Ballet Cymru Workshop

A workshop that is a little bit different

28 Nov 2018  Yorkshire Dance  18:00 - 19:30 

© 2018 Sun Trenverth Photography: all rights reserved
Reproduced with kind permission of Ballet Cymru 

Ballet Cymru describe themselves as "a ballet company who like to do things a bit differently." They enjoy finding new ways to make what they do exciting, innovative and relevant.

They achieved those objectives with TIR where they collaborated with Cerys Matthews to translate traditional Welsh songs into dance. I described it as a "thrilling experience" in my review of the company's performance of that ballet in Newport.

Matthews and Ballet Cymru have collaborated again to produce Dylan Thomas – A Child’s Christmas, Poems and Tiger Eggs which the company will dance at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds on 29 Nov 2018. This show promises to be one of the highlights of the Leeds dance season for 2018/2019 so if you have not yet bought your ticket do so now while you still can.

The day before that performance we shall host a workshop for Ballet Cymru at Yorkshire Dance where they will teach us some of the choreography from that show. This is a rare opportunity to dance with artists of Wales's classical dance company who have come from all parts of the world to the work of Darius James and Amy Doughty two of my favourite choreographers.

This workshop is open to anybody aged 18 or above who is regularly attending ballet classes at Northern Ballet Academy or Dance Studio Leeds in Leeds, KNT Danceworks in Manchester, Hype Dance in Sheffield, Ballet North in Halifax or any other adult ballet class of similar standard. Ballet Cymru do not expect you to be another Pavlova but you are unlikely to get much out of the evening if you have not yet mastered the basics.

Admission is free but you must register here in advance. Yorkshire Dance is literally just across the road from Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre. It faces the Leeds School of Music. The bus station is the same distance in the opposite direction and the mainline railway station with regular services to all parts of the country is just a little further away.

Immediately after the workshop Powerhouse Ballet will hold a reception for Darius James and the company in Martha's room at Yorkshire Dance where we shall launch the Northern Dance Circle. The Circle will promote dance and dance education in the North in very much the same way as the London Ballet Circle does in London. You can attend that even if you do not attend the workshop. Again, there will be no charge to attend the event but you must register in advance.

Go to the Eventbrite Page

Dylan Thomas – A Child’s Christmas, Poems and Tiger Eggs

© 2018 Sleepy Robot 

If I were washed up on Sue Lawley's desert island with a DVD player and had seconds to rescue discs from the jaws of a sea monster, Cerys Matthews's TIR  would be one for which I would risk a limb.  The reason I say that is that it would remind me of an unforgettable performance by Cerys and Ballet Cymru of her music interpreted in dance by Darius James and Amy Doughty at The Riverfront Theatre in Newport on 6 Nov 2015 (see "The Pride of Newport and the Pride of Wales" 8 Nov 2015).

Cerys Matthews, Darius James, Amy Doughty and Ballet Cymru have collaborated again to create Dylan Thomas – A Child’s Christmas, Poems and Tiger Eggs.  This is a new ballet to be premiered in Brecon on 12 Oct 2018.  It will then tour the country including London, Newport and Leeds on 29 Nov 2018.  

According to the company's press release, the ballet will be based on  Cerys's album Dylan Thomas – A Child’s Christmas , Poems and Tiger Eggs.  These are based on Dylan Thomas's writings featuring the story about the uncles and snow that we all read at school.  Cerys will recite the story in person when the show comes to Bangor, London and Newport.  The music for the ballet is composed and arranged by Cerys and Mason Neely.

This is not the first time that I have seen a ballet based on Dylan Thomas's work.   Christopher Bruce created Ten Poems for Scottish Ballet in 2014 which I reviewed in Bruce Again  on 8 Oct 2014.  That was an impressive work but as I said at the time "there weren't too many laughs." Ballet Cymru's ballet promises to be more cheerful though even A Child's Christmas has a sombre side.

Powerhouse Ballet (several of whose best dancers live in North Wales) will be hosting a workshop for Ballet Cymru at Yorkshire Dance on 28 Nov 2018 between 18:00 and 19:30 to which all are welcome.  Particulars of that event will be announced on the company's website shortly.  Booking will be through Eventbrite.

Highlights of 2015

Ballet Cymru's Cinderella


In Looking Forward to 2015 - My Choices 29 Dec 2014 I tipped Queensland Ballet's La Sylphide for ballet of the year with the Dutch National Ballet's Cool Britannia, the Royal Ballet's Fille, Ballet Black's triple bill, Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet and Scottish Ballet's Nutcracker as likely runners up. They were all good and I enjoyed them all tremendously but none of them was the ballet of the year in my book. That accolade belongs to Ballet Cymru's Cinderella by Darius James and Amy Doughty (see Ballet Cymru's Cinderella 15 June 2015).

James and Doughty also choreographed the second best show which was Tir, an arrangement of Welsh folk songs sung on stage by Cerys Matthews (see "The Pride of Newport and the Pride of Wales" 8 Nov 2015 and Ballet Cymru in London 1 Dec 2015). The performances that I saw were charged with emotion because the company had recently lost Mandev Sokhi, one of the most attractive dancers on the stage (see Mandev Sokhi 10 Oct 2015). Matthews had added the Rev Eli Jenkings's prayer from Milkwood to her medley in Sokhi's memory. I doubt that there was a dry eye in the house. How the dancers carried it off with memories so raw is  remarkable.

Ballet Cymru have some wonderful dancers and this was the year I got to make their acquaintance (see Ballet Cymru at Home 5 Oct 2015). I visited their studios in Rogerstone with the London Ballet Circle and watched their company class and a rehearsal of Cinderella. At the end of the company class James invited each of his artists to perform their party piece. The women showed off their fouettés and the men their jumps and turns.

This was a vintage year for Cinderella as the panel agreed in the State of the Art Panel Discussion: Narrative Dance in Ballet during Northern Ballet's Choreographic Laboratory 2015 (see My Thoughts on Saturday Afternoon's Panel Discussion at Northern Ballet 21 June 2015). There were great productions by Christopher Hampson for Scottish Ballet and Christopher Wheeldon's for the Dutch National Ballet (see Scottish Ballet's Cinderella 20 Dec 2015 and  Wheeldon's Cinderella 13 July 2015. They both had their strengths and I liked them a lot but it is the Welsh version with Jack White's glorious score that stands out like a beacon.

Ballet Cymru shows that a company does not have to be big to be great and two of my other favourite companies, Ballet Black and Phoenix Dance Theatre, emphasize that point. I saw them both at the Linbury - Ballet Black's triple bill on 14 Feb 2015 (see Ballet Black's Best Performance Yet 17 Feb 2015) and Phoenix's on 12 Nov 2015 (see The Phoenix Soars Over London 13 Nov 2015).

There are of course big companies that are also great and one of the greatest is Scottish Ballet. Last year was a succession of successes: the revival of Peter Darrell's Nutcracker in Edinburgh (Like meeting an old friend after so many years 4 Jan 2015), A Streetcar named Desire at Sadler's Wells (see Scottish Ballet's Streetcar 2 April 2015), Marc Brew's Exalt and van Manen's 5 Tangos at the Tramway (see No Mean City - Accessible Dance and Ballet 26 April 2015) and Christopher Hampson's magnificent Cinderella which I mentioned above. Scottish Ballet was the first ballet company I got to know and love and it is still special to me. Yesterday I tweeted that if I could see only one ballet company this year it would have to be Scottish Ballet.

Scottish Ballet owes much of its success to its artistic director in Christopher Hampson. I was lucky enough to see him in the flesh in the State of the Art Panel Discussion which I mentioned above. He choreographed Perpetuum Mobile for Northern Ballet which accompanied Madame Butterfly on its mid-scale tour which was the best thing I saw from that company last year (see Nixon's Masterpiece 22 May 2015) and Four for Ballet Central (see Dazzled 3 May 2015).  I look forward to his Sextet for Ballet Black very much.

I saw two great performances by the Royal Ballet in 2015:  Cranko's Onegin on 16 Feb 2015 with Matthew Golding and Natalia Osipova in the leading roles (see Onegin: the most enjoyable performance that I have seen at the House since Sibley and Dowell 21 Feb 2015) and La Fille mal gardée with Laura Morera and Vadim Muntagirov as Lise and Colas (see The Best Fille Ever 18 April 2015). Morera was a lovely Lise and Muntagirov was the best Colas ever and I got the opportunity to tell Morera how much I enjoyed her performance when she and Ricardo Cervera spoke to the London Ballet Circle in August (see Laura Morera 25 Aug 2015).

Cranko is my favourite choreographer of all time but he died so young. Two young choreographers who remind me of Cranko are Christopher Marney and  Ernst Meisner, I had an opportunity to compare Cranko and Marney back to back when the Chelmsford Ballet Company performed Cranko's Pineapple Poll and Carnival of the Animals, a work that Marney created specially for the company (see A Delight Indeed  22 March 2015. Meisner created Embers for the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company of which he is artistic coordinator. In my review of the work danced by Nancy Burer and Thomas van Damme I described it as "one of the most beautiful ballets I have ever seen" (see The Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's best Performance yet 8 Feb 2015).

We were lucky enough to see the Junior Company in London in June (see Junior Company in London - even more polished but as fresh and exuberant as ever 7 June 2015) and the main company's Cinderella in July. I also saw their Cool Britannia, a mixed bill of works by British choreographers at the Stopera in Amsterdam (see Going Dutch 29 June 2015) and the opening gala of the Amsterdam ballet season (see The Best Evening I have ever spent at the Ballet 13 Sept 2015). There was  a party after the gala at which I met many of the company's choreographers and dancers including Ted Brandsen, Juanjo Arques and Michaela DePrince.

Another splendid evening at the Birmingham Hippodrome on 20 June 2015 marked the 25th anniversary of the Birmingham Royal Ballet's move to Birmingham and the 20th anniversary of David Bintley's appointment as artistic director of that company (see In Praise of Bintley 20 June 2015). The company performed David The King Dances, Bintley's latest work, and his Carmina Burana (see A Special Ballet for a Special Day 23 June 2015 and Oh Fortuna 23 June 2015). Bintley spoke about both works on his visits to the London Ballet Circle in May and November.  The Birmingham Royal Ballet also danced a magnificent Coppelia in Salford on 5 March 2015 (see Sensational 6 March 2015 and Swan Lake on 24 Sept 2015 (see Birmingham Royal Ballet's Swan Lake at the Lowry 26 Sept 2015)

Yet another gala too place in Leeds on the 14 March 2015 to mark Northern Ballet's 35th anniversary (see Sapphire 15 March 2015). Thirteen works were performed that night by artists from Northern Ballet and many other companies. The highlight of my evening was the pas de deux from the White Act of Swan Lake by Muntagirov and Daria Klimentova.  They were a remarkable partnership and I had thought that I would never see them dance again. It was also good to see Xander Parish again in Eric Gauthier's Ballet 101, Phoenix's Shift and Javier Torres's Dying Swan. That was the first time I had seen a male dancer attempt Pavlova's iconic piece and Torres succeeded handsomely. My mother saw Pavlova dance the Dying Swan in the same theatre many years ago (see In Leeds of all Places - Pavlova, Ashton and Magic 18 Sept 2013). I also enjoyed Jonathan Watkins's Northern Trilogy and in particular his Yorkshire Pudding. It promised so much for 1984 but although that ballet grew on my the second time I saw it, it fell a long way short of my expectations (see My First Impressions of 1984 12 Sept 2015 and 1984 Second Time Round 24 Oct 2015).

I saw 3 productions of Romeo and Juliet in 2015. One was by Northern Ballet, another by Ballet West and the third by the English National Ballet in 2015. Northern's version by Jean Christophe-Maillot with its emphasis on Friar Lawrence was interesting but the production that I enjoyed the most was Nureyev's version which ENB danced at the Palace on 28 Nov 2015 (see Manchester's Favourite Ballet Company 29 Nov 2015). Max Westwell and Lauretta Summerscales danced the title roles magnificently and I was particularly pleased to see Sarah Kundi as Lady Capulet.

ENB also performed Lest We Forget at the Palace on 24 Nov 2015 (see Lest We Forget 25 Nov 2015). This was a triple bill of works by Liam Scarlett, Russell Maliphant and Akram Khan in memory of those who took part in World War 1. This was not an easy programme to watch but it was intensely moving. I admired all three works, particularly Scarlett's No Man's Land,

The centenary of World War I was also marked by the Royal New Zealand Ballet in Andrew Simmons's Dear Horizon and Neil Ieremia's Passchendale which they performed at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre on 4 Nov 2015 as part their A Passing Cloud mixed bill (see Kia Ora! The Royal New Zealand Ballet in Leeds 5 Nov 2015). This was one of two antipodean companies that visited us in 2015 of which I for one would liked to have seen more. I did catch the New Zealanders' Giselle in High Wycombe on 7 Nov 2015 (see Royal New Zealand Ballet's Giselle 10 Nov 2015).

The other antipodean company that we welcomed was the Queensland Ballet which danced La Sylphide at the Coliseum in August (see A Dream realized; the Queensland Ballet in London 12 Aug 2015). Australia used to send its best dancers to us starting with Sir Robert Helpmann but is now a power house of dance in its own right attracting talent from around the world. One of its brightest stars is the legendary Li-Cunxin who has carved an impressive career in stockbroking as well as dance. Meeting him at the London Ballet Circle and hearing his life story was an unforgettable experience (see Li-Cunxin at the London Ballet Circle 5 Aug 2015).

Another foreign company that visited us in August was the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre which brought the Mariinsky's Denis Rodkin to our shores. I saw him in La Bayadère with Irina Kolesnikova as Nikiya (see Blown Away - St Petersburg Ballet Theatre's La Bayadere 24 Aug 2015). I had previously seen him in HDTV transmissions from Moscow as the Nutcracker (see Clara grows up- Grigorovitch's Nutcracker transmitted directly from Moscow 21 Dec 2014). Siegfried in Swan Lake (see Grigorovich's Swan Lake in Bradford 26 Jan 2015) and Ferhad in The Legend of Love (see The Bolshoi's "A Legend of Love" streamed from Moscow 27 Oct 2014) but he is even more impressive in real life.

I saw some great performances last year by some outstanding dancers from the world's most famous companies and it is probably unfair to select any for special praise but here is my list for what it is worth:

Ballet of the Year
Ballet Cymru's Cinderella, runner up Ballet Cymru's Tir

Company of the Year
Scottish Ballet, runners up Dutch National Ballet and the Royal Ballet

Small Companies of the Year
Ballet Black and Ballet Cymru

Contemporary Company of the Year
Phoenix Dance Theatre

Male Dancer of the Year
Denis Rodkin in La Bayadere, runner up Matthew Golding in the Royal Ballet's Onegin and the Dutch National Ballet's Cinderella

Female Dancer of the Year
Laura Morera as Lise  runners up Anna Tsygankova and Bethany Kingsley-Garner as Cinderella 

Choreographers of the Year 
Christopher Hampson for Perpetuum Mobile for Northern Ballet and Ernst Meisner for Embers for the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company

Dancers to watch
Floor Elmers of Dutch National Ballet, Krystal Lowe of Ballet Cymru, Marie-Astrid-Mence of Phoenix Dance Theatre and Gavin McCaig of Northern Ballet

Promising Newcomers
Bart Engelen, Norwegian Ballet, Cristiano Principato and Emilie Tassinari, Dutch National Ballet Junior Company, Tim Hill of Ballet Cymru and Prentice Whitlow of Phoenix Dance Theatre

Ballet Cymru in London

Criccieth, one of my favourite places on the planet

Author Ken Bagnall

Source Wikipedia

Creative Commons Licence

Ballet Cymru Triple Bill Lilian Baylis Studio, 30 Nov 2015

To the best of my knowledge and belief there is not a millilitre of Welsh blood in my veins. Such Celtic heritage as I can claim is Irish and Scottish yet I love Wales as much as anyone who was lucky enough to have been born in the principality. I guess one of the reasons I love Wales so much is that I spent much of my childhood on Black Rock Sands, the banks of the Dwyfor, the slopes of Swowdon and the towers and battlements of Edward I's castles. My parents could not afford continental holidays in the 1950s but Wales was as good as abroad with its own language and distinct landscapes and architecture, but nothing like as far away,

The Welsh language fascinated me and I longed to learn it. I even bought a phrase book called Welsh in a Week and must have tried the patience of every shopkeeper in Portmadoc and Criccieth (many of whom seemed to come from the Midlands or Lancashire) as I tried out my phrases. My mother once told me that my first words were in Welsh which is possible but unlikely as I don't know where I could have picked them up. Later when I learned Latin I saw lots of similarities like ffenestr for window (not too different from fenestra) and eglwys for church (apparently derived from ecclesia). Welsh is a naturally musical language with an "-ion" sound like a peel of bells. The language has lots of sounds that don't exist in English like the double "L" that seems to be produced by placing the tongue at the roof of the mouth and breathing over it.

Cerys Matthews has made an album of folk songs  called TIR most of which are in Welsh. I was led to her album by Ballet Cymru's YouTube video and yesterday I actually bought it. Indeed the artiste actually signed it and shook my hand. I think I have become one of her biggest fans though I regret to say I am also one of the most recent ones and I am grateful to Ballet Cymru for introducing her to me. She is a patron of the company. Yesterday she disclosed that she used to study ballet as a child and actually did very well in her RAD exam. She mentioned that fact between the songs that Darius James and Amy Doughty had choreographed for their dancers.

The dancers come from every part of the world other than Wales but they interpreted Matthews's words eloquently. Some bits of the performance were exuberant like  Bugeilio’r Gwenith Gwyn while other songs such as Myfanwy (danced by Emily Pimm-Edwards) tugged at our heart strings. The Rev Eli Jenkins's prayer in memory of Mandev Sokhi was particularly moving. Those members of the audience who had seen him dance were close to tears. For the dancers who had worked with Mandev it was so much harder. However, they are pros and though we could see their emotion in their faces they never missed a count or movement. TIR finished with Sosban Fach where each of the dancers did his or her turn. Each and every one of them impressed us but I have to say a special word for Tim Hill who thrilled us with his entrechats.

Ballet Cymru welcomed back Daisuke Miura and Suzie Birchwood as well as Pimm-Edwards for TIR. Birchwood is artistic director of ActOne ArtsBase. I first saw her in Stuck in the Mud where I was impressed by her grace and technique. The beauty of her dancing lies in her port de bras whether lifted in a pas de deux or sitting in a wheelchair. I never tire of watching her and I try to imitate her arm movements in my own dancing.  Miura and Pimm-Edwards delighted me in Romeo a Juliet and is was a treat to see them again.

Stuck in the Mud had been choreographed by Marc Brew whom I met in Llandudno. He created Traces Imprinted which I had admired in Newport. I had seen that work from the dress circle at the Riverfornt theatre in Newport where I appreciated its form and the movement of the dancers but missed much of the detail.  I caught all that detail yesterday from the second row of the stalls in a much more intimate auditorium. It was though I was seeing a different ballet. There was harshness with one dancer literally treading on the back of another but also tenderness as in the final duet. I think I understood the ballet a little better second time round.  Traces Implanted suggests memories and in particular memories of people who are no longer with us. Some of those memories we overwrite - hence the treading - others we keep alive and build upon - as in the duet.

I had missed Celtic Concerto in Newport for various reasons that I explained in The Pride of Newport and the Pride of Wales 8 Nov 2015 which was a shame because this ballet tuned out to be a gem. Choreographed by James and Doughty to a Catrin Finch's it begins with the company on stage and then some delightful solos and duets. You can get the idea from this video. I admired the stained glass projection and the costumes - simple black tutus for the women and shorts and translucent tops for the men.

The evening in Newport was very special but so was yesterday. Matthews asked whether there were any Welsh folk in the audience yesterday and it transpired that they were several.  They must have been so proud of their nation's ballet company. Also in the audience were several members the London Ballet Circle who had visited the company in October (see Ballet Cymru at Home 5 Oct 2015). We are certainly proud of our association with the company.

Other Reviews

Judith Mackrell   Ballet Cymru review – Cerys Matthews joins dancers for mercurial performance 1 Dec 2015 The Guardian

Remembering Mandev Sokhi

A Red Kite

Source Wikipedia

Creative Commons Licence

From 18:00 this evening Ballet Cymru will hold a gathering at its studios in Rogerstone to celebrate the life of its dancer and education officer Mandev Sokhi. This event is for "anyone and everyone to come and pay their respects to this wonderful person, who gave such a lot and had so much passion for dance."

As I said in Mandev Sokhi 10 Oct 2015 Mandev was one of my favourite dancers in one of my favourite companies. I particularly admired his performance as the beast in Beauty and the Beast which Mel Wong reviewed for us so aptly in For grown ups who haven't lost touch with their childhoods - Ballet Cymru's Beauty & The Beast 24 June 2014. I am very glad to have made Mandev's acquaintance when the London Ballet Circle visited Rogerstone on 3 Oct 2015 (see Ballet Cymru at Home 5 Oct 2015).

Mandev will be remembered tonight far beyond Newport and indeed well beyond Wales for he danced wth Ballet Cymru in every part of the United Kingdom. Clearly it will not be possible for all his admirers to make their way to Wales tonight but there are two very good ways in which we can show our appreciation of the man. First, there are still a few tickets left for Ballet Cymru's triple bill in London on the 29 and 30 Nov. I saw it in Newport on 6 Nov 2015 and reviewed it in "The Pride of Newport and the Pride of Wales" 8 Nov 2015. I am seeing it again on Monday. Another way to remember Mandev is to become a Friend of the company as I did after my visit to its studios last month. You can also make a donation or sponsor one of its productions or activities.  The company has been nominated for a National Dance Award so it is well worth supporting (see Ballet Cymru Am Byth 1 Nov 2015).

"The Pride of Newport and the Pride of Wales"

Ballet Cymru and Guests, Riverfront Theatre, Newport 6 Nov 2015

Author Gita Mistry

(c) 2015 Gita Mistry: all rights reserved

Ballet Cymru, TIR, Riverfront Theatre, 6 Nov 2015

Towards the end of her performance Cerys Matthews described Ballet Cymru as "the pride of Newport" and a little bit later as "the pride of Wales". The auditorium exploded and rightly so for indeed they are at least that.  Friday night was one of those very rare times in the theatre when something special happens. Something like the moment when Igone de Jongh and Casey Herd stepped on stage to dance Voorbij Gegaan which Rudi van Dantzig had created for Alexandra Radius and Han Ebelaar immediately after the presentation of the Alexandra Radius prize (see The best evening I have ever spent at the ballet 13 Sept 2015.) Or when Hans van Manen took a bow at the Stadsshouwburg at the Junior Company's opening performance (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 25 Nov 2013). Or when Northern Ballet danced A Midsummer Night's Dream  at the West Yorkshire Playhouse on 14 Sept 2013 (see Realizing Another Dream 15 Sept 2013). Or indeed Sir Frederick Ashton's retirement gala on 24 July 1970.

There were many reasons why Friday's performance was special.  The company was at home. In the magnificent Riverfront Theatre in its home town. The company's artistic director, Darius James, is a Newport man and his pride in his city and company is palpable. I watched Darius in the intervals as he greeted well wishers. There is real affection for James and his company in Newport very much as I found in Birmingham for Bintley and his company, or in Glasgow for Scottish Ballet or in Amsterdam for the Dutch National Ballet. Another reason is that the company is like a family - a family still in shock and mourning one of its finest dancers (see Mandev Sokhi 10 Oct 2015). Mandev was never far from our thoughts but  in Marc Brew's Traces Implanted and Matthews's setting of the Rev Eli Jenkins's prayer from Under Milk Wood it was as though he was still centre stage. Yet another reason which Friday was special is that the dancers seemed to be inspired. I have never seen them dance so well. I have rarely seen any company dance as well.

The evening was a triple bill consisting of Catrin Finch's Celtic Concerto. Traces Implanted and Cerys Matthews's TIR. As I got hopelessly lost in the one way system after encountering the notoriously, stroppy taxi driver who charges £50 if you're sick in the back seat in Newport State of Mind  which we were assured by our hotel reception we needed for the "enormous distance" (for a snail) between the Newport Travelodge and the Riverfront Theatre, we missed Celtic Concerto.  But we were in time for Traces Implanted which impressed me even more than Brew's other works and, of course, Matthews's glorious TIR. We also have the perfect excuse to see the triple bill again in another venue.

On his website Brew explains that "Traces Implanted explores the imprints and memories made and the traces left behind".  Gita tells me that she discussed that theme with Brew when she met him after the show. Gita confirmed that the subject matter is death and bereavement, something that we don't wish to mention about every day even though we are confronted with that reality constantly. The dancers must have found it particularly difficult as they had recently been bereaved themselves. But as Brew added, he doesn't always want to create conventional balletic beauty. Although there was beauty in this piece - particularly in the final duet with almost ethereal figures in the soft and subtle lighting - it was a compelling but not a comfortable work to watch.

TIR was quite a different work. Matthews has a lovely voice which is admired everywhere in the UK but when she sings in Welsh to a Welsh audience she is adored. Darius James and Amy Doughty have created dances for some of her best known works. Works that I was relieved to find are almost as well known on this side of Offa's Dyke as on the other. I caught myself clapping to Sospan Fach and rooting for a tissue for Myfanwy. Half concert, half ballet it was a thrilling experience. The company were joined by Daisuke Miura and Emily Pimm-Edwards who had delighted us in Romeo a Juliet (see They're not from Chigwell - they're from a small Welsh Town called Newport 14 May 2013) and Suzy Birchwood who had amazed us in Llandudno (see An Explosion of Joy 21 Sept 2014).

After the show Gita and I were invited to meet the dancers and creative team over drinks and canapés. It was a privilege to shake their hands again - particularly Krystal Lowe's who never fails to move me. I got to meet Jack White the gifted young composer of Cinderella and Stuck in the Mud and many of the the creative and technical team who have worked with the company  though sadly not Matthews on this occasion. Still, I have seen her perform live for the first time and that was more than enough.

So head over the water - on the transporter - to visit Ballet Cymru - in their home city

On 3 Oct 2015 the London Ballet Circle will visit Ballet Cymru at its studios in Newport. Audrey Allen writes in the Circle's newsletter:

"As the company is small in size it is possible to meet and talk to everyone in a friendly and informal setting, and those who went last year commented on the warm hospitality they received."

I have already had the pleasure of meeting Darius James and Marc Brew but it is dancers who make a company and Ballet Cyrmru has some lovely dancers. Last year at Stuck in the Mud in Llandudno I came very close to two of my favourites, Krystal Lowe and Mandev Sokhi (see An Explosion of Joy 21 Sept 2014). So maybe this year I will actually get to shake their hands.

Ballet Cymru reminds me a lot of Scottish Theatre Ballet when it first moved to Glasgow from Bristol. It is still a small company but it already has the confidence to stage full length classics like Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella and interpret them in an original way (see They're not from Chigwell - they're from a small Welsh Town called Newport 14 May 2013 and Ballet Cymru's Cinderella 15 June 2015). It is very conscious of being a national ballet company. For instance, it has commissioned two scores from the young Welsh composer Jack White, its programmes and website are bilingual and it has introduced characters with Welsh names into Romeo and (or rather "a") Juliet and Cinderella.

The London Ballet Circle is one of the company's funders.  It contributes the Stanley Hawkins bursary which enables a student to attend the company's advanced ballet summer school. The company also receives support from the Arts Council of Wales, its local authority, the Garfield Weston Foundation and other trusts and foundations as well as donations from the public. One of the reasons for the London Ballet Circle's visit is to raise funds and members of the Circle and their guests are invited to contribute £12.50 each.

If you are coming from London you should aim to catch the 09:45 from Paddington. If you live in the North or Midlands there will be space in my car for at least one passenger. I can take either the M6 and M5 if I have a passenger from the North West or the M1, M42 and M5 if I have a passenger for Sheffield or Nottingham. Just let Audrey know you are coming and send your cheque for £12.50 to her at 8 Goldsmith Road, London, N11 3JP (tel: 020 8361 2872, Email: audrey8allen@gmail.com). The main party have to catch their train back to the Smoke at 16:39 but we can leave whenever we like and there is much to see in Newport.

First and foremost there is Caerleon with its Roman archaeological site, museum, fortress and baths. When I was learning Latin I had to translate an unseen about a man who threw a stone at a dog which had walked on his mud tiles as they were drying in the sun. I seem to remember that he missed. In the text book there was a photo of the canine footprint and the indentation made by the stone. The Romans didn't waste the tile. They installed it in the Caerleon baths and if you get to Caerleon you can actually see it.

There is also the Riverfront Theatre where Ballet Cymru will perform TIR, Celtic Concerto and a new ballet by Marc Brew on 6 Nov 2015.  The music for TIR will be provided by Cerys Matthews who is one of the company's patrons. She has such a lovely voice that it would almost be worth learning Welsh to understand her song. It is certainly worth a trip to Newport to hear her live.



I find myself going to Newport quite often for work. The Intellectual Property Office moved to Concept House in parkland on the outskirts of the city nearly 25 years ago. I argue such matters as entitlement actions (disputes over who owns or is entitled to apply for a patent) or oppositions and invalidity applications (disputes over the registration of trade marks) before tribunals known as hearing officers. At a recent conference on intellectual property law that I attended which was organized by the Intellectual Property Office I found that several senior officials were quite unaware that Newport had a national ballet company. I will try to bring those great institutions closer together.

Now, what's the transporter mentioned in the Jay Z  spoof?  It is actually a bridge across the Usk. It is called the transporter because goods and passengers are carried across the river in a module that is hauled by an electric motor. There are similar ones in Middlesbrough and Warringtom.  These structures seem to have their own friends' groups rather like ballet companies. I find it strange that anyone can become passionate about an obsolete mode of transport but maybe the friends of those bridges would say the same about my passion for ballet.

Triple Celebration

Ballet Cymru is not one of the biggest national ballet companies in the world but it is certainly one of the most appealing. Today it welcomes Marc Brew as its associate artistic director. I featured him in my article Special Brew after I had seen his Exalt for Scottish Ballet and Indepen-dance 4 (see No Mean City - Accessible Dance and Ballet 26 April 2015.

Brew's first work for Ballet Cymru as assistant artistic director will be Traces Imprinted which will be premièred at Newport on 6 Nov 2015. This work will be performed with TIR to the beautiful singing of Cerys Matthews and Catrin Finch's Celtic Concerto.

If you want to see the première in Newport here is the link to the Riverside Theatre. The company will perform the same programme in Llandudno and Sadler's Wells which s where I shall try to catch them.