Dame Gillian Lynne (1926 to 2018)

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Theatre goers generally and ballet goers in particular will be said to learn of the death of Dame Gillian Lynne.  Although she will be better known for her musicals, Cats and Phantom of the Opera, I shall remember her for three reasons.

First, her choreography of A Simple Man starring Christopher Gable and Moira Shearer.  That was the first time I saw Northern Ballet shortly after I returned to the North to take a seat in Manchester chambers.  My late spouse and I were regular ballet goers and I was a Friend of Covent Garden. Though we looked forward to occasional visits to Leeds and Manchester by touring companies we missed the Royal Opera House, Sadlers Wells and The Coliseum. I had read of the Northern Dance Theatre (as Northern Ballet was then called) in Dance and Dancers when it was founded but I never expected much from it.  Gillian Lynne's A Simple Man was a revelation.  It was every bit as good as anything I had seen anywhere else in the world. 

As a native Mancunian I was bloated with pride that it had been achieved by a Manchester company.  After seeing that work I began to follow Northern Ballet.  In my humble opinion A Simple Man has never been bettered  though other great ballets were created by Christopher Gable and more recently Cathy Marston.  It was Dame Gillian's masterpiece that attracted me to the company and it is one of the reasons why I have continued to support Northern Ballet through Friends' subscriptions, donations and other ways for more than 30 years.

The second reason I shall remember Dame Gillian is that she recreated Sir Robert Helpmann's Miracle in the Gorbals for the Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2014 (see A Second Miracle 23 Oct 2014).  She had been a member of the original cast.  She said in The Inspiration which was reprinted in the programme: "There are very few people left alive from that 1944 creation and not one of us remembers a step."  However, as I said in my review, Lynne re-created the ballet to Bliss's music in the style of Helpmann and it certainly looked authentic to me.  In my My Personal Ballet Highlights of 2014 28 Dec 2014, I wrote:

"My favourite ballet of 2014 was Gillian Lynne's re-creation of Robert Helpmann's Miracle in the Gorbals for Birmingham Royal Ballet which I was at Sadler's Wells in October. I had seen Helpmann dance with Frederick Ashton in Cinderella and he also presented the gala to Sir Frederick which I saw when I first became interested in ballet. Miracle in the Gorbals broke new ground in many ways just as its almost exact contemporary Appalachian Spring did in the USA. Even though Lynne's production was a re-creation rather than a revival its performance was something of a miracle in itself and a joy to behold."

The third reason I shall  remember Dame Gillian is a charming story that Sir Ken Robinson told about her in a famous TED talk.  I discussed it in Dance is just as important as Maths 17 Aug 2014. When she was a little girl in the 1930s Dame Gillian was thought to have a learning disorder because she was lacked attention and was disruptive in class. Her teachers referred her mother to a specialist in such disorders who gave her an opportunity to dance to the radio. Sir Ken continued:

"And when they got out the room, he said to her mother, "Just stand and watch her." And the minute they left the room, she said, she was on her feet, moving to the music. And they watched for a few minutes and he turned to her mother and said, .Mrs. Lynne, Gillian isn't sick; she's a dancer. Take her to a dance school.'"

Dame Gillian's mother heeded that advice and the result was miraculous. In Dame Gillian's words:

"I can't tell you how wonderful it was. We walked in this room and it was full of people like me. People who couldn't sit still. People who had to move to think. Who had to move to think. They did ballet; they did tap; they did jazz; they did modern; they did contemporary."

As I remarked about the specialist: "What a remarkably perceptive, far sighted, enlightened man he was. And what a wonderful mother."

I am sure all readers will join me in sending sincere condolences to Dame Gillian's family, friends and connections.

Top Cats: the NSCD and Northern Ballet Academy End of Year Show

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Leeds CAT End of Year Show, 24 June 2017, 15:00 Riley Theatre, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds


In The Lowry CAT 27 May 2016 I wrote:

"There are in England nine Centres for Advanced Training in Dance ("CAT") which identify children and young people with exceptional talent for dance and develop them through contact with leading dancers, teachers and choreographers."

According to the What are CATS? page of the Dance CATs website, there are now 12 and two of them are in Leeds, namely the Academy of Northern Ballet and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance ("NSCD"). Yesterday the Academy and NSCD held end of year shows at the NSCD's Riley Theatre. As I am a Friend of the Academy as well as the company, I support it in every way I can. Thus, I found myself at the matinee performance at 15:00.

Yesterday's visit was my first to the NSCD and, consequently, I did not know the layout of the theatre when I booked my ticket over the internet.  I had selected D7 in the stalls thinking that it would give me a good view as it was pretty close to the stage. It turned out to be a restricted view because the audience is seated in a semicircle in very solid upright, wooden chairs that are more like church pews than seats in an auditorium. As a result, I had a grandstand view of the wings at stage right but I could see hardly anything of stage left. That was only a problem in the last piece, Echo by Matthew Slater, because the work opens with several dancers' supporting another standing upright. It was a very impressive sight which must have required a lot of practice by the dancers and their choreographer.

The programme consisted of 10 works half of which were presented by the Academy and the other half by the NSCD.  The show opened with Greeting which had been created by Yoko Ichino, Cara O'Shea and Siobhan Camkin for all the Academy's students to music by Ottorino Respighi from La Boutique Fantasque. It introduced the Academy and was the first opportunity for the audience to see the capabilities and discipline of those talented young people. Next came Headspace by the NSCD students who were equally impressive in their genre. The work was choreographed by Krista Vuori of Frantic Assembly and was described as "An exploration into the questions we ask ourselves and thoughts that randomly enter into our mind everyday." There was some speech some of which was inaudible but that did not matter too much because it was a dance piece and the sentiments were clear enough from the dancers' movements. The rest of the show alternated between ballet and contemporary dance and ended with Slater's Echo.

All the contributions were good and I enjoyed them all but there were three works that stood out for me particularly.  One of these was Headspace which I have described above.   Another was The Reel scene from La Sylphide which Cara O'Shea had adapted skilfully. It was pretty faithful to Bournonville's choreography but, whenever I see dancers with folded arms, I ask myself whether that great choreographer had ever actually seen Highland or even Scottish country dancing. Not once since I was dragooned into making up the numbers for a Dashing White Sergeant at the Celtic Society's bejants' ceilidh have I ever seen anyone in Scotland dance like that but I think only someone as august as Bourne (Sir Matthew that is) dare contradict Bournonville (see Sir Matthew Bourne's Highland Fling Montage on YouTube). The last that stood out was Echo which was a perfect way to end the show.

One of the functions of the CATs is to prepare their students for vocational training. The programme listed the destinations of this year's final year students and they are very impressive. Two are off to Northern Ballet School in Manchester which celebrates its 40th anniversary today. Congratulations! Many of my favourite teachers at both KNT and the Academy trained there. Others are going to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, The Hammond School, Trinity Laban, Urdang Academy and many other famous institutions. And to remind us that dance provides great mental, as well as physical, training, one of the students is on her way to med school at Cambridge (Caius I presume). I wish each and every one of those students well in his or her career and look forward to seeing at least some of them on stage again.

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.