Northern Ballet's New Director

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"Bravo bloody oh!" That was the reaction of one of my friends when I told her the news of Federico Bonelli's appointment as the next Artistic Director of Northern Ballet.  Other reactions have been a little less colourful but no less enthusiastic. I have been a fan of Bonelli for years and could not have wished for a better choice.  If you ever see him on stage or just watch this video you will understand why. 

Nevertheless, it was a very unexpected appointment.  Graham Watts tweeted:

"I definitely didn’t see this one coming - Northern Ballet has announced Federico Bonelli as the Company’s new Artistic Director."

Watts was not the only one.   Even though I am a fan of Bonelli he had not been on my radar.  Had anyone kept a book my money would have been on a brilliant young choreographer whose style reminds me of Cranko whose appointment would have recemented a link with Central or, possibly, on one of our leading female choreographers who has already contributed two much-loved ballets to the company.

Bonelli's appointment coincides with the publication of the government's "levelling up strategy".  It has promised to ensure that great cultural institutions play their part in spreading access to excellence:

"100% of the Arts Council England funding uplift announced at SR21 will be directed outside London, with support for theatre, museums and galleries, libraries and dance in towns which have been deprived of investment in the past. We will explore how more flagship national cultural institutions can support the strength of our historic cultural heritage in great cities such as Stoke and Manchester."

Not a bad time to make a move outside London. 

So what is the Dutch Style?

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That was a question that I put to Ernst Meisner in the Q&A following his interview by Graham Watts in the London Ballet Circle's Zoom call last night.  I asked Ernst that question because the Dutch National Ballet will perform a mixed bill entitled The Dutch School between 12 and 26 June 2021 to which he is one of the contributors.  Thinking also of Balanchine's Jewels in which emeralds were attributed to the French, rubies to the Americans and diamonds to the Russians, I wondered what would be the Dutch jewel if Mr B could plan a sequel.

Ernst replied "simplicity" when Graham Watts read out my question.  That is certainly true of Embers and No Time before Time, two of the most beautiful short pieces that have ever been created for the stage.  It is quite impossible to watch either of those works dry-eyed.  But what about the others?  Van Dantzig, van Manen, van Schayk, Ochoa and Brandsen?  To name just a few?  "Simplicity" is not the first word that comes to my mind when contemplating Mata Hari or In the Future.

Yet there is undoubtedly a quality of Dutch dance that makes it recognizable anywhere and that is its fluidity. That is the characteristic that I think all the works that I have seen in Amsterdam have in common.  It is the je ne sais quoi of Embers and No Time that tugs at my emotions. But it is the one quality that I think the maker of abstract historical ballets shares with the creator of moving architecture.  I might also add another word that is close to fluidity, namely fluency.

Don't all successful works of choreography have that quality? Many will ask.  Yes, but in the same way as all male dancers jump spectacularly but perhaps not quite in the same way as the Russians.  Similarly, there is a certain lyrical softness to say Lise's solo as she is locked up with the sheaves of corn that all dancers display but perhaps not to the same extent which perhaps explains why I have never seen Ashton performed outside England quite as well as his work is danced here. 

If I were thinking of awarding the Dutch a jewel I think it would be mercury, the only metal that exists as a liquid at room temperature.  Not a gem that can be worn on a ring or in the hair but something equally rare, just as beautiful and much more elusive.

Not just Christopher Hampson who makes onstage promotions: Michaela DePrince's Promotion to Soloist

On 28 May 2016 Graham Watts tweeted:

Congrats to @HampsonChris & @scottishballet 4 renewing tradition of onstage promotions & to @BalletCoco & @bethanykgarner 4 their elevation

— Graham Watts (@GWDanceWriter) May 28, 2016

It seems that Christopher Hampson is not the only artistic director who keeps the great ballet tradition to which Watts refers for Ted Brandsen has just posted the following message to Facebook:

"Michaela DePrince and Remi Wortmeyer, just after their second show of Coppelia- and Michaela' s promotion to Soloist ( Tweede soliste) !!! Congratulations!"

The post appears just below a photo of the two dancers which I hope Richard Heideman will license me to reproduce.   I should add that they were dancing in a matinee this very afternoon.

I am delighted for Ms DePrince and also for the company. I started to follow her even before she joined the Junior Company (see Michaela DePrince  4 March 2013) and I have reported regularly on her progress ever since. It was she who drew me to the Junior Company and it was the Junior Company that drew me to the Dutch National Ballet.

Ms DePrince is making more frequent appearances in London. She is due to dance Myrtha in English National Ballet's Giselle on the 13, 14, 17 and 20 Jan where I am sure she will be welcomed with great enthusiasm and considerable affection.

Dawson's Swan Lake comes to Liverpool

An amazing week 4 @scottishballet with 2 on stage promotions 4 @BalletCoco and @bethanykgarner a fabulous ballet tradition @HampsonChris

— Hannah Bateman (@hannah14bateman) May 28, 2016

A typically generous tweet from one of my favourite dancers whose company has also been busy with its performances of 1984 at Sadler's Wells and Jane Eyre at Richmond.   The "fabulous ballet tradition" to which Hannah Bateman refers is probably the one referred to by Graham Watts:

Congrats to @HampsonChris & @scottishballet 4 renewing tradition of onstage promotions & to @BalletCoco & @bethanykgarner 4 their elevation

— Graham Watts (@GWDanceWriter) May 28, 2016

I am personally delighted by both promotions because Bethany Kingsley-Garner delighted me with her performance as Cinderella last December (see Scottish Ballet's Cinderella 20 Dec 2015) and Constance Devernay with hers in Hansel and Gretel.  I might add in passing that I hope Hampson's renewal of the tradition spreads to other companies because I can think of at least one female leading soloist whose elevation to "premier" (or principal) dancer I should like to see very much indeed.

Yesterday I tipped Scottish Ballet's Swan Lake in What's On Tonight 28 May 2016 even though I have not yet seen it. I felt safe in doing so for two reasons.  The first is that I have seen David Dawson's work before and trust him to do a good job (see my reviews of Empire Noire and 5 in Going Dutch 29 June 2015 and Ballet Bubbles 16 Feb 2016). The second is that I know and trust the company having followed them ever since they were in Bristol. I love them dearly and they have never disappointed me.  I can't say that of many other companies. Not even the Royal Ballet.

Dawson was commissioned to create a new Swan Lake and the synopsis suggests that is exactly what he has done. It is possible to be innovative without being gimicky and his story seems to be one that is believable and within human experience yet faithful to the classical tale.  However, it is not just Petipa that inspired Dawson. According to Scottish Ballet's website he also drew inspiration from Zbigniew Herbert's poem Study of the Object.

Does it work?  I shall find out on Friday when I see the ballet for myself at the Liverpool Empire. However, one Northern Irish ballet goer seems to think so:

Oh @scottishballet that is a thrill-ride #SwanLake if rest of it is that speed,I fear for us all @BalletCoco & @andrew_peasgood sensational

— Friends Ballet NI (@FriendsBalletNI) May 28, 2016

And the conclusion was:

Definitely room in life for 2 Swan Lakes,traditional with beautiful corps & evil villain & scintillating thrill-ride that's @doublediamond1

— Friends Ballet NI (@FriendsBalletNI) May 28, 2016

I have never met Friends Ballet NI and do not even know the author's gender but I know from his or her tweets that he or she is very knowledgeable and perceptive about ballet.  I remember tweeting to Friends Ballet NI from Leeds station last March about another company's Swan Lake which I did not like nearly as much as he or she seems to like Scottish Ballet's. If Friends Ballet NI who has had to take a flight or cross the sea to see it enjoyed last night's show, I don't think anybody who took my tip yesterday will be sharpening a claymore out for my blood for wasting his or her evening.

Changing the subject radically I do hope to see Matthew Broadbent on Friday. He used to be with Northern Ballet and he is greatly missed.  Not only is he a fine dancer as you will see from my review of Cinderella he is also something of a novelist. Check out The Boy from Colombo and The Girl from Bletchley Park (Dr Shaw Murder Mystery).