Expressions 2016

Leeds by Night

Author Melfire
Source Wikipedia

Creative Commons Licence

One of my best nights out in Leeds last year was Expressions at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds which I reviewed on 16 July 2015. This was  described as "a sharing which brings together inclusive dance groups from the North of England, giving talented dancers with disabilities the chance to showcase their skills to an audience on a professional stage." Gita obtained some photos which you can see at Expressions - some Pictures 17 July 2015.

There will be a similar show on 22 June but this time it will be divided into a matinee and evening performance:
Matinée (2pm) performance:
Mind the Gap
TIN Arts’ Tees Valley Inclusive Dance Company
Yorkshire Dance’s Leaps & Bounds group
Magpie Dance’s Highfliers group
Flamingo Chicks
DAZL’s Vine cheerdance group

Evening (7.30pm) performance:
Dance 21
Mesh Dance’s ME2 group
TIN Arts’ Tees Valley Inclusive Dance Company
Yorkshire Dance’s Raised and Mind the Step groups
Phoenix Dance Theatre’s Illuminate group
Northern Ballet’s In Motion and Ability groups

These artists achieve a very high standard indeed as you can see from Northern Ballet's video, Introducing Ability.

Admission is free but tickets have to be booked in advance either 0113 220 8008 or through the theatre's website.  The evening show is already fully booked but there are still 13 tickets for the matinee.

Northern Ballet's Ability Programme

One of the reasons why I am a Friend of Northern Ballet and a Friend of the Northern Ballet Academy is that it caters not just for those who are about to dance Siegfried and Odette-Odile in Swan Lake but everybody. Gita and I have both written about the Over 55 class (see Gita Mistry "I felt elongated and taller and stronger too" 14 June 2015 and my "We're in the Paper" 25 April 2015). The clip, Paul's Day, shows the work that the company and academy do for other groups who will never dance on the main stage of Covent Garden but can still enjoy and derive enormous personal satisfaction and confidence from dance.

Now although Paul and folk like him may not make it to the Royal Opera House they can still perform on stage in one of the principal dance venues of the nation.  On 15 July 2015 Northern Ballet will host Expressions at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre. This is described as "a sharing which brings together inclusive dance groups from the North of England, giving talented dancers with disabilities the chance to showcase their skills to an audience on a professional stage." It will include performances from Northern Ballet’s Ability course in which Paul participates, local dance organizations and by the professional dance company Flex Dance.

Now I am going to try to get along to this show if I possibly can because accessible dance can be good dance as you will see from my reviews An Explosion of Joy on Ballet Cymru's collaboration with Gloucestershire Dance in Llandudno last September and No Mean City - Accessible Dance and Ballet 26 April 2015 on Scottish Ballet's work with Indepen-Dance. Tickets for Expressions are free but you do have to book in advance.

Accessible Dance: Northern Ballet's In Motion

Samantha Carruthers

Photo Northern Ballet

One of my personal ballet highlights of 2014 was Ballet Cymru's performance of Stuck in the Mud in the streets and on the beaches of Llandudno (see An Explosion of Joy 21 Sep 2014). I was therefore pleased to read Samantha Carruthers's article Accessible Dance at Northern Ballet. She mentioned that she had just undergone a two day training course at Stopgap Dance Company which came just in time for Northern Ballet's In Motion programme.

That programme is for for self propelling wheelchair users and others with mobility issues aged 8 between 19. It is intended to enable them to let their creativity flourish and give them the confidence to move in a way they have never done before. The classes, which are designed to develop pupils' strength, flexibility and creative expression, take place  in Northern Ballet's studios at Quarry Hill. There is a taster class at 13:00 on 22 March. Subsequent classes take place on Sundays between April and July at a cost of £6.50 per pupil per session.

Enquiries should be made to the Learning Team on 0113 220 8000.

"Stuck in the Mud" doesn't mean you're stuck

I came across Ballet Cymru's collaboration with Gloucestershire Dance while writing my review of Beauty and the Beast (see "Diolch yn Fawr - Ballet Cymru's Beauty and the Beast" 24 June 2014). Gloucester Dance (GDance) describes itself on its website as a "production and training company specialist in inclusive practice" which aims "to effect real change and to address barriers to participation in, and progress through, the arts sector".

The collaboration shown in the YouTube video above is called "Stuck in the Mud". As GDance says:

"Mud is sticky and mucky and icky. But it’s fun to jump in, play with, and grows and makes beautiful things."

There is certainly beauty in the dance that the two companies have created.  Ballet Cymru and GDance are bringing Stuck in the Mud to the Llandudno Arts Weekend on the 20 and 21 Sept and I hope to be there to see it for myself.

Stuck in the Mud is not the only inclusive dance project in the UK. I am proud to say that Northern Ballet has an accessible dance programme and it supported Big Ballet. As it said in its press release "The door is always open with Northern Ballet"

"The Company has been pioneering accessible ballet since it was founded nearly 45 years ago and works hard to ensure the joy of dance is available to everyone to experience."

 My collaborator Mel  danced in Big Ballet and she is perfecting her art. So inclusive ballet is worth supporting. And I speak as a 65 year old overweight badly coordinated transsexual woman who has the nerve to strut out onto the stage of the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre next Saturday.  If that is not an example of inclusive ballet I don't know what is. One that includes canines perhaps? Everyone knows that Dogs don't Do Ballet but perhaps Christopher Marney and Ballet Black know different.