Out of this World

Hype Dance Academy's advanced ballet class

Photo Jane Lambert

I mentioned Frightnight last week. Yesterday my friend, Andrea, and I visited Sheffield to experience its  annual Halloween festival.  Andrea is a Dr Who fan and she had been attracted by the images of the Tardis on the local authority's website and news that the Daleks were about to invade Sheffield.  I had come to see Hype Dance's show and in particular to support my teacher, Fiona Noonan, and fellow students in the advanced and intermediate ballet classes.

The weather was glorious yesterday. Very different from July when Chance for Dance had been rained off.  Many visitors - particularly the children - were in fancy dress.  Some had painted faces.  The pedestrian precincts in the city centre were occupied by stalls and fair ground rides.   Half way along The Moor, a street in the City centre, a space had been railed off for live performances.

Hype Dance Academy was given three 30 minute slots in that space.   The Academy teaches different styles of dance to students of various ages and different levels of attainment. These ranged from very young children dressed as witches and Harry Potter lookalikes to the ladies and handful of gents of the advanced ballet, contemporary, jazz and street.   Everybody performed well and my friend, Andrea, who is no balletomane, appeared to enjoy the show as much as I did.

Having seen a rehearsal of Paint it Black a few weeks ago I was looking forward to seeing it on an outdoor stage.  I am glad to say it worked very well.   It was very fast which must have been exhausting for the dancers but I guess it would have been a lot of fun for them.  The dance began and ended in a circle. One of the dancers was my friend, Mel Wong, who donned the tutu she had worn in Big Ballet. Ian, to whom I had recommended Hype when I met him at another studio in September, was dressed as a pirate. He had to execute a simple lift during the routine which he and his partner did well.

It would be invidious to single out  any of the classes for special mention but the advanced adult contemporary class danced with considerable spirit.

After the show Andrea and I scoured Sheffield city centre for Daleks. We found that Dr Who had visited the Winter Gardens the day before but he had disappeared by Sunday taking his phone box with him. Not to be downhearted we enjoyed a very good lunch at the Wong Ting followed by tea at Yummy Yorkshire on our way home.

Post Script

Mel has drawn my attention to a YouTuve video of Paint it Black and Hype's advanced jazz class's performance which you can see by clicking this link,

Frightnight

@nipclaw are you planning to come to #FrightNight to watch us take on @finoonan04's @Rambertdance-influenced Stones choreo?
— MelSkydancer (@MelMAOW) October 14, 2014

I must admit that I had never heard of "Frightnight" until I had received this tweet from Mel.  I asked her what it was and this is what she told me:

@nipclaw @finoonan04 @Rambertdance Sheffield's annual Halloween Festival. But it's called something else this year & no-one seems to know!
— MelSkydancer (@MelMAOW) October 14, 2014

Apparently it is a Sheffield institution -  Britain's biggest Halloween party.

As Mel says, the festival is called "Out of this World - Sheffield's Festival of Sci-Fi, Magic and Horror" and I suspect the reason for the change of name is that it was announced in January that there was not to be a fright night this year (see "Sheffield Fright Night to take year off over funding worries" 16 Jan 2014 The Star). But there is a little matter of an election before Nov 2015 and as Oliver Cromwell found out when he tried to abolish Christmas nothing is more unpopular than spoiling someone's fun.  So we will have Frightnight on Sunday the same as always albeit under a different name (see "Horror-themed fun to be unleashed at festival in Sheffield city centre" 28 Oct 2014 Sheffield Telegraph).

The show that I want to see is my Paint it Black choreographed by my ballet teacher and good friend, Fiona Noonan, for the students of Hype Dance Academy one of whom is Mel. I watched a rehearsal of that show when I attended Fiona's ballet class the Monday before last.  I think I know everyone who is taking part in that piece as I took class with them for most of the summer. They are very nice people and I wish them all chookas or, if they prefer, toi-toi.

If you are in Sheffield

@nipclaw @finoonan04 @Rambertdance Things are kicking off for Hype at 12.30pm on Sunday 2nd Nov outside Debenhams on the Moor.
— MelSkydancer (@MelMAOW) October 14, 2014

Post Script

Here is a link to a YouTube video of Christopher Bruce's "Paint it Black" for Rambert. Noonan's is quite different but to my eyes just as enjoyable.   See Rooster ................ :-) 4 Oct 2014 for my review of Rambert's version.