The appointment of Ernst Meisner as the next Artistic Director of the Dutch National Ballet is excellent news and nowhere will it be welcomed more than in this country. He trained at the Royal Ballet School and spent the first 10 years of his career with the Royal Ballet. While he was here he staged a gala at the Orchard Theatre in Dartford at which he invited Leanne Benjamin, Alina Cojocaru, Zenaida Yanowsk, Ed Watson, Filip Barankiewicz and four dancers from Russia to perform (see Mara Galeazzi Ernst Meisner: My Project in Dartford 4 June 2005). Since returning to the Netherlands in 2010 he has maintained many connections with us.
I first made his acquaintance in 2013 when he responded to my review of the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's first performance at the Stadsshouwburg in Amsterdam on 24 Nov 2013. The company was about to take its show on a tour of the Netherlands, Having attended the recording of an outstanding performance of The Messiah by the Huddersfield Choral Society at the Huddersfield Town Hall I sent the Junior Company the DVD of the recording to play on the road. The next year he asked Richard Heideman, the company's press officer, to arrange for me to interview him and his remarkable young artists (see Jane Lambert Meet Ernst Meisner and His Remarkable Young Dances6 Dec 2014 Terpsichore), On their next performance at the Stadsshouwburg Ernst invited me to meet him the dancers and their families at a reception after the show. I have kept in touch with many of them ever since.
Two weeks after the Junior Company returned to London in 2015 the Dutch National Ballet Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella at the Coliseum. I saw it on 11 July 2015 and loved it (see Jane Lambert Bend It Like Cinders - My Take on Cinderella18 July 2015 Terpsichore), Anna Tsygankova and Matthew Golding danced the lead roles but several of the members of the Junior Company whom I had met in Amsterdam were given roles in Cinderella.
Every year the company presents extracts of its work from the previous year as well as other short pieces at a gala and throws a party. I attended the gala on 8 Sept 2015 which I described without any hyperbole as The best evening I have ever spent at the balletin Terpsichore. Following my visit I joined the Friends of the Dutch National Ballet and have been a fan ever since.
When I first met Ernst he was the "artistic coordinator" of the Junior Company. He is now its Artistic Director. He later became Artistic Director of the Dutch National Ballet Academy and is now the Associate Director of Talent Development. Above all, he is an exceptionally talented choreographer. I cannot watch Emberswithout tears welling up but my all-time favourite is No Time Before Time. This work expresses perfectly the energy and exuberance of the Junior Company. In my lifetime the Netherlands has produced three towering figures; Rudi van Danzig, Toer van Schayk and Hans van Manen. It is no idle flattery to mention Ernst Meisner in the same breath.
I have illustrated this article with a frame from Ernst's Online Ballet Class video. He gained a whole new worldwide audience from those classes during lockdown, Those classes kept us moving and gave us hope. I followed every single class and am enormously grateful for them.
When Ernst Meisner becomes Artistic Director, the Futch National Ballet will be in excellent hands.
By Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken - https://www.flickr.com/photos/ministeriebz/48865568151/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=152604341
I met Michaela Mabinty DePrince only once but I felt personally bereaved when I read about her death earlier today. I first heard of DePrince shortly after my late spouse died of motor neurone disease. My late spouse was also Sierra Leonean who shared something else with DePrince. We had been married for nearly 27 years and watching life drain away from the most precious person in the world was the most painful experience of my life.
The post about the success of a 17-year-old Sierra Leonean coincided with a postcard on my gym notice board advertising "ballercise" (ballet exercise) classes, They were offered by a teacher who had trained in Brisbane and danced with the Queensland Ballet. I had studied a little bit of ballet as an undergraduate when I was bursting with energy and ambition. I had never ceased to attend performances and I continued to devour every review book or article on ballet that I could obtain but there were no ballet classes at my graduate school in LA or indeed at the Inns of Court in London,
Irrational though it may sound to describe the coincidental appearance of the post on the BBC website and the advert as providential, that is just how it seemed. I enrolled in the class and miraculously much of the ambition and energy of youth gushed back. I have often told my teacher that her classes raised me from utter despair but I would never have thought of joining the class had I not read that article about DePrince.
Shortly after DePrince had won the Youth America Grand Prix, I learned that she had joined the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet. I flew over to Amsterdam for its first performance, I reviewed the show in The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013on 25 Nov 2013. I described her as "simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while." My review was read by the Junior Company's Artistic Coordinator Ernst Meisner which led to correspondence and eventually an opportunity to meet the dancers.
Every year the Dutch National Ballet holds a gala followed by a party. At the party dancers, musicians and the management of the company mingle with the audience. It was on one of those occasions that I exchanged a few words with DePrince. It was a glorious evening which I have described as The best evening I have ever spent at the ballet. Just as I was leaving I spotted DePrince and greeted her, It was a very short conversation as I was rushing for the underground but I left the theatre thinking how that exceptionally talented young dancer was as gracious off stage as she was magnificent on it.
Over the years I have made the acquaintance of many other members of the Dutch National Ballet and some have become dear friends, I also met many members of the audience including a wonderful teacher who came to train Powerhouse Ballet a few years ago. I have also got to know the Netherlands well. It is the one part of the world outside my country that I feel most at ease. All of those acquaintances and friendships as well as my affection for the Netherlands I owe to that first visit to the Stadsshouwburg and ultimately to the artist who caused me to make that visit,
According to The GuardianDePrince's family has requested donations to War Child, instead of flowers. I am sure that her many fans around the world will respond generously to that request.
I had come to see Michaela DePrince whom I had already mentioned several times in this blog. She had been born in Sierra Leone, the country of my late spouse and my former ward who is the nearest I have to a daughter. I was amply rewarded for my journey because DePrince danced magnificently. But so did the other dancers some of whom are now principals or soloists in the Dutch National Ballet and other great companies.
That visit to Amsterdam was the start of many good things. I met members of the company, parents and other relations of those members and fellow fans of the company from the Netherlands and elsewhere. I made friends with many of them. Yvonne Charlton visited Powerhouse Ballet. She gave us some great classes in Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester and taught us some of her choreography. In the miserable days of lockdown, Maria Chugai raised our spirits with two wonderful online classes and her appearance at "The Stage Door".
On my visits to the Dutch National Ballet, I got to know the Netherlands, its cities and its people. I learned about its history, its traditions and its view of the world. Even though it has sounds that do not exist in our language, Dutch is actually a first cousin to English. Had it not been for brexit which ended free movement it is more than likely that I would be living there now.
The Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company has been so successful that other companies, including the Birmingham Royal Ballet, have followed its example. Earlier this year I attended the launch of BRB2 and met its Artistic Coordinator Kit Holder at Elmhurst Ballet School (see An "Evening with Ashton" and the Launch of an English Junior Company30 Jan 2023). I was in the audience when it visited Nottingham on 28 April 2023 and was very impressed (see BRB2 in Nottingham29 April 2023). I am looking forward to its next tour which will take in Poole, Canterbury and Northampton in May 2024 (see BRB2: First 2024 Tour Venues Announced 26 July 2023 Birmingham Royal Ballet website).
The idea of a junior company as a bridge between vocational school and corps de ballet is an excellent one. I shall continue to support Ernst Meisner and Kit Holder in their endeavours in any way I can.
Nearly 10 years ago I was in Amsterdam for the first performance of the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 201325 Nov 2013). I had come to see Michaela De Prince about whom I had heard a lot. She did not disappoint me, but she was not the only artist who impressed me. The other members of the cast were super talented too. Several are now principals in the Dutch National Ballet and other companies.
The Junior Company has greatly strengthened the Dutch National Company by attracting some of the world's best young dancers, Because of its success I urged British companies to set up their own junior companies. The Central School of Ballet set up Ballet Central to tour the South, Ballet West had a company that toured Scotland and Northern Ballet had Manchester City Ballet which gave several excellent performances in the Dancehouse. But that was not quite the same as the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company as none of those student companies was associated with an established company.
The company is now on tour. According to the programme, their debut was in Northampton on Tuesday 25 April 2023. Nottingham is their second stop. Their next will be Peterborough on 3 and 4 May, London on 13 and 14 June and finally Wolverhampton on 24 June. When I visited Elmhurst someone told me that Northampton would be the best place to see them because they would have a live orchestra. Had it been possible I would have been there. Sadly, barristers tour at least as much as ballet dancers and I had a breakfast meeting in Colwyn Bay at 09:00 the day after their Northampton show. Even without an orchestra, BRB2 were impressive. I would have trekked down the M1 to see them again tonight had Powerhouse Ballet's company class not been scheduled for this afternoon in Salford. I will try to catch them again at the Linbury or elsewhere on the tour.
The format of last night's show was very similar to the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's. Except for Majisimo which was the finale the show consisted of solos, duets and pas de deux. The first part consisted of four very well-known works plus Carlos Acosta's bolt-on of Descombey's Dying Swan to Fokine's which he called Dying Swans. The second part of the show consisted of seven less familiar works. Two of the works that I saw yesterday were also in the Dutch National Ballet's opening performance, namely the pas de deux from Act II of Swan Lake and Diana and Actaeon.
The show opened with an empty stage except for a travelling barre and other touring paraphernalia. One by one the artists walked on stage. They limbered up as if preparing for class. Two of them, Kaden and Kempsey-Fagg, peeled away and approached that front. A backdrop fell to hide the other dancers and they performed Rhapsody just as Collier had taught them at Elmhurst. They had impressed me even in the master class. Yesterday they were polished and confident and executed the piece with flair. There could not have been a better start to the show.
The backdrop was lifted to reveal the company again. This time Olivia Chang Clarke appeared in a romantic tutu and Eric Pinto-Cata in a kilt to dance the pas de deux from La Sylphide. Their piece turned out to be the high point of my evening. That may have been partly because I love Bournonville's ballet very much and know it well but credit must also go to the dancers. Pinto-Cata was the perfect James with his powerful tours en l'air and Chang Clarke was a delightful sylph, playful and flirtatious. I almost wept at the thought of what Madge's shawl would do to her.
Maɨlȅne Katoch and Mason King followed with the pas de deux from Act II of Swan Lake. Interestingly, Katoch had written on her web page that her dream would be Odette-Odile because she finds it interesting to be able to interpret an ethereal and delicate swan and then a mischievous swan. It must have pleased her to have been given a taste of her dream role so early in her career. I am sure it will not be long before she performs the whole role. King partnered her gallantly. Not hard to envisage him as a principal in the not-too-distant future.
I had seen Javier Torres perform Descombey's Dying Swan at Northern Ballet's 45th anniversary in 2015 and had admired the work greatly (see Sapphire 15 March 2015). I would have enjoyed watching it again in its original form and I am sure that Jack Easton would have danced it magnificently. I would have enjoyed Fokine's Dying Swan even more for the reason I gave in to Sapphire. I am sure that Regan Hutsell would have danced it exquisitely. Combining the two works and their music to create a solo did not work for me. I had to switch between the two alternately as though I was watching two separate ballets at the same time. That way I appreciated Easton and Hutsell's considerable virtuosity.
Diana and Actaeon had been the highlight of my evening in Amsterdam because De Prince and Sho Yamada displayed exceptional virtuosity. The ballerina enters the stage to Pugni's punchy music practically jumping on pointe. I had described De Prince as "quite simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while" and she will always be my Diana just as Antoinette Sibley will always be my Titania. Beatrice Parma's interpretation was softer, more delicate, more Ashtonesque perhaps? Enrique Bejarano Vidal was spectacular.
Part 2 opened to a blue background with several dancers seated around tables. There is a suburb of Buenos Aires near the cemetery where Eva Peron is buried called La Recoleta which is famous for its cafes. As the second piece was Gustavo Mollajoli's A Buenos Aires to Astor Piazzolla's music I was transported there.
However, the second part began with Ben Stevenson's apocalyptic End of Time danced hauntingly by Lucy Waine and Kempsey-Fagg to Rachmaninov's Cello Sonata in G Minor. Stevenson started his career with the precursor of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and he did great things in Houston including sheltering Li Cunxin according to Mao's Last Dancer.
Kaden and Easton were the first couple to leave the table to dance A Buenos Aires. They were followed by Hutsell's spirited Je ne regret rien tIt io Ben van Cauwenbergh's interpretation of Edith Piaf's famous song. She was followed by Vidal's Les Bourgeois also by van Cauwenbergh. He tottered around the stage clutching a bottle executing unusual jumps and turns to Jacques Brel's music prompting loads of laughs from the audience. As bouré is another word for "drunk" in French I quipped on Twitter that he gave a whole new meaning to pas de bourrée. It is however very difficult to clown successfully in ballet and those who can carry it off are abundantly talented.
I enjoyed Acosta's Carmen much more than his Dying Swans. Chang Clarke reminded me a little of Zizi Jeanmaire who will always be my Carmen though I had seen her only on film. Wearing her hair loose she danced the pas de deux with Cata passionately. it was one of my favourite pieces from Part 2. My other favourite from Part 2 was Will Tuckett's Nisi Dominus danced by Lucy Waine to Montiverdi's Vespers. Sacred music does not often fit well with ballet for many reasons but Tuckett's choreography seemed to work well with the score.
The evening finished with Kaden, Vidal, Katoch and King together with Rachele Pizzillo, Ryan Felix and Ava May Llewellyn in Jorge Garcia's Majissimo to Massenet's music. The piece focused on each of the artists to demonstrate his or her skills and strengths. It was a good way to round off a very successful evening.
Carlos Acosta and Kit Holder, BRB2's artistic coordinator, are to be congratulated. The company could not have made a better start. One of the strengths of the Dutch Junior Company is that they draw heavily on their heritage as well as their talented up-and-coming choreographers. There is always a van Manen and van Dantzig in their repertoire as well as new works by Ernst Meisner and Milena Siderova. The Birmingham Royal Ballet also has a rich heritage. In future, I would like to see a little more Ashton and maybe some MacMillan, Peter Wright and Bintley as well as perhaps pieces by Holder himself and other young choreographers.
Now that two of Europe's leading ballet companies have junior companies it is likely that a friendly rivalry between the two will spur them both to even greater achievements. But I also hope there will be more than rivalry. I would love to see what BRB2's artists would make of In the Future orNo Time Before Time. TheDutch National Ballet's Junior Company remains my first love. I will continue to support it in any way I can. But I can now take pride in an excellent English junior company. I shall follow, encourage and support it too.
Lesley Collier was one of my favourite dancers when I first took an interest in ballet. I had not seen her for many years so I jumped at the chance to watch her coach two dancers from Birmingham Royal Ballet at Elmhurst Ballet School on 24 Jan 2023. Shortly before the masterclass was due to start, Carlos Acosta appeared, It was clear that this event would be out of the ordinary. The director introduced the dancers as founder members of BRB2.
It was only in the interval that I appreciated the significance of that introduction. I overheard Caroline Miller (who was sitting immediately behind me) discuss the new company. Her description sounded very like Ernst Meisner's Junior Company which I have followed since 2013 (seeThe Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 25 Feb 2013 Terpsichore). I turned around and asked her whether my surmise was right. She confirmed that it was. I was delighted because I had been calling for British companies to follow the Dutch lead for many years, The Junior Company has launched many dazzling careers and strengthened still further an already great company.
Kaden and Kempsey-Fagg are at the very start of their careers but they seemed to do the pas de deux just as well as McRea and Osipova. For the audience the exercise was fascinating. Ashton had labelled different parts of the piece with distinctive names such as "the pussy cats". Collier spotted the most minute details such as Kempsey-Fagg lifting Kaden a little bit too high. She reran each sequence requiring a correction until it was perfect. My only regret as an audience member is that there was not enough time for the dancers to take the whole piece from the top.
The two young dancers rehearsed the piece not only in front of their artistic director but also their artistic coordinator, Kit Holder and three of their colleagues. The appointment of Holder is an excellent choice. I recognized his exceptional talent as a choreographer as long ago as 2015. I wrote in It Takes Three to Tango:
"Kit Holder has choreographed Quatrain for Birmingham Royal Ballet to Piazzolla's The Four Season's of Buenos Aires. Holder is an impressive talent. I first noticed him in Ballet Black's To Fetch a Pail of Water (see Ballet Black's Best Performance Yet 17 Feb 2015) and I was bowled over by Hopper which he created for Ballet Central (see Dazzled 3 May 2015)."
Holder has created plenty of work since then.
Like the Junior Company, BRB2 will tour to gain stage experience. They will start in Northampton on 25 April, continue to Nottingham on 28 and 29, Peterborough on 3 and 4 May, Covent Garden on 13 and 14 June and Wolverhampton on 24 June. The best night to see them is probably their premiere in Northampton on 25 April 2023 when they will perform with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. Unfortunately, I shall have to miss that show as I have to chair a lunchtime seminar in Gaerwen on Anglesey the very next day but I will catch them in Nottingham (which is the closest venue to my home) and possibly other stages of their tour.
"Sibley spoke about her teachers I realized that every teacher represents to his or students every dancer, choreographer and teacher who has gone before. Sibley loved her teachers and I can relate to that because I love every one of mine. Those who have gently corrected my wobbling arabesques and feeble turns. I texted one of them yesterday after the talk from a restaurant where I ordered - guess what - a steak.
'Oh super jealousy/ she replied. 'Don't be jealous' I responded 'You are also part of the tradition. You live it, I just see it. And you pass on your gift to others.' 'Awwwww Thanku xxxx' 'When I go to class you or Annemarie represent every dancer, choreographer and teacher who ever lived'. 'Aw Jane! I won't be able to leave the room soon' 'I am only paraphrasing Sibley. She should know. Through you I am linked to your teacher who is probably linked to someone at Ballet Russes who is linked to Petipa.. 'xxxxx wise woman!.'
As indeed Dame Antoinette is. I learned so much from her yesterday for which I shall always be grateful."
Wake's film celebrated such links. Collier's coaching illustrated another. The exceptionally gifted young men and women who have been accepted into BRB2 and the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company will plug into those links through Kit Holder and Ernst Meisner.
Dutch National Ballet and Guests Hans van Manen Festival IV National Opera and Ballet auditorium 29 June 2022 20:15
I would argue that Hans van Manen is the greatest living choreographer and one of the greatest of all time. I have been a fan ever since I first saw his work some 50 years or so ago. In that time he has made over 150 ballets and I have seen a fair number of them. His works are performed regularly by the world's leading ballet companies including those of the United Kingdom.
Earlier this month van Manen celebrated his 90th birthday. To mark the occasion, the Dutch National Ballet ended its 2021-2022 season with a special Hans van Manen Festival. Between 8 and 29 June 2022, the Dutch National Ballet and companies from Austria and Germany performed 19 of van Manen's works arranged in four separate programmes.
I attended the fourth of those programmes on 29 June 2022 which consisted of Four Schumann Pieces, In the Future, Variations for Two Couples, Solo and Concertante. I chose that programme for three reasons. It was an opportunity to see the latest recruits to the Junior Company which I had followed closely since 2013. They were to perform In the Future which I had previously seen at their 5th-anniversary celebration at the Stadsschouwburg on 15 April 2018, the 2018 gala and in London on 5 July 2019. Secondly, one of the works was to be performed by the Vienna State Ballet and another by the Stuttgart Ballet which had been Cranko's company. These are companies that rarely visit this country and it was a chance to see them. Finally, the fourth programme included Concertante which is the work by van Manen that I know best.
Van Manen had created Four Schumann Piecesfor the Royal Ballet. It was first performed at Covent Garden on 31 Jan 1975 with Sir Anthony Dowell in the leading role. The music is Robert Schumann's String quartet in A opus 41 no. 3. The ballet revolves around the leading male and there is some YouTube footage of Dowell in that role. It was part of a mixed bill which I attended. I can't remember much about it but it would have been one of the reasons why I began to admire van Manen. According to the programme notes, the male lead was later performed by Rudolf Nureyev, Hans Ebelaar, Wayne Eagling and Matthew Golding each of whom interpreted it in a different way. The company that performed the piece on 29 June was the Vienna State Ballet. Davide Dato was the lead male He was supported by Hyo-Jung Kang and Arne Vandervelde, Liudmila Konovalova and Francesco Costa, Elena Bottaro and Igor Milos, Sonia Dvořák and Géraud Wielick and Aleksandra Liashenko and Andrey Teterin. The company danced Four Schumann Pieces for the first time in the Vienna Volksoper on 4 June 2022. For them, it was a brand new piece which they danced with appealing energy and freshness.
In the Futurewas created for the Scarpino Ballet Rotterdam in 1986, a company that is even older than the Dutch National Ballet. The piece was inspired by music that the Scottish composer David Byrne had written as a soundtrack for Fritz Lang's film Metropolisthe previous year. As striking as the music are the set, costume and lighting designs of Keso DekkerEach dancer wears a garment that is green at the front and red at the back. The dancers pulsate to the music as if they were beams of light. It is a perfect piece for the Junior Company which is now a completely different cohort from the one I saw in Amsterdam in 2018 and London in 2019. The members who danced on 29 June were Luca Abdel-Nour, Koko Bamford, Lily Carbone, Mila Caviglia, Sven de Wilde, Lauren Hunter, Nicola Jones, Gabriel Rajah, Guillermo Torrijos,Louisella Vogt and Koyo Yamamoto. They were as impressive as their predecessors and I look forward to watching them develop as a troupe and blossom as artists of the Dutch National Ballet and other leading companies.
Variations for Two Couplesis one of van Manen's latest works. It was created for Anna Tsygankova, Matthew Golding, Igone de Jongh and Jozef Varga and first performed on 15 Feb 2012. It is a very short piece that packs in music by Benjamin Britten, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Stefan Kovács Tickmayer and Astor Piazzolla. The programme states that for van Manen it was all about the personalities of the dancers that he wished to draw out. Varga danced the role that van Manen had created for him on 29 June. but instead of Tsygankova, Golding and de Jongh he was joined by Riho Sakamoto, Young Gyu Choi and Jessica Xuan. Van Manen intended this to be a very understated ballet. He said, "everything is 'low down' – even the dancers’ lifts." That is echoed by Dekker's costumes and backdrop. The result is a work of refinement and elegance.
There was an interval after Variations for Two Couples. On returning to my seat I noticed that van Manen was sitting in my row. Several of his fans were talking to him and one gave him a hug. He stood up to allow me to pass and for a moment I felt impelled to introduce myself and shake his hand. However, the curtain was about to rise and I let the moment slip. The very next day my friend Gita Mistry button-holed him in the lobby of the National Opera and Ballet auditorium as we gathered for the Gala. She introduced me to him and I had the opportunity to tell him how much I had enjoyed his work over the last 50 years. However, Gita went one better and actually took a selfie of herself with the great man. In her interview with Judith Mackrell, Laura Esquivel compared the art of the chef with that of the choreographer (see Like Water for Chocolate23 July 2022). Gita offered to cook for van Manen and as she is an artist in spice he would enjoy one of the best meals of his life were he ever to take her up on the offer.
Solodanced by Henrik Erikson, Alessandro Giaquinto and Matteo Miccini of the Stuttgart Ballet won the loudest and most sustained applause of the evening. It is a very short piece set to Bach's Violin Partita. Keeping up with the music requires great virtuosity and equal stamina. It was danced with energy, flair and fluidity. - an altogether brilliant display.
The first time I sawConcertanteit was performed by Northern Ballet. I wrote in Terpsichore:
"What can one say about a masterpiece? Especially when there is a YouTube video of the great man himself discussing his ballet. According to the clip van Manen staged the work for the Nederlands Dans Theater junior company (Dans Theater 2). He spoke very highly of the Leeds dancers (Bateman, Batley, Leebolt, Contadini, Lori Gilchrist, Nicola Gervasi, Prudames and Isaac Lee-Baker) as well he might for they were good."
The evening had begun under the baton of Matthew Rowe, a compatriot and (I believe) an old boy of St Paul's School. It ended under that baton of Northern Ballet's Director of Music, Jonathan Lo. As he was led onto the stage the applause was deafening. I felt very proud of him as well as Matthew Rowe. But the loudest cheers and most vigorous clapping were reserved for van Manen himself. They were in appreciation of the works that we had seen that night but also for his lifetime's achievement.
The performance took place in the principal auditorium of the Dutch National Ballet with the company's own orchestra under the direction of Matthew Rowe, its director of music. Seven works were presented:
I enjoyed all of those pieces, particularly Revelry. Ode aan Fred ("Ode to Fred") and Bolero.
If I understood the programme notes correctly, Meisner created Revelry for the 2017 gala for which I had been unable to get a ticket. Set to Lowel Liebermann's composition of the same name An infectiously exuberant work it is perfect for dance and particularly well suited for the individual personalities of the members of the Junior Company. Guests arrive at a party and throw themselves into the celebration with gusto. Clearly, they have a good time. So much so that when the music ends the audience see each and every one of them prostrate on the floor. This was the first time that I had seen Revelry but it is already one of my favourites. It is a work that they could easily have taken to London last week and I am sure the audience would have loved it.
I am guessing that "aan" means "to" in Dutch. When I saw Ode aan Fred I thought this would be an ode to Ashton and that we would see lots of developpés, arabesques, pas de bouré and pas de chat. In fact, this Fred was a well-loved instructor at the National Ballet Academy. The music started with what sounded to me like didgeridoos and I wondered whether Fred Berlips was an Australian. On consulting the programme notes I found that the opening had been Andrea Geraks Jews Harp Musicand that there was also music by Goran Bregovic. I understand from friends who know him that Berlips specialized in teaching younger students. He was invited onto the stage for the curtain call and auditorium exploded in applause. Meisner came on stage and made a short speech. Berlips was presented with an enormous bouquet. The affection for the man was palpable.
The last work was set to Ravel's Bolero and was quite different from Maurice Béjart's which I had seen at the Coli or the Wells many years ago. It began with a spotlit single dancer but in this version, it was a young woman on the floor. The arc widened to reveal more women on the floor and then more. As the music gathered pace so did the dancers. The stage cleared and another group of dancers performing ever more energetically than the last. As the music reached its conclusion the stage erupted in colour and movement. It was the perfect way to end a perfect evening,
The show started with Paquita cannot be the easiest work for students. It includes a pas de deux which requires a lot of lifting, some spectacular jumps and turns and 32 fouettés which seem to be at least as difficult as Kitri's in Don Quixote or Odile's in Swan Lake. There were several difficult solo bits for both men and women as well as work for the corps. In the absence of a cast list, I cannot identify the dancers otherwise than by the colours of their costumes but I have to commend Yellow for her jumps. White, of course, was also impressive.
Set to Anthony Fiumara's haunting Aerial for piano and orchestra, Together(E) featured the academy's younger students. The music reminds me of waves breaking on a beach and that was reflected in the precise movements of the students, With its bar of red light and almost sculpted dancers, the hand of Wayne McGregor was unmistakable. Another difficult piece which was executed well by the students.
Having seen Sense of Time in [Un]leastedjust a few days earlier I was curious to see more. Set to Simeon ten Holt's Canto Ostinato which is another work for a single pianist Made in Holland was a beautifully crafted work.
Meisner appeared on stage immediately after Paquita with the academy's business manager. As his speech was in Dutch (a language I have never formally studied) I did not pick up every word but he explained that he was the artistic director and described the works that were to follow. He said that several of the pieces had been written especially for last Tuesday's show, that the programme included one of his own works and that Wayne McGregor and Didy Veidman had contributed works for the performance. He also introduced the National Ballet's Orchestra and its illustrious conductor. The manager mentioned the need for funding and tight management, He and Meisner had worked well together and he looked forward to their future collaboration.
I have made it my business to see student shows ever since 2007 when I saw Xander Parish and his sister Demelza and his sister steal a gala that included Marianela Nuñezand Samara Downs (see Charles Hutchinson Review: A Summer Gala of Dance and Song, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday31 July 2007). I have seen many great shows in that time but I think last Tuesday's was in a class of its own.
I went to Amsterdam in 2013 to see Michaela DePrince whom I had first mentioned in April 2013 - several months before she joined the Junior Company, I saw her at the Stasshouwberg and was impressed:
"I had come to Amsterdam to see Michaela dePrince about whom I have written a lot. She appeared as Diana in Diana & Actaeon a ballet originally choreographed by Agrippina Vaganova for the Kirov in 1935. Soviet ballet was athletic and spectacular requiring enormous virtuosity. I had seen something of dePrince's virtuosity in her YouTube videos but she is even more impressive in real life. She is quite simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while."
But I was also impressed by the other 11 dancers. I have followed their careers and those of their successors ever since. I have seen many performances by several cohorts of the Junior Company but I don't think I have ever seen the Junior Company dance better than they did last night.
More satisfyingly, the audience loved them. London sees a lot of dance - possibly more than any city in the world with the possible exception of New York - and balletomanes in our national capital do not easily rise to their feet for anything. I have always stood up for the Junior Company but in London, I have often been the only one. Yesterday I was joined by others and there was certainly a lot of noise even from those who had remained seated.
The programme started with Ernst Meisner's No Time Before Time. That is one of my favourite ballets from one of my favourite choreographers of all time. Meisner's work touches my emotions in a way that only one other work has ever done. When I see Embers, for example, my eyes begin to water, I start to sniffle, my body begins to tremble. I deploy every single sinew to control myself. Only Fokine's Dying Swan has the same effect on me and that is at least partly because of its association with Pavlova. No Time before Time is exuberant and makes me want to join the dancers on stage. It has a beautiful score by Alexander Balanescu that echoed tin my brain all the way back home to Yorkshire. Lasr night's cast interpreted it differently from those who danced it at Lausanne and the Meervaart in 2016. Perhaps more sensitively and delicately but equally delightfully.
The next work was Charlotte Edmonds's Fuse which I had also seen at the Meervaart in 2016. Set to Armand Amar's Dam in Chinaand Paddy Fieldsit begins with three dancers who appear to be bound to each other with their bonds behind their back. As the music changes from vocals to percussion the dancers appear to break free. In a short speech before the show, Ernst Meisner explained that the idea for Fuse had originated on the Linbury stage the last time the Junior Company had visited London. They had been so impressed with Edmonds's work that the company had invited her to create a work for the Junior Company in Amsterdam. In a short video which was shown before the piece was performed Edmonds reflected on the encounter between different cultures, interests and traditions. "Fuse" in this context appears to mean the result of mixing rather than the ignition of explosive (though it could also have meant that). The first time that I saw that ballet, I wrote: "This was the first time I had seen Edmonds's work and I look forward to more." Since then I have seen more at Northern Ballet's Tell Tale Steps 2and I look forward to her work with Ballet Cymru.
Daniela Cardim's Cardim's What got you here was the only work that I had not seen before. It was a thought provoking piece but one that was not entirely bereft of humour. There was a commentary which started with a celebration of the genetic accident that each individual represents but continued with the chilling thought that well over 99% of all life forms that have ever existed are now extinct. There was an exchange of finger pointing that seemed to result in a realization that any responsibility for such mass-extinctions is pretty widely shared. There was the interesting discussion of the circularity of time and movement. If a traveller started in a straight line to travel to the end of the universe he would eventually return to his starting point. More disturbing was considering what would happen if we knew the world would be destroyed within 4 years by the explosion of a neighbouring star, Would farmers bother to plant crops or deliver them to stores? The work ended dramatically with the dancers pointing accusingly at the audience before retracting their fingers and directing them to themselves.
An interval followed Cardim's work in which members of the audience were equipped with tiny red and green torches for Juanjo Arques's Fingers in the Air.That was a work I had seen at the company's fifth anniversary show on 15 April 2018 (see "In the Future" - Junior Company's Fifth Anniversary Performance17 April 2018). This time the commentary was in English. The audience was asked to vote on whether the men or women should dance, whether we wanted to see solos or duets and whether we wanted the dancers to perform with or without lights. It did not matter because at the end we were shown what we had been missing but the audience voted for the women, duets and lights. The site of the whole company dressed in the same black leotards was compelling. Arques was in the audience. I greeted him just before his piece started. It happened to be his birthday, What a way to celebrate!
The last work was Hans van Manen's In the Future. I had seen that work in the fifth anniversary show and also at last September's gala. Unless my memory is playing tricks on me, two new movements were added to In the Future. According to the programme notes, these were Winter and The Sound of Business which were part of David Byrne's Music for the Knee Plays album. I enjoyed Winter and the Sound of Business but I would have preferred to see them as separate pieces. Each of those works is a complete work itself in words and music as well as dance. It was, however, a spectacular way to end a very successful evening and a triumphant return to London.
The Junior Company will perform again tonight at 19:45. I do not know whether tickets are still on sale at the box office but if they are and you can reach the House in time I strongly recommend this show,
"When we returned to the auditorium images of falling snow were projected on to the stage. Before the house lights dimmed two dancers dressed as lions were in the auditorium. Then I recognized some of the beautiful young dancers from the Junior Company on stage. The beat was compelling. The dance an amalgam of ballet and hip hop. It was Narnia, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Ernst Mesiner and Marco Gerris. A collaboration between the Junior Company and ISH Dance Collective. That was the highlight of the show for me. When Ernst visited the London Ballet Circle he mentioned the possibility of bringing it to the UK. It would be wonderful if that were ever to happen. Particularly if it could be brought to Leeds or Manchester."
Last month I was lucky enough to meet Marco Gerris after the Junior Company's fifth anniversary show. I told him how much I had enjoyed the extract of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe that I had seen at the gala. I mentioned my review including including the last sentence.
Marco asked about Leeds and Manchester so I told him about Northern Ballet, Phoenix Dance Theatre, the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, the Centre for Advanced Training and the Arts Council's plans to make Leeds a centre of excellence for dance. I also mentioned The Lowry and its CAT, Northern Ballet School, Manchester City Ballet, our theatres and our city's links with English National Ballet, I hope to have planted a seed that may one day lead to our seeing Marco's work in this country. I am aware that the Dutch National Ballet has been in touch with the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre but nothing has come of it so far.
Unfortunately, we are unlikely ever to see Narnia again. Apparently, the company was unable to obtain the rights it needed to re-stage Narnia (see Narnia becomes Grimm). However, Ernst and Marco have created a new ballet called Grimmwhich is touring the Netherlands with great success. According to the Dutch National Ballet's website:
"GRIMM is about two boys who find themselves in a fantasy world, where they meet Red Riding Hood and the wolf, the seven dwarves, Rapunzel, Snow White, the witch, Cinderella and other fairytale characters in succession. They get mixed up in exciting adventures, in which all sorts of elements from well-known fairytales are jumbled up in a lively parade of fairytale characters. As in all fairytales, a big role is played by love and jealousy, friendship, tyranny, intrigues and the battle between good and evil."
There is a British connection in that the score was contributed by Scanner (Robin Rimbaud). Unfortunately, the tour ends this week so I will be unable to see the collaboration this time but I will certainly catch future ones.
Although it has nothing whatsoever to do with ballet, I should mention that the BBC has started to broadcast a series of three programmes by Misha Glennie called The Invention of the Netherlands. The first episode was about the low countries' early history and the Dutch Republic's war of independence against Spain. It jolted me into thinking just how little I know of the country. I have made scores of visits to Amsterdam over the years for business or pleasure but save for a weekend in Rotterdam with a lawyer friend who drove me around South Holland including Oudewater where, as in Pendle, they had witch trials I had never been anywhere else.
I was reminded by the programme of the Netherlands' diversity. In Frisia, for example, the locals speak a language that is even closer to English than Dutch. In Baarle-Nassau in Brabant there are pockets of Belgium that are surrounded by Dutch territory (some just a few square yards in size) and in some places pockets of the Netherlands within Belgian enclaves on Dutch soil. I think this may be the year for a coach or motoring holiday of one of our nearest neighbours.
Michaela DePrince in "A Million Kisses to my Skin"
Author Angela Sterling (c) 2015 Dutch National Ballet, all rights reserved Licensed with the kind permission of the company
Danceworks has just announced that Michaela DePrince will teach at its studios in London between 23 July and 3 Aug 2018. According to the studio's press release:
"Michaela will be teaching our young dancers at the Danceworks Ballet Academy Summer Intensive, a two-week programme that offers young dancers from ages 6 up to pre-professional, the chance to be coached by leading ballet stars. Students will perform at the prestigious Lilian Baylis Studios, Sadler's Wells on the final day of the course."
She visited the studios in 2015 and 2016 and on each occasion Lesley Osman sent me some lovely photos of her with her students, including an account by one of them who showed a talent for journalism as well as dance (see Michaela's Masterclass8 July 2015 and Michaela DePrince revisits Danceworks7 Aug 2016). If you or one of your offspring would like to attend one of Michaela DePrince's classes you should email balletschool@danceworks.com for further information.
I first heard about Michaela DePrince when she was still in America. I was interested to learn that she was born in Sierra Leone because my late spouse and daughter manquée also came from that country. When she joined the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet I attended its first performance at the Stadsshouwburg in Amsterdam. In my review of that performance I described her as "quite simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while" (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 201325 Nov 2013). Michaela led me to the Junior Company who in turn led me to the mighty Dutch National Ballet which has been a source of great pleasure for me.
If you want to meet Michaela but are too old for her class at Danceworks you might do so at the opening night gala of the 2018/2019 ballet season. The evening consists of a performance followed by a party in the Stopera and it was at that party that I encountered her (see The best evening I have ever spent at the ballet13 Sep 2015). Now there is quite a crowd at that party and I can't guarantee that you will meet Michaela as I did but you would be very unlucky not to make the acquaintance of at least one or two members of that brilliant company.
Tickets for the gala will be on sale from the beginning of June and they are usually snapped up like hot cakes. If any of my readers from anywhere in the world would like to join me at the Stopera on opening night do let me know and maybe we can form a party. If there are enough of us we may even be able to get some discounts and so some other fun things like take a day trip to IJsselstein for an adult ballet class at the Jos Dolstra Dance Institute.
"In the future everyone will have the same haircut and the same clothes.
In the future everyone will be very fat from the starchy diet.
In the future everyone will be very thin from not having enough to eat.
In the future it will be next to impossible to tell girls from boys, even in bed ....."
This is a visually arresting but also a very witty piece. It opens to a repetitive, pulsating score suggesting an industrial process. The dancers enter the stage in pairs coalesce into larger groups then separate into smaller ones again. Each and every movement in completely synchronized just like the equipment and components on an assembly line.
Van Manen created In the Future in 1986 for the Scarpino Ballet of Rotterdam but it could have been tailored for the Junior Company. It requires 12 very special dancers with very sharp minds and very agile bodies. The young men and women who performed at the Stadsschouwburg on Sunday night are among the best on the planet. Their artistic coordinator, Ernst Meisner, scored the world looking for them at competitions like the Prix de Lausanne and the Youth America Grand Prix and elsewhere. Watching those artists was a mesmerizing, awe-inspiring experience that swept the audience to their feet.
Of the towering choreographic geniuses of my youth - Ashton, Balanchine, Béjart, Cranko, MacMillan, Petit - van Manen is the only one left and he is still busy. He is one of the reasons why the Dutch National Ballet is special. He symbolizes its willingness to innovate and thereby renew itself. Van Manen's muse is the great ballerina, Igone de Jongh, and she was the Junior Company's ballet master for Sunday's performance. In the trailer. Ode to the Master, de Jongh and van Mann dance together. There could have been no stronger collaboration for this work.
The colours red and green were also used by the brilliant Spanish choreographer Juanjo Arqués in Fingers in the Air.Click on the link to the left to see the video as it is the best way to explain the work. Lamps no more than an inch long were distributed to the audience and carried by the cast. One emitted red light and the other green. At various stages of the performance groups of dancers competed with each other - three men against three women or a soloist against a duet - and the members of the audience were asked to vote on which performance they preferred, CelebrityBig Brother style using their lamps. On the first vote, the women won. The jubilant females punched the air and continued to dance as the dejected males slunk away. Perhaps this was the beginning of a whole new art form - reality ballet.
Towards the end of the work the lights went down. The dancers continued to dance but all that was visible was the movement of the reds and greens just like fireflies. The effect was magical and captivating especially when members of the audience lit their lamps too
I discussed the work with the choreographer after the show. "What if the audience had chosen the men in the first vote?" I asked. "The audience had been guided" Juanjo added. "Just like we were in the Brexit referendum," I suggested, "or the Americans who voted for Donald Trump?" The choreographer did not deny the possibility of a political dimension to his work though I got the impression he was more comfortable discussing the analogy with reality TV where the viewers are consumers.
Though the Dutch National Ballet is innovative it is also strongly rooted in a tradition and looks beyond Petipa to Bournonville. The Junior Company's homage to that tradition was the Pas de Six and Tarantella from Napoli. Though notionally set in Italy Napoli is associated primarily with the Royal Danish Ballet - much in the same way as Ashton's La Fille mal gardée is quintessentially English even though it is supposed to be located in pre-revolutionary France. In their swirling skirts the women were enchanting. The men in their breeches and white shirts and stockings were so dashing. This is a feel good ballet if ever there was. Coached by Ernst Meisner and Caroline Sayo Iura the dancers were magnificent.
I cannot think of a better choice of work than those three ballets to show off the qualities of the Dutch National Ballet. It is that combination of innovation and classicism that distinguishes that company from the others. From time to time representatives of the company thank me for my support. "But I don't think I do" I explain "other than by sitting in the audience and being one of the company's Friends." I am not, alas, an industrialist or aristocrat who could donate what I would like to give and that company deserves. All I can do is cross the North Sea to see its shows whenever I can. Why wouldn't I? This company has a je ne sais quoi that makes it great. I say that in all seriousness and with all sincerity.
