Acosta Danza "100% Cuban"

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Acosta Danza 100% Cuban  New Theatre, Hull, 25 Feb 2022, 19:30

Cuba may be a small Caribbean island with a population of 11.2 million but it has world-class national ballet and contemporary dance companies.  Joanna Goodman reviewed one of the Cuban National Ballet's performances of Swan Lake in its own theatre in 2014 (see "We are the dancers, we create the dreams: Ballet Nacional de Cuba’s El Lago de los Cisnes in Havana" 8 July 2014). I reviewed the national contemporary dance company when it visited the Lowry (see Danza Contemporanea de Cuba at the Lowry 19 Feb 2017).

Artists from Cuba have contributed not only to their own national companies but also to leading companies of other nations.  Probably the best known of those is Carlos Acosta. He is now the artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet.  Previously he was a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet.  A glimpse at his website shows that Acosta is more than a dancer and choreographer. He is an entrepreneur, novelist and indeed impresario.

In 2016 Acosta established Acosta Danza which he has described as "Some of the finest Cuban dancers I have ever had the pleasure of working with."  The company is touring the United Kingdom and my friend and I caught up with it at the Hull New Theatre on Friday.  We were treated to the following:

• Liberto 
• Hybrid 
• Paysage, Soudain, La Nuit
• Impronta, and
• De Punto a Cabo.

These were very different works that showed off the versatility of the company.

Liberto was a duet created by Raúl Reinoso to the music of Pepe Gavilondo.  The programme contains the following note:

"The story of a cimarron, invites us to reflect on the faces of slavery, from ancient times to the present day. The meeting of the fugitive with the woman, beyond the beginning of a love story, is a moment of reflection and retelling, the possible discovery of the path to the utopian kingdom of total freedom."

I think cimarron must be the Spanish word for "Maroon" who were fugitive slaves.  They formed colonies in the Caribbean and some found their way to Freetown in Sierra Leone where I first learnt their story.  The ballet featured a couple. I am not sure of the identity of the man because the company did not publish a cast list. I asked for one in a Q & A that followed the show but the company's interpreter did not seem to know what I was talking about or why I needed one.   I think Reinoso danced the male role and believe the woman was Zeleidy Crespo but I cannot be sure. I remember a giant net from which the man struggled to escape.  The designs were by Alisa Peláez. The lighting was by Yaron Abulafia.

Like a football match, Hybrid was a combination of two halves. Quite literally because there was a point when the cast lined up for a curtain call, accepted the applause and then slowly started dancing again.  The inspiration for the work appears to have been the legend of Sisyphus:

“O my soul, do not aspire to immortal life, but exhaust the limits of the possible.

(The Myth of Sisyphus).  According to the programme, the piece was about a "universe where the real and the unreal blur their limits to reach our chimaeras." It continued:

"An approach to sensitive realities and imaginaries of a nation and its people, told from the strength of its culture and dance.
An island that unveils its mysteries on a path that goes from darkness to light"

The whole company or at least a large part of it seemed to be in the work. The music was by Jenny Peña and Randy Araujo, the choreography by Norge Cedeño and Thais Suárez, the designs by Celia Ledón and the lighting by Yaron Abulafia.

This was not to everyone's taste because the audience thinned out a little after the interval.

As the music was entitled Cuban landscape with rumba by Leo Brouwer and Cuban Landscape by Stefan Levin and the ballet was danced against a backdrop of growing crops, I understood Paysage, Soudain, La Nuit to be an appreciation of the Cuban countryside and those who worked in it.  This was another work in which the whole company participated.  The choreographer was Pontus Lidberg. Costumes were by Karen Young.  The lighting was by Patrik Bogårdh.

The most spectacular work was Impronta.  It was a solo by Crespo which she performed to the music of José V. Gavilondo. The show started with a mass of blue.  It was not clear whether that was a prop or a group of dancers.  It turned out to be a long flowing dress worn by the dancer. A tall, elegant and exceptionally supple woman, Crespo had bent her body almost to the floor so that her face appeared through the dress.  In the Q&A, Crespo explained that the dress represented the sea.  In answer to a  question from my friend, she said that the dance had been influenced largely by African rhythms.  The programme added:

"Catalan choreographer María Rovira created this solo in wich contemporary dance merges with Afro-Cuban folk dances."

Several audience members stood to applaud Crespo's performance at the end.  Others whooped with delight.  The reaction was well merited because it was impressive.

My favourite ballet was De Punto a Cabo.  I surmise that the title must refer to a seaside walk that is opposite Havana.  The backdrop was of a busy city separated by a stretch of water and a sea wall. Alexis Fernández's choreography to José White and Omar Sosa's music reminded me of the view of Manhattan in the last scene of Liam Scarlett's Age of Anxiety (see Bernstein Centenary  18 March 2018). The piece generated much the same energy and awe.   The website states in Spanish that the choreographer sought to transpose into dance his impressions of contemporary Cuba, a land of diversity and contrasts. He made that point by combining ballet with contemporary dance.  There were some spectacular fouettés from Penélope Morejón as well as contemporary expressions to African and Cuban rhythms.

In the Q&A we learnt that the morning company class alternates between ballet and contemporary. Each of the dancers was asked which style they preferred.  None expressed a preference except Morejón who seemed to glow as she talked about ballet.  There were the usual easily anticipated questions from the floor about the creative process, influences and how they liked the British weather. The best intervention came from a lady from Bridlington who had to dash for a train. She probably spoke for all of us in expressing gratitude for the pleasure the company had brought after a 2-year pandemic.

This was the first time I had attended the Hull New Theatre and my first impressions are good.  It is located on Kingston Square where there was plenty of free street parking.  There is a restaurant and bar which offered inter alia burgers and scampi and chips. It was not exactly gourmet food and slightly over-priced for what it was but it was very convenient.  The auditorium seemed well ventilated.  The seats were comfortable with enough legroom at least for me.

Acosta Danza is nearing the end of its UK tour.  They are at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury tonight and at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth at the end of the week. 

KNT's Day of Dance Tomorrow

The Dear Old Dancehouse

One of the highlights of my year is KNT's Day of Dance.  It offers a chance to train with some of the best teachers and performers in the business.  Last year, for example, I took classes with   Alex Hallas of Bale Cymru and  Jane Tucker of Northern Ballet Academy.

Another Day of Dance will take place tomorrow and I regret to say that I only learned of it a few minutes ago when I tried to check in your some online classes for the coming week. According to KNT's Class Manager app, the following are available:

• 11:00 - 12:30 Beginner/Pre-Intermediate Ballet 
• 11:00 - 12:30 Intermediate/Advanced Contemporary 
• 13:00 - 14:30 Intermediate/Advanced Ballet
• 13:00 - 14:30 Pre-Intermediate Contemporary 
• 19:00 - 20:30 Beginner/Pre-Intermediate Ballet 
• 19:00 - 20:30 Beginner/Pre-Intermediate Contemporary
• 20:30 - 22:00 Intermediate/Advanced Ballet  
• 20:30 - 22:00 Intermediate/Advanced Contemporary 

All the classes for tomorrow's Day of Dance are priced at £10.

Sadly it won't be quite the same as last year because we are exiled from the Dear Old Dancehouse as a result of the public health emergency but we shall still have excellent teaching.  Above all, we can still wave at each other over Zoom even if we can no longer embrace.

Plagues don't last forever.  There is every chance that medicine will eradicate or at least contain this virus as it has done with so many other infections.   One day this horrible scourge will be nothing more than a horrible memory.  I wish everyone a great weekend.

A Day Not To Be Missed: KNT's "Day of Dance" in Manchester

When I told colleagues at work a few years ago that I had spent three days of my summer holidays in Manchester they did a double take.  Even more so when I told them that I had spent the time learning Swan Lake and it was one of the best three days ever. I did the same a year later to learn La Bayadère and again the year after that to learn Coppélia.  

That was great fun but this year we regulars at KNT are ready for something different.  Accordingly we are offered "A day of dance with industry professionals at the Dancehouse Theatre Manchester." In other words, wall-to-wall classes on Saturday 18 Aug 2018 from 10:00 in the morning to 17:00 in the afternoon.

Two of the industry professionals have already been announced.  They are Rachael Crocker and Harriet Mills.  Rachael will be teaching advanced jazz, beginner and pre-intermediate ballet and musical theatre and Harriet advanced ballet.  Both have very impressive credentials

Here is Rachael's bio:

"Rachael trained at Northern Ballet School and was a Royal Ballet senior Associate whilst training she qualified and took part in the prestigious Adeleine Genee Awards and also won the IDTA ballet scholarship.
Rachael recently finished performing at the London Coliseum in Kiss Me Kate (choreographed by Will Tuckett) as Dance Captain. Prior to that she was part of a small group recording the soundtrack to the new Mamma Mia movie ‘Here We Go Again”.
Other theatre credits include: ‘Dick Whittington’ at the London Palladium, ‘Strauss’ (National Tour); ‘Kiss Me Kate’ (Welsh National Opera); ‘Cats’ (RUG Australia) as Tantomile understudy Jemima, Demeter and Victoria Graziella in ‘West Side Story’ (National tour); first understudy Meg Giry in ‘The Phantom of the Opera – 25th Anniversary tour’ (National tour); ensemble and first understudy Wendy in ‘Peter Pan’ (Mayflower theatre); ‘We Will Rock You’ (Antwerp Belgium); ensemble and understudied and played Wendy in ‘Peter Pan’ (Grand Canal theatre Dublin); first understudy Cinderella in‘Cinderella’ (Orchard theatre); ensemble and 1st understudy Iris in ‘Fame’ (National tour); ‘We Will Rock You’ (Dominion theatre); swing in the original London cast of ‘Movin’ Out’ (Victoria Apollo); alternate Ice Princess in ‘The Snowman’ (Peacock theatre); swing and first understudy Zsa Zsa in ‘Love Shack’ (National tour); Dance Captain and swing in ‘Grease’ (Victoria Palace, Japan and National tour); ‘Cinderella’ (New Victoria Woking), Rumpleteaser, Demeter, Jemima and Tantomile in ‘Cats’ (Stuttgart Germany); Meg Giry in ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (Hamburg Germany) and the Spirit in ‘The Spirit of the Dance’ (US tour).
Film and TV credits include: ‘Devils in the Disguise’ for the Discovery Channel, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ directed by Joel Schumacher and ‘Finding Neverland’ directed by Marc Forster.
Radio Credits include: BBC radio production of Smith of Wooten Major.
Rachael has also appeared on the Al Murray Show, took part in the 2008 Olympic handover ceremony and guested for Rock of Ages for their performance at West End Live. She also regularly performs for Incandescence Contemporary Circus Theatre Company and Private Drama Events.
Teaching: Rachael graduated from the Royal Academy of Dance gaining a Distinction for The Professional Dancers Teaching Diploma and teaches at various schools and colleges across London. She taught scholarship classes for the IDTA and RAD along with various workshops in ballet and jazz."

Harriet is a principal with the Karlsruhe State Ballet.  I was lucky enough to attend one of her classes earlier this year (see One of the Best Ballet Experiences Ever  14 Feb 2018).   This is her bio:

"After attending her first vocational school from the age of 11, Harriet Emily Mills left the Hammond School, Chester, to start at the Royal Ballet Upper School in London. She graduated after 3 years with her first job with the Staatballett Karlsruhe and has worked as a professional ballet dancer there for 6 years. Harriet has danced roles such as Odette/Odile in Swanlake, Myrtha Queen of the Willis in Giselle and Katharina in Taming of the Shrew. She has been involved with many creations by choreographers such as Davide Bombanas (Der Prozess), Terence Kohlers (Misia Sert, Das Kleine Schwarze/ the Riot of Spring) and Reginaldo Oliveiras (Edith Frank in Anne Frank). After 6 years of working her way through the company Harriet is now a Principal Dancer."

Space is limited and bookings have to be made and classes paid for in advance.   The email address and phone number for further information appear on the poster above.  The Dancehouse is a short walk from Oxford Road station which is on the Leeds to Liverpool mainline.  There is an NCP multistory car park in Chester Street which is literally round the corner from the Dancehouse.  The car park offers a discount for daytime parking on Saturdays. There is usually plenty of free street parking on Saturday afternoons.  There is a bus stop outside the studios which is served by several routes. The nearest tram stop is at St Peter's Square which is a few minutes walk from the Dancehouse.

Hype Dance's Annual Show

Hype Dance  Annual Show Library Theatre, Sheffield, 12 My 2018 19:45


Performances are important to dance education because ballet and kindred styles of dance developed in the theatre and are intended for an audience.  The experience of appearing before a living, breathing (and paying) audience is delicious. I well remember the charge of excitement I felt in my first show which I tried to describe in The Time of My Life 28 June 2014.  Every dance student from toddler to pensioner can and should feel that charge no matter how inexperienced or incompetent he or she may be.  Most get that opportunity because almost every dance school worth its salt offers its students a chance to take part in its annual show.  Training and rehearsing for that show is what distinguishes dance classes from dreary keep fit.

Hype Dance Company is a dance school in Sheffield to which I was introduced in 2014 by Mel Wong. Mel and I had met through BalletcoForum when Mel appealed for a teacher to stand in for her regular instructor who was about to take maternity leave. I suggested mine in Huddersfield and I mentioned the vacancy to her though I think she had already learned of it from another source. However, my teacher got the job and I followed her down to Sheffield where I attended my first class at Hype (see More than just Hype - Beginners and Improvers Classes in Sheffield 14 May 2014).  In that post I wrote:

"I have not met the other teachers but judging by the standard I found at Hype they must be good. I have no hesitation in recommending that dance school."

I later took classes with Emily Talks and Anna Olejnicki who directs the school and attended Hype's open air Frightnight show on the Moor.  I am glad to say that those other teachers and the school fully met my expectations.

Yesterday was Hype Dance's annual show at the Library Theatre in Sheffield. The Library is one of three theatres around Tudor Square which must place it in contention for one of the most theatre concentrated districts in England. The Library is an intimate auditorium seating 260 sprctators attached to the Central Library which is literally next door to The Lyceum.  Hype has so many students and runs so many classes that it had to stage the show in multiple sessions.  The kids and young people performed in the afternoon while the adult dance students performed in the evening.  I attended the evening show.

Some 19 pieces were presented ranging from ballet to pole dance.  I was impressed by all the performances.  The ballet included some tricky pointe work by two soloists who impressed me with their precision and polish, a charming character dance from the RAD class and excellent contributions from the advanced, improvers and beginners' classes.  I had shadowed the beginners' class in their rehearsal a few weeks ago and was impressed by it then but it was even better on stage.  It was raised to a new level by a soloist who suddenly appeared and wowed us.  A brilliant touch by Anna who had choreographed that piece.

Hype's jazz classes are particularly strong.  All the dancers are impressive but I have to say a special word for the solitary male who showed great strength and virtuosity.  As in most dance schools there are far more women at Hype than men, but all the men who took part in yesterday's show distinguished themselves.  One showed particular wit and courage by taking part in SHE Heels mastering impossibly towering footwear with the grace of any of the girls    The pole dancer was described as a guest in the programme.  I know no more about her but she amazed me with her strength and grace particularly when she was suspended by her legs her luxuriant hair cascading about her.  Contemporary, tap. street and all the other artists performed well too.

The jazz class led us into the finale each of the dancers showing off his or her party piece. Each of the other classes followed them onto stage to mounting applause. Finally the teachers with Anna acknowledging the cheers.  She appeared as proud as Punch and had every right to be.

KNT Summer Intensives

In her article "We’re a Bunch of Adult Ballet ‘Super’ Commuters!" 1 July 2017, Wendy McDermott wrote:

"It was about this time last year that I started to look for ballet Summer intensives for adults, as I had seen so many advertisements for young people to attend the same, for a week or more. Disheartened by what I thought was very little opportunity for adults to dance beyond their class of 60-90 mins per week, I tweeted a comment expressing my (I guess) frustration at becoming invisible as an adult dancer. This turned out to be one of the best things I did, as, through various new followers and chatting with other dancers (and more thorough research on the internet), discovered many more opportunities to dance than I could have imagined."

The intensive to which I think Wendy refers was La Bayadère taught by Jane Tucker of Northern Ballet Academy. We both attended it last year and enjoyed it tremendously.  Here is my write-up La Bayadere Intensive Day 3: No Snakes 17 Aug 2016.

Not only did I enjoy the intensive but I also appreciated the Dutch National Ballet's performance of the ballet in which Sasha Mukhamedov danced Nikiya and Jozef Varga Solor so much more. In my review of that performance, I wrote:

"Having recently attended a three-day workshop in Manchester to learn bits of the choreography from Jane Tucker of Northern Ballet Academy I had a personal interest in this ballet (see La Bayadere Intensive Day 3: No Snakes 17 Aug 2016). As the experts performed the steps that Jane had taught us my fingers traced the steps. It was like the icing on the cake, the fulfilment of last August's intensive. I felt even more chuffed with myself for attending the intensive than I did in August,"  (see Dutch National Ballet's La Bayadere 14 Nov 2016).

Now KNT, which offers classes in the studios of the Northern Ballet School in  Manchester, proposes another series of intensives in jazz, musical theatre and contemporary as well as ballet in August. The ballet intensives will be taught by Jane Tucker again.  As I have noted more than once, she is an excellent teacher.  She has already taught me Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker as well as La Bayadère.  

These intensives tend to fill up quickly so if you want to join Wendy and me at the barre, get in touch with Karen Sant through her Facebook page.

There's a reason why Phoenix was my contemporary company of the year

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Phoenix Dance Theatre, Mixed Programme, West Yorkshire Playhouse, 8 Feb 2017, 19:30

In Terpsichore Titles: Contemporary Company of 2016 31 Dec 2016 I chose Phoenix Dance Theatre as my contemporary dance company of the year. I wrote:

"I've seen a lot of contemporary dance this year: the National Dance Company of Wales and BalletLorent in Huddersfield (see Cambriophilia 19 March 2016 and BalletLorent 3 Oct 2016), Rambert at the Lowry (see Red Hot Rambert 1 Oct 2016) the Royal Ballet's Wayne McGregor triple bill at Covent Garden (see McGregor Triple Bill 18 Nov 2016) and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Nederlands Dans Theater 2 at the Bradford Alhambra (see Prickling - NDT2 in Bradford 1 May 2016 and Alvin Ailey in Bradford 29 Sept 2016) and the Lowry (see NDT2 at the Lowry 24 April 2016 and Alvin Ailey in Salford 8 Oct 2016). But for me, 2016 was the year of Phoenix."

There were three reasons for my choice:  its massive contribution to the culture of Leeds over the last 36 years, its creative genius which generates ever more impressive new work and its outreach work for young people everywhere but especially in Leeds and the North East.

Those three strands came together on the opening night of Phoenix's new tour which begins its 2017 season with performances in Leeds, Durham, Oldham and Edinburgh (see "What's On" on the company's website). The evening began with Calyx. a new work by Sandrine Monin demonstrating Phoenix's creative genius and propensity to create ever more impressive new work, Douglas Thorpe's Beast, a work from Phoenix's recent past and NightLife at the Flamingo, one of its earliest works, celebrating the company's past, present and future.

"Calyx" is a botanical term meaning "the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud." The calyces, in this case, were a number of boxes each containing a dancer representing a flower. And the flowers? Well, they allude to Baudelaire's anthology, Fleurs du mal which inspired both choreographer and composer, Roberto Busconi. I had seen a preview of Calyx in the studio before Christmas (see Calyx 8 Dec 2016).  In the last paragraph of that article I wrote:

"Even in a rehearsal studio Calyx was quite enthralling. In a theatre it will be breathtaking."

And so it was. Emma James's costumes instantly put me in mind of the illustration of the front cover of the first edition of the book which I reproduced in my write-up of the preview. Luke Haywood's lighting enhanced the sense of foreboding. The dancers were the same as in the preview: Sam Vaherlehto. Carmen Vazquez-Marfil, Prentice Whitlow and Natalie Alleston. Not an easy work to digest but compelling to watch and hauntingly beautiful.

Thorpe's Beast was first staged in 2009, not long after Sharon Warson became the company's artistic director. In a contemporaneous video, Sharon described it as her first challenge. She acknowledged the work's robustness, its rawness, its quality yet still struggled with it wondering how, if at all, it fitted into Phoenix's repertoire. But the company did accept the work and it has strengthened them.  The work is about the rage that bubbles below each of us. Very topical with Trump and Brexit. A disturbing work. Uncontrolled hysterical laughter from Vasquez-Marfil. Wild explosions of movement from other dancers, Alleston, Monin, Vaherlehto, Prentice and Carlos J Martinez, the artist I had introduced as "Carlos" in my preview of Calyx. The score, a medley of work by Ben Frost, Matt Davignon, Aes Dana, Jaydev Mistry and Tam Tam, was skilfully selected and arranged. Once again, Haywood's lighting was in the old sense (that is to say not in the Hackneyed sense that it is used nowadays) awesome.

Th human spirit can only take so much beast and mal in one evening and NightLife at the Flamingo came as a blessed relief.  This was first staged in 1983 and shows the company at its very best. It opens with a single dancer to Gershwin's Summertime. Dressed as a waiter he opens the bar. Other dancers follow. The women in floral dresses or full-multicoloured skirts which must have been such fun to wear, Each of them performs a solo or party piece - one of the men pretending to be drunk helped to his feet by a waiter - cartwheeling and somersaulting girls. A party on stage, at one point, quite literally as the cast fanned into the stalls inviting audience members to join them on stage. The performers were drawn from three generations of Phoenix. Every member of the present company. Its veterans: Hughie Davies, Seline Derrick, Donald Edwards, David Hughes and Edward Lynch. And last but not least, kids from the Phoenix Youth Academy, stars of the future. A euphoric piece finishing in flowers for Sharon and ecstatic applause. One of my best evenings in the theatre. Ever.

I left the theatre floating 4 feet in the air. Mainly because it was such a good show. But partly because it is from the region in which I live. Phoenix started in Leeds. It is anchored in Leeds. Its dancers come from across the world. It is receptive to influences from everywhere. But it has never forgotten its origins. That's a source of pride.

Serendipity

Horace Walpole

Artist Rosalba Carriere 

Source Wikipedia

Northern Ballet School, A Showcase of Dance, The Dancehouse, Manchester 14 July 2015, 19:30

The set text of the English language "O" level paper for the Oxford and Cambridge Board in July 1965 was on the origin of the noun serendipity. It was coined by Horace Walpole to describe the fortune of three princes of Serendip who "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of”. The word now means "fortunate happenstance" or "pleasant surprise".

A good example of serendipity occurred yesterday evening when I attended KNT Danceworks. I noticed that The Dancehouse  was busy. I asked what was going on and leaned that Northern Ballet School was presenting A Showcase of Dance in the theatre. My class ended at 19:39 so I scurried down to the box office for a ticket.  Save for the pas de trois of Le Cotsaire I think I caught the whole show.

As the programme states, Northern Ballet School in Manchester (not to be confused with Northern Ballet which started life and was based for many years in Manchester very close to where the School is now located) is "an internationally recognized centre of excellence in the training of dancers for classical and musical theatre careers". The School has a company called Manchester City Ballet in which students gain stage experience. Every year, the company stages a full length ballet.  Last year it was The Nutcracker which I reviewed in Alchemy 13 Dec 2014 and its next production will be Giselle between the 10 and 13 Dec 2015.  A Showcase of Dance displays the whole range of the School's activities starting with tutus and pointe shoes in one of Petipa's most popular ballets and ending with the razzmatazz of a West End musical.

The progranme started with Le Corsaire and I caught the pas de deux by Luca di Martino and Sayaka Sagimoto and the pas de six. These are difficult pieces and they were both executed well, This was followed by Earth Song, a contemporary piece on environmental damage and some distressing projections of deforestation and environmental destruction on stage. There was ballet again with Last Promenade to some great cello music which I could not recognize. Everybody recognized the music to Pandora's Box which was the Dance of the Knights from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. I was reminded of Milena Siderova's Full Moon for Bart Engelen of the Dutch National Ballet (see The Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's best Performance yet 8 March 2015) except this was a fight between Alexander Smith and some shadowy caped and hooded figures over a sinister looking box, It was impressively staged and very dramatic. Eye of Horus was also mysterious but much softer with haunting Middle Eastern music. A pretty duet by Carlos Oliviera and Peri La Riche to The Sound of Music followed. Then there was Bolero which was my favourite with the girls in gorgeous long dresses engaging almost flirtatiously with the audience. Finally there was The Night Shift featuring Carlotta Tocci and Daniela Pinto,

The second act began with cats - or rather dancers dressed as cats - scurrying from the top of the auditorium hissing and spitting at the audience on the way to the stage. I hissed back at two of them. That was The Jellicle Ball from Cats which was a fun piece. It was followed by more dancing from the shows - Too Darn Hot and Sweet Charity - and contemporary pieces like Sanctuary and Slum.  I was particularly impressed by the all male cast of Slum for their energy, It had more roars and grunts than the centre court of Wimbledon, Although this was A Showcase of Dance we had a song from Charlotte Russell who has a lovely voice though one which could have benefited from more projection to where I was sitting which was the top of the gods. She gave way to Come on Everybody which was 1959s rock n' roll with the boys in tight jeans and the girls in long flowing skirts. Finally there was Something Better Than This by Gabriela Brough, Alarna Morgan and Daniela Pinto and finally the whole company in Brass Band and a glorious finale.

There is an abundance of talent in this School and as a Mancunienne I was very proud of the young artists I saw yesterday. Until the second largest conurbation of the UK gets a resident world class ballet company back again this School carries the torch for dance in Manchester and it deserves to be supported. The show continues at The Dancehouse tonight and tomorrow and I strongly recommend it,

The Creative Industries Road Show comes to Leeds

Leeds Grand Theatre

Photo Mtaylor848 

Source Wikipedia

The Creative Industries Federation describes itself as

"the first fully independent body bringing together the public and private sector, across all parts of the country, from the largest multinational to the smallest start-up, from television to computer games, from music to design, from architecture to visual arts".  

For the purpose of recruiting members the Federation recognizes the following as creative industries advertising, architecture, computer gaming, crafts, design, creative education, fashion, film, IT and software, museums, galleries and libraries, music, performing arts, publishing, radio, TV, video and photography and visual arts. English National Ballet is among the Founder Supporter Companies and Organizations as is the Royal Opera House and Tamara Rojo appears on the Federation's launch video.

The Federation is running a series of road shows around the UK "in which leading figures from the arts, creative industries and commercial education will come together to forge new links and map the challenges the sector faces in their area.".  The first of these took place in Manchester on 27 April 2015 and the second in Birmingham on 20 May 2015. On Monday, 1 June 2014, it was Leeds's turn and the caravan gathered in the Howard Assembly Room, a large auditorium leading off the bar of the dress circle in the Grand Theatre,

The event came to my attention because one of the Federation's promises is to "defend intellectual property rights in an ever more digital future." Defending intellectual property rights and indeed attacking them sometimes is what I do for a living but I would probably have given the road show a miss had I not noticed two names on the panel. One of those was Sally Joynson who is CEO of Screen Yorkshire. The other was Sharon Watson, the artistic director of Phoenix Dance Theatre.

The event was chaired by John Kampfner, CEO of the Federation and Anamaria Willis CEO of CidaCo. The first part of the evening was a monologue by Anya Hindmarsh on how she got to be where she is now. All very worthy but it is not as if we had not heard countless similar stories from other entrepreneurs from way back when. The next talk was Tom Riordan, CEO of Leeds City Council which was equally worthy. The main part of the evening for me was the panel discussion in which Sally and Sharon were billed to take part. Also on the panel were Jamie Sefton, Managing Director of Game Republic Ian Thompson, of Thompson Brand Partners, Dominic Gray of Opera North and Anya Hindmarsh.

The advertised topic of the panel discussion was

"'Uniting the Northern Powerhouse' - Following the emergence of the Great North concept how can growth and success be leveraged across the M62 corridor for the benefit of us all?"

Kampfner posed the combustible (for Leeds) question "Is the Northern Powerhouse all about Manchester and if it is does it matter?" and he asked Sharon to respond. Sharon played that ball with a very straight bat. She replied that Phoenix Dance and Northern Ballet had always regarded the North as a powerhouse so there was nothing new there. Actually that was about as much as she or anyone said on the subject because one of the first questions from the floor came from a teacher who complained that children in Yorkshire were just not taking art and design courses in sufficient numbers and that she was looking to the panellists to put that right. For the rest of the evening the panel concentrated on why that should be, whether it was because parents wanted their offspring to get "a real job" whatever that might mean and whether there was too much an emphasis in this country on STEM. As we could do better in maths and science according to recent PISA tables I was rather worried where that discussion might be leading but apart from a few calls to turn STEM into STEAM there was no serious attack on existing educational priorities.

As there had been a lot of Manchester bashing at the LEP Summit in 2011, the Leeds International Economic Conference last year and even at Northern Ballet's breakfast meeting in September 2013 I was really heartened by Dominic Gray. He urged Leeds not to compare itself to Manchester because the two cities are different.  He recalled the success of the Tour de France last year when images of our beautiful countryside were transmitted round the world. Leeds's strength lay in its hinterland, he seemed to suggest which was like music to my ears.

After the talk there was networking in the bar at which attendees had to buy their own drinks in the best Yorkshire tradition. I met a number of interesting people from different arts and creative sectors including Sharon Watson.  I am a great admirer of her company and her work and had met her very briefly on a couple of other occasions. We swapped a couple of stories about the importance of dance and I told her about my faltering efforts to learn her dance form (see My First Contemporary Dance Class 27 Feb 2015).

If anyone wants to join the Creative Industries Federation here is some further information. Subscriptions do not come cheap. Businesses with turnovers of £200 million or above are charged £15,000 plus VAT while businesses that provide support to the creative industries (such as barristers' chambers) would be charged £6,000. Even individuals aged 25 or under are charged £40.  Having said that, there are discounts for those who join in June and further discounts for those who join after attending the Leeds road show. The creative sector does need a forum and collective voice but few of the people I know in dance have that kind of spare cash.

Better than Eurovision

KNT Danceworks, Move It, The Dancehouse, Manchester 23 May 2015

I crossed the Pennines last August to take KNT Danceworks's Complete Beginners' Ballet class when Northern Ballet Academy was on vacation and Hype and Team Hud were taking a short break. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and wrote about it in So Proud of Manchester - KNT Danceworks Complete Beginners Class. I liked it so much that I returned on the Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of the following week. As KNT were promoting classes in Liverpool I attended short classes with Karen Sant in ballet, jazz and contemporary in the splendour of the ballroom of Liverpool Town Hall (see It's not every Class that you can use Lord Canning's Eyes for Spotting 9 Sept 2014).

Because my over 55 classes at Northern Ballet in Leeds take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays and my classes with Fiona Noonan in Sheffield and Huddersfield are on Mondays and Wednesdays I have not been a regular in Manchester but I have continued to come whenever possible. I have also brought two of my friends from Yorkshire. Gita also liked Ailsa Baker's Complete Beginners' class and wrote about her experience in Coming Back to Ballet 12 March 2015. She and I also took a contemporary class with Ailsa which we both enjoyed (see My First Contemporary Dance Class 27 Feb 2015).

The reason we like KNT Danceworks so much is that they have some really good teachers. I have already mentioned Ailsa and Karen but I have also enjoyed class with other instructors whom I cannot name.  You will see some of my teachers in the above YouTube clip from last year's show and I think you will be impressed. They attract a good crowd of students of different ages and abilities all of whom are keen to learn. I like them a lot so when they put on a show called Move It at The Dancehouse team Terpsichore came to watch them.

You might have thought that KNT would have struggled to fill the auditorium on the night that the Eurovision Song Contest was on telly and Ballet Theatre UK were in Tameside  but far from it. There was a good crowd in a happy, clappy mood. Unlike the usual audience at the Grand or Palace there were folk of all ages, all races and both genders. A pretty representative sample of the population of Manchester I should say.

"Good evening" said a lady who later did a brilliant belly dance. The crowd mumbled. "Good evening" she repeated to a slightly louder response. "How are you?" The response became a murmur. "Do you like dancing?" A moderate "Yes".  "Do you know somebody in the show?" A much louder "yes". "So your job is to support them". That was answered with some serious applause. So she read out the acts that were to appear in the first half: intermediate ballet, tap, belly dancing, beginners' ballet, hula, African rhythm, contemporary, Chinese and contemporary.

All those acts were good and some were outstanding. My main interest was, of course, in the ballet. Both classes did well. Both had challenging choreography with music that I would not have found easy to dance to. The intermediate ballet cast were dressed as cats and slid across the floor. Two or three even ran off stage and into the audience. The beginners had some tricky temps levés which they executed well.  I am very proud to have done class with them and I have to congratulate Ailsa and Karen on a very creditable show.

Of the other acts I loved the African rhythm trio and the Chinese dancers. The Chinese, all women most but not all of whom appeared to be of Chinese heritage, wore beautiful costumes. They seemed to have a very wide repertoire for they were on stage longer than most of the other acts. I particularly liked a dance in which they waved and trailed long scarves. But I liked every part of the show - the contemporary, belly dancing, hula solo, jazz and contemporary.

After a short interval our compère reappeared but this time in a glamorous, shimmering costume. She introduced the remaining acts one of which was herself.  "We teachers like to dance as well" she explained. When she came on stage a few minutes later she was thrilling. I have not seen enough belly dancing to make comparisons but she seemed pretty good to me.  She deservedly got a deafening round of applause.

So, too, did the African dance trio who amazed us with their virtuosity. The man in the middle particularly with his cart wheels and hand and head stands. Their enthusiasm was infectious. First they got us clapping to the beat of the drums, then they got is waving and swaying our arms in time with them. They invited the audience to join them and one young woman did so. She was brilliant. I don't know whether she had rehearsed with the trio or whether she had picked up the dance on stage but she was a delight to watch.

There was one other star of the evening. A young woman of African or Afro-Caribbean heritage who danced with one of the advanced classes. I don't know her name but my guess is that she must be a teacher because she was very good. You can tell from her face that she loves to dance. She is vivacious and she can make her body do the most amazing things. She also got us clapping and moving in our seats.

There were also impressive performances by the hula dancers some of whom could rotate their hoops around one leg while balancing on the other.  There were some excellent jumps in the contemporary,  But once again it was the ballet that delighted me. The pointe class dazzled with "Putting on the Ritz" each of them with a tie round her neck which made for impressive turns.  The evening was rounded off with the advanced ballet class who were delightful. They wore lovely flowing dresses which emphasised their elegance.

I have to say a word for the technicians of the Dancehouse particularly the person in charge of the lighting. There were no props except for such things as the Chinese dancers' scarves and the pointe class's canes but there were plenty of changes of scene and mood and they were all accomplished with sound and lighting.

This week I have seen some great performances in York and Doncaster by Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet and I left both theatres on a high. They are of course world class companies and one would expect them to be good. Last night I saw part-time dancers like myself - but I left The Dancehouse on no less a high.

Moving North

In Dazzled 3 May 2015 I wrote: "I like to see young dancers at the start of their careers because they are full of energy and hope". Yesterday I saw even younger dancers in the first heat of the Royal Academy of Dance's competition Moving North. It took place at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre at Quarry Hill in Leeds.

Despite competition from "Leeh Toor deeh Yorkshire" which happened to pass just a few yards from my house as I was setting off for Leeds forcing me to take a circuitous detour the theatre was packed. I guess most of the audience were friends and connexions of the contestants but I did spot Sharon Watson and exchanged a few words with her about Code which Ballet Central had danced the night before.

It was a very long show, There were 51 acts in ballet, contemporary, hip-hop and jazz. Some of the contestants were very young.  Nearly all of were female.  I counted only 3 or 4 boys. All the contestants were good.

The purpose of the heat was to select 10 finalists for the last stage of the competition which will take place at The Lowry on 18 July. In the event, the judge Gary Clarke chose 12 for Salford. They will compete against the finalists to be chosen in Bolton on 10 May and York on 21 June.

I had one interest in the contest. Hype Dance Company had entered some of its students into the competition. The reason for my interest is that I take the beginners' ballet class there occasionally (see More than just Hype - Beginners and Improvers Classes in Sheffield 14 May 2014). The Hype students danced The Water Fairies to music by Schubert. In my view they did very well and I thought they would make the finals but the were up against some tough competition.   Emily Talks who choreographed the piece and trained the students should be congratulated on doing a very good job.

There were three things that surprised me. First, as I noted above, there were not many boys though all of those who did compete made the finals. Secondly, even though some of them were well into their teens none of the female ballet students danced on pointe. Thirdly, there were no non-Western dance styles even though our region hosts a number of companies, dance troupes and individual artists who study those styles. I had expected at least one or two Bollywood entries.

However, I didn't dwell on those matters.  I thoroughly enjoyed the show and congratulate all the artists and their teachers.   It was good to see them together on stage at the end of the show.  We learned that some of the contestants were making their stage débuts in the competition. I hope all enjoyed the experience.   I wish them all well in their studies and subsequent careers

My First Contemporary Dance Class

A dancer performing a contemporary
dance piece

Photo Wikipedia

I have enjoyed watching contemporary dance on stage for almost as long as I have enjoyed ballet but yesterday was the first time I took a full contemporary dance class. Even though I have to say that I woke up this morning as stiff as a board I enjoyed the experience tremendously and I look forward to my next class.

My teacher yesterday was Ailsa Baker who has already taught me some ballet (see So Proud of Manchester - KNT Danceworks Complete Beginners Class 29 Aug 2014). My only other experience of contemporary dance had been half an hour or so at Liverpool town hall on 8 Sept 2014 which was also with KNT (see It's not every Class that you can use Lord Canning's Eyes for Spotting 9 Sept 2014).

The class started off with pliés and balances as in ballet though we did not use the barre but then we had our first floor exercise. I had done quite a bit of that sort of work with Fiona Noonan in ballercise as well as some private lessons that she gave me a year or so ago so it was not a complete shock but I did find myself using muscles that had been left undisturbed for far too long.

After the exercises Ailsa taught us a routine which seemed to go step, step, step, arms in open fifth, a lunge to the right, step, step, step, arms up in open fifth again, a lunge to the left, step, step and then something like a rond de jambe and grand battement followed by a run back across the studio. We then rose on demi with our arms outstretched. Then something called step hop which was nothing like the temps levé that I had done in the Over 55 class in Leeds earlier in the day followed by run, run and leap on the other foot which was vaguely like a grand jeté, run, run and another step hop, run, run and a turn in the air, then run, run along the side of the studio with step hops and leaps back and finally a run to the centre. So far so good but then this poor old lady ran out of steam. The next move was a jump from a lunge to the floor followed by a roll to the knees, arms up a couple of times, then getting up, a couple of turns rather like chaînés, then another roll and up, a turn and yet another roll and run. It was those rolls which defeated me. Getting down was easy enough but springing up again was the killer.

We marked the routine a couple of times as a class first without and then with music.  Then we divided into groups. My group had lots of good dancers plus me and although I started off OK I am sorry to say that I let my group down by losing my balance after the third roll.  But nobody seemed to mind too much and I wasn't hurt.

I may be wrong but I think that these rolls are something that would improve with practice and the more times I take this class the better I shall become. It is definitely harder than ballet but I have never been one to duck a challenge. There was a time when I found ballet impossible whereas now it is only very, very, very, very difficult.

I really enjoyed that class. As I have said several times before, Ailsa is a great teacher who clearly loves to dance and extracts the last ounce of effort from her students by communicating to us her love of dance. I enjoy her ballet classes too for that same reason. I would love to do more with her but it is not easy for me to get to her classes as I usually take a class in Leeds on Thursday mornings.  "Nobody pays you to be a ballerina, Miss" my clerk never tires of reminding me (right now nobody is paying me much to be a barrister though I seem to be working every hour God sends) but after a gruelling day in court on Tuesday and after the disappointment of missing Fiona's Wednesday class after driving all the way to Huddersfield I felt justified in taking a second class yesterday. But, as I say, I woke up this morning stiff as the proverbial. Nemesis for Terpsichore perhaps?

Post Script

Just want to say that after the class my friend and I repaired to Panchos Burritos which is literally just round the corner from the Danchouse and Northern Ballet School. There we had two enormous burritos - one in the bowl and the other in a wrap plus a Fentimans mandarin and Seville orange jigger and a half litre of mineral water for £11.82. I had acquired a taste for Mexican food when I was a graduate student at UCLA in the early 1970s which was more or less the first time I saw contemporary dance. For many years Mexican food was almost impossible to find in this country and hardly worth eating when it was found. I am happy to say that Pancho cooks a mean burrito - as good as any I have consumed in Southern California. So - as jumping up and down and rolling about on the floor is bound to work up an appetite - Pancho's is the place to satisfy it.  That was another reason why yesterday was a very special evening.

Tenacity

President Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act in the presence of Dr Martin
Luther King

Photo Wikipedia

On 2 July 1964 President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act which outlawed discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin, ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, employment, hotels, restaurants, public transport and other facilities that served the general public in the United States. That statute prompted similar legislation in other countries including our own. To mark the 50th anniversary of that enactment Phoenix Dance Theatre presented Tenacity, an evening of dance, film and song, at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds.

The Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre is a specially constructed dance venue which forms part of the Quarry Hill studios that Phoenix shares with Northern Ballet. I have been coming to that theatre regularly for several years. I have seen many shows there and have even danced in one (see The Time of my Life 28 July 2013), but Wednesday evening was the first time that I had ever seen Phoenix perform there. It will certainly not be my last. Having experienced contemporary dance very late in life - I had my first lesson only on the 8 of this month (see "It's not every Class that you can use Lord Canning's Eyes for Spotting" 9 Sept 2014) - I have the zeal of the convert and really want to see and do more.

The performance opened with a short sequence of film to a sound track of breaking waves. According to the programme, the title of the film was Honour and it was made by Quays Culture but when I googled  "honour", "film" and "Quays Culture" the result was somewhat different although it was clearly connected with Phoenix and its artistic director, Sharon Watson. The film was followed by Tila and Tavelah Robinson who entered the stage from each side of the auditorium singing John Newton's hymn Amazing Grace  without any accompaniment.  Then Sharon mounted the stage to make a short speech. She spoke about the importance of the Civil Rights Act and how far the world had come in the last 50 years with the ending of apartheid and other victories; but also how much still needed to be done when she reeled off the wars and repression that still exist.

The first dance piece was 1976  by Alesandra Seutin. It was by far the most moving. Tanya Richam-Odoi and Seline Derrick danced two young school girls from Soweto. In 1976 schoolchildren from that township protested against curriculum changes that forced them to study in Afrikaans. Their protest was met with extreme violence including the use of live ammunition to disperse the protesters and many lost their lives. The dancers represent two of those kids - chirpy and ragging each other - and then one of them is hit by a bullet and she falls to the floor. Her friend tried to revive her but it's too late. She carried her in her arms to the strains of the Twenty Third Psalm. That image has haunted me all week and I can't get it out of my system.

The next piece was actually a video of Jane Dudley teaching Sheron Wray Harmonica Breakdown or the misery dance which Dudley had choreographed for herself to the music of Sonny Terry in 1938. Dudley had danced with Martha Graham and later moved to London where she met Wray. The session was filmed by Darshan Singh Bhuller and is available on YouTube. Rather than have me rabbiting on you can view it for yourselves. Part 1 is here and Part II here. Terry's music is still buzzing about my mind as is the image of Wray.

Gary Lambert's Longevity followed. No music just the words of Martin Luther King addressing the civil rights march in Washington in 1983 which this dance commemorated. Two powerful male dancers Gee Goodison and Andile Sotiya dressed in white shirts, ties and  trousers symbolized the epic march from all parts of the United States to the Lincoln memorial. I remember listening to the speech on the BBC home service when I was 14 years old and wanting to share Dr King's dream in my lifetime.

The world did move on to the extent that there is now an African-American President of the USA. He wrote The Audacity of Hope which inspired Warren Adams's The Audacious One. Choreographed to Mozart's music this work involved the whole company. The set was very simple.  Just chairs which could represent seats in a legislature or indeed a lecture room. But there was competition for those chairs reflected in the faces of the dancers.

The show runs until today when there will be a symposium on Dance and Civil Rights at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre. I can't encourage you to go there because it is already a sell out but I can urge you to see the company as it tours the country for it is very good.

It's not every Class that you can use Lord Canning's Eyes for Spotting

One of the chandeliers in the magnificent ballroom of
Liverpool town hall

Photo Jane Lambert 

A few weeks ago I had the honour of meeting Councillor Ian Selby the Mayor of South Kesteven at a dance event (see "Chantry Dance - Making Connections" 30 Aug 2014). This evening at another dance event I met Rachel Plant the Lady Mayoress of Liverpool. The occasion was an evening of dance classes in support of the Lord Mayor's charities in the magnificent ballroom of Liverpool Town Hall.

The classes were given by Karen of KNT Danceworks whose complete beginners' class in Manchester I reviewed on 29 Aug 2014 (see "So Proud of Manchester - KNT Danceworks Complete Beginners Class"). Karen offered us three beginners' classes in ballet, jazz and contemporary. Like most of us who turned up at the town hall I took all three classes and enjoyed them all.

As you can see from the photos on its website Liverpool town hall is a magnificent building and the ballroom is probably the most impressive part of it. Some idea of its grandeur can be obtained from the photo of one of its chandeliers. There were well over 30 dancers in the room.  All of us were women and most were in their twenties or thirties though they were several who were not far short of my age.

As there was no barre in the ballroom we had to execute pliés, tendus, glissés, ronds de jambe and grands battements unaided which I found quite difficult but a very good discipline. Next we did a port de bras starting with a chassé to the right, arabesque and soutenu which was repeated on the left. We practised it together and were then divided into groups in which we performed it again. The next exercise was chaînés. Karen told us to spot something. Immediately to my right was a massive portrait of Lord Canning so I locked on to his eyes. Usually one has to make do with a door handle or a vase on the piano. Such was the glory of the setting. Next we had jumps and finally temps levés from right to left and left to right. And then, alas, the reverence. Like every good dance class it was over all too soon.

In the room next door the Lady Mayoress welcomed us to refreshments and a display of materials in aid of her mothers' charities. There were poems, sweets, badges and other goodies. Rachel Plant gave us a short presentation on dementia aided by a game of dementia friends' bingo in which she taught us some of the facts of the condition. Clearly that is a topic on which Ms Plant has considerable expertise.

After the break Karen gave us a jazz class, This was a first for me. After a warm up we learned a routine. I found jazz much faster than ballet and I struggled to keep up. However, it is also very exuberant and I am certainly coming back for more.  We practised the routine as a group and then performed it in groups.

Karen allowed us a few minutes to grab a drink and then on with contemporary which was another first for me. This was he hardest part of the evening largely because it involved a lot of floor work which us not easy for a 65 year old. However, I gave it my best shot and after two or three goes I think I was getting the hang if it by the time we had to do final stretches.

A few weeks ago someone posted on Facbook: "You can't buy happiness but you can buy a dance class and that's kinda the same thing" Judging by the chattering and laughter, tonight's classes showed just how true that is.

Postscript

I have embedded a tweet from Liverpool town hall with a lovely picture of our teacher and the Lord and Lady Mayoress at the entrance to the town hall,

Karen from @danceliverpool with @CllrEricaKemp & @RachelPlant5 @TownHallLpool pic.twitter.com/u46yC2z0Sf
— Liverpool Town Hall (@TownHallLpool) September 8, 2014