Never have I been more proud of Powerhouse Ballet

© 2020 Powerhouse Ballet

 

I had booked a studio at Yorkshire Dance for our September company class because it has a piano. Throughout lockdown, I had promised our members that Jane Tucker would one day lead triumphantly back to the studio with David Plumpton at the piano.  

It was, therefore, something of a blow to learn that we were limited to 12 in the studio including our teacher.  The increasing numbers of coronavirus cases across the country as a whole and in the North of England, in particular, was a further blow.  The sudden imposition of restrictions in Leeds on the very day of the class felt like the last straw.     

And yet today turned into a triumph - not a disappointment - thanks entirely to Jane Tucker's inspired teaching and Sarah Lambert's technical genius.  Just over half of us attended the class in the studio while the rest of us joined in from home over Zoom.  We had tried a hybrid class last month with Sophie Richardson and several dancers in Birmingham and others at home.  It was a partial success despite Sophie's brilliant teaching because those of us at home had problems with the sound which made us feel more like spectators than participants.  

This time Jane and Sarah made us fee;l a single integrated class.  We felt the energy radiating from Leeds and iI got the impression that we were energizing them in return.   Never have I seen the dancers in the studio and online look happier, more confident or more capable.  Never have I been more proud of our company. 

Our July company class will be given by Lynne Reucroft-Croome in Studio 3 at Dance Studio Leeds on 24 Oct 2020 between 16:15  and 17:45. We hope to acquire a portable microphone for the teacher which should improve sound quality even more.   We shall also return to Manchester just as soon as the Dancehouse becomes available for hire.   If anyone can suggest an alternative venue in Manchester, Liverpool or elsewhere in the Northwest please let me know. 

Classes in Lockdown

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After I felt obliged to postpone the Snowflakes workshop that Mark Hindle had kindly agreed to give us on 14 March 2020 I had reconciled myself to a long delay before I would ever do a plié again. I did broach the subject of online classes with a teacher for whom I have particularly high regard but she was sceptical.  She was worried about limited space, unsprung floors and insurance and so was I. 

On 21 April, Maria Chugai of the Dutch National Ballet gave us an online class which made our spirits soar (see An Unforgettable Class 7 May 2020).  Encouraged by Maria's success, I asked Charlotte Ingleson of Ballet North UK to give us an online class on 2 May in lieu of the March company class which she had agreed to deliver.   Again, that was very successful.   She made us work very hard for the full 90 minutes.    As we have also missed our April class I have arranged with Jane Tucker to give us an extra class on 16 May.  Jane will also deliver her usual class on 30 May.

As Maria and Charlotte have shown that online classes are not only possible but fun I have been trying out a few more.  Online classes fall into two categories.   Some are given by ballet schools and companies over Facebook or YouTube,   They offer training by the likes of  Ernst Meisner and Tamara Rojo for free.  The disadvantage is that the teachers can't see us so there is no chance of corrections.   The other option is to enrol in a class that is held over Zoom. That is the next best thing to a class in a studio because the teacher and see and correct her students and give corrections.  For those classes, there is, of course, a fee.

Of the classes offered by schools and ballet companies, my favourites are those by Ernst Meisner.  Recordings of those classes are available on the Dutch National Ballet's YouTube channel  I am not an unbiased critic because I am a big fan of Meisner for the work that he has done for the Junior Company and the Dutch National Ballet Academy.  However, my opinion appears to be shared by two experienced teachers who certainly know what they are talking about. 

Our guest ballet mistress, Yvonne Charlton of the Dolstra Dance Centre in IJsselstein, wrote:

"Jane Lambert he is a great teacher i am doing his classes."

To which I responded:

"Yvonne Charlton de beste leraar ooit!"  

Taxing the very extremity of my command of the Dutch language.   She agreed with me.

The other person who commented on Meisner's class was our first choreographer, Terence Etheridge.   Having been one of the founder members of Northern Ballet and later its ballet master, as well as ballet master in Hong Kong, Terence knows everything there is to know about classes.   When he wrote in Facebook that it was a very good class we can be sure that it was.

I have also attended two Zoom classes.   One was given by Karen Sant of KNT Danceworks, my usual teacher in Manchester.   The other by Sonya Pettigrew of Brighton Ballet School. 

KNT usually offers classes in Northern Ballet School's studios.   I first came to KNT in August 2014 when my over 55 class in Leeds was on vacation and I have been a regular visitor ever since.  I have taken classes at various levels with all of the teachers and I have got on well with every one of them.  I have also attended some excellent choreography workshops on  Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Coppelia, Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker given by Jane Tucker and Martin Dutton as well as days of intensive classes known as "Days of Dance".  Over the years I have made some good friendships and close acquaintances with many of the other students.  I love KNT and am very fond of Karen.

Since the lockdown, Karen has created a portal to her online classes called the class manager.  As far as I could see from the "upcoming classes" section, everything that KNT offered in the studio is available online.  I joined my usual "Pre-Intermediate Class" which meets on Tuesdays between 18:30 and 19:45  The barre was almost identical to the studio but we had a few modifications for the centre work. Nevertheless, we finished with a joyful temps levé carrying me from the kitchen through the hall to my sitting room and back again.  Karen charged £3.50 for that class and I shall certainly be back.

Although Sonya had invited me to attend and review one of her classes several months ago I never had an opportunity to take advantage of it.  After the lockdown, she invited me to attend one of her online classes which I did on 24 April.   I joined the entry-level class and found that it was quite rigorous.  Again, there was a full barre and some demanding centre exercises.   I counted 8 of us in gallery view, mostly women but one gentleman.   Sonya is a good teacher.  She gave me several corrections for which I am grateful.   She has a very easy manner and it is clear that she is well-liked by her students.  If I lived in Sussex I would almost certainly be one of her regulars.

New online classes are coming onto the market all the time.  On 7 May Northern Ballet Academy announced that it is about to launch a new online class for the Over 55s to be given by Viki Westall from 11 May.   As it meets in office hours I am not sure how many classes I can attend but I shall certainly do one and report back to you with my findings.

Ballet in Lockdown

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Dutch National Ballet Ballet connects dancers in lockdown 21 April 2020 YouTube
This is the first new ballet that I have reviewed since lockdown.  It is on screen rather than a stage but it is fresh, relevant and eloquent.  It expresses the anxiety, frustration, isolation and tedium that each of us suffers whether artist or audience member during these miserable times.

Ballet in Lockdown is a very short work to the music of a Rotterdam band called Di-rect. The track is "Hold on" which Di-rect recorded about ten years ago.  It is certainly appropriate now.   As it is on YouTube I shall let my readers discover it for themselves.   All I will say is that the film begins with solitary dancers in their homes wearing expressions that are the epitome of gloom.  One by one they begin to bourée, to stretch, to turn, to lean or press against their walls as though in adjoining rooms.  Icons of the individual dancers are assembled in gallery view.  The very last frame of the dancers erect, facing the camera, their arms outstretched, their hands held high expresses hope and promise. An assurance that this plague will one day end,  If we only hold on,   I was moved by this piece.  I have played it several times.  Each time I have noticed something new.  It is a gem that deserves preservation.  I would love to see its transposition to a stage if that can be done.

This work was created by Milena Siderova who has an impressive portfolio of work. I had previously seen and admired Full Moon which she had created for Bert Engelen when he was in the Junior Company and Withdrawn for the company's New Moves in 2017, Full Moon was about those nights when it is hard to sleep where the bedclothes seem to have minds of their own, In that piece,  Engelen struggled with his pillow to the music of Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights.  Withdrawn was more reflective.  In my review I wrote:

"The finale was Milena Siderova's Withdrawn. Siderova had created Full Moon for Bart Engelen who is now with the Norwegian Ballet........... I expected much from her next work and I think that we got it. Withdrawn was a work for 10 dancers to the music of Emilie Satt's Butterfly. It appears to have been inspired by a passage from Carol Becker's essay Thinking in Place, Art, Action and Cultural Protection of a dystopian future in which human social interaction is replaced by the interaction of electronic devices. Each of the dancers carried a torch which I guess was reminiscent of the screen of a mobile phone. They seemed to wander in a sort of limber rather like the lost souls in surgical gowns in Tran-Phat's In Limbo that launched the show."

A work from her repertoire that I have never seen but would very much like to is The Spider which she crested in 2011.  Her observation of the animal's movements and behaviour is knife-sharp. Their translation into dance is the best I have seen  Petipa's Puss in Boots and White Cat duet in the last act of The Sleeping Beauty.

I wish more companies could attempt something like this.  Video streams of past performances are all very well but they lack something.  In another article, I compared it recently to encountering a stuffed animal in a museum.  Better than nothing I suppose but there is no life to it.

Registration is open for Maria Chugai's Online Class

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Last year I featured Maria Chugai of the Dutch National Ballet.  You will see from my article that she is a very special dancer.   She trained at the Vaganova Academy which produced such greats as Pavlova, Karsavina, Nureyev and Makarova.  She must have been one of its best pupils for she was cast in the lead role of The Nutcracker at the age of 17, one year before her graduation.  She first came to my attention in a performance of Giselle where she danced the Queen of the Wilis (see Mooie 10 November 2018.  She was the best Myrtha that I have ever seen in over 60 years of ballet going.

Earlier today she offered Powerhouse Ballet an online class over Zoom on Tuesday, 21 April at 18:00.  Needless to say, I accepted with alacrity.  Anyone who wants to attend should register through Eventbrite immediately.   Those tickets are unlikely to remain for very long,

To attend this class you will need to download at least the free version of Zoom.   We shall have a rehearsal on Monday at 18:00. An hour before the rehearsal I shall send those who register a link and invite them to join the meeting.   Should there be any problems our chambers IT guru will be on hand to sort them out.

If you wish to join the class, here is the link to Eventbrite.   If you find you can't make it let me know as soon as possible.