Sleeping Beauty Workshop

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Beth Meadway is one of Ballet Cymru's most experienced dancers.  She joined the company in 2017 and has performed many of the leading female roles in the company's repertoire.  She danced Helena and the wall in Dream which toured the country last year (see Ballet Cymru at its Best 13 Nov 2022).  Just before Christmas, I saw her in A Child's Christmas in Wales and Terms and Conditions at the Pontio Centre in Bangor.  After the show, I invited her to give  Powerhouse Ballet an online Post-Christmas class and a workshop in Leeds in the New Year.

As we are keen to develop our repertoire and need pieces that we can rehearse quickly in case we are invited to perform at short notice Beth offered to teach us three of the fairy variations from the Prologue of The Sleeping Beauty.  Each of those solos is very short.  Last Autumn's Giselle showed that we have members east and west of the Pennines who could perform solos.

Our workshop took place at Dance Studio Leeds on 12 Feb 2023.  It consisted of a full 90-minute class with a thorough barre and the usual centre exercises.  After a short break, Beth played us the music for the Fairy of the Crystal Fountain and then showed us the choreography. She taught us two more variations in the workshop.

Beth comes from our region.  She was born in Hull and trained in Leeds before she went to Central. She also attended Northern Ballet's Pre-Profesional Programme after she graduated.  It is a joy to watch one of our own establish herself in a very competitive occupation.   Beth was one of the trainers when we hosted Ballet Cymru's Dylan Thomas and Giselle workshops at Yorkshire Dance in 2018 and 2021 and she delivered two great online workshops for us during covid and after Christmas.  We look forward to her continued success and - if she can spare us the time - working with her yet again.