Powerhouse Ballet's Swan Lake Intensive Workshop

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.

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.

Another Class at Dance Studio Leeds

Standard YouTube Licence

A lot of things seem to happen on Monday evenings. It's the night that the London Ballet Circle meets for its talks.  Last Monday it was Ballet Black's first Friends evening (see Ballet Black's First Friends' Event: A Rehearsal with Chris Marney 14 July 2016). A few weeks earlier I was on my way to Trecate (see From Italy with Love 1 July 2016). Before that I was travelling back from Hungary (see My Trip to Hungary 23 April 2016). For all those reasons and more I had got out of the habit of visiting The Dance Studio, Leeds for its Monday evening Beginners and Improvers Ballet Class.

That is a pity for the class is good.  It is held in a convenient location at Mabgate Mills less than a mile from Northern Ballet where there is plenty of free parking and at the very convenient time of 19:45 which enables me to do a full day's work before grands battements and ronds de jambe.  There is a nice bunch of students in the class and until a few weeks ago it was run by the studio's founder, Katie Geddes, who is lovely. Last Christmas she organized a trip to The Nutcracker at The Grand (see Northern Nutcracker 19 Dec 2015) and a great party which raised funds for the NSPCC.

Katie is on maternity leave just now and one of the members of the class showed me some photos of her little boy who was born in May so huge congratulations to her and best wishes to the rest to her family. Since Katie went on leave her class has been taken by Sara Horner. According to the studio's website:

"Sara has been performing and teaching for over 11 years since completing her professional training at Performers College, Essex. During this time, she has worked in corporate shows, Pantomime, Cruise ships and Theatre tours of the UK and abroad, as a lead female vocalist, dancer and backing artist. Sara is also a freelance dance teacher teaching in numerous establishments in the West Yorkshire region. She is also Principal of Sara Horner School of Dance teaching ballet, tap, and modern to adults and children in Leeds."

Essex is the county of The Chelmsford Ballet Company and Just Ballet so anyone trained there must be good.

And so she was. Distracted by a passionate conversation about mobile phones I lost my turning and had to drive round acres of urban blight by the motorway before I found my way to Mabgate Mills by which time I had missed warm up and plies. However, I caught the rest of the barre which proceeded briskly with combined tendus and glisses, fondus and ronds de jambe, developpes, cloches and barre stretches. Embarrassingly I was the only member of the class who couldn't get a right leg on the barre and as they were travelling barres there was no lower rail. However, I could get my left leg up. Dunno what's gone wrong with my right leg. I could manage it OK this time last year. No doubt a sign of ageing. It's the only thing holding me back from putting my name down for Jane Tucker's Bayadere intensive in Manchester next month (see La Bayadère it is 2 July 2016).

Be that as it may I enjoyed the adagio, the pirouette exercise which Sara worked into a little enchainement, glissades and assembles and the temps leves and grands jetes at the end.  As I said in Dance Studio Leeds Beginners' Ballet Class 23 Oct 2015 the studio in which class takes place is not exactly cavernous so we have to apply the brakes after the second step hop let alone the step across the puddle which is how I was originally taught grand jetes but it was a lot of fun and the cool down and reverence came far too soon.

I thoroughly recommend this class especially while Northern Ballet is closed for the vacation.  It costs £6.50 for a 90 minute session which is about average for the North of England and well below the cost in London. There is a good teacher and nice atmosphere. Everyone makes an effort but it's not edgy or competitive.