My Personal Ballet Highlights of 2014

Choosing  highlights from 2014 has not been easy. I have seen a lot of ballet over the last year and have even danced in one (see The Time of my Life 28 June 2014). I've seen several of the world's most famous companies and many of the world's most acclaimed dancers. I've taken class from some wonderful teachers some of whom have danced principal roles. I've seen some of the great names of ballet at events organized by the London Jewish Cultural Centre and the London Ballet Centre. As it is impossible to compare these experiences objectively I have used just one criterion. What experiences in ballet have given me most pleasure in 2014?

I have to start with Ballet Black because I saw their triple bill no less than four times last year. It consisted of three works: Limbo by Martin Lawrence, Two of a Kind by Christopher Marney, and A Dream within Midsummer Night's Dream by Arthur Pita. I loved them all but my favourite was the Marney. Marney is a choreographer I particularly admire (see my appreciation Christopher Marney 15 March 2014). I was thrilled to meet him when he spoke to London Ballet Circle and again at the premier of Dogs Don't Do Ballet in Harlow in October. I saw Ballet Black perform those works in London, Southport where I was lucky enough to meet Cassa Pancho and several of her dancers for the first time,  Nottingham and Leeds. They got better and better each time so it was their last performance at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds that I enjoyed the most. That was the first of my personal ballet highlights of 2014.

The Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre was the venue in which my over 55 class danced as part of the end of year show. To dance on the same stage as some of my favourite artists was a terrific experience. Literally the time of my life but I doubt if it was for anyone else so I shan't count that. Instead I shall mention Northern Ballet's mixed bill which consisted of Lubovitch's Concerto 622, van Manen's Concertante and Kenneth Tindall's The Architect. I am a fan of all those choreographers, particularly Hans van Manen who is one of the resident choreographers of the Dutch National Ballet of which I am now a Friend.  But it was Tindall's The Architect that thrilled me most that day. A few days earlier I had contributed to an appeal by Hannah Bateman to raise funds on Kickstarter to film The Architect which I supported  (see They Made It!  20 June 2014). It was a great pleasure to meet Bateman and Tindall at the 10th anniversary gala for the CAT gala. 

Tindall like Marney trained at Central. Another talented young choreographer from that school is Paul Chantry who is one of the founders and artistic directors of Chantry Dance Company. I owe them and in particular their dance director Gail Gordon a personal debt of gratitude for coaxing me onto stage at Lincoln Drill Hall on 9 May 2014 (see Chantry Dance Company's Sandman and Dream Dance 10 May 2014) for that was the first time I had danced in public. Without that experience I would never have have put my name forward for the Northern Ballet Academy end of year show. That day was memorable in several other respects. I met Mel Wong and two other talented young dancers. I helped make and dance in a ballet which is now on Vimeo. I saw a great performance of Sandman by Paul Chantry and his wife Rae Piper. But best of all I got to know Chantry Dance Company which does great educational and outreach work as well as great shows (see Chantry Dance - Making Connections 30 Aug 2014).

Another company that does great outreach work as well as great shows is Ballet Cymru which has a close connection with the London Ballet Circle. In June I saw their Beauty and the Beast in Lincoln which was a great show but an even better show was Stuck in the Mud which they performed on the streets and by the beach of Llndudno in collaboration with Gloucestershire Dance. Ballet Cymru has some wonderful dancers and it was a great pleasure to see them again but it was the contribution of the Gloucestershire dancers that impressed me on that occasion. It was my first experience of accessible dance and I immediately saw its value for an audience. Instead of overcoming disability the dancers add a new dimension to dance. Seeing that performance and later meeting the choreographer Marc Brew was definitely a highlight of 2014.

Marc Brew works in Glasgow which is the home of Scottish Ballet, the first ballet company that I got to know and love (see Scottish Ballet 20 Dec 2013). Last year I saw two great performances by that company, Romeo and Juliet in May which promoted me to become a Friend of the company and The Crucible with Ten Poems in October. If I allowed a company more than one highlight they would be five and six from last year. I anticipate that Peter Darrell's The Nutcracker which I shall see next week will be one of the highlights of 2015.  As I have to chose one from Scottish Ballet it has to be Krzysztof Pastor's Romeo and Juliet.

Two other performances of Romeo and Juliet were highlights for me in 2014, First, the Mariinsky's at Covent Garden with Xander Parish in the leading role. I was lucky enough to meet Xander Parish when he spoke to the London Ballet Circle a few days after the show. My ballet teacher's daughter's birthday fell just a few days afterwards. I presented him with two cards - one from the Royal Ballet's shop and the other from Northern Ballet's and he paid us the compliment of choosing the Northern Ballet one.

The other Romeo and Juliet that thrilled me was English National Ballet's Romeo and Juliet in the round at the Albert Hall. The principal roles were danced by Friedemann Vogel and Alina Cojocaru. It was a bittersweet moment for me because I feared that would be the last time I would see Sarah Kundi whom I have followed ever since she was with Northern Ballet. I was overjoyed to learn that she had been recruited by English National Ballet (see Saved for the Nation 17 July 2014). In November I saw her and my other favourite dancers from the company in company class (see Coppelia in Oxford  2 Nov 2014), Kundi is not just a fine dancer but also an entertaining blogger and I strongly recommend her notes on tour.

For a while Kundi danced with MurleyDance and it was she who drew that company to my attention. I saw their triple bill in Leeds on 1 Dec 2013. Although I had come to see Kundi I was impressed by the other dancers and David Murley's choreography. I saw the company again in October when they danced Hail Britannia 28 Oct 2014. They had evolved tremendously.  It was almost a different company.  I liked all the works but my favourite was Anaish Parmar's Shaadi.  That was about an Indian wedding and I loved the way the choreographer combined east and west. There was Indian music but also I'm getting married in the Morning. There were wonderful jumps and pointe work.

I mentioned van Manen and Pastor above. They are two of the reasons why I have become a Friend of the Dutch National Ballet. A third is the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company who came to London in May. I had already seen them in Amsterdam and they were even better at the Linbury.  As before there were superb performances by Michaela DePrince and Sho Yamada and my favourite ballet of the show was Ernst Meisner's Saltarello. I have featured the Junior Company earlier this month and I am looking forward to seeing them again in their opening show in Amsterdam on 6 Feb 2015.

I saw the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden twice last year as well as several HDTV transmissions in the cinema. Because they are the gold standard I expect a lot from them and my reviews have been a little more critical than those of other companies.  It goes without saying that two of the best performances of the year by a country mile were Giselle in January and The Winter's Tale. As I have to choose one show from each company it has to be Giselle  with Carlos Acosta and Natalia Osipova. I think that is because I already knew Giselle and although I find Act II superstitious and creepy it contains the most sublime choreography I know. Although I was a trifle disappointed when I first saw Winter's Tale I got to appreciate it when I saw it in the cinema and on TV on Christmas day and I now like it very much indeed.

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.

Post Script

What will be my ballet highlights for 2015? Here are some of my suggestions: Looking Forward to 2015 - My Choices 29 Dec 2014.

Amsterdam or London?

When I travelled to Amsterdam to see the Junior Company Dutch National Ballet for the first time last November nothing could have been easier or more pleasant.  Contrast it with my trek to the capital of my own country to see them again at The Linbury. That journey could not have been more trying and cost a great deal more.

The flight to Amsterdam lasted 45 minutes. Though we are not in Shengen customs and immigration took minutes to clear. Outside the terminal at Schipol airport a bus was waiting to take me to my hotel in the Leidseplein which cost something like 4 euros.  The hotel was literally across the road from the Stadsschouwburg where the Junior Company was performing.  You can actually see a bit of the theatre in the photo on the hotel's home page. I booked through Booking.com and got a room with a shower for under 100 euro. The hotel is about a quarter of a mile from the restored Rijksmuseum where I gorged my eyes on Rembrandt and the other masters.  The performance at the Stadsshouwburg was magnificent (see "The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013" 25 Nov 2013). After the show I consumed a traditional Dutch 3 course meal at The Pantry with a glass of beer for about 35 euros. I remember that the speciality of the house had a long Dutch name but looked and tasted very much like cottage pie. I then wrote my review using one of the hotel's computers in the business centre rather than its expensive wifi, had a good night's sleep and caught my bus back to Schipol at 06:30 in good time for my flight home.

I live in Holmfirth in the Pennines near the Peak District National Park. It is a beautiful part of the world and I have a 4 bedroom house with stunning views for the cost of a dog kennel in Kensal Rise. It is only 200 miles from London as the crow flies. No distance at all to an Angeleno or a Sydneysider.  But have you seen the train fares to Euston, King's Cross or St Pancras? Or the cost of parking at a mainline station car park? Or the time you need to allow to pick up your ticket from the temperamental ticket machines?

Through trial and error over the years I have worked out that the best way to London is to drive to Luton Parkway (164 miles away) where I can park for £2 after 17:00 and take Thameslink to Farringdon or Holborn Viaduct for £9.35.  When the M1 is clear the drive to Luton Parkway from Dodworth takes 2 1/2 hours - only an hour longer than  the drive to Sheffield or Manchester and the time you have to allow for parking and getting your ticket. But right now the M1 is not clear. There is a 20 mile stretch of roadworks from Derbyshire to Sheffield which will take a year to finish and when there is an accident as there was yesterday it takes hours for the carriageway to be cleared.  If you break your journey in London even at a Travelodge you're talking about serious money. And as for restaurants ..... £75 for a curry for 3 in Drury Lane.

Even more annoying than the prices and congestion in London is the arrogance of London audiences who can't acknowledge excellence from outside when they see it.  They were presented with excellence by Scottish Ballet two weeks ago (see "Scottish Ballet's Timeless Romeo and Juliet" 15 May 2014) and all that they could do was grumble that Pastor's ballet was not the same as Macmillan's. I have already mentioned the reluctance of the audience at the Linbury to give those marvellous kids of the Junior Company the accolade that they had received in Amsterdam and which they so richly deserved in London after dancing their hearts out ("And can they fly! The Dutch National Ballet Junior Company at Covent Garden" 30 May 2014). And when I happened to mention in a discussion on Ballet Black that Christopher Marney is my favourite living British choreographer I was answered by a post of a long list of others the inference being that I can't possibly have seen very much. When I pointed out that my respondent had omitted David Nixon and Tindall from his list I received an even more condescending observation in reply.

So I have been looking round for an alternative to London and I think I have found it in Amsterdam.  Just look at the programme of the Dutch National Ballet for the coming year. Right now they are touring with Ashton's Midsummer Night's Dream and Paquita in Dreams. Next month they are launching Pastor's Tempest. Having been thrilled by Scottish Ballet's Romeo and Juliet I am eager to see more of his work.  It may not be possible as the 21 clashes with Northern Ballet's Mixed Bill and the 29 clashes with Northern Ballet Academy's Friends Gala. But I will be back for van Dantzig's Swan Lake in September (of which we got a little taste on Thursday) and Jewels and Cool Britannia next year.

Of course I won't give up on London altogether. I still love the Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Rambert, Ballet Black and so much more.  You will still catch me occasionally at the House, the Coliseum and the Wells.  I am braving the roads yet again tomorrow to see Clement Crisp interview Lady Macmillan and Donald Macleary's Masterclass at Ivy House, Anna Palova's old home at 15:30. I am staying over to see Chris Marney at the London Ballet Circle. But London had better look out. Amsterdam, Paris and Copenhagen are serious alternatives for a change of scenery.

Scottish Ballet's Timeless Romeo and Juliet

Ever since it was in Bristol  Scottish Ballet has been exciting and innovative. I suppose that is one of the reasons why I have always admired it.  It was works such as Mods and Rockers '63 and Houseparty that first attracted my attention. It continued to innovate and take risks after the company's move to Glasgow with a a steady stream of new works by Peter Darrell, Ashley Page and now Christopher Hampson all of which are reflected in the company's repertoire. Krzysztof Pastor's Romeo and Juliet continues that tradition of adventure and innovation.  

I saw that ballet at Sadler's Wells on 17 May 2014. This is the first time it has been seen in London but it has  been in Scottish Ballet's repertoire since 2008.   It is in fact on its third tour of Scotland or fourth if you count the Up Close tour when parts of the ballet were danced in some of the smaller venues in Scotland during October 2010.  After London it will be in Edinburgh between the 21 and 24 May. As Northern Ballet's recent success at The Linbury shows, there is good ballet outside London though that seems to come as a surprise to London audiences.

The story of Romeo and Juliet is well known and has been the translated into ballet by several choreographers. The version with which British audiences are most familiar is probably Kenneth Macmillan's for the Royal Ballet.  Ballet Cymru also has a great version for the small auditoriums that it visits which I reviewed in "They're not from Chigwell - they're from a small Welsh Town called Newport" 14 May 2013. Next month we shall see English National Ballet's Romeo and Juliet in the Round and then the Mariinsky's with Xander Parish dancing Romeo.  

Shakespeare's play and the other versions of the ballet focuses on the young lovers who are kept apart by family antipathy and rivalry. Pastor's version focuses on the enmity not just in mediaeval Verona but in Italy throughout the ages.   It achieves that effect by setting different scenes of the ballet in different periods of modern Italian history: 

• between the wars when Fascists struggled with Communists; 
• the immediate post war period when Italy was transformed into a consumer society; and 
• the recent past when the post-war consumer boom ended precipitously.

There are people in the position of Romeo and Juliet in every age and I read the references to Romeo and Juliet in the ballet as the representatives  of such persons in each of those periods.

In every other respect the ballet followed the play. There were strong performances by Christopher Harrison as Romeo, Claire Robertson as Juliet, Daniel Davidson as Mercutio, Owen Thorne as Tybault and Rimbaud Patron as Friar Lawrence. Principal conductor Richard Honner stuck to the Prokofiev score though perhaps with a few tweaks. For instance the percussion seemed to continue a little longer than in other versions after Romeo had killed Tybault.  As in Macmillan's version the centre piece of Pastor's ballet were the pas de deux that traced the lovers' relationship: the initial meeting, the balcony scene, in the bedroom and finally the tomb. I noticed how a lift that seemed like an assisted grand jeté expressed diffidence and even struggle in the first pas de deux and joy in the second.

Among the aspects of the ballet that I most liked were Tatyana van Walsum's designs which can be studied on the Romeo and Juliet page of her website. For each of the three periods she set the scene with flickering newsreel clips and the protagonists' uniforms.

For my further reflections on this ballet and the views of others who saw it This ballet is not everybody's cup of tea though it is certainly mine. The initial reactions on BalletcoForum were not exactly encouraging but I have known Scottish Ballet for many years and I was not going to be deterred. I am glad I persevered. After watching Romeo and Juliet at the Wells on Saturday I signed up as a Friend though I have been such for many years.

Further Reading
20 Dec 2013   Scottish Ballet
9 March 2014 Peter Darrell
11 March 2014  Elaine McDonald in her own Words