Two Chances to meet Leanne Benjamin

In my article about Hendrick's January's class at Danceworks I mentioned some of the master classes that will take place at those studios soon:

"Roberta Marquez, Zdenek Konvalisa and Antonia Franceschi as well as Leanne Benjamin teaching a series of repertoire classes from February and Michaela DePrince in July."

 I promised to mention these again when I had more details.

Danceworks has just published details of Leanne Benjamin's course for advanced and professional dancers. The great ballerina will present four master classes between 09:30 and 12:00 on  22 Feb, 21 March, 18 April  and 16 May. Those who want to take the course must book all four classes at a cost of £160 plus a £3 booking fee. The blurb advises that numbers will be strictly limited to ensure personal attention. Participants are asked to make sure that they have appropriate technical training in order to get the most out of the experience. They must be 15 years of age or over. Places are offered on a first come first served basis and you can book through the web page.

If like me you are a million miles from "advanced/professional" standard you can still meet Leanne Benjamin on the 7 March at 19:30 in the Civil Service Club at 13-15 Great Scotland Yard when she gives a talk to the London Ballet Circle. That event, incidentally, is open the public as well as members of the Circle. If you are not already a member it is well worth joining even if you live well outside the metropolis. Tomorrow is the Circle's AGM and party by the way.

Returning to Danceworks I could not resist this photo of one of my favourite dancers on the poster for the studios' open day on 31 Jan which offers all sorts of free taster classes in  all styles of dance. Christina-Maria Mittelmaier will teach beginners' ballet between 10:30 and 11:30 after which she gives her regular class until 12:00 (see the the Sunday timetable). Oh and if you are wondering about Michaela DePrince I am assured that she is coming. Not on the 31 Jan alas but soon.

Matter on DePrince

Michaela DePrince at Danceworks ib 7 July 2015

Photographer Jordan Matter

Copyright 2015 Jordan Matter

All rights reserved

On 7 July 2015, Michaela DePrince, now a coryphée with the Dutch National Ballet, gave a master class at Danceworks. Ciara Sturrock attended the class and wrote a note of her experience which I incorporated into my article Michaela's Masterclass 8 July 2015.

The well known American photographer Jordan Matter was in the studio and he photographed Michaela as she taught. Yesterday Danceworks sent me one of his photos and gave me permission to reproduce it in this post. I must stress that copyright subsists in the photo and no other person may reproduce it without Jordan Matter or Danceworks's consent. I am very grateful to Lesley Osman, general manager of Danceworks, and Jordan Matter for allowing me to publish this work.

If you visit his website you will see that Jordan Matter specializes in photographing dancers. Much of his work is published in book form. Dancers among Us was published by The New York Times last year. It includes my very favourite picture of DePrince. Matter has photographed her in the air wearing cut off jeans and yellow chequered top with her dog in a woodland clearing. Dancers After Dark will be on sale next year. Tiny Dancers Among Us, a portfolio of photographs of younger dancers, will be published in 2017.

Since the master class Michaela DePrince has danced in Cinderella at the Coliseum (see my review Wheeldon's Cinderella 13 July 2015 and Gita's Bend it Like Cinders 18 July 2015). DePrince has also been elevated to coryphée. This is a meteoric rise in that she joined the Junior Company only two years ago. I congratulate her on her promotion and wish her well for the future. 

Many of DePrince's contemporaries in the Junior Company have also done well and I mentioned their successes in The Junior Company One Year On 18 July 2015. Ernst Meisner, the artistic co-ordinator of the Junior Company spoke to the London Ballet Circle on 20 July 2015. As a consequence of Ernst Meisner's visit plans are being drawn up to set up a British Friends of the Dutch National Ballet . I hope it will lead to even more opportunities to bring DePrince and the Company's other beautiful dancers to this country. 

My next opportunity to see DePrince and those other dancers on stage will come with the opening gala on 8 Sept. 

I have written a lot of articles on DePrince over the last two years and you will find links to most of them at Michaela DePrince at TEDx Amsterdam 28 Nov 2014.

Michaela's Masterclass

Michaela DePrince and her students, Danceworks, 7 July 2015

(c) 2015 Danceworks Ltd

Here is a photograph of some of the luckiest, happiest and most excited young dancers in the kingdom. The reason for their happiness and excitement is that they were lucky enough to attend a master class with the outstanding young dancer Michaela DePrince. DePrince is an eleve with the Dutch National Ballet (although she is soon to be elevated to coryphée according to the company's press officer) and her company is in London to dance Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella at the Coliseum. Yesterday DePrince found time to give a master class at Danceworks' studios in Balderton Street.

Lesley Osman, Danceworks's General Manager, described the class as "wonderful". She added that the rehearsal studio in which the class was given was full of young dancers who are inspired by DePrince. Lesley sent me these photos of the event and kindly gave me permission to reproduce them here.

One of the young dancers in DePrince's class was Ciara Sturrock. As you can see, Ciara shows promise as a journalist as well as a dancer. I am sure that everyone who reads this post will wish her well in her studies and career whether it on the stage, in print or somewhere altogether different  She wrote about her experience yesterday as follows:

"To say I wasn't the best dancer in Michaela's Masterclass today is not an exaggeration. I'm 15 years old, not a 'ballet build', and, although have been taking ballet and various other dance classes since the age of 2, I found a lot of the exercises quite difficult. However, Michaela couldn't have been more helpful and was totally inspiring.

She obviously spotted I wasn't technically as good as everyone else and helped me with my body positioning without making me feel awkward. In fact, Michaela helped everyone. Sometimes she just was like a little girl, flapping about when she didn't do something herself quite the way she wanted it to be - just like most of us girls do!

Michaela taught us both technique and how to make more of our presentation. She told us to keep our heads up, open up our chests and, because you don't speak in a ballet performance, to tell the story through our hearts. This really struck a chord with me and I will always remember this when I perform in the future.

Knowing the story of Michaela's early difficult and dangerous childhood, and how successful she has become, I find it amazing that she is so approachable, humble and funny. I may not be a ballet dancer but I really enjoyed the class today, and learnt a lot in

a short space of time, with this fantastic and beautiful role model."

I was lucky enough to see DePrince dance in Cool Britannia in Amsterdam on the 27 June and I witnessed the enormous and enthusiastic following that she enjoys in the Netherlands (see Going Dutch. 29 July 2015).  I am looking forward to seeing her dance again on Saturday in Cinderella and at the gala for the opening of the ballet season in Amsterdam on the 8 Sept 2015 (see Triple Dutch 4 July 2015).

I took an interest in DePrince even before she joined the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company because I have connections with her country of origin, When I saw her dance for the first time I wrote:

"she is even more impressive in real life. She is quite simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while" (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 26 Nov 2015).

If you want to find out more about this remarkable young  woman I have collated links to most of my articles in Michaela DePrince at TEDx Amsterdam 26 Nov 2015.  My thanks to Lesley and Danceworks for the photos and to Ciara for the copy.

"Taking Flight" in more ways than one

Michaela DePrince, Dutch National Ballet

Photo Robin de Puy

(c) 2014 Dutch National Ballet
All rights reserved

According to Richard Heideman, press manager of the Dutch National Ballet, Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina by Michaela and Elaine DePrince is to be made into a film. He reports that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has acquired the film rights and will make a full length feature film with Alloy Entertainment. Elysa Dutton and Les Morgenstein of Alloy will produce the film with Matt Dines of MGM.

Closer to home, First Position, a film in which DePrince already appears, will be shown at Cafe 164 in Leeds on 2 April 2015 (see Cafe 164 to screen "First Position" 2 March 2015) and she will take a master class at Danceworks on 7 July 2015 (Dance with DePrince 20 Jan 2015).

DePrince joined the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet in 2013 and the main company as an apprentice in 2014. She is expected to be promoted to coryphée shortly. One of our best young choreographers told me recently that he hopes to work with her.

I am a great fan of this remarkable young woman for two reasons. First,she is thrilling to watch. Secondly, I also have close connections with Sierra Leone.

If anyone wants to read more about her there is a list of links to my other posts in Michaela DePrince at TEDx Amsterdam 28 Nov 2014,

A Minor Miracle - Bringing Le Baiser de la fée back to Life

Sir Kenneth Macmillan

Source Wikipedia

Today at Ivy House, the former home of Anna Pavlova, a minor miracle occurred. Donald MacLeary, one of the stars of my youth, restored a fragment of Sir Kenneth MacMillan's ballet Le Baiser de la fée before my eyes.  

The idea of restoring one of Sir Kenneth's early works was that of his widow, Deborah. She and Clement Crisp had been invited by Ivy House Music and Dance to discuss Sir Kenneth's legacy at the London Jewish Cultural Centre. In February I had attended an interview by Mr Crisp of Dame Antoinette Sibley at the Royal Ballet School which had also been organized by the Centre (see "Le jour de gloire est arrive - Dame Antoinette Sibley with Clement Crisp at the Royal Ballet School 3 Feb 2014). Though this event also involved Mr Crisp and included some fabulous ballet it was very different from the interview with Sibley.

The main difference is that it was not really an interview or even a dialogue. It was more a monologue by Mr Crisp with some choice interventions by Lady MacMillan. It was through her that we learned that the great choreographer relieved tension by knitting.  He would begin a new garment with every ballet and then abandon it as soon as the ballet was finished. Lady MacMillan told him that she would never wear any of his creations and she never did because the ballet was finished before the knitting. When Mr Crisp discussed Sir Kenneth's inventiveness Lady MacMillan reminded us of his reverence for Petipa. Lady MacMillan told us that Sir Kenneth did not say much but when he did it was generally devastating. Clement Crisp for his part reminded us of Sir Kenneth's musicality, the dark side of many of his ballets such as The Judas Tree and curiously of his knowledge of things that he should not have known about. I liked that format and learned a lot from both speakers.

A short interval followed the discussion after which the room turned into a rehearsal studio. The choreologist Diana Curry introduced the audience to Benesch notation. Although the technique was quite new in the 1960s Sir Kenneth always worked with a choreologist and much of Le Baiser de la fée had been recorded. However there was a significant lacuna and that was the solo where the bridegroom danced by MacLeary goes looking for his bride and finds himself waylaid by the fairy. Fortunately that scene had been recorded on film which Ms Curry had analysed and notated.

The role that Sir Kenneth had created for MacLeary was danced by James Hay, a soloist with the Royal Ballet. Ms Curry had taken Hay through her recording earlier in the afternoon. When I first saw him in the late 1960s and early 1970s MacLeary was easily the handsomest of the Royal Ballet's principals and I was delighted to see that the years had been kind to him. Even after 45 years he remains a very good looking figure now. He invited Hay to dance the solo as he understood it. "Too classical" said MacLeary "You are looking for your beautiful fiancée. Be more natural." Though MacLeary complimented the choreologist on her work it was not exactly as he remembered it with the result that the piece was less than a perfect recreation. But it was good and to bring back to life a ballet created years before Hay was born was to my mind nothing short of a miracle.

This afternoon was special in so many ways. Special in re-creating a beautiful ballet. Special for the insights into MacMillan's work and personality from those who knew him best. And special for taking place in the home of one of the greatest dancers of all time. Had there been no Lady MacMillan or Clement Crisp, had there not been a step of dancing, the experience of being in a room in which Pavlova once walked would have been memorable enough for me.