Yvonne Charlton

Yvonne Charlton

© 2018 Yvonne Charlton: all rights reserved
Licence Reproduced with kind permission of the owner

On my trips to Amsterdam to see the Dutch National Ballet I have made a number of friends and acquaintances. One of them is the teacher and choreographer, Yvonne Charlton.  I met her and two of her students for the first time at the Dutch National Ballet's New Moves last year. We renewed our acquaintance at the Junior Company's fifth anniversary show in April.

Yvonne is head of ballet at the Institute of Dance and Movement Jos Dolstra in IJsselstein (an ancient cathedral city in the province of Utrecht a little under 30 miles from Amsterdam) and has taught there since 1989.   She teaches ballet, including pointe work, and Pilates to adults, children and young people.  She has students at every level of proficiency from absolute beginners to advanced.  She trained at the Nel Roos Ballet Academy which is now the National Ballet Academy and is accredited in the quality register of the Dansbelang NBDO and by the Royal Academy of Dance.

In addition to her classes at IJsselsrein she arranges two special workshops every year in collaboration with the outreach department of the National Ballet. Each workshop focuses on an extract from a ballet in the company's current season.  A dancer from the company demonstrates the piece and Yvonne helps the attendees master it.

Yvonne has also created her own versions of The Nutcracker and Peter and the Wolf for her students in collaboration with the Utrecht symphony orchestra which they perform in December.  The photo below appears to show a curtain call at the end of one of her students' performances.

© 2018 Yvonne Charlton: all rights reserved

The following photo shows some of her students in action.

© 2018 Yvonne Charlton: all rights reserved

One event to which she referred that aroused my curiosity was “Vrouwtje Klein Sprokkelhorst”.  Now I have not yet had an opportunity to study Dutch formally but I can work out a lot because it is first cousin to English and closely related to German which I did study at secondary school. I still use that language in my work when I look up prior art.  I know that "klein" means little in German and is likely to mean the same in Dutch. I remember from Ted Brandsen's Coppelia that the suffix "-tje" is a diminutive in Dutch because his Swanhilde is called "Zwaantje" or "Little Swan".  "Vrouw" is pronounced exactly like "Frau" and must mean "lady". So, as an educated guess, "Vrouwtje" may mean "Fraülein" or "Miss".  The words must mean "Little Miss Sprokkelhorst" but that does not take us very much further,  I googled the words and found that there really was a little Miss Sprokkelhorst who lived in IJsselstein in the 1930s with unusual water devining powers that came to the attention of the Queen of the Netherlands and who is remembered at Christmas for some reason or other (see De Kerstavondvan mevrouw Klein Sprokkelhorst).

Yvonne will be in Liverpool in September and has offered to give Powerhouse Ballet and anyone who wants to train with us us a special repertoire class on the 22 of that month (see A Very Special Class in Liverpool - and Leeds is filling up 22 July 2018 on the Powerhouse Ballet website).  She proposes to teach us two or, if time permits, three of her own works.  The class will take place at Z Studios at 42 Devon Street immediately after our usual company class with Mark Hindle.  There are some lovely dancers in Liverpool (as indeed there are in Manchester, Yorkshire and further afield) who could do justice to Yvonne's choreography.

Registration for Yvonne's class and Mark's on 22 Sept will open immediately after our Leeds class on Saturday. Even though I have hired the largest studio I can find in Liverpool I think we will fill it very quickly.

Hype Dance's Annual Show

Hype Dance  Annual Show Library Theatre, Sheffield, 12 My 2018 19:45


Performances are important to dance education because ballet and kindred styles of dance developed in the theatre and are intended for an audience.  The experience of appearing before a living, breathing (and paying) audience is delicious. I well remember the charge of excitement I felt in my first show which I tried to describe in The Time of My Life 28 June 2014.  Every dance student from toddler to pensioner can and should feel that charge no matter how inexperienced or incompetent he or she may be.  Most get that opportunity because almost every dance school worth its salt offers its students a chance to take part in its annual show.  Training and rehearsing for that show is what distinguishes dance classes from dreary keep fit.

Hype Dance Company is a dance school in Sheffield to which I was introduced in 2014 by Mel Wong. Mel and I had met through BalletcoForum when Mel appealed for a teacher to stand in for her regular instructor who was about to take maternity leave. I suggested mine in Huddersfield and I mentioned the vacancy to her though I think she had already learned of it from another source. However, my teacher got the job and I followed her down to Sheffield where I attended my first class at Hype (see More than just Hype - Beginners and Improvers Classes in Sheffield 14 May 2014).  In that post I wrote:

"I have not met the other teachers but judging by the standard I found at Hype they must be good. I have no hesitation in recommending that dance school."

I later took classes with Emily Talks and Anna Olejnicki who directs the school and attended Hype's open air Frightnight show on the Moor.  I am glad to say that those other teachers and the school fully met my expectations.

Yesterday was Hype Dance's annual show at the Library Theatre in Sheffield. The Library is one of three theatres around Tudor Square which must place it in contention for one of the most theatre concentrated districts in England. The Library is an intimate auditorium seating 260 sprctators attached to the Central Library which is literally next door to The Lyceum.  Hype has so many students and runs so many classes that it had to stage the show in multiple sessions.  The kids and young people performed in the afternoon while the adult dance students performed in the evening.  I attended the evening show.

Some 19 pieces were presented ranging from ballet to pole dance.  I was impressed by all the performances.  The ballet included some tricky pointe work by two soloists who impressed me with their precision and polish, a charming character dance from the RAD class and excellent contributions from the advanced, improvers and beginners' classes.  I had shadowed the beginners' class in their rehearsal a few weeks ago and was impressed by it then but it was even better on stage.  It was raised to a new level by a soloist who suddenly appeared and wowed us.  A brilliant touch by Anna who had choreographed that piece.

Hype's jazz classes are particularly strong.  All the dancers are impressive but I have to say a special word for the solitary male who showed great strength and virtuosity.  As in most dance schools there are far more women at Hype than men, but all the men who took part in yesterday's show distinguished themselves.  One showed particular wit and courage by taking part in SHE Heels mastering impossibly towering footwear with the grace of any of the girls    The pole dancer was described as a guest in the programme.  I know no more about her but she amazed me with her strength and grace particularly when she was suspended by her legs her luxuriant hair cascading about her.  Contemporary, tap. street and all the other artists performed well too.

The jazz class led us into the finale each of the dancers showing off his or her party piece. Each of the other classes followed them onto stage to mounting applause. Finally the teachers with Anna acknowledging the cheers.  She appeared as proud as Punch and had every right to be.

David Murley

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I have just stumbled upon the website of one of my favourite choreographers, David Murley. I was led to him, as I had been led to Ballet Black, by Sarah Kundi.  For a few months she was a member of a company that Murley directed. Extracts from two of the works that Murley created for that company, Frisky Claptrap and Highgrove Suite, appear in the above show reel.

It appears from the CV/resume page of his website that Murley has packed a lot of experience into his career.  He has worked in London and on tour with Covent Garden.  His experience includes opera as well as dance.

Murley has recently obtained a Professional Dancer's Teaching Diploma.  He has already taught at the London Ballet School, London Boys Ballet School, and Pineapple among other places.

A man of many talents, I look forward to finding out what he will do next.

Welcome Silver Swans

Author Marek Szczepanek
Licence Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported  

The top item of my RAD newsletter features Angela Ripon in a dance studio above the headline "Silver Swans Take Flight". The article announces that the RAD is piloting ballet classes for the over-55s in the UK and elsewhere to be taught by specially trained instructors under the SILVER SWANS trade mark and that Angela Ripon is promoting them.  No classes have been arranged just yet but the RAD's website shows a map of the UK where those instructors are located. The most northerly is in Billingham and the most southerly in Helston unless you count Jersey which also has a teacher at Saint-Ouen. The RAD map complements Sophie Rebecca's more comprehensive map of adult ballet classes in the UK some of which also cater for the over 55s.

The RAD's initiative seems to have been a long time in the making.  I reported on three taster classes in Haslingden, Richmond and Glossop marketed by the RAD under the SILVER SWANS sign as long ago as 12 Feb 2014 (see Migrating Swans - Dance Classes for the Over 50s in the North 12 Feb 2014). Interestingly, the first use of the words SILVER SWANS to refer to dancers of a certain age appears to have been by the BBC.   Those words appeared in the headline for an article about a Scottish Ballet class for older dancers by Emma Ailes as long ago as 18 Oct 2013 (see 'Silver Swans' taking to the barre later in life for ballet lessons 18 Oct 2013 BBC).

If you are over 55 and want to return to dance after a gap of many years or even take up ballet for the first time, you do not have to wait for the RAD.  Northern Ballet Academy has been running several beginners and improvers classes a week for dancers over the age of 55 in Leeds for many years.  As you can see from the class timetable, it now runs classes for beginners and improvers over the age of 55 at its studios in Leeds on Tuesdays and Fridays as well as two classes in Gomersal on Monday mornings. I started the beginners' class in Leeds almost exactly 4 years ago. If you are wondering what to expect on your first day. I wrote about my first experiences in Realizing a Dream on 12 Sept 2013. You can actually watch a video of our class in action and find links to lots of other articles on dancing in later life in We're in the Paper 15 April 2013.

I know for a fact that there are similar classes in London run by Rambert which seem to attract royal patronage (see Mercury Movers 60+ on the Rambert website), Birmingham (see Move into Ballet on the Dance Exchange website), Newcastle (see Ballet Beginners on the Dance City website) and Glasgow (see Regenerate on the Scottish Ballet website). For the more ambitious or extrovert there are elder companies in Glasgow and London which perform before a paying public (see Caledonian Cousins 9 June 2015 and Sage Dance Company 19 June 2017) and indeed Canberra (see Growing Old Disgracefully in Morley 28 Sept 2015).

One other thing to note. I have found out that there is not much difference between an over 55 improvers class in Leeds and any other adult ballet class.  We do exactly the same barre and centre exercises and the teacher expects exactly the same degree of effort and commitment from us as she does from her other students.  I discovered that by accident when I strayed into Christopher Hinton-Lewis's class after I was prevented from attending my over 55 class by a fallen tree on the A1 (see It's an Ill Wind - Review of Northern Ballet's Beginner's Class 8 Dec 2013). So if there is no over 55 class in your town, don't be afraid to join an all age class as you will not feel out of place.  I discovered KNT in my home town of Manchester three years ago and have never looked back. I do not know a more congenial group of classmates or more encouraging teachers on the planet (see So Proud of Manchester - KNT Danceworks Complete Beginners Class 29 Aug 2014).

So I wish RAD and their students every success with their SILVER SWANS venture. I shall be very pleased to assist them in any way I can. If anyone who takes a SILVER SWANS class would care to review it for me I shall be very glad to publish it. I encourage everyone of every age who loves ballet to check out their local dance school for an adult ballet class.  I remember a poster a few years ago with the words "You can't buy happiness but you can buy a ballet class which is kinda the same thing." That is just so true.

Sage Dance Company

Yesterday @SageDanceCo1 started to follow me on Twitter so I looked them up. I found that they are  "a community dance company for people aged 55 years and over" with a mandate continually to "create new work for performance and improve the members’ technique and further their skills through the rehearsal and performing process" which "has led to increased abilities in learning skills and memory capacities as well as maintaining both the health and fitness of the dancers." The company is based in London and has performed at festivals in Barnes and Richmond and various other venues around the capital.

When I joined Northern Ballet's Over 55 class in Leeds, it was one of the few classes for dancers in my age group anywhere n the country (see Realizing a Dream 12 Sept 2013). Now there are loads such as Rambert's Mercury Movers in London, Scottish Ballet's Regenerate in Glasgow and Dance City's in Newcastle, Also, the Royal Academy of Dance plans to roll out its Silver Swans programme throughout the UK and USA.

Class is all very well but ballet is intended for the theatre. There is nothing like a performance in front of a living, breathing and paying audience to get the adrenalin running as I discovered when I stepped on to the stage of the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds for the first time (see The Time of My Life 28 June 2014). Timetabling constraints prevent the Northern Ballet from running shows for the Over 55 class but I have been able to perform at the Dancehouse in Manchester (see Show 14 May 2017 and "Show!" The Video 10 June 2017).

Sage Dance Company offers an opportunity for dancers of my age group in London to perform in public at an even higher level.  The company was founded in 2010 by Simon Rice of the Royal Ballet. It is a classical company and the standard appears to be very high. According to the company's home page there are in the repertoire:

"three classical works: a thirteen minute work to the music of Brahms, a sixteen minute work to Telemann and a twenty minute work to the music of Schumann, all choreographed by Simon Rice. Additionally they perform a ten minute Merce Cunningham style work choreographed by former Cunningham dancer Fionuala Power."

Richard Taylor made a delightful film about this company on YouTube which covers their classes, rehearsals and drinks in the pub afterwards. Just look at the expressions on the dancers' faces. Just like us in Leeds. Dance is a wonderful thing is it not.

Product Review #2: Capezio 27" Stirrup Legwarmers

© 2017 Wendy McDermott: all rights reserved
Reproduced with kind permission of the copyright owner

Wendy McDermott

I read an article recently via Twitter entitled “Listening to your Body” (dancemagazine.com). Its focus was on the development of the dancer’s body with age.  However, there were points within that article that could apply to most of us, whether dancing professionally or enthusiastically attending a class at a local dance studio. The awareness of the difference between static and dynamic stretching is one example as are the importance of proper nutrition and rest. 

The article went on to say that, as we go through our forties, tissues don’t retain water as they used to (and therefore require more rest, stretching and strengthening). In our 50s and onwards our tissues become thinner and weaker. Warming up, therefore, is crucial. 

I’ve been to classes where warming of the body precedes barre and others that go straight into pliés etc (can this be considered warm up?). The aforementioned article reads: 

“...the older dancer must be steadfast about warming up [to]...allow that muscle to get as juicy as possible and to be able to contract and expand within its limits”. 

There are garments aplenty which help dancers keep their bodies and muscles warm. Hopefully, some of you have read my short review on the Essential Legwarmers (see Wendy McDermott Product Review: Leg Warmers 10 March 2017).

Here I review of the Capezio 27” Stirrup Legwarmers. I ordered them in Wolf Grey. The colour looks fairly true to that provided by the colour swatch on the website but the actual product is much darker in colour. Hopefully, you can see that in the above photograph.

The length was adequate, the ribbed knit stretching naturally as I pulled them on. The legwarmers are made from 44% viscose, 28% polyester and 28% nylon, which gave them a smooth, soft feel. I have only worn them over tights but I am confident that if worn over bare legs they would not itch at all. They are neatly finished at all opening points with no raw edges and the elastic ‘hidden’ within the knit.

For some time I had been considering buying this longer style but I had two main concerns:– 

• The first was that they would slip down; 
• The second was that the elastic would be too tight around the thigh. 

I had asked several fellow dancers if their leggings fell down during class. All of them said theirs did so I had no high expectations that mine would defy gravity. They didn’t. What I can say though is that, despite the expectation they did not fall below the knee. They took me through barre to grand allegro and also floor work (some of you might be familiar with the RAD grade 7 ‘Study in Stillness and Gravity'). By the end, I was pleasantly surprised. 

Nor were they too tight around the top of the thigh, which I was glad of, but wonder whether this ‘comfortable fit’ would prove detrimental after several wears and washes. I have now worn them three times and washed them once. After the latter, they’ve neatly returned to their original state, though likewise, it’s too soon to tell for how long this will remain. 

All in all, I can say I’m very satisfied with my purchase and, given the dangers of not keeping ‘older’ muscles warm and flexible, I consider them to be another essential part of my dance wardrobe and shall be wearing them at Jane Tucker's forthcoming intensive one day workshop at KNT Danceworks (see Le Corsaire Intensive 2 April 2017).  Maybe I shall see some of you there.

La Bayadère Intensive Day 1: There's Life in the Old Girl Yet

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I hesitated before signing up for Jane Tucker's La Bayadère intensive at KNT  even though I had voted for it when Karen Sant polled us on what we wanted to learn because I was not sure that I would be able to do it. Much as I had enjoyed last year's Swan Lake (see KNT's Beginners' Adult Ballet Intensive - Swan Lake: Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3) and this April's Romeo and Juliet (see We had a stab at that! KNT's Romeo and Juliet Intensive Workshop for Beginners 9 April 2016) they nearly killed me and now I am a year older, slower, stiffer and generally wonkier. Truth to tell, my anxiety that I might no longer be up to it is the only reason why I did not bite Hannah Bateman's hand off when she advertised her Ballet Retreat in Leeds earlier this year.

I am really glad that I did sign up for Jane's intensive because I had a whale of a time yesterday. Although I am as stiff as a board this morning with aches and pains in muscles and joints that I never knew existed despite soaking in a hot bath followed by a cold shower I am buoyed up by two news items.  The first was the 97 year old dentist and entrepreneur featured on How to Age. The second was the story on The World Tonight about Doreen Petchey from Reading who has just passed her RAD Grade 6 exams at age 71 (see Congratulations Doreen 12 Aug 2016 on the RAD website and the video clip on her (Britain's oldest ballerina: 71-year-old passes Grade 6 exam). I might add in passing that there are lots of ladies of that age or older in Annemarie Donoghue's Over 55 class at Northern Ballet in Leeds and that at least 4 members of that class regularly attend Jane Tucker's improvers' class in Leeds on Wednesday evenings which is definitely not for wimps.

Our intensive started with 30 minutes of floor exercises on Pilates mats at 10:00.  We then had 90 minutes of class which consisted of a full barre and the usual centre work which took us through to noon.  Between noon and lunch we learned our first bit of repertoire which was the second shade's solo dance from the last act of the ballet. The first and the last bits were easy enough but I got a bit lost in the middle but Jane seemed to be reasonably satisfied with our effort overall.

We broke for lunch at 13:30 and I found a Japanese restaurant behind The Dancehouse that Gita the Eater had discovered in April.  I really love Japanese cuisine having been to Japan three times but although there are lots of places that claim to be Japanese restaurants there are very few that would pass muster in Tokyo. This is one of the very few that would. I refuelled on tempura and rice with plenty of green tea.

After lunch we ran through the second shade's solo again and then started on the descent into the kingdom of the shades. Jane had already taught us a version of that dance which I had struggled to master in her improvers' class in Leeds and the Romeo and Juliet intensive in April.  It was a considerable relief to find that she required us to do the version that appears in the video. Yoshie led us out to the centre of the studio and we followed her in height order. The first bit consisted of a sequence of arabesques followed by a right tendu with our arms in 5th which was just about doable but then an almost interminable couru which we did on demi punctuated by a développé and two descents to the floor which I dared not risk for fear of never getting up again. I couldn't do them in cygnets last year either.

We repeated the dances that we had learned before Karen who filmed us with her tablet.  Our day finished with 20 minutes of floor exercises. I left the Dancehouse just after 16:15 to begin the trek back to Brockholes which turned out to be surprisingly smooth once I had caught a through train from Oxford Road to Huddersfleld.

The first thing I did when I arrived home was to run a hot bath. Jane's advice last year of a hot bath followed by a cold shower was the best tip I have ever picked up from a ballet class and it really works. I was going to give alcohol a miss last night but when I heard about Mrs. Petchey I felt compelled to drink her health in Argentine Malbec. If she can do grade 6 at age 71 I should be able to finish this course at age 67. And perhaps I should have a shot at the RAD exams too. If I passed them I might eventually be allowed to turn up to Chelmsford Ballet's company class. I am looking forward to another year of classes with Annemarie and Jane in Leeds and Karen and Ailsa in Manchester. Maybe there's life in the old girl yet.

What Manchester Did Yesterday ......

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 If you are in London tomorrow you nay want to make your way to Canada Square Park at Canary Wharf between 12:30 and 14:00 for a pop-up performance of ballet, contemporary, modern and street dance promoted by the Royal Academy of Dance. There have already been pop-up performances at Finsbury Square this  month and there will be another at King's Cross in October.

These events build on the success of pop-up performances at Broadgate Circle and King's Cross in support of the Genée last September.

All good stuff but these are not the first pop-up dance performance in a major UK city.  Enjoy this video of KNT Manchester dancers in Piccadilly Gardens supporting Oxjam in 2013.

Back to Africa

One of my most popular articles when I started this blog was What can be achieved by a good teacher 3 March 2013. It was about the classes given by the remarkable Mike Wamaya to kids in one of the poorest and toughest neighbourhoods of Nairobi.

I am returning to the topic again because of a news item on the class on the RAD website. It is headed "Former Faculty of Education student, Amy Shelton, gives a fascinating insight into her personal experiences of teaching ballet to children in Kenya in this month’s edition of Dancing Times," The students are up to date with the new RAD syllabus and as you can see from the film above and those in my earlier post they are as diligent and ambitious as any in the world. I have high hopes that some of  Wamaya's kids will perform one day at Covent Garden and the Met.

What Wamaya has done in Kenya could be repeated elsewhere in Africa including Sierra Leone. That country has already produced Michaela DePrince. It is going through a terrible trial right now just as it did two decades ago when DePrince was born. Sierra Leone survived the civil war and it will survive ebola but, as I said in  Could the Arts not do something about this horrible Scourge 8 Oct 2014,  "Sierra Leone and its neighbours will need massive help in rebuilding their economic, social and cultural institutions when the immediate crisis is over."

A ballet school for Freetown may seem an odd priority for a country that needs to be rebuilt but men's minds and souls need feeding as well as their bellies and dance provides some of that food. We know that from our own experience for it was the Vic-Wells Ballet that kept us going during the Second World War (see David Bintley's Dancing in the Blitz: How World War 2 made British Ballet BBC website) just as it helped generations of Russians survive decades of famine, war and oppression. Look what Wamaya has achieved in Kenya. Why not the same in Kroo Town, Kissy or Kenema?

Further Reading
28 Nov 2014  Michaela DePrince at TEDx Amsterdam

Finding a dance teacher online...

New Year Fireworks

Photo Wikipedia

At a New Year's party last night one of the guests told me that she and her 11 year daughter would like to learn a new style of dance together. She had made enquiries and found plenty of schools where her daughter could learn to dance and a few where she could learn but none where the two of them could learn together.

"Ought to be possible to find somewhere" I replied. "There are so many on-line dance directories and class finders nowadays." Indeed I had actually reviewed one of them in September.

When I started to search for myself I saw her difficulty. There may be a lot of on-line directories and class and teacher finders but they re far from comprehensive. And they tend to report what's there or rather may have been, or even intended to be, there rather than put students in touch with teachers.

I think it must be easier to find a class in London than it is elsewhere because Sadler's Wells and the Arts Council of England operate the London Dance website at http://londondance.com/. This is a massive resource of everything to do with dance in the capital. There is a searchable database of dance classes in every style from Asian to Zumba. I searched for "Ballet" and found 11 pages of listings starting with Academy Performing Arts in Woolwich to the Ysabelle Taylor Ballet School. I have not been able to find anything quite like that London Dance anywhere else in the country though regional dance organizations like North West Dance do provide some of those services.

I reviewed Dancelinks on 6 Sept 2014 and revisited it again this afternoon.  I searched for "Ballet", "Over 18" and "Leeds" and came up with Elev8dance, Headingley Dance Centre, Janina School of Dance, Lara Academy of Dance, Mullen Theatre Studios and Priestley Theatre Dancing School as well as the 5 that the database reported in September so it is obviously getting bigger. As the site does not seem to charge searchers or carry advertising I guess it must charge the studios for registering but I couldn't find out how much.

A site that published its rates is DanceNearYou. It claims to be "the number one class finder" and it charges instructors £15.60 per month and up to 5 studios or teachers £60 per month for a listing. I searched "Any/All" styles and "Leeds" and it came up with "Lindy Fridays" which offers "Social Dancing, Swing Dance Classes". 

I also found DanceWeb UK and Class Finder which have searchable databases. Class Finder seems to be particularly helpful. It reported 11 ballet classes within a 20 mile radius of Leeds and I know that at least one of them is good. Other good places to look are the Royal Academy of Dance, International Dance Teachers Association and the ISTD websites which list their members rather than studios.

If anybody has any other suggestions I shall be pleased to hear from them.

For Emma

Lord Street, Southport                                               Source Wikipedia

Sitting next to me in the Atkinson for Ballet Theatre UK's performance of The Little Mermaid on Saturday was a young lady called Emma. She was with several friends from work.

"Wasn't it lovely" she remarked as the applause died away.
"It certainly was" I agreed.
"Do you see a lot of ballet" she asked.
"Quite a few" I replied. "I keep a blog called Terpsichore" I added, writing down the URL on a scrap of paper.
"Oh I am only just getting into ballet,"
"Did you study dance as a child?" I asked,
"Not really" she said. "I would love to do it now but I suppose it is too late".
"It's never too late" said I. "According to the BBC there's a student in Scotland aged 102."
I told her about my classes at Leeds and Huddersfield and adult ballet in general,
"You're so lucky to live near Leeds" replied Emma but I know of nothing like that round here."
"There almost certainly are adult ballet classes in Southport" I countered "and there will certainly be one somewhere in Merseyside."
"Tell you what" I added "if you visit my blog I'll give you a few tips in an article just for you."

So, Emma, this article is for you.

First up, the main dance authority for the UK is the Royal Academy of Dance. Anybody can join as a friend for £19 and get all sorts of benefits and concessions. They have a searchable database of qualified teachers all over England and you can see who works in or near Southport. Another good source of information is North West Dance.    It is then worth googling "ADULT", "BALLET" and "SOUTHPORT" and cross-referencing any dance schools that come up on then search with the RAD teachers and North West Dance activities. When you have found some schools and teachers you like give them a bell or send then an email. See whether any of them will take an absolute beginner and then take it from there.

Second up, don't spend too much money at first. Nobody expects you to wear expensive shoes or dance wear at this stage. Most teachers will let you turn up to your first class in t-shirt and leggings and dance in bare feet. When you get a bit more settled you can invest in a leotard and soft toed shoes. You don't need to worry about pointes at this stage and it may be that you never do. I buy my shoes from Frederick Freeds in London. Would you believe that they still had a record of my size from when I first started dancing? You teacher will tell you all about how to break in a pair of shoes gently.

Next, I would see as much professional ballet on the stage as possible for it is amazing what you can learn from watching dancers.  Ballet Black, one of my very favourite companies, is coming to the Atkinson on  the 22 May. If there are any tickets left go grab yourself one. I will be there. I saw their show in  London in  February and it was outstanding. Birmingham Royal Ballet is coming to The Lowry in September with Beauty and the Beast. English National Ballet is bringing Swan Lake to Liverpool in November. Northern Ballet is coming to Manchester with Cinderella also in November.

If you want to discuss any aspect of ballet you should join BalletcoForum. You will there discover a remarkable lady who lives not too far away from you with an encyclopaedic knowledge and at least as great a passion for ballet as mine. And there are many others there who can guide and encourage you in your appreciation of ballet.  Finally, I am by no means the only blogger. My own favourite is Dave Tries Ballet. He started in his twenties and he is now dancing with stars of English National Ballet.  Follow his journey from his first class to where he is now in just a few short years. You might also learn some maths from him too.

No Holds Barred

I have got even greater respect for the kids of Mathare whom I mentioned in my article "What can be achieved by a good teacher" (3 March 2013). Like them I have had a class without a barre.  You have to concentrate much harder just to keep your balance let alone perform an exercise correctly. On the other hand you do learn something about weight distribution particularly with glissés and tendus.   

On the subject of Africa I am pleased to see that Michaela dePrince, who was born in Sierra Leone, is now in Europe. She is with the Junior Company of the National Ballet of the Netherlands. As I mentioned in my article, Ms de Prince appears to have exceptional talent and I was saving my pennies to see her in New York.  Thanks to budget airlines the Netherlands is a lot of cheaper and easier to reach than the USA. This is the Junior Company's schedule for the next 6 months.

I have a lot of connections with Sierra Leone through marriage and through looking after another young woman whose family was displaced by the civil war. I visited the country and travelled around it in 2007.   When I was there the scars of the conflict were still very visible.  Watch this short video in which de Prince tells her story.

Louis Smith  Source Wikipedia

Also impressive in another way is our British Olympic medallist Louis Smith who was challenged to learn ballet. A short film "Louis Learns Ballet" on the Royal Academy of Dance's website shows that he had some natural aptitude for the art for he seems to have made quite remarkable progress.

Also on the new website is an article by Jennifer MacFarlane the RAD's manager in Scotland on the Genée which was held in Glasgow this year (Some Thoughts from Scotland on Genée 2013).  Most of the article is about fund raising but there is a beautiful picture of medallist Natasha Watson from Ballet West with her award.  I mentioned this young dancer's success in
"Yet More Good News from Ballet West - Natasha Watson's Medal in the Genée" on 30 Sept and the article seems to have gone viral. Ms. Watson is another outstanding dancer I look forward to seeing on the stage.

Although I try to keep the ballet separate from the law my chambers have provisionally booked the boardroom of Northern Ballet's premises for a 3 hour seminar on recent developments in intellectual property on 11 Dec 2013 for local solicitors and patent and trade mark attorneys.  Attendees will be asked to donate to Northern Ballet's "Sponsor a Dancer" and the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School Appeals.

Postscript

In "Engaging Generation Y in ballet – thoughts and ideas" whose blog I featured in "Fantastic New Blog: Dave Tries Ballet" mentions another sportsman who incorporates ballet into his training schedule:

"British Olympic swimmer Liam Tancock uses ballet seriously within his training. I think one of the best things about Tancock is that he’s so “matter of fact” about doing ballet. Being interviewed by the BBC (BBC Article) he points out the benefits of ballet and how it’s impacted his performance. "

He also refers to a conversation between a rugby player and a dancer. The context of those observations was a discussion on engaging young adults in opera and dance.  Dave had been approached by RESEO (the European Network for Opera and Dance Education) to contribute to the Network's Autumn conference on "GENERATION Y: Engaging young adults in opera and dance".  I agree with his view that often the most effective way to connect with his (or indeed any other) generation is by not 'trying too hard and that "the easiest way to make ballet accessible is by making it seem 'normal.'”  However, rather than comment on that article in detail I invite you to read it for yourselves.

Ballerina

"Ballerina" is a rank, rather like QC at the Bar. It is reserved for the star of a major company, such as the Royal Ballet or American Ballet Theatre, who dances the leading roles such as Giselle or Odette-Odile. There are only a handful of such stars at any one time.

There is no real equivalent title for outstanding male dancers. "Principal", which applies to both sexes, is how Nureyev and Dowell were described in the House's programmes

A great resource on the art of the ballerina is the Ballerina Gallery,  All the great names are there:

• Fonteyn
• Karsavina
• Pavlova
• Tallchief

and very many more.  Unfortunately the website does not seem to have been updated since 2010.   

"Who is the greatest ballerina of all time?" I am sometimes asked.  It is impossible to say.   We can only know our contemporaries and, even then, comparisons are invidious.  Each dancer is a star for a reason and the qualities that make a star of one dancer may be quite different from those that make a star of another.

But I can name my favourite dancer of all time and that is Antoinette Sibley. During her prime I could not see enough of her. I lost count of the number of her performances that I saw.. Some praise her line, others her technique but, for me, it was the expressiveness of her face.  Particularly her eyes.   Above is a tribute of photos compiled by the RAD of which she was president.  It is a lovely reminder of a great dancer and a still ravishingly beautiful woman.

Further Reading
Judith Mackrell "Margot Fonteyn as you've never seen her before" 10 Dec 2013
Jane Lambert Sibley 17 Dec 2013
Jane Lambert "Le jour de gloire est arrive - Dame Antoinette Sibley with Clement Crisp at the Royal Ballet School" 3 Feb 2014