Happy Birthday Terpsichore! My Best Memories of the Last Four Years

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I started this blog with a review of Ballet West's performance of The Nutcracker at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre on 25 Feb 2013 so Terpsichore is four years old today. Many happy returns, old girl.  Long may you flourish. She has certainly grown a bit since then. When I started her Terpsichore received 269 page views in the whole of February 2013. Admittedly it was a very short month though one in which I wrote 5 articles. This month she has already received 23,222 hits and there are still three more days to run.

I thought I would celebrate Terpsichore's birthday by recalling some of the highlights of the last 4 years. These are events that mean a lot to me though perhaps maybe not so much to you.  It has taken me a long time to compile this list because there have been 887 posts since 2013. Eventually. I drew up a long list of 37 posts. It has been painfully difficult to decide what to include and what to leave out.

Memory #10:  My First Performance

I will get rid of the personal stuff first.  One of the most exciting things that happened to me was to dance on the stage of the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in the studios of Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre before a capacity audience on the 28 June 2014 (see The Time of My Life 28 June 2014). My daughter manquée and her son and husband were in the audience. The many weeks of rehearsals, the wait in the wings, the first notes of the music, leaping into the lights and the explosion of applause.  So delicious!  I have danced in a couple of shows since then but nothing beats the first performance. I don't know how we did. Mel reviewed our performance in The Dance DID go on - Northern Ballet Academy Show 2014  29 June 2014 but I think she was too kind.

Memory #9:  Jane Eyre

I have been following Northern Ballet from the day of their first performance.  I can't claim to have been there because I was at university in St Andrews in 1969 but I felt a distinct sense of pride as a Mancunian when I read about them in Dance and Dancers. It was only when I came back to the North in the 1980s that I got a chance to see them regularly. And I think that was their golden age because it was the time when they were directed by Christopher Gable. I was reminded of that time when I saw Cathy Marston's Jane Eyre at the Richmond Theatre in June (see Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre: the best new Ballet from the Company in 20 Years 2 June 2016).

Memory #8:  Miracle in the Gorbals

My favourite work from Northern Ballet is Gillian Lynne's A Simple Man in which Christopher Gable danced with Moira Shearer. Gillian Lynne had danced in Sir Robert Helpmann's Miracle in the Gorbals during the second world war.  In 2014 she was commissioned to recreate it for the Birmingham Royal Ballet.  I saw it in Sadler's Wells as part of the Shadows of War triple bill and reviewed it in A Second Miracle 23 Oct 2014. Really gripping stuff.  Great performances by César Morales as the Christ-like stranger, Iain Mackay as the minister, Elisha Willis as the prostitute and Delia Matthews as the suicide victim,

Memory #7:  Li Cunxin's La Sylphide

La Sylphide ought to be our national ballet as it is set in Scotland A place rather like Taynuilt I would have thought. First performed in 1832 it is one of the oldest ballets in the repertoire.  It has a lovely score by Løvenskiold. Its plot that is far less spooky than Giselle - indeed, it is timeless as it is based on male inconstancy. It is performed quite frequently on the Continent but how often do we see it here. Scottish Ballet has Sir Matthew Bourne's Highland Fling which Ballet Central is about to take on tour (see Ballet Central returns to Leeds but it's not really the same thing. We had to wait for a company on the other side of the world to bring this work to London (see A dream realized: the Queensland Ballet in London 12 Aug 2015).

Memory #6: Cuthbertson's Giselle

I have seen some great Giselle's in the last four years by English National Ballet (Mary Skeaping's rather than Akram Khan's), the Royal New Zealand National Ballet and, of course, the Royal Ballet with Natalia Osipova and Lauren Cuthbertson in the title roles.  It was the latter that really spoke to me last year, That is why I chose that great ballerina as my outstanding female dancer of 2016.  I once heard her speak to the London Ballet Circle after which I had the opportunity to tell her how much I admired her work. One can blog away till the cows come home but nothing beats telling an artist to his or her face how much you enjoy his or her performance.

Memory #5: Mukhamedov's Nikiya

Another ballet that ought to be performed much more frequently in England is La Bayadḕre. I love that ballet. I have even tried to learn a little bit of the choreography without much success despite the heroic efforts of my splendid teacher, Jane Tucker, and an enormous effort by me (see La Bayadere Intensive Day 3: No Snakes 17 Aug 2016),  A few weeks ago I was able to visit Amsterdam to see how the ballet should be performed (see Dutch National Ballet's La Bayadere 14 Nov 2016). The title role was danced by Sasha Mukhamedov and she was outstanding. I wrote:

"Mukhamedov had danced Nikiya with Daniel Camargo in an extract from La Bayadere at the opening night gala on 7 Sept 2016 (see Dutch National Ballet's Opening Night Gala - Improving on Excellence 8 Sept 2016) and she had impressed me with her grace and sensitivity. She showed those qualities again yesterday and I became an even bigger fan."

Nobody could be happier than I when I learned of her elevation to principal a few weeks later. I wrote in Sasha Mukhamedov's Elevation to Principal 10 Jan 2017 "just as Fonteyn is my Marguerite and Sibley my Titania she will always be my Nikiya."

Memory #4: Sibley with Crisp

And talking of Sibley who is my all time favourite ballerina bar none - even more than Fonteyn, Fracci and Seymour whom I also had the great honour of watching in my youth - I got the chance to hear her speak and recall her triumphs with Clement Crisp on 2 Feb 2014 (see Le jour de gloire est arrivé- Dame Antoinette Sibley with Clement Crisp at the Royal Ballet School 3 Feb 2014), The event was organized by the London Jewish Cultural Centre which later staged a recreation of MacMillan's Le Baiser de la fée in Pavlova;s sitting room (see A Minor Miracle - Bringing Le Baiser de la fée back to Life 2 June 2014). My mother saw Pavlova dance in Leeds in 1912 and although she must have been a very little girl the impression made by that great dancer never left her and that story has been handed downs to me (see In Leeds of all Places - Pavlova, Ashton and Magic 18 Sept 2013),

Memory #3: Stars of the Future

I like to look forward as well as back which is why I like to see shows by Ballet Central, Manchester City Ballet and Ballet West but possibly the best concentration of young talent in the world is the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company.  I remember when I first saw them for the first time at the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam on 24 Nov 2013. I had come to see Michaela DePrince about whom I had already written a lot of articles. When she actually appeared on stage I was overwhelmed. As I wrote at the time: "She is quite simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while." DePrince has risen through the ranks of the Dutch National Ballet like a rocket and she us already a soloist.

However, DePrince is not the only outstanding young dancer in Amsterdam. Each and every one of Ernst Meisner's recruits is impressive. Cristiano Principato, for instance, shows enormous promise as a choreographer. His compatriot, Emilie Tassinari, combines strength with grace. I have the good fortune to have met some of those artists on a few occasions and  I follow some of them on twitter and Facebook and they are as gracious off-stage as they are on the boards. Last Summer I attended a charity show at Trecate in North West Italy in which Cristiano had recruited several of his chums from Amsterdam as well as contemporaries from Milan and Vienna.  It was a magnificent gala and I got to know several of the artists slightly better (see From Italy with Love 1 Jul 2017).

There are, of course, outstanding young dancers in this country and I saw something very special in Gwenllian Davies's performance as Juliet in Newport last bonfire night (see A Romeo and Juliet for our Times 7  Nov 2016). Her company, Ballet Cymru, is very fortunate to have a whole company of young stars. I saw another sterling performance by Anna Pujol a few weeks later in Ballet Cymru's "Sleeping Beauty Moment". It goes without saying that talent is not confined to Wales. I got the same goosebumps that I had when I first saw Michaela DePrince when I saw Uyu Hiromoto in Ballet West's Swan Lake earlier this month (see Ballet West at the Beacon 13 Feb 2017). Hiromoto is from a school that has trained more than a few Genée medallists and the only British finalist at Lausanne in recent years.

Memory #2: The  Mighty Scots

Scottish Ballet was the first ballet company that I got to know and love and it occupies a special place in my affections. I think it would occupy such a place even if I had got to know Scottish Ballet very recently because its director, Christopher Hampson, is a choreographer I particularly admire. I also admire its dancers of the present as well as those of the recent and more recent past.  Scottish Ballet has contributed by far the greatest proportion of memories to my long list. It is a dilemma to know what to include and what to leave out. Hampson's Hansel & Gretel which I saw in 2013 and 2017? How about Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Streetcar Named Desire?  Pastor's Romeo and Juliet perhaps? Hampson's Cinderella with the magnificent Bethany Kingsley-Garner in the title role.  If I have to make a choice for favourite Scottish ballet I think it must be David Dawson's Swan Lake which I saw in Liverpool (see Empire Blanc: Dawson's Swan Lake 4 June 2016). Peter Darrell would have been proud of them.

Memory #1: The Bolshoi's Shrew

On a warm August evening in my favourite theatre I experienced something magical in the Bolshoi's performance of Jean-Christophe Maillot's The Taming of the Shrew (see Bolshoi's Triumph - The Taming of the Shrew 4 Aug 2016). I enjoyed it so much that it was my ballet of the year last year. I wrote in The Terpsichore Titles: Ballet of 2016 30 Dec 2016 I wrote:

"There have been so many fine new ballets this year. The Tempest by David Bintley, David Dawson's Swan Lake, Ted Brandsen's Mata Hari and Cathy Marston's Jane Eyre not to mention shorter works such as Chris Marney's To Begin, Begin, Wayne McGregor's Multiverse and Carbon Life. In any other year I would have chosen any of them as my ballet of the year. But Jean-Christophe Maillot's Taming of the Shrew made a special impression on me and it would have been unjust not to recognize it."

I think that says it all.

I have had a lovely time reminiscing about ballet over the last 4 years. I hope my readers have enjoyed reading about the memories as I have enjoyed writing about them. But there is plenty more to come.  An exclusive interview with Kenny Tindall on Casanova, David Murley's report on Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's workshop at the Barbican, Joanne Goodman on Ballet Black's new season and maybe even a special report from Miami as we have a team member out there.  So come back soon,

My First Impressions of 1984

George Orwell, Author of 1984

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Northern Ballet 1984 West Yorkshire Playhouse, 11 Sept 2015


In many ways Jonathan Watkins's 1984 was a howling success. Literally for there were whoops and cheers from the audience as well as lots of clapping. Several individuals rose to their feet.  And it was easy to see why for Watkins pressed all the right buttons.  Act I ended with just about the most explicit sex scene I have ever seen in ballet. The bedroom scene in Macmillan's Romeo and Juliet is demure in comparison.  A lady in the audience described that scene as "erotic" in the question and answer session with Watkins that followed the show and she was right. There were also brilliant visuals with the telescreens and an easy listening score from Alex Baranowski. Not quite sex, drugs and rock and roll but the nearest you can get in classical ballet.

No wonder this ballet has received such positive reviews:

"This is gripping storytelling" according to The Stage

"Northern Ballet's terrific new production" gushes The Guardian

"...an ambitious, compelling and, ultimately, moving new ballet" says The Telegraph.

And the tweets on the first night from members of the audience whose opinions I trust were even more generous.

So why aren't I searching my vocabulary for superlatives? I desperately want to do so because I love Northern Ballet and its dancers. Knowing how hard any dancer has to work from my feeble efforts at the barre I feel the deepest gratitude for their just stepping onto stage. I also have warm feelings towards Watkins - particularly after seeing his Northern Trilogy at The Sapphire gala and the mixed programme (see Sapphire 15 March 2015 and Between Friends - Northern Ballet's Mixed Programme 10 May 2015). There was definitely excellence in the choreography and the dancing by Tobias Batley, Martha Leebolt, Javier Torres and the ensemble. I have already commended the designs and score. And yet I left the West Yorkshire Playhouse asking myself "Is this it?"

It is horrible to write such things for I feel disloyal to the art form, company and dancers I love. I felt very much the same after seeing Christopher Wheeldon's The Winter's Tale for the Royal Ballet the first time (see Royal Ballet The Winter's Tale 14 April 2014) but eventually warmed to it after seeing it in the cinema and on TV (see The Winter's Tale - Time to eat my Hat 29 April 2015), I hope the same will happen with 1984 after I see it again in Manchester with the Swiss friend who brought the ballet to my attention (see Für Andrea - more Information on 1984 26 July 2015). Like The Winter's Tale the advance publicity that this ballet has received raised my expectations to impossible heights. I was also spoilt on Tuesday by watching some of the best dancers in the world at the Dutch National Ballet gala in Amsterdam and actually speaking to some of them at the party afterwards.

Another thing that bugged me is that 1984 was launched in the week that remotely controlled unmanned aircraft despatched two British citizens in Syria on the orders of the Prime Minister (see Cardiff jihadist Reyaad Khan, 21, killed by RAF drone 7 Sept 2015). That news followed by reports of surveillance by GCHQ (see GCHQ's surveillance of two human rights groups ruled illegal by tribunal 22 June 2015 Guardian) and the WikiLeaks revelations made me think that Big Brother has actually arrived. We even have telescreens nowadays for every laptop is equipped with a webcam and microphone. Orwell's novel was a satire of the increasingly authoritarian state of the 1940s where such things as targeted drone strikes and data mining were impossible but we are there now so why not update 1984 as a modern satire?

Watkins's ballet had a very retro feel. Indeed I was reminded of Gillian Lynne's re-staging of Helpmann's Miracle in the Gorbals  (see A Second Miracle 23 Oct 2014) and Ninette De Valois Job). I asked Watkins whether that was deliberate in the Q and A after the show. He replied that he knew Job but not Miracle in the Gorbals and if he was inspired by anything it was the cinema. He mentioned the Lego Movie several times in the session as well as Ken Loach's Kes which Watkins has also transformed into dance (see Kes on Jonathan Watkins's website).

Setting the ballet in 1948 rather than the present seemed to me to be a missed opportunity; but then who am I to say or even think such things. It was entertaining. As I said, there was excellence in the show. The folk who attended the Q & A took it at face value and really enjoyed it.  Don't let my reservations put you off seeing it.

A Second Miracle

Sir Robert Helpmann

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In Dancing in the Blitz: How World War 2 Made British Ballet David Bintley spoke of Sadler's Wells Ballet's contribution to maintaining morale during the second world war. Much of the credit belongs to Sir Robert Helpmann who was one of the few male dancers to avoid conscription. He was also a considerable choreographer creating  Comus Hamlet, The Birds and Miracle in the Gorbals during that period. The last of those ballets was a particular favourite possibly because it was a story about the conflict between good and evil which would have reminded the public why they were fighting.

The story is based on Jerome K. Jerome's Passing of the Third Floor Back which is a Christian allegory. Jerome's work is set in London and is about the efforts of a Christ figure ("the stranger") to improve the lives of the residents of a boarding house that had been made miserable by a grasping landlady and a well off businessman. The residents listen to the stranger and follow his advice. That upsets the businessman who bribes the residents to turn against the stranger.

Jerome's short story was transposed to Glasgow by Helmpann's partner Michael Benthall who wrote the scenario for the ballet. A young woman throws herself in the river and is dragged out unconscious. A clergyman tries unsuccessfully to revive her.  He covers her with a shroud and leaves her for dead. A stranger appears and revives her. The crowd acclaims the stranger as a miracle worker much to the annoyance of the clergyman whose shortcomings are revealed when he follows a prostitute to her lodging.  He encourages some local gangsters to set about the stranger who is left to die alone on stage with only the a beggar for company.

The music for the ballet was provided by Sir Arthur Bliss a recording of which you can hear on YouTube.   The sets and costumes were designed by Edward Burra (see Pallant House Gallery's Painting the Stage). The cast of the first performance on the 26 Oct 1944 at The Prince's theatre (now the Shaftesbury) included Moira Shearer, Leslie Edwards, Celia Franks, Gerd Larsen, Stanley Holden, Gillian Lynne and Helpmann himself who danced the stranger.

The ballet was included in the repertoire every year between 1944 and 1950 and was taken on tour. It then disappeared from the Sadler's Wells Ballet's repertoire though critics were still referring to it when I first took an interest in ballet in the late 1960s. For some reason the public forgot it in contrast to Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring which was first performed in Washington just four days later and which has much in common with Helpmann's work. No doubt that is because Helpmann developed his acting career though I have seen him dance with Sir Frederick Ashton in Cinderella in the early 1970s. He also compeered Sir Frederick's retirement gala on 24 July 1970 which I was lucky enough to attend.

It was therefore something of a second miracle to see the revival of this work at Sadler's Wells on 18 Oct 2014. Revival is perhaps not quite the right word for as Dame Gilian Lynne said in The Inspiration which was reprinted in the programme: "There are very few people left alive from that 1944 creation and not one of us remembers a step." Lynne has re-created the ballet to Bliss's music in the style of Helpmann and it certainly looks authentic to me. It appears that Burra's set and costume designs did not survive but Adam Wiltshire seems to have come close. The sense of period was conjured by the sounds of an air raid - the drone of an aircraft, explosions, anti-aircraft fire and a siren - all in total darkness before the first few bars of Bliss's score.

Miracle was sandwiched between MacMillan's La Fin du Jour and Bintley's Flowers of the Forest as part of Birmingham Royal Ballet's Shadows of War programme. Each of those ballets is an important work in its own right and therefore merits a separate review. The company had cast some of its strongest dancers for the performance. The stranger was danced by César Morales, the clergyman by Iain Mackay, the prostitute by Elisha Willis and the suicide victim by Delia Matthews.   Even some of the minor roles were danced by accomplished dancers - Marion Tait and Ruth Brill as two of the old ladies - and Yatsuo Atsuji, Brandon Lawrence, Rory McKay and Valentin Olovyannikov as gangsters.

The only other work of Lynne's that I have seen is "A Simple Man" which she choreographed for Northern Ballet to mark the centenary of L S Lowry's birth nearly 30 years ago (see "Northern Ballet's 'A Simple Man'" 14 Sept 2013). That is another ballet set in the back streets of another great industrial city in times gone by. There is much in Miracle that reminds me of A Simple Man. I wonder how much of Simple Man derives from Helpmann.

Other Reviews

Robert Hugill  Miracle in the Gorbals 18 Oct 2014 Planet Hugill

Ey Up from Upperthong

I've just come back from a jaunt to t'Smoke. I should've got back three hours ago but some blighters closed the M1 between junctions 15 and 18 which decanted the North bound carriageway of one of the busiest motorways into a country lane. Not only that but they put up downright misleading diversion signs which led me on a magic mystery tour of the East Midlands. Just the sort of jolly jape one appreciates in the wee small hours of the morning.

Any road as it is now too late to get any decent kip I'll tell thee about my adventures in the Great Wen. I'd gone down to see two shows, Birmingham Royal Ballet's Shadows of War at Sadler's Wells in the afternoon and MurleyDance's Hail Britannia at The Shaw Theatre in the evening. Both shows were outstanding though in different ways and, to some extent, actually complementary. As I think I am the only person on the planet to have seen the two shows back to back I count myself very fortunate.

 "To begin at the beginning", I arrived at the Wells early to meet LinMM from BalletcoForum who is lovely. Shortly afterwards we were joined by Don Q Fan and Aileen who are also very sweet. I had already met Don Q Fan at The Lowry in January and we get on like a house of fire. Aileen I had not met before and it was lovely to put a name to a face. The four of us had a fair old chin wag about ballet before the bell summoned us to our seats.

I'm going to do a proper review of both shows later in the week. All I will say about Shadows of War for the moment is that I enjoyed all three ballets but Miracle in the Gorbals was enthralling. It started off eerily with the sound of planes, explosions, anti-aircraft fire and sirens and then Sir Arthur Bliss's wonderful score, A museum piece? Not at all. Think of religious fundamentalism. It's as relevant today as it was in wartime.

Miracle was preceded by La Fin du Jour with striking set designs and even more striking choreography. Two movements in particular took my breath away. The way in which two of the women were thrown through the air and caught again and then a spring several feet in air by two of the men from a prone position. I really felt for them.

The triple bell was polished off by Flowers of the Forest with the men in kilts and the women in tartan skirts and green bonnets and jackets. I would have dressed the ladies in white gowns with tartan sashes as women used to dress for ceilidhs and Highland balls many years ago. The back drop of hills and swirling mist was very effective. I loves two scenes in particular - one of a couple of drunks staggering and eventually collapsing with the girls dancing something like the Huntley over their spread eagled limbs and a lovely lyrical pas de deux where the man performed an ecstatic tour en l'air flooding Burns's verse into my mind.

While we were dissecting the Miracle Don Q Fan noticed a VERY IMPORTANT PERSON from the Royal Ballet whom our mutual friend from Liverpool greatly admires. I won't steal Don Q Fan's thunder by saying who it is but suffice it to say that a photo was taken of VIP and I was the one fumbling with Don Q Fan's mobile as bells rang and folk scurried back to their seats with VIP graciously standing. He even waited for a second photo with me in the piccy.

So after chatting away merrily for another hour we four musketeers went our separate ways. My next stop was the Shaw to see Hail Britannia. One might have thought that this would have been an anticlimax after Shadows of War but it wasn't. It was just as good but in a very different way. First we were clapping and tapping to Anaish Parmar's  Shaadi. It was good to see a balletic interpretation  of the song and dance routines that always seems to work themselves into Hindi films. I loved the henna party, the use of pointe and the mother in law reminding me of a very, very, very dear friend.

Next up was Wayward Kinship by the amazingly young Richard Chappell. That had a lot in common with Miracle in the Gorbals in that it also dealt with religion pushed to extremes and the hero coming to a very sticky end.

Then came Frisky Claptrap a love triangle between three backpackers, two blokes and a girl, against a background of  trains and quaint British place names. One of those quaint sounding place names was Upperthong which is a village in the Holme Vallet where I lived for 7 years. I now live in one of the neighbouring villages a couple of miles away. Above is a picture of Upperthong which is right on the edge of the Pennines and thus endures one of the wettest and windiest climates in the country. Other places that tickled David Murley's funny bone were Cockfosters, Fannyfield and Llanfair­pwllgwyn­gyllgo­gery­chwyrn­drobwll­llanty­silio­gogo­goch. If you want to know how to pronounce the last place name watch Newport State of Mind. A quick memo to David. We also have a place called Netherthong in our valley. Thong, nether garments. Did thou miss a trick, lad?

Finally there was Murley's Highgrove Suite which was the piece de resistance. What it had to do with Prince Charles's country pad was not obvious but there was some cracking choreography.   As I say, I'll review it properly in the fullness of time. I last saw MurleyDance in December (see MurleyDance Triple Bill 2 Dec 2014). The company was good then and is even better now. I can't wait for its first full length ballet next year.