Powerhouse Ballet Update

Author Mark Hindle
© 2018 Mark Hindle: all rights reserved
Reproduced with kind permission of the copyright owner

I wondered whether anyone would turn up to our first company class in Manchester which took place in a studio that lacked air conditioning on one of the hottest afternoons of the year.  As you can see from the photograph, we had excellent attendance.

Mark Hindle took the class and we had a great time.  After foot limbering warm up exercises he led us through a brisk barre, a delightful port de bras, pirouettes starting with quarter and half and finishing with full turns, sautés and jetés and a joyous final exercise across the studio.

Mark is a very thorough teacher with a great eye for detail.  I think most of us received at least one correction and I got four which I now record immediately after class in a small notebook that I keep in my dance bag.  One of many tips that I have picked up from fellow company class members.

I am now close to completing a draft business plan which I shall circulate to everybody who has attended class or expressed interest in the company.  I think we need to grow a little bit more before we can contemplate staging even a short piece.

Not everybody who supports the idea of a ballet company in the North of England can make company class each month.  Indeed, not everybody wants to dance in public.  We need to offer something for such well wishers.  One of the benefits that we can offer is an opportunity to hear and meet well known dancers, choreographers, composers and other important figures from dance in an informal setting.  The London Ballet Circle offers a good model.  Yesterday the well-known dance critic, Gerald Dowler, interviewed the American dancer, Chase Dansey, at the Civil Service Club.  I am in negotiations with various organizations about holding similar meetings in Leeds and Manchester and I already have a first guest in mind.  I hope to make an announcement shortly.

As I announced in Powerhouse Ballet's Leeds Company Class  26 June 2018 our next company class will be given  by Annemarie Donoghue of Northern Ballet Academy at the Dance Studio Leeds in Madgate Mills at 14:00 on 28 July 2018.  I have attended Annemarie's classes regularly since 2013 and have learned a lot from her.  Though she teaches with endless patience and good humour her classes are challenging.  She expects nothing less than the best and she draws out the best from each and every one of her students.  Like other teachers at Northern Ballet Academy, she teaches in accordance with the Ichino technique so expect a very brisk warm-up, a thorough barre, challenging centre exercises, a charming port de bras  and a joyous final exercise at the end. 

The class is filling up nicely but we still have some space. You can register for Annemarie's class by clicking this button.