dancing to Beethoven yet here were these splendid young dancers doing just that. Or at least interpreting music that was equally difficult. Clad in flowing blue garments that must have been a delight to wear, they were clearly having fun. They danced with verve and my heart danced with them. They finished the piece on their backs as the lights cut. Bravissime! I clapped and clapped until my palms were raw.

A work that reminded me of van Manen's In the Future was Watson/s Pocket Calculator.  Just listen to the words "I'm the operator of the pocket calcuulator". Watson spun those works in a generally fun slightly disconcerting work that showed yet another side of her immense creativity. The song also began the finale that drew the audience into the show. They clapped rhythmically to the music breaking into deafening applause as each wave of artists appeared to take their bow. Again, I clapped enthusiastically and shouted "brave, brave" for the women in blue.

I had seen the winter shows. I had even visited the school, watched and indeed attended one of its classes. But it was only on Sunday that I fully appreciated how good it was.  In that Showcase  the school showed the strength and depth of the artistic education that it offers.  Had I any aptitude for dance and an ambition to go on stage, I should have loved to have studied there.