All Hail to the Lone Star Dancer

Texas is often called the "Lone Star State" because of the design of its state flag which harks back to the days when a number of English-speaking settlers adopted a flag that consisted of a single star for an insurrection that resulted in Texas's secession from Mexico in 1836 and its eventual absorption into the United States in 1846. Sadly when it joined the Union it did so as a slave state which prolonged one of the most egregious outrages of human history that ended only after a particularly tragic civil war and was followed by the systematic oppression and marginalization of former victims of that outrage and their descendants that have continued until our own times.

However, that is only part of the picture for that state of nearly 28 million people has contributed much to humanity in the arts, science, technology, government, industry and commerce. One of the more illustrious of those 28 million is the dancer Damien Johnson who celebrated his 10th anniversary with Ballet Black at the Nottingham Playhouse last night. We were alerted to the celebration by the cast sheet that urged the audience to

"celebrate our Senior Artist, Damien Johnson's 10-year anniversary with Ballet Black at the final curtain call after Red Riding Hood." 

We did indeed celebrate with a standing ovation for that fine dancer when the company's founder, Cassa Pancho, entered the stage and presented Damien with a massive bouquet of flowers. It was the first time in over 50 years of ballet going that I have seen such recognition for a premier danseur noble as opposed to a ballerina in this country (though it is often done in Russia and other countries) and, as a feminist, I hope it will not be the last.

Yesterday's performance was memorable for me not just for Damien's celebration or even the company's performance but because Cassa introduced me to Anabelle Lopez Ochoa as we were taking our seats for Little Red Riding Hood.  Annabelle had created that ballet for Ballet Black but she has also choreographed A Streetcar Named Desire for Scottish Ballet (see Scottish Ballet's Streetcar 2 April 2015), Reversible for Danza Contemporanea de Cuba (see Danza Contemporanea de Cuba at the Lowry 19 Feb 2017) and many other works. Earlier this year, she held a workshop at the Barbican in February which I was actually invited to attend and I was very tempted to do so. Had I been a stronger and more skilful dancer I would have accepted readily but I really did not feel up to the challenge. I am very grateful to David Murley for attending the event and reporting back to us in Red Riding Hood Workshop at the Barbican with Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa and Ballet Black.

As Is often the case, I enjoyed Ballet Black's mixed bill the second time even more than I did when I first saw the show (see Ballet Black Triumphant 7 March 2017). I think that is because I noticed details that I had missed before such as the humour in the show like the mewing of the wolf cubs as they harass Grandma, the swooning of the she-wolves as they encounter the Big Bad Wolf's, BBW's gestures such as the swinging of his pyjama string tail and Grandma's battering of BBW with the flowers that he had just given her, I also appreciated the other two works more, particularly Corder's House of Dreams as his Baiser de la Fée which I had seen in Birmingham the night before was still fresh in my memory (see Birmingham Royal Ballet's Three Short Ballets: Le Baiser de la fée, Pineapple Poll and Arcadia 22 June 2017). Indeed, I was going to compare and contrast the two works had it not been for Damien's celebration. I had even toyed with "Cordered" as a headline for today's post.

I look forward to seeing Ballet Black again in November when they will venture out of the Beautiful South for a night in Derby on the 15 and two in Leeds on the 17 and 18 where we shall ply them with Taddy Ales, Bradford naans (not all that different from Yorkshire puddings) and parkin. They won't get any of that in their other venues.

Excellence in Wales

Ballet Cymru "The Light Princess"

(c) 2017 Ballet Cymru: all rights reserved

The Wales Theatre Awards recognize excellence in theatre, dance and opera created and presented in Wales. Nominations for the 2017 awards were made by 40 English and Welsh language critics working throughout Wales for print, broadcast and online platforms. They made 830 nominations for 281 artists and 157 shows from 89 companies (see Mike Smith Wales Theatre Awards - The Winners 25 Feb 2017 Art Scene in Wales).

I am delighted to report that two of the companies that we follow were among the winners.  Ballet Cymru won best dance production with Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs which David Murley reviewed brilliantly in Little Red Riding Hood comes to London 2 Dec 2016 and I covered in Ballet Cymru's Summer Tour 22 May 2016 and Ballet Cymru's "Sleeping Beauty Moment" 5 Dec 2016. Caroline Finn of the National Dance Company of Wales won the best female dance artist award with Folk which I reviewed in Cambriophilia on 18 March 2016.

The best male dance artist award was won by Phil Willians of Cascade Dance Theatre. I have not yet made the acquaintance of Mr Williams or his company but I hope to do so before long. His company describes itself as

"a repertory touring company working with the Creu Cymru dance touring network to provide ensemble dance that is artist-led with a Wales and international perspective, having high production values and with an equal emphasis on quality of the art and a passion to speak to a general public audience."

For the benefit of readers outside Wales, I should say that Creu Cymru is the development agency for theatres and arts centres in Wales. Its members include nearly all the professionally run theatres, arts centres and other venues in Wales.

Last year was a good year for Ballet Cymru having been nominated for the second year running for one of the National Dance Awards. It has recruited some fine young dancers one of whom was my outstanding young dancer for 2016 (see The Terpsichore Titles: Outstanding Young Dancers of 2016 28 Dec 2016). We hope to see more of them in Ballet Cymru's Spring Tour with its new production, The Light Princess which I previewed in Ballet Cymru's The Light Princess 25 Jan 2017 and A Midsummer Night;s Dream that I also mentioned in that post. Ballet Cymru has now supplied us with the photo for The Light Princess with its press release which I have posted above.

Circulation

There are still another 11 days to run before the end of the month but December has already turned out to be our best month ever with 13,438 page hits. We have received 216,581 since we started this publication with our review of Ballet West's performance of The Nutcracker at Pitlochry on 25 Feb 2013.  The choice of subject matter proved to be prescient because each and every one of our top 5 articles has had a Welsh or Scottish connection.

Our most popular article of all time measured by the number of page hits has been David Murley's review of Ballet Cymru's performance of Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs at Sadler's Wells on 29 Nov 2016 (see David Murley Little Red Riding Hood comes to London 2 Dec 2016).  It is followed very closely by my review of the same company's Romeo a Juliet in Newport on 5 Nov 2016 (see A Romeo and Juliet for our Times 7 Nov 2016). I am delighted by the interest that my readers have shown in Ballet Cymru.  On 4 Dec 2016, Ballet Cymru appeared on the stage of the Donald Gordon Theatre with the entire BBC National Orchestra of Wales in the Wales Millennium Centre before a packed house in a performance that may turn out to be as significant for the development of ballet in Wales as Sader's Wells Ballet's performance of The Sleeping Beauty proved to be for the development of ballet in the United Kingdom (see Ballet Cymru's "Sleeping Beauty Moment" 5 Dec 2016).  I am proud to say that I am a Friend of Ballet Cymru and that I am very fond of that company.

Another company that has a special place in my affection is Scottish Ballet because it was the first company that I got to know and love.  I was at St Andrews when the Western Theatre Ballet moved from Bristol to Glasgow and our Professor of Fine Arts, John Steer, who had known the company when it was in the West Country introduced me to its great choreographer, Peter Darrell, and its talented dancers.  I am therefore particularly satisfied that our third most popular article is my preview of David Dawson's Swan Lake in Liverpool (see Dawson's Swan Lake comes to Liverpool 29 May 2016). The article was prompted by Christopher Hampson's on-stage elevation of two of my favourite ballerinas, Bethany Kingsley-Garner and Constance Devernay, to principals of the company after their performances in Swan Lake. I reviewed Dawson's ballet in which Kingsley-Garner danced Odette in Empire Blanche - Dawson's Swan Lake 4 June 2016. The company has re-staged Hampson's Hansel and Gretel which I reviewed when it first appeared (see Scottish Ballet's Hansel and Gretel 23 Dec 2013).

My fourth most popular article is my interview with Gavin McCaig (see Meet Gavin McCaig of Northern Ballet 3 Sept 2014). Gavin is, of course, a Scotsman.  I interviewed him shortly after he had joined the company as an apprentice and before he had started to tour.  He seems to be doing very well in the company and has toured the length and breadth of the United Kingdom as well as venues in China. I last saw him in Beauty and the Beast on Saturday where he was a friend of Isabelle and Chantelle and a guest at Beauty and Orian's wedding. In the latter role he and the other guests had to do some thrilling jumps and turns. Like everybody in the cast, he did very well and they earned a special "bravi" from me at the curtain call. Northern Ballet is a company that I have followed ever since its formation and supported ever since I moved back to Manchester in 1985. I am a Friend of both the company and the Academy and for the last 3 years I have been attending at least one and often two ballet classes there a week,

Appropriately, my fifth most popular article of all time is about Ballet West (see Congratulations to Ballet West - here's to the next 25 Years 25 Nov 2016). I am looking forward to seeing Ballet West in Swan Lake early in the New Year. They were very impressive when I last saw them in 2014 (see Swan Loch - Ballet West's Swan Lake, Pitlochry 1 March 2014 3 March 2914). This time I hope to catch them at the Armadillo where they will show what they can do on a big stage. Next year their artistic director, Gillian Barton, has promised that they will dance La Sylphide - just for me.  I do hope that is still possible because it is a lovely ballet rarely performed in the UK which is surprising as it is set in Scotland.

I wish all the folks in Ballet Cymru Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda and all the Scots a Merry Christmas and a Good New Year.

Little Red Riding Hood comes to London

Little Red Riding Hood

Photo John Bishop
(c) 2016 Ballet Cymru: all rights reserved
Reproduced wth kind permission of the company

Ballet Cymru, Little Red Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs, Sadler's Wells, 29 Nov 2016

David Murley

Ballet Cyrmu, a jewel-box of a ballet company, recently performed their production of Roald Dahl’s Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Pigs. Based in Newport, Wales, the company came to London and put the fairy tale inspired show on at the Lilian Baylis Studio Theatre at Sadler’s Wells from the 28th – 30th November 2016. The performance was perfect in length, not too long or too short. To add, the spectacle goes down a treat with both children and adults alike.

First on the bill for the evening was Little Red Riding Hood. Keeping true to the ‘Revolting Rhymes’ of Welsh author Dahl, the company members execute James’s and Doughty’s choreography with acute precision while maintaining vivid characterisations. Integrating complex footwork and maintaining a high level of animation to sustain characterization is a skill. It takes a lot of energy and concentration – something the dancers of Ballet Cymru have made to seem effortless. There were moments in the enchaînements of the Sprites and Little Red Riding Hood herself where the sequences of dance appeared to be a marathon of endless steps. However, the dancers blazed through the plentiful choreography, again, seamlessly staying in character. 

The technicality of the female dancer’s footwork – especially the use of the metatarsals, particularly amongst the female Sprites in Little Red Riding Hood was noticeably articulate and crisp. From a technical dance point of view, this was exceptionally pleasing to watch. Keep up the good work, ladies! 

Spanish company Artist Anna Pujol portrayed a likeable, empowered, no-nonsense and even glamorous Little Red Riding Hood. Pujol has sass and class. There were moments speckled throughout the piece when she was a budding Cyd Charisse. English Narrator Mark Griffiths, who trained in Canada, finds himself back in the UK in Ballet Cymru after performing with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. His solid and robust North American training was evident in his double saut de basques and strong jump. Not only did Griffiths exemplify strong and confident dancing abilities, but he excelled in the role as Narrator. Griffiths was able to speak clearly, audibly and enunciate with clarity that was easy on the ear. To add, Griffiths’s displayed a propensity to chop and change accents as he voiced over the different characters in Dahl’s story. 

After a short interval, the programme continued with Dahl’s The Three Little Pigs. It was refreshing to see some of the other company members given a chance to shine. Rockstar Big Bad Wolf, played by Australian Dylan Waddell, was positively hammy, nimble and authentic. He was consistent throughout, technically and character-wise. Waddell has a genuine stage presence. 

The staging of the Three Little Pigs' houses was simply adorable. Anyone who has kids, or occasionally cries during films will most certainly have a hearty chuckle as the wolf huffs and puffs and blows their houses down. Again, kudos to Spanish dancer Pujol for re-entering as Little Red Riding Hood, this time with a towel on her head and looking simply divine. 

The company of dancers at Ballet Cymru appear to be a strong and tight-knit community within themselves. There appears to be a supportive camaraderie amongst them, which is essential in maintaining a healthy and successful group of dancers. I wish them well, and look forward to seeing the group again soon. They were a pleasure to watch. 

Ballet Cyrmu next head to Cardiff where they will be putting on their production of Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs. The company will perform on the main stage of the Millennium Centre with a full 72-piece symphony orchestra on the 4th December 2016. Ballet Cymru is the first dance company to perform Dahl’s story set to composer’s Paul Patterson’s colourful and vibrant score. All the best to the company in Cardiff. The evening will undoubtedly be an enchanting one.

Ballet Cymru's Summer Tour

Darius James with Gwenllian Davies and Miguel Fernandes

Photo Gita Mistry
(c) 2016 Gita Mistry, all rights reserved

Ballet Cynru, Roald Dahl's Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs, Riverfront Theatre, Newport 21 May 2016

Last night I attended the opening of Ballet Cymru's summer tour at the company's home theatre in Newport. The works which they are taking on tour are revivals of Roald Dahl's  Little Red Riding Hood & The Three Little Pigs to celebrate the centenary of the writer's birth and Romeo a Juliet to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.  Both ballets were created by Darius James and Amy Doughty whose work I admire very much indeed. Their Cinderella was outstanding. It was so good that it was my ballet of the year and their Tir was my number two (see Highlights of 2015 29 Dec 2915).

The work which the company performed last night was Lwhich I previewed in Hard not to have Favourites ...... Ballet Cymru's Little Red Riding Hood rides again 28 April 2016). These are dance dramas based on two of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes which are connected by the appearance of Little Red Riding Hood as wolf slayer in both works. Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf are act 1 and The Three Little Pigs are act 2. The ballet is very short which makes it suitable for young children of whom there were quite a few in the audience last night but those stories have an ironic twist epitomized by the line "Ah, Piglet, you must never trust Young ladies from the upper crust" which appeals to adults.

The central figure in the show (or as Gita would say "person of the match") was Little Red Riding Hood danced last night by Lydia Arnoux who displayed her usual virtuosity with charm and humour but she was supported strongly by Mark Griffiths who told the story and also by Andrea Battagia who danced the wolf and Robbie Moorcroft who danced the dissolute alcoholic grandma in act 1. Yesterday was an opportunity to see Ballet Cymru's latest recruits two of whom appear with Darius James in the photo above. Gwenllian Davies, who is actually Welsh, danced the virtuous grandmother yesterday. Her companion, Miguel Fernandes, was part of a cow in act 1 and a pig in act 2. Dylan Waddell was the other half of the cow. Anna Pujol was a pig in both acts. They all performed well as did the whole cast.

The recruitment of four new dancers with excellent credentials attests to the increasing strength and self confidence of the company. It is still relatively small in numbers but not in ambition for it will perform Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs to the accompaniment of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in the massive Millennium Centre in Cardiff on 4 Dec 2016. That will be a great day and a coming of age for a great little company. Wherever you are in the country, nay Europe or indeed the world, it will be worth a trip to Cardiff for it will be a day to remember.

Hard not to have Favourites ...... Ballet Cymru's Little Red Riding Hood rides again

While much of the ballet world has been commemorating the fourth centenary of the death of William Shakespeare (see Opera, Ballet and the Bard - Shakespeare Lives 23 Apr 2016) Ballet Cymru will be celebrating another literary anniversary, namely the centenary of the birth in Llandaff of the novelist, poet and screenplay writer Roald Dahl.

One of Dahl's most popular works is his Revolting Rhymes which is a re-working in verse of a number of traditional children's stories.  Here is an example.  Everyone knows the traditional story of the three little pigs and their respective construction technologies which Hannah Bateman and Victoria Sibson have made into a charming children's ballet for Northern Ballet.  Well Dahl took the story one step forward by enlisting the help of Little Red Riding Hood who had already dispatched another wolf in an earlier story:

"The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers.
She whips a pistol from her knickers.
She aims it at the creature's head
And bang bang bang, she shoots him dead.
A few weeks later, in the wood,
I came across Miss Riding Hood.
But what a change! No cloak of red,
No silly hood upon her head.
She said, ``Hello, and do please note
My lovely furry wolf skin coat.''

Little Red Riding Hood disposes of the pigs' predator sure enough but there is a twist:

"Ah, Piglet, you must never trust Young ladies from the upper crust.
For now, Miss Riding Hood, one notes,
Not only has two wolf skin coats,
But when she goes from place to place,
She has a PIG SKIN TRAVELLING CASE."

Now I try not to have favourites among ballet companies but who could not love one that creates a ballet from such delicious materials?

Darius James and Amy Doughty have done just that to a score by Paul Patterson and sets and costumes by Steve Denton. The work, Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs, opens at The Riverfront theatre in Newport on 20 May 2016 before visiting Blackwood, Abergavenny, Lincoln, Stevenage, King's Lynn, Tewkesbury, Porthcawl, Basingstoke, Burnham on Sea, Newcastle under Lyme, Milford Havon, Bury St. Edmunds, Hereford, Bangor and Lichfield.

Ballet Cymru are not ignoring the anniversary of Shakespeare's death altogether. They are reviving their Romeo a Juliet which I reviewed in They're not from Chigwell - they're from a small Welsh Town called Newport 14 May 2013 which they are taking to Portsmouth, Llanelli and Stevenage. I have seen a lot of Romeo and Juliets in my time and even tried to dance some of it with very little success (see We had a stab at that! KNT's Romeo and Juliet Intensive Workshop for Beginners 9 April 2016 and Romeo and Juliet Intensive - the awful proof as the camera does not lie 21 April 2016) but James and Doughty's version is one of my favourites. If I can find an excuse to get to Pompey or Stevenage I will. As I say, I try not to have favourites among ballet companies but sometimes it's hard.

Arts Council of Wales grants to Dance in Wales

The Arts Council of Wales has published its portfolio allocations for 2015-2016 and recommendations for 2016-2017 and has some good news for Ballet Cymru.  The company's grant will increase to £193,842 for the current year and an extra £50,000 is recommended for the year after. The National Dance Company of Wales will get £835,209 this year and £805,977 next year.

Ballet Cymru will start a nationwide tour with Little Red Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs on 20 May 2016 (see Tour Dates). It will also take Romeo a Juliet (which I reviewed in They're not from Chigwell - they're from a small Welsh Town called Newport 14 May 2013) to Portsmouth, Llanelli and Stevenage.

The company is also doing great educational and outreach work with ballet and body conditioning classes in Newport between 18:00 and 19:30 on Mondays.  Next time I find myself in Swyddfa Batent I shall bring my shoes and leotard with me.