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Jane Tucker and the Members of Powerhouse Ballet
Author Gita Mistry Reproduced with the author's kind permission |
On Sunday, 25 May 2025, Powerhouse Ballet held an intensive workshop on Swan Lake at Dance Studio Leeds which proved to be one of its most successful events ever. Many thanks to our guest ballet mistresses, Sara Horner and Jane Tucker of the Academy of Northern Ballet, and to everyone who turned up for making the day so pleasant and memorable.
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Sara Horner and the |Dancers at 13:15
Author Sue Pritchard Reproduced with the author s kind permission |
Sara started our workshop at 10:00 with breathing and stretching exercises on pilates mats and towels. As soon as she judged that we were ready for 3 hours of demanding barre and centre exercises, we brought out the travelling barres. Sara took us through the usual exercises - pliés, tendus, glissés, ronds de jambe, frappés et cetera. After cloches and grands battements, we removed the travelling barres and started the centre exercises with tendus and glissés. Sara taught us a beautiful adagio, and we finished with temps levés in anticipation of the grande entrée of the swans in the first lakeside scene of Swan Lake. The last half hour of Sara's slot consisted of pointework exercises for members who had received pointe training and brought their pointe shoes. The rest of us followed the class on demi-pointe.
Jane took over from Sara at 13:15. She began by telling us a little bit of the history of Swan Lake. The ballet had not been an immediate success when it was premiered in Moscow. She told us that critics had complained that Tchaikovsky's music had been too symphonic for ballet. They had plenty of other niggles before Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov got to work on the ballet for the Imperial Ballet in St Petersburg. Since then, it has been a favourite of audiences all over the world.
Jane had selected three of my favourite pieces from the ballet: the grande entrée that I mentioned before, the pas de trois from Prince Siegfried's birthday party and the cygnets' dance. A few years ago, I had dinner with the distinguished dancer Terry Hyde. He told me on the good authority of Mrs Hyde, who was also a dancer, that members of the corps de ballet have been known to whisper under their breath as they enter the stage:
"I hate Swan Lake! I hate Swan Lake! It's a terrible bore,"
And then words to the effect that they can't wait for the season to end. I hasten to add that that story was news to Jane Tucker and also Yvonne Charlton. Anyway, we loved the swans' entry and other pieces amd can't wait to perform them. That could be on 15 Nov 2025 at the Chroma Q theatre in Leeds, or possibly even earlier if KNT invite us back to dance in one of their shows. However, Lauren Savage has just proposed another lovely piece for members to consider.
We now have something on which to build. Our plans for a summer school in Bangor or York, our own mixed bill and full-length ballet and, eventually, a salaried artistic director are becoming realizable. However, if we are going to implement any of those plans, we shall need some additional revenues. Up to now, I have sponsored all the company's activities, and I will continue to do so to the same extent as before. But we can do so much more if others contribute. Earlier this year, I circulated a business plan to members that contained details of a subscription and charges for some merchandise and services. Nobody objected to the proposals, and I shall consult on ways of implementing them. At this point, I stress that members' contributions will fund new services and not those that were previously free. We shall also set up a friends scheme for those who want to support the company but not necessarily dance with us. Later, we shall canvass for advertising, business sponsorship and grant funding.
We have much to look forward to, including a 2-hour class with Rachel Hickey of the Czech National Ballet at KNT Danceworks on 20 July starting at 14:00. Rachel is a fellow Mancunian who trained at Elmhurst before starting her career in the Olomouc ballet, which was also Emily Joy Smith's company. Many thanks to Emily Joy for introducing us to Rachel. I will post a registration card in the next few days.
