Kenneth Tindall

The latest newsletter for the Friends of Northern Ballet contained glorious news of the Sapphire Gala of the 14 March in which Sarah Lamb of the Royal Ballet and Xander Parish of the Mariinsky Ballet and many of the world's greatest stars will perform. But it also contained a headline that made me root for a tissue - just for a second - before I also raised a smile. The headline was "Kenneth Tindall is retiring" and that was the bit that made me sad for he is one of my favourite dancers but my sadness was tempered with the words "award-winning Kenneth is moving on to a career as a Freelance Choreographer after gaining recognition for his work with Northern Ballet and other artists."

I have written a lot about Tindall in this blog.  Watching The Architect last year was one of My Personal Ballet Highlights of 2014 28 Dec 2014. Mel Wong and I reviewed that work in Kenneth Tindall - The Architect of Ballet 21 June 2014 and A Wonderful Evening - Northern Ballet's Mixed Bill 21 June 2014 23 June 2014 and we both supported Stephen Lally's film of the work (see They Made It 20 June 2014),  Wong also wrote an interesting feature on Tindall entitled Kenneth Tindall’s Brave New World 3 Sept 2014 in her own publication. There will be another chance to see The Architect as part of the Mixed Programme at The Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds between 6 to 9 May 2015 and The Linbury Studio Theatre in London between 12 and 14 May 2015.

The Architect is the third of Tindall's ballets that I have enjoyed.  I mentioned his Bitter Earth briefly in my post on the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School gala at Sadler's Wells (see More Things I do for my Art - Autumn Gala of Dance and Song 30 Sept 2013) and I reviewed Luminous Jun-cture in Angelic - Northern Ballet's Mixed Bill 9 June 2013.

According to the Friends' newsletter Tindall's last appearance with Northern Ballet will be as Heathcliffe in Wuthering Heights at Milton Keynes  on 2 May 2015. No doubt the M1 will no doubt have to carry particularly heavy traffic from the North that day.

That will not be the last time that Tindall will be mentioned in this blog. He has an international following which was brought home to me when I visited Amsterdam earlier this month (see The Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's best Performance yet 8 Feb 2015). His name came up whenever I mentioned Northern Ballet or Leeds at the party after the show.  Perhaps not so surprising for a choreographer who has already won a fistful of awards and nominations. He is still a young man and his career - though meteoric - has only just begun. I look forward to great things.

Further Reading
Paul Szabo   INTERVIEW: Kenneth Tindall - Designing The Architect 12 June 2014 The Gay UK

They Made It!

Kenneth Tindall

Over the last few days I have been beating the drum for Hannah Bateman and Kenneth Tindall who have been raising funds on Kickstarter for the filming of Tindall's new ballet The Architect. (see  "Tindall's Architect - How to Get a Piece of the Action - Literally!" 7 June 2014 and "Ballets beginning with "N" and a Bright Patriotic Romp for a Monday Morning" 9 June 2014).

Mel Wong and I have each contributed £10 to this project and were two of the first backers.  I am delighted to say that Bateman and Tindall exceeded their target with 5 hours to spare and that the film will  now be made.

In making this film Tindall will collaborate director Stephen T Lally and designer Christopher Giles.

Mel has already seen the ballet and reviewed it for BalletcoForum. I am looking forward to seeing it tomorrow.  As I have greatly admired Tindall's other work I have high hopes for The Architect.

I should like to congratulate everyone involved in this project and to thank Janet McNulty for bringing it to Mel's and my attention.

Tindall's Architect - How to Get a Piece of the Action - Literally!

Last month our beloved Northern Ballet danced at the Linbury Studio Theatre to packed houses and favourable reviews. It was by no means their first season in London but it was their first at Covent Garden and their success filled all of us woad-painted, ferret-tending, coal-in-the-bath-storing Borealians with pride. There were regrettably attempts to puncture that pride by one who should have known better who dismissed  one of our wonderful choreographers as one of "dozens of others who have done a few pieces, successful or otherwise". But, never mind. A week or two later my pride was more than restored when Christopher Marney listed Martha Leebolt and other Northern Ballet dancers among his favourites.

One of the most popular works at the Linbury was Kenneth Tindall's Luminous Junc•ture.  That is an impressive work that I saw and reviewed last June (see Angelic - Northern Ballet's Mixed Bill 9 June 2013).  In less than a fortnight Northern Ballet are bringing the programme that they danced so successfully in London back to Leeds but, instead of Luminous Junc•ture, Tindall has created a new ballet called The Architect.

According to Northern Ballet's website this ballet was inspired by Genesis. The score is  Zinc by Zoe Keating Remix, ...Og Lengra by Olafur Arnalds, Aria by Balanescu Quartet, Til Enda by Olafur Arnalds and Architect of the mind by Kerry Muzzey. The sets and costumes are by Christopher Giles. If you visit that page you will see a gorgeous drawing of two of the costumes by Giles and a dramatic photo by Darren Goldsmith of Benjamin Mitchell and Giuliano Contadini in a scene from that ballet.

I am, of course, looking forward to seeing this work very much indeed but ballets being transitory it will be over all too quickly. However, there is a chance of preserving this work on film for I have just seen a post on by Hannah Bateman on Kickstarter appealing for funding for the filming of the work by Stephen Lally. Most of the money for the project has been raised but Lally and his team still need to raise another £3,000 by private subscription in the next 12 days and they are already well on their way there. If you want to contribute you can offer anything from £1 upwards and there are incentives like signed posters and advanced viewing of the picture if you do.

Tindall isn't just one of "dozens of others who have done a few pieces, successful or otherwise". He is good. I have seen Bitter Earth as well as Luminous Junc•ture and I look forward to more.