St Andrews University Dance Club's 50th Anniversary Gala

St Salvator's College, St Andrews 30 April 2018

© 2018 Jane Elizabeth Lambert
All rights reserved

St Andrews University Dance Club 50th Anniversary gala 30 April 2018, 19:30 Byre Theatre, St Andrews

I wrote about how the St Andrews Dance Society was formed in Ballet at University 27 Feb 2017. Last Monday I attended the 50th anniversary gala at the Byre although I think the celebration is slightly premature as I did not go up to university until October 1968.  I think we set up Dance Soc in 1970 or 1969 at the earliest. I say that because our first outing was to see Scottish Theatre Ballet perform Peter Darrell's Beauty and the Beast  at the King's Theatre in Edinburgh and that was not staged until 1969 according to the Peter Darrell Trust.

Never mind! It was still a long time ago and the 50th anniversary (more or less) provides a good excuse for a celebration. And what a celebration it was with a programme comprising nearly 30 different pieces in dance styles ranging from ballet to Highland fusion.  When Sally Marshall (our founding chair) and I were about to graduate we discussed the future of the Society. "Oh it'll just pack up after we leave" suggested Sally.  Sadly I had to agree. Well it didn't. Congratulations to the present members and all the other generations of students for keeping the Club and dance alive in St Andrews over all those years.

The Byre Theatre

© 2018 Jane Elizabeth Lambert
All rights reserved

The Byre Theatre was packed to the gunwales.  Many of those present were students but by no means all.  There was at least one contemporary of mine in the audience who is now a distinguished Scottish lawyer. Although I don't think she was ever a member of the Dance Society she certainly remembered it.  She has seen a lot of dance over the years and her opinion counts. When we met for drinks in the interval we were both greatly impressed by the quality of the work that we had seen so far.  We were unable to compare notes at the end because we lost each other in the crush but my admiration grew right up to the last piece.

On entering the auditorium the stage was lit with a soft purple glow.  Purple and gold appear to be the colours of the Club because many members of the audience wore purple tee-shirts and hoodies with the words "Dance Club 50th Anniversary" in gold characters. About an hour before the show I met several students wearing those garments in South Street on the way to the theatre. I introduced myself to Katie who now does the job I used to do as Club Secretary. "Oh are you Jane?" she asked.  I was flattered to find that at least somebody in my alma mater reads Terppsichore.  Not only that but I was acknowledged by the Club president at the start of the show and thanked for helping to set up the Club.

I admired all the works.  I have no particular favourites.   I commend all the choreographers, dancers, set and costume designers and makers, lighting designers and other technical and support staff equally. However, a review has to be selective and in singling out particular pieces I intend no slight to those I do not mention.

I was very impressed by the pointe work in Jessica Linde's Nouvelle Liberté which she described as "choreographed predominately in the Balanchine style of ballet." In the programme notes she explains that Balanchine had brought an angularity and looseness to ballet allowing his dancers to be more expressive. I had always thought of Balanchine as being a pretty strict and demanding choreographer but after considering some of his early works such as Serenade I think I know exactly what Jessica means and I agree with her.  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.  I also cheered and shouted "Brave!" for Catherine Mitzen's Sospiri by the beginners' class.  That was my class when I was at St Andrews though I never reached the high standard I saw on Monday night.  I was hoping to rejoin that class briefly on Sunday for the first time in nearly 50 years but time constraints made it impossible. However, I did get a class at Ballet West which I mentioned in Visiting Taynuilt 3 May 2018.

One genre of dancing that was new to me was Highland fusion  I loved the choice of music and the multicoloured costumes in Holly Alexander's From Here On.  When I was at St Andrews Highland dancing was largely the preserve of the Celtic Society and the OTC and performed to bagpipes. It has moved on. Holly wrote in the programme notes:

"Highland dancing s no longer just about old tradition. It is no longer about sticking to strict rules and regulations. It is no longer just about the sole dancer competing alone. It is no longer solely danced in Scotland. Highland dancing is now about modernizing old traditions."

Holly's was the furthest departure from my perception of  Highland dancing but all the pieces in that genre were innovative and interesting.

Dance is now a competitive sport and the University dance team, the Blue Angels, have distinguished themselves at the Loughborough University Dance Competition before Steven McRae. Members of the team presented different genres all of which I enjoyed tremendously, Stuart McQuarrie's Minions impressed me with its wit, Clair Davison's Mamba with its sense of fun and Charmaine Hillier's The Tide Can Hold You Out with its polish.

All the jazz, tap and contemporary pieces were danced with energy and passion, the Irish with precision and the theatre and lyrical with flair. In the finale wave after wave of members came on stage. They were magnificent.  I am so proud of them.

Gaudeamus Igitur: St Andrews and Cambridge Student Shows

On 30 April and 1 May 2018 at 19:30 the St Andrews Dance Club (which I helped to found) will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a performance at the Byre. The show will feature "11 styles of dance from ballet to hip hop, choreographed by over 20 choreographers, this show is a true celebration of all the club has achieved over the past half century." I mentioned the club in Ballet at University  27 Feb 2017 which included a clip from Striking a Pose. It is good to know that our club has survived and prospered over those years. You cam buy tickets through the Byre's website here.

Last year's article was promoted by a post on BalletcoForum on Cambridge University Ballet Club's Giselle,  As you can see from their trailer the students reached a very high standard and their performance was applauded enthusiastically. This year they will dance Swan Lake at the West Road Concert Hall at 11 West Road, Cambridge  on 2 and 3 March 2018,  According to the Club's website

"over 100 dancers from the Cambridge University Ballet Club are coming together to choreograph and perform this four-part ballet. It will be an unforgettable experience!"

I attempted to learn the cygnets, prince's solo, Hungarian dance and the swans' entry at KNT in Manchester a few years ago (see KNT's Beginners' Adult Ballet Intensive - Swan Lake: Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3).  It isn't easy.  Fitting rehearsals into an already busy timetable requires a massive commitment from each and every member of the cast. They have my respect. I shall try to attend, or send a reviewer to attend, one of their shows.

I spent a very pleasant week at Downing College at the IP Summer School last year and I attended an adult ballet class while I was there (see Ballet, Bodywork and Bits in Cambridge 15 Aug 2018). It was one of the hardest classes I have ever taken in my life. I don't know whether any members of the Cambridge University Ballet Club attended that class but the standard in that class was very high indeed.

I wish the students at both universities toi, toi and chookas for their performances as well as every success in their studies and subsequent careers.  I will certainly be in the Byre on 30 April and I will do my best to attend and review one of the shows in West Road.

Rambert at the Lowry - 9 Oct 2013

Dane Marie Rambert    Source: Wikipedia

Although it no longer includes "Ballet" in its title and it now describes itself as "our national company for contemporary dance" Rambert is in fact our oldest ballet company, Founded as the Ballet Club in 1926 it pre-dates the Vic-Wells Ballet, the precursor of the Royal Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet, by about 5 years. Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Anton Dolin and Dame Alicia Markova were all with Dame Marie Rambert, the founder of the company (see "A History of Rambert").

Dame Marie had danced with Diaghilev.  Rambert proudly displayed its heritage with Nijinsky's L'après-midi d'un faune which opened the quadruple bill at the Lowry in Salford last night.  Faun was one of the first ballets I ever saw and it remains one of my favourites as you can from my "Hommage au Faune" 9 July 2013. I think it was that work and in particular Bakst's set that won me to ballet many years agi  I saw Faun for the second time only last July when the Boston Ballet came to London (see "Boston Ballet: 'High as a flag on the Fourth of July!'" 7 July 2013). As I quipped in my twitter stream, ballets are a bit like buses. You wait an age for them then two come along at once. Rambert's production, unlike Boston's, did without Bakst's backdrop though the costumes were much the same.  Possibly The faun was danced intricately by Dane Hurst and the Nymph exquisitely by Angela Towler.  I had last seen Hurst at the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School gala at Sadler's Wells on 29 Sept 2013 where he had danced Insala to music by Ladysmith Black Mambazo (see "More Things I do for my Art - Autumn Gala of Dance and Song" 30 Sep 2013). Hurst impressed me then and he impressed me last night.

Chosen to accompany Faun was Mark Baldwin's "What Wild Ecstasy" with music commissioned from Gavin Higgins. As the curtain rise two giant wasps hanging from the ceiling prompted a murmur from an audience composed largely of schoolchildren.  The kids were a little distracting at times - particularly in the opening bars of Faun as cackles and titters - but it was still good to see them there.  The headgear of the dancers suggested flowers and insects and the ballet ended with a shower of yellow balls forming a circle on the ground which I took to represent pollen.

Next came Tim Rushton's Monolith, a very mysterious and haunting work set to the music of Pēteris Vasks. The programme states that "Monolith is inspired by pieces of monumental greatness and the people who formed them with their presence belief and mysteries." The set by Charlotte Østergaard and Rushton reminded me of images of Mars from Curisotiy with a range of hills and a volcano in the distance. Hues of reds, other worldly blues.  Watch this clip and form your own view.

The last work was The Castaways by the young American choreographer Barak Marshall and yesterday was its world première.   It is not every day that I get to a premiere much less review it.   This was more play than dance but still very enjoyable.  Twelve characters stuck in a cellar with no communication with the outside world except through a funnel through which were sent a bag of mail and a loaf of bread.  The music was eclectic ranging from English and Yiddish songs to the national anthem of the former Soviet Union.  All danced well but the following attracted my attention in particular: Kym Alexander, Kiril Biurlow and Vanessa Kang.

Rambert is about to move to splendid new premises on the South Bank and has invited the public to a series of events to celebrate their move in December.  I shall certainly take them up on their invitation.  I hope the move goes well for them.

Further Reading

9 Oct 2013   "The Castaways: Barak Marshall Creates For Rambert" The Ballet Bag