Lady of the Camellias Streamed from Moscow

Nigrum Sol BT    Standard YouTube Licence

Bolshoi Ballet, The Lady of the Camellias, HDTV transmission for Moscow, 6 Dec 2015

We don't see enough of John Neumeier's work in this country which is a shame because it is dramatic and beautiful. I saw a bit of it live on stage this year in two galas.  In March Alexandr Trusch and Lucia Solari danced the final pas de deux from his production of The Nutcracker in Leeds at Northern Ballet's Sapphire gala. In September I saw Marijn Rademaker and Igone de Jongh dance an excerpt from the Dutch National Ballet's production of La Dame aux Camelias (see A chance to see more of Neumeier's work: Dutch National Ballet's La Dame aux Camelias 18 March 2015) at the opening gala of the Amsterdam ballet season (see The best evening I have ever spent at the ballet 13 Sept 2015).

Yesterday afternoon I saw the whole of that ballet (albeit in two dimensions) streamed live from Moscow to the Huddersfield Odeon. I like other British ballet goers have been brought up on Ashton's Marguerite and Armand which he created for Fonteyn and Nureyev and is also based on the Dumas novel. Neumeier's ballet created 15 years later for the great Brazilian ballerina Marcia Haydée to Chopin's music is at least as beautiful and perhaps even more dramatic.

The synopsis for those who missed the transmission is here. Marguerite was danced magnificently by Svetlana Zakharova who was Giselle in October (see The Bolshoi does the Business - Giselle streamed from Moscow 12 Oct 2015) and Armand by Edvin Revazov. The production had been facilitated by Kevin Haigen of the Hamburg Ballet who represented Neumeier in Moscow. The excellent Katerina Novikova interviewed him during one of the intervals as well as Anna Tikhomirova who danced Manon Lescaut in the other. She was interviewed in costume which was gorgeous as Ms Novikova observed. The designs were Jürgen Rose's originals.

The ballet was beautiful but emotionally draining to watch as I tweeted at the end of the second interval

Awed by.@BolshoiOfficial's performance of The Lady of the Camellias. Very beautiful but also emotionally draining.

— Terpsichore (@jelterps) December 6, 2015

I long to see this whole ballet on stage. I could kick myself for missing it in Amsterdam earlier this year when I had the chance. Too much loyalty to Ashton I guess.

Flying the Flag for Manchester - Northern Ballet School's Giselle

Aerial view of Greater Manchester

Author Doc Searls

Source Wikipedia

Creative Commons Licence

On 28 Nov 1969 the Northern Dance Theatre gave its first performance at the University Theatre in Manchester with the Royal Northern College of Music providing the orchestra. The company's first home was a church hall in Moss Side. Coming from Manchester I followed that company's progress with interest even though I lived in Surrey at that time. The first performance of the company that I saw was Gillian Lynne's A Simple Man which celebrated the centenary of the birth of that artist (see also Northern Ballet's A Simple Man 14 Sept 2013) and I have been a fan ever since.

Sadly Northern Ballet loosened its links with Manchester some years ago and is now ensconced in some splendour at Quarry Hill in Leeds, a building it shares with the magnificent Phoenix Dance Theatre. It still performs a season at the Palace Theatre and it is lovely to see the company there but we probably have closer links with English National Ballet for the reasons I gave in my review of that company's Romeo and Juliet (see Manchester's Favourite Ballet Company 29 Nov 2015) or indeed the Birmingham Royal Ballet which visits the Lowry twice a year.

According to the 2011 census Greater Manchester has now overtaken the West Midlands to be the biggest built up area in terms of population (2.6 million as opposed to the West Midlands's 2.4 million) which must make it one of the biggest cities in the developed world without its own world class resident ballet company. There was once talk of refurbishing the Palace and making it the Northern home of the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera before the 2010 general election (see Let's Bring the Royal Ballet to The Factory Manchester 11 Dec 2014) but that idea was dropped by the Coalition government. With the £78 million investment in The Factory promised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer we now have a chance of reviving the plan for a Northern home for the Royal Ballet, enticing away an established company from another city as Glasgow did to Bristol or indeed Leeds to us, or, perhaps, even growing our own (see The Factory begins to take Shape 25 Nov 2015).

We are very fortunate in Manchester to host the Northern Ballet School which fairly describes itself as "an international centre of excellence in training for classical ballet and musical theatre." The School incorporates the Dancehouse Theatre a 430 seat auditorium where its performance company, Manchester City Ballet, will perform Giselle between 10 and 12 Dec 2015. Last year Manchester City Ballet performed The Nutcracker which impressed me tremendously (see Alchemy 13 Dec 2014) and I also enjoyed its summer show which I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to see (see Serendipity 10 July 2015).

Northern Ballet School's studios are occupied in the evening by KNT Danceworks which offers a comprehensive range of classes for adults in all genres of dance every day of the week except Sunday. I first started classes there in Aug 2014 (see So Proud of Manchester - KNT Danceworks Complete Beginners Class 29 Aug 2014) and last summer I completed its Swan Lake intensive under the wonderful Jane Tucker who studied at Northern Ballet School and danced with Manchester City Ballet. Doing that course was not easy but completing it was one of the proudest moments of my life (see KNT Beginners Adult Ballet Intensive Swan Lake - Day 1 18 Aug 2015, Day 2 19 Aug 2015 and Day 3 20 Aug 2915). KNT Danceworks staged a splendid show at The Danceworks on 23 May 2015 which really was Better than Eurovision and they are doing another on 30 Jan 2016 in which I hope to perform.

I urge my fellow Mancunians as well as ballet goers everywhere to flock to the Dancehouse in droves for Giselle next week. Tickets are between £10 and £12 and you can book your seat at Ticketline.

Hampson's Cinderella

The Forth Road Bridge

Author Euchiasmus

Source Wikipedia

Copyright released by the author

I had planned to see Scottish Ballet's Cinderella with a good friend from university who lives in Perth but I received an email from her yesterday calling off our outing because of the horrendous congestion on the roads and railways as a result of the temporary closure of the Forth Road Bridge. She and all the other motorists who have been inconvenienced by those emergency maintenance works may be amused by The Scottish Cinderella though I doubt that she would want her granddaughter to watch it just yet. Some of the language would make even the ratings at the Rosyth naval base blush.

Parents and grandparents in Scotland and indeed the rest of the United Kingdom may prefer to let their little ones watch this trailer or better still take them to see the show which opens at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh tonight. It remains at that venue for the rest of this month and then goes on tour to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness where I hope my friend will be able to catch it.

This is the ballet that Christopher Hampson created for the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2007 to considerable critical acclaim. Hampson mentioned this ballet when he spoke at the State of the Art Panel Discussion: Narrative Dance in Ballet on 20 June 2015 (see My Thoughts on Saturday Afternoon's Panel Discussion at Northern Ballet 21 June 2015). He described it as a study of grief which is certainly consistent with the synopsis.

This has been a bumper year for Cinderella with productions from Ballet Cymru (Ballet Cymru's Conderella 15 June 2015) and the Dutch National Ballet (Wheeldon's Cinderella 13 July 2015) following on from David Nixon's last year (see Cinderella - even better 30 Nov 2014 and Northern Ballet's Cinderella - a Triumph 27 Dec 2013). I liked all those shows but I think my favourite up to now has been Ballet Cymru's. However, Scottish Ballet (or STB as it was called when I first knew it) was the first ballet company that I got to know and love and you know what they say about first love.

In my review of Northern Ballet's Cinderella in Sheffield I commended Matthew Broadbent who amused us all with his antics as a performing bear. Broadbent has now joined Scottish Ballet and it will be very good to see him again.

Returning to the Forth Road Bridge there used to be a permanent tailback across the Forth Road Bridge when they charged a toll - especially after decimalization when motorists had to fish around their pockets or handbags for a half penny as the half crown had ceased to be legal tender. I remember some medical students picked up a skeleton in Edinburgh and plonked it in the front passenger seat of a left hand drive car. They inserted the toll money in the skeleton's fingers and waited for the cashier to collect it. Feeling the bones she looked up and got the shock of her life. Her temper was not improved on being told by one of the students that the motorist had died waiting for his turn in the queue.

Chelmsford prepares for The Sleeping Beauty

Cara O'Shea, one of Northern Ballet Academy's most popular teachers, danced Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty with Chelmsford Ballet when she was only 15. In March that role will be danced by Scarlett Mann. She danced the leading role enchantingly in last March's Pineapple Poll  (see Another Photo from Chelmsford's Pineapple Poll 3 April 2015). According to the company's blog she picked up some tips for dancing Aurora from Roberta Marquez herself (see Masterclass with Roberta Marquez 18 Nov 2015 Chelmsford Ballet Company Blog).

As you can see from the events diary there will be a lot of rehearsals over the next few weeks but also some fun. On Saturday 19 Dec 2015 the company will be taking part in "The biggest Christmas musical extravaganza in Essex!" at the Brentwood Centre,  As Essex is not known for doing anything by halves this should be quite an occasion. The dancers will perform excerpts from The Sleeping Beauty while the Hutton and Shenfield Choral Society will sing Once in Royal David's City, Sleigh Ride, Walking In The Air, Cowboy Carol, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Hark! The Herald and much more. Tickets cost £16 and may be booked on-line. Looking further ahead I see that the Hutton and Shenfield are singing Ein Deutsches Requiem. The Choral performed that a few years ago here in Huddersfield. It is a lovely work which I recommend.

On 29 Dec 2015 members of the company will travel up to town to see Gillian Lynne's Cats at the London Palladium.  This is one of the most popular shows in the West End and tickets are not easy to obtain. They have hired a coach and driver and have offered the whole package at a remarkably reasonable price. It sounds a lot of fun and if I lived closer to Chelmsford I would have joined them. I wish everyone in the party a very pleasant evening.

After CATS there are rehearsals and more rehearsals for The Sleeping Beauty before the show opens at the Civic Theatre on 16 March 2016. Tickets are on sale and can be booked on-line. Tickets cost between £12 and £16.50.

I should say that there is another Sleeping Beauty doing the rounds and that is Matthew Bourne's. The reason I mention that show is that Christopher Marney, Chelmsford Ballet Company's patron, is dancing in the show. I saw it in Bradford on 28 March 2013 and was very impressed by Marney's performance. He danced Prince Lilac. It was the first time that remarkable young talent had come to my attention and I have been following him ever since.  The production is touring the country between now and April with a long stunt in Sadler's Wells.

Danceworks International Ballet Academy Christmas Show

Earlier this year I wrote about Danceworks International Ballet Academy for dancers between the ages of 8 and 16 (see Danceworks Academy 21 March 2015). Next weekend they are dancing Act II of The Nutcracker for their end of term show. If it is anything like their video it should be great.

They had originally planned performances at 16:00 on 12 Dec 2015 and 13:30 on 13 Dec 2015 but those shows have sold out. To meet demand the students will dance an extra performance on 13 Dec and 15:30. The performance will take place in Studio 10 of Danceworks's premises at Balderton Street. Tickets are £8 for adults and £4 for children under 12.

The Spring term starts on 4 Jan 2016 and there will be another show in the summer. I know one of the students on the course and her mum seemed  very pleased with the training.

Ballet West's Next Tour

Taynuilt

Author J M Briscoe

Source Wikipedia 

Creative Commons Licence

The very first article for this blog is a review of Ballet West's production of The Nutcracker in Pitlochry (see Ballet West's "The Nutcracker" 25 Feb 2015). Ballet West is the performing company of a ballet school in Taynuilt in the West of Scotland which seems to offer exceptional professional training. Recent alumni include Sarah Mortimer of Ballet Theatre UK, Natasha Watson, the only British finalist in the Prix de Lausanne and a Genée medallist (see Yet More Good News from Ballet West - Natasha Watson's Medal in the Genée 30 Sept 2013 and Natasha Watson in Lausanne 15 Nov 2014) and Isaac Bowry who danced Drosselmeyer in the 2013 production. I have seen two other performances by Ballet West - Swan Lake in Pitlochry (see Swan Loch - Ballet West's Swan Lake, Pitlochry 1 March 2014 3 March 2014) and Romeo and Juliet in Stirling (see Ballet West's Romeo and Juliet 1 Feb 2015) - and they have also been good.

Ballet West is about to dance The Nutcracker again and has just announced its 2016 tour:

• 22-23 Jan Corran Halls, Oban
• 29 Jan Paisley Town Hall
• 30 Jan Tower Digital Arts Centre, Helensburgh
• 4 Feb Howden Park Centre, Livingstone
• 5 - 6 Feb Marcrobert, Stirling
• 11 Feb Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
• 13 Feb Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow
• 14 Feb Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock
• 20 Feb Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

They have also uploaded some lovely videos of Clara's photo shoot and the Rat King's. If the coming production is as good as 2013 we can look forward to a treat.

Ballet Cymru in London

Criccieth, one of my favourite places on the planet

Author Ken Bagnall

Source Wikipedia

Creative Commons Licence

Ballet Cymru Triple Bill Lilian Baylis Studio, 30 Nov 2015

To the best of my knowledge and belief there is not a millilitre of Welsh blood in my veins. Such Celtic heritage as I can claim is Irish and Scottish yet I love Wales as much as anyone who was lucky enough to have been born in the principality. I guess one of the reasons I love Wales so much is that I spent much of my childhood on Black Rock Sands, the banks of the Dwyfor, the slopes of Swowdon and the towers and battlements of Edward I's castles. My parents could not afford continental holidays in the 1950s but Wales was as good as abroad with its own language and distinct landscapes and architecture, but nothing like as far away,

The Welsh language fascinated me and I longed to learn it. I even bought a phrase book called Welsh in a Week and must have tried the patience of every shopkeeper in Portmadoc and Criccieth (many of whom seemed to come from the Midlands or Lancashire) as I tried out my phrases. My mother once told me that my first words were in Welsh which is possible but unlikely as I don't know where I could have picked them up. Later when I learned Latin I saw lots of similarities like ffenestr for window (not too different from fenestra) and eglwys for church (apparently derived from ecclesia). Welsh is a naturally musical language with an "-ion" sound like a peel of bells. The language has lots of sounds that don't exist in English like the double "L" that seems to be produced by placing the tongue at the roof of the mouth and breathing over it.

Cerys Matthews has made an album of folk songs  called TIR most of which are in Welsh. I was led to her album by Ballet Cymru's YouTube video and yesterday I actually bought it. Indeed the artiste actually signed it and shook my hand. I think I have become one of her biggest fans though I regret to say I am also one of the most recent ones and I am grateful to Ballet Cymru for introducing her to me. She is a patron of the company. Yesterday she disclosed that she used to study ballet as a child and actually did very well in her RAD exam. She mentioned that fact between the songs that Darius James and Amy Doughty had choreographed for their dancers.

The dancers come from every part of the world other than Wales but they interpreted Matthews's words eloquently. Some bits of the performance were exuberant like  Bugeilio’r Gwenith Gwyn while other songs such as Myfanwy (danced by Emily Pimm-Edwards) tugged at our heart strings. The Rev Eli Jenkins's prayer in memory of Mandev Sokhi was particularly moving. Those members of the audience who had seen him dance were close to tears. For the dancers who had worked with Mandev it was so much harder. However, they are pros and though we could see their emotion in their faces they never missed a count or movement. TIR finished with Sosban Fach where each of the dancers did his or her turn. Each and every one of them impressed us but I have to say a special word for Tim Hill who thrilled us with his entrechats.

Ballet Cymru welcomed back Daisuke Miura and Suzie Birchwood as well as Pimm-Edwards for TIR. Birchwood is artistic director of ActOne ArtsBase. I first saw her in Stuck in the Mud where I was impressed by her grace and technique. The beauty of her dancing lies in her port de bras whether lifted in a pas de deux or sitting in a wheelchair. I never tire of watching her and I try to imitate her arm movements in my own dancing.  Miura and Pimm-Edwards delighted me in Romeo a Juliet and is was a treat to see them again.

Stuck in the Mud had been choreographed by Marc Brew whom I met in Llandudno. He created Traces Imprinted which I had admired in Newport. I had seen that work from the dress circle at the Riverfornt theatre in Newport where I appreciated its form and the movement of the dancers but missed much of the detail.  I caught all that detail yesterday from the second row of the stalls in a much more intimate auditorium. It was though I was seeing a different ballet. There was harshness with one dancer literally treading on the back of another but also tenderness as in the final duet. I think I understood the ballet a little better second time round.  Traces Implanted suggests memories and in particular memories of people who are no longer with us. Some of those memories we overwrite - hence the treading - others we keep alive and build upon - as in the duet.

I had missed Celtic Concerto in Newport for various reasons that I explained in The Pride of Newport and the Pride of Wales 8 Nov 2015 which was a shame because this ballet tuned out to be a gem. Choreographed by James and Doughty to a Catrin Finch's it begins with the company on stage and then some delightful solos and duets. You can get the idea from this video. I admired the stained glass projection and the costumes - simple black tutus for the women and shorts and translucent tops for the men.

The evening in Newport was very special but so was yesterday. Matthews asked whether there were any Welsh folk in the audience yesterday and it transpired that they were several.  They must have been so proud of their nation's ballet company. Also in the audience were several members the London Ballet Circle who had visited the company in October (see Ballet Cymru at Home 5 Oct 2015). We are certainly proud of our association with the company.

Other Reviews

Judith Mackrell   Ballet Cymru review – Cerys Matthews joins dancers for mercurial performance 1 Dec 2015 The Guardian