So what is the rest of Europe watching over Christmas?

Author Ssolbergj
 Source Wikipedia
Creative Commons Licence

"Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the Royal Ballet's Nutcracker" exclaims the Royal Ballet's trailer. The Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Ballet seem to agree for they are staging the ballet too (see The Good Nutcracker Guide 31 Oct 2016). There are, of course, alternatives. The Royal Ballet itself is staging The Sleeping Beauty from today as well as The Nutcracker on other days and there is also The Red Shoes at Sadler's Wells which I reviewed when it was at the Lowry in the metropolitan borough of Salford in the county of Greater Manchester (see Red Shoes Bourne Again 3 Dec 2016) and The Red Shoes Second Time Round 4 Dec 2016).

Outside London Scottish Ballet are dancing Hansel and Gretel in Edinburgh which will be wending its way around Scotland early in the New Year before making an appearance in Newcastle where I hope to see it and Belfast in February. I saw the ballet in 2013 and enjoyed it very much (see Scottish Ballet's Hansel and Gretel 23 Dec 2013). Elsewhere in England Northern Ballet's Beauty and the Beast is in Leeds (see Much Less Beastly - Indeed Rather Beautiful 18 Dec 2016) and Ballet Theatre UK will resume their tour of England with Romeo and Juliet after Christmas.

From my Pennine eyrie just to the east of Manchester the great continental cities are nearly as accessible as London and in many cases rather less expensive when you get there.  I have already expressed the view that the Dutch National Ballet's Coppelia at the Music Theatre in Amsterdam is the best Christmas show within reasonable travelling distance of Manchester (see Brandsen's Coppelia 12 Dec 2016 and Pictures of Coppelia 15 Dec 2016).

Both the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky are staging The Nutcracker over the Christmas and New Year holiday season (see the Bolshoi's Schedule of Performances and the Mariinsky Theatre's Playbill) but the Royal Danish Ballet offer Christopher Wheeldon's Alices Adventures in Wonderland, the Paris Opera Jiri Kylian at the Garnier and Nureyev's Swan Lake at the Bastille, the Stuttgart Ballet Don Quixote and La Scala Macmillan's Romeo and Juliet.

Two other bits of news.  

Our contributor Mel Wong who has spent the last 15 months in Hungary is now back in the UK - for the time being at any rate. She is working on an article on Ballet Eifman which we look forward to reading.

In a circular announcing that today is the fifth anniversary of the formation of BalletcoForum, Simonetta Dixon of that forum wrote proudly that "a real community has been established" and "friendships have been forged through BalletcoForum."  I can certainly attest to that. Mel is one of those I met in that way. Linda Morris is another. Aileen is a third.  Helen or Don Q Fan is one more.  Michelle Richer yet another. And, of course, last but not least, Janet McNulty. There are several others who are friends on Facebook and followers on twitter. Today also happens to be the third anniversary of my subscribing to the forum. Although I have had the odd run-in with a moderator and a heated exchange of views with subscribers from time to time I always read my daily email from BalletcoForum with interest. Well done them and long may they continue.

Wishing all my readers around the world a merry Christmas and happy New Year. 

The Miracle that's wrought by tickling the Ivories of the Old Joanna

Igor Zapravadin.                          Standard YouTube Licence

Because last week's class at KNT was so good (see "So what was so great about it exactly?" 20 Jan 2016) I feared tonight's would be something of an anticlimax. In fact it was even better and one of the reasons why it was even better is that we had a pianist. There are some lovely recordings for ballet classes on the market but there is nothing like a live pianist especially when he or she plays something from a well loved ballet. I remember being transfixed by strains of Mendelssohn's Dream from the next door studio at Quarry Hill and fighting back tears as memories of Sibley and Dowell flooded back.

Although we have pianists for most of our classes at Northern Ballet we are taught to honour them. We curtsy to them in the reverence. One instructor, Elizabeth Rae, taught us to curtsy with our hands over our hearts. "You've always got to show respect to the maestro" she explained. A classmate who had studied at one of the best schools in London corroborated her. "They have real power" she warned. She told me a story about a pianist from her student days,

"If you got on the right side of the pianist he would play 'I feel pretty' for your turn. If you upset him he would serve up 'Nellie the Elephant'". 

Consequently I always make a point of thanking the pianist as well as the instructor though I would probably do that anyway.

The other reason why tonight was so good is that we had our rehearsal on the stage of the auditorium in which we are performing. What a stage it is!  I thought the Stanley and Audrey was big but The Dancehouse's is even bigger. When the house lights are up and you peer into the seating are it looks and feels cavernous.

Our rehearsal did not get off to a good start but Karen coached us patiently. We performed it in the studio a couple of times. Then Karen led us onto the stage. The first run through needed some adjustment particularly with the last movement but we practised it a couple of times before Karen called it a day.

I didn't go home immediately because some of the members of our class were in the pointe class and several of us wanted to watch them. I was quite impressed but Karen saw room for improvement. She drilled them as she had drilled us and the second time through they were even more polished.

"You must think I'm terrible" muttered Karen as she dashed past.

"Not at all" I replied. "Mark had told me you had high standards and expected nothing less than the best." 

That was true by the way. Vlad the Lad, his mum and dad, Gita and I collared my teacher Mark Hundle at the stage door of the Empire after he had danced two shows in Dick Whittington on Boxing Day and wanted nothing more than to get on with his Christmas (see a Liverpudlian Whittington 27 Dec 2015). It was Mark. incidentally, who encouraged me to dance in this show and for that I am very grateful. In that suggestion he was backed up by Mel who once saw me dance (see Mel Wong The Dance DID go on - Northern Ballet Academy Show 2014 29 June 2014).

Today we got our costumes which in my case is a mesh dress over a black leotard. I'd been worried that it might not fit because it is made by Bloch whose idea of extra large seems to me to be an anorexic stick insect. But in fact it does fit and I feel so good in it.  I shall be 67 on the 14 Feb so I am not sure how much longer I can keep dancing. But for the moment I can. And I love every minute of it.

So folks, if you find yourself in Manchester on Saturday night and feel like you need a break from assembling your Billy flat packs or a change from propping up the bar of the Lass o' Gowrie, The Briton's Protection or The Old Monkey you could do a lot worse than come to the Danchouse at 19:30  and watch us Move It.  All that entertainment for a fiver. You won't get much better value than that.

Introducing Mel

I'm not sure that Mel needs an introduction, Her first two posts for Tepsichore - "Kenneth Tindall - The Architect of Ballet"  21 June 2014 and "For grown ups who haven't lost touch with their childhoods - Ballet Cymru's Beauty & The Beast" 24 June 2014 - have been extraordinarily popular. That's not just because she can write well. It is because she is a dancer and knows what she is talking about.

Mel came to my notice when she was in Channel 4's Big Ballet. As I said in my review "No Excuses! If the Dancers in Big Ballet can do it so can I" 21 Feb 2014 I did not watch the series because I don't like reality TV but I did watch the film of the performance on Channel 4's website and was impressed. She signed up to BalletcoForum of which I was already a member shortly after the show and we swapped a few pleasantries now and again.  We started to correspond because she appealed for a dance teacher on BalletcoForum and I happened to know a good one.  In the course of correspondence Mel told me something of her career in dance and shared links to some videos of her on YouTube.

We actually met for the first time in May when I gave her a lift to Lincoln to see Chantry Dance (see "Chantry Dance Company's Sandman and Dream Dance" 10 May 2014). On the way down to Lincoln we got on like a house on fire. Ballet is a lifetime passion for me but it is not for everyone so I have to be careful who I share it with. No such problems with Mel. It was so good to meet someone who was as enthusiastic about dance as I was. That trip to Lincoln was a first for me for we ended up dancing on stage. There was no audience for our performance but Gail Gordon of Chantry Dance filmed us on her iPad,

The teacher that I had recommended applied for and got the job and she invited me to take her class in Sheffield. Mel took that class too and I saw her dance. She dances quite differently from most women. She is strong and really soars in her sautés and jetés.  She's not called Skydancer for nothing. She's got just about as far as she can taking class in the evenings and now wants to take professional training while she still can. She has appealed for funding through gofundme and she has already made quite a good start.

Some styles of dancing have been atrophied by tradition until they are reduced to a few dedicated practitioners. Ballet is a long way from that fate so long as it evolves but there are purists who like to keep things just the way they are. One of the ways in which it has to evolve to avoid atrophy is to recognize that women do not have to be petite and princess-like. In the real world they come in all shapes and sizes and do all sorts of jobs from architects to zoo keepers some of which require enormous physical strength and endurance. As we saw in the Olympics and other sport women brandishing bats and boxing gloves can be just as beautiful to watch as ballerinas. Mel may never look right as Lise or Giselle but she is just right for the roles that just need the right choreographer. Maybe Mel will even be that choreographer.

"Stuck in the Mud" doesn't mean you're stuck

I came across Ballet Cymru's collaboration with Gloucestershire Dance while writing my review of Beauty and the Beast (see "Diolch yn Fawr - Ballet Cymru's Beauty and the Beast" 24 June 2014). Gloucester Dance (GDance) describes itself on its website as a "production and training company specialist in inclusive practice" which aims "to effect real change and to address barriers to participation in, and progress through, the arts sector".

The collaboration shown in the YouTube video above is called "Stuck in the Mud". As GDance says:

"Mud is sticky and mucky and icky. But it’s fun to jump in, play with, and grows and makes beautiful things."

There is certainly beauty in the dance that the two companies have created.  Ballet Cymru and GDance are bringing Stuck in the Mud to the Llandudno Arts Weekend on the 20 and 21 Sept and I hope to be there to see it for myself.

Stuck in the Mud is not the only inclusive dance project in the UK. I am proud to say that Northern Ballet has an accessible dance programme and it supported Big Ballet. As it said in its press release "The door is always open with Northern Ballet"

"The Company has been pioneering accessible ballet since it was founded nearly 45 years ago and works hard to ensure the joy of dance is available to everyone to experience."

 My collaborator Mel  danced in Big Ballet and she is perfecting her art. So inclusive ballet is worth supporting. And I speak as a 65 year old overweight badly coordinated transsexual woman who has the nerve to strut out onto the stage of the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre next Saturday.  If that is not an example of inclusive ballet I don't know what is. One that includes canines perhaps? Everyone knows that Dogs don't Do Ballet but perhaps Christopher Marney and Ballet Black know different.

Chantry Dance Company's Sandman and Dream Dance

The Sandman with his Umbrellas      Source Wikipedia

Two weeks ago I saw Ballet Theatre UK's The Little Mermaid in Southport (see "Pure Delight - BTUK's Little Mermaid in Southport" 27 April 2014). That ballet was based on  a story by Hans Christian Andersen. Yesterday I saw a ballet based on another of Hans Christian Andersen's tales, The Sandman or Ole Lukøje.  

The author summarized the story as follows:

"There is nobody in the world who knows so many stories as Ole-Luk-Oie, or who can relate them so nicely. In the evening, while the children are seated at the table or in their little chairs, he comes up the stairs very softly, for he walks in his socks, then he opens the doors without the slightest noise, and throws a small quantity of very fine dust in their eyes, just enough to prevent them from keeping them open, and so they do not see him. Then he creeps behind them, and blows softly upon their necks, till their heads begin to droop. But Ole-Luk-Oie does not wish to hurt them, for he is very fond of children, and only wants them to be quiet that he may relate to them pretty stories, and they never are quiet until they are in bed and asleep. As soon as they are asleep, Ole-Luk-Oie seats himself upon the bed. He is nicely dressed; his coat is made of silken fabric; it is impossible to say of what color, for it changes from green to red, and from red to blue as he turns from side to side. Under each arm he carries an umbrella; one of them, with pictures on the inside, he spreads over the good children, and then they dream the most beautiful stories the whole night. But the other umbrella has no pictures, and this he holds over the naughty children so that they sleep heavily, and wake in the morning without having dreams at all."

Paul Chantry inducing pleasant dreams with his
multicoloured umbrella
(c) 2014 Skydancer     Reproduced with kind permission
of the photographer 

Choreographed by Gail Gordon the Sandman was danced by Paul Chantry who entered in front of the stage in the shadows.  He mounted the stage which had a single prop: a hat stand and the sandman's two umbrellas.  Paul is a tall, elegant dancer and he circled the stage magisterially with his wide ronds de jambe and battements.  From the left entered his subject, Rae Piper, clad in a simple navy print shift. Rae has the most expressive face and she expressed joy under the multicoloured umbrella but with utter dismay to the plain one. Producing from his pocket a medicine bottle Paul sprinkled the sleep inducing drops over Rae's eyes. In the absence of programme notes I cannot recall the score but it was beautiful and Gail Gordon's choreography interpreted in perfectly.

Piper and the plain umbrella
(c) 2014 Skydancer    Reproduced with kind permission of
the photographer

Sandman was part of a double bill at Lincoln Drill Hall yesterday. The theme of sleep and dreams continued with Dream Dance, an improvisation. That was Chantry Dance's contribution to the Lincoln Inspired festival of literature, performance and art.

Before the show there was a workshop of which I attended about half owing to the nightmare of Lincoln's one way system, congestion and limited parking. Before I arrived the participants were invited to contribute ideas on the theme of sleep and to write them on post it notes. Having missed the beginning I slunk into the back of the auditorium but Gail spotted me and invited me on to the stage where I met the choreographers Paul and Rae and the dancers, Mel (Skydancer) with whom I had driven down from Sheffield, and two young women whom I know only as Fiona and Leanne from Coventry. Fortunately I had brought my ballet bag with me and I donned my leggings and shoes.

Rae showed me the post it notes on a large white board.  They included flying horses, dream, Valhalla and sketched out a story of the four of us with our separate dreams of flying to Valhalla. Fiona patiently taught me and rehearsed a phrase which we danced in unison which included a chassé across the stage, a simple turn to the right, chassé to the left, a left hand turn and opening our arms in second to the audience. Mel and Leanne who like Fiona are both good dancers, executed more intricate movements.  Everybody's contributions came together in a short ballet which someone filmed on an i-pad.  We started with head rolls led by Mel. Taking our cue from her we thrust our arms above our heads and then tilted to one side.  Mel then executed her dance after which Fiona and I did ours followed by Leanne. Next we selected our visions of Valhalla which in my case was a flower. Returning to formation we turned in unison.  Leanne followed by Fiona danced on the floor. Mel and I with jetés joined them and we finished on the floor my right hand across Fiona's and my left on Mel's.

How we hugged each other like long lost friends after the show even though I had met none of the dancers before yesterday morning.  Mel and I had exchanged the occasional email before and we had followed each other on twitter but yesterday was the first time we had actually met. For me the experience of dancing on stage for the first time under the direction of professional dancers was very special. In Realizing a Dream 12 Sept 2013 I wrote:

"Me. Dancing to real ballet music in a real studio in a real ballet school. Imagine!"

Yesterday was the culmination of that dream and it was one of the best days of my life. I owe a lot of people a lot of thanks for that. First. Gail, Paul and Rae for letting me into their workshop. Secondly, Mel for drawing the workshop to my attention. Thirdly, my teachers. Fiona Noonan who coaxed me gently back into ballet and patiently guided me through barre and my first steps. A real labour of Sisyphus.  The wonderful Annemarie Donoghue of the Northern Ballet Academy who allowed me to build on that foundation. Sally Marshall who gave me my first ballet lessons at St Andrews 45 years ago. How she made me jump!  Chris Hinton Lewis, Adam Pudney and Cara O'Shea for their lessons. Finally, all the dancers, choreographers and teachers who have inspired me for the last 60 years.

Returning to the show, Paul and Rae laid the board with its post it notes on stage and selected themes from it for their improvisation. They invited Fiona, Leanne, Mel and me to dance with them and we did off stage. I cannot remember every movement that the principals did partly because I was dancing too but I loved a Latin American dance that allowed them to show off their virtuosity and dramatic skill.

Finally the afternoon ended with questions and answers.  I asked them how the company was formed and its vision.  They had been freelancers but formed themselves into a company after they had received a commission from China.  As can be seen from the What's On page Chantry Dance are very busy. They have a summer school between 28 July and 1 Aug and then they are taking their new ballet The Happy Prince on tour.

I have known some great moments in the ballet and yesterday's experience of dancing with Fiona, Leanne and Mel under the direction of Paul and Rae was right up there with them.

Post Script

And here is the performance that Fiona, Leanne, Mel and I produced at yesterday's workshop:




Post Post Script

12 May 2014

Although I am not sure how many of them have actually watched this video, news of my participation in this workshop has given my colleagues, clients and staff a lot of harmless amusement.  Apparently it has spread like wildfire. The Bar loves to give nicknames to its eccentrics. One eminent Queen's counsel whose first name was Robert was known as "Frothy Bob" as he could not help discharging spittle when in full flow. The late George Carman QC was known as "Gorgeous George". Goodness knows what mine will be.

Post Post Post Script

28 May 2014

A video of the performance of The Sandman that I described above has been uploaded to Vimeo and can be viewed here.