Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company DragonsAlhambra Theatre, Bradford 22 Mar 2025 19:30
The phrase "Hic Sunt Dracones" (Here be Dragons) appeared on an early 16th-century globe to indicate unexplored regions. I mention it because the show is called Dragons. That early cartographer's term is apt to describe the performance of the Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company at the Bradford Alhambra on 22 Mar 2025 because it defied classification. It was presented by Dance Consortium as contemporary dance, but it was also a light show with holograms and special effects.
Eun Me Ahn, who was born in Seoul in 1963, is a South Korean dancer and choreographer. Her company consists of 7 Korean dancers. She describes her company's work in an interview for Dance Consortium on YouTube. For its tour of the UK, her company has teamed up with 5 young artists from other East Asian countries, all of whom were born at the turn of the millennium.
The show starts quietly with a single figure slowly crossing the stage, manipulating what seems to be a pneumatic tube. After exiting to the right, a second figure appears and then more. In the course of the show, still and moving images are projected onto a gauze screen at the front of the stage. These seem to mingle with the dancers so that it is impossible to distinguish between illusion and reality.
To describe the show as controversial would be an understatement. A couple from Skegness whom I had met in the bar before the show did not appreciate it at all. Others found it exhilarating. Like the unknown regions in the 16th-century globe, it was on the edge of expectations.
I wish I could say more about Eun-Me Ahn and her company. I could not buy a programme in the theatre and I found very little on the internet. My most intriguing find is a page of links to Dragons and other works on the Gadja Productions website. Some of these have very odd names like "Dancing Grandmothers" and "Dancing Middle-Aged Men". I recommend North Korea Dance, which combines marching with fan and other traditional folk dances.
The Chelmsford Ballet Company is older than Northern Ballet, Scottish Ballet and even English National Ballet. This little news clip records its formation. Clearly, the founders were resourceful and enterprising. Not surprising given that many of the City's movers and shakers hail from Essex. I am proud to say that I am a non-dancing member of the Chelmsford Ballet. I am tempted to attend an audition in June to see whether I could qualify as a dancing member.
In the middle of March of every year, Chelmsford Ballet stages a full-length ballet or mixed bill in the city's Civic Theatre. I watched and reviewed every one of those annual shows between 2014 and 2019. I missed the 2020 show because of covid. There was no show last year for the same reason. I am glad to see that the company will return to the Civic between 16 and 19 March 2022 to perform Beatrix Potter™ Tales in association with Frederick Warne & Co.
According to the Civic's website:
"Many of the delightful Beatrix Potter characters enjoyed by generations are brought to life in this imaginative balletic interpretation.
We see Beatrix engrossed in her work & watch as some of her characters come to life such as Peter Rabbit, Jeremy Fisher, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, adding to the excitement a flying Jemima Puddle-Duck trying to escape from Mr. Toad."
Save for an occasional young professional at the start of his or her career who may be engaged to perform a principal role most of the artists are child or adult dance students. There is however nothing amateurish about their performances. Particularly impressive is their computer-generated special effects. A projection of the growth of a forest around Aurora's castle in The Sleeping Beautywas breathtaking. Equally remarkable is their wardrobe department (see the headpieces of the snow wolves in the 2017 production of The Snow Queen).
I plan to watch the opening night. My review will appear a few days later.
Standard YouTube Licence Birmingham Royal BalletThe Nutcracker Royal Albert Hall, 29 Dec 2019 13:00
Having seen Sir Peter Wright's version of The Nutcracker for the Birmingham Royal Ballet several times in Birmingham as well as once at the Royal Albert Hall I had very high expectations of yesterday's performance. I am pleased to report that those expectations were exceeded. There are two reasons why I liked yesterday's matinee so much. The first was the sheer quality of the dancers and musicians with Celine Gittens and Brandon Lawrence in the leading roles and Koen Kessels conducting the orchestra. The second was the straightforward interpretation of Hoffman's story with great special effects but no creepiness or spookiness.
The performance began not with the familiar overture but sounds of industrial activity from Dr Drosselmeyer's workshop. Drosselmeyer (Tom Rogers) appeared on stage and introduced himself through the voice of Simon Callow. He explained that he is called a doll maker but prefers to call his creations "automatons" as he likes to think they have a touch of magic about them. Nowadays, that "touch of magic" might be called artificial intelligence and that was seen in the self-propelled toy mice that scurried about the Stahlbaums' sitting room as well as the humanoids Columbine, Harlequin, Jack-in-the-Box and, of course, the Nutcracker. Callow announced that he was bringing gifts for his delightful goddaughter Clara and her somewhat less agreeable brother Fritz. Beatrice Parma danced Clara. Wesley Mpakati, an 11-year old schoolboy from Tyseley according to Brum Pic, was Fritz,
After that introduction, the orchestra struck up and the ballet unfolded in the traditional way. The workshop was removed and replaced by a Christmas tree which became the centrepiece of the Stahlbaums' Christmas party. Guests arrived including Drosselmeyer and his assistant (Gus Payne). They distributed presents to the children: dolls to the girls and drums, rattles and war toys to the boys and the nutcracker to Clara. Fritz and his friends made thorough nuisances of themselves earning more than a few tickings off from Mr Stahlbaum (Jonathan Payn). At one point they grabbed the nutcracker from Clara and damaged it. Happily, Drosselmeyer was able to repair the damage. He demonstrated Harlequin (Hamish Scott), Columbine (Rosanna Ely) and the Jack-in-the-Box (Max Maslen) to the guests.
I took a particular interest in the Jack-in-the-Box because Joey Taylor tried to teach me that dance in KNT's Day of Dance last April (see Best "Day of Dance" Ever23 April 2019). "And were you able to do any of that?" my companion asked. "Not much" I had to admit, "but then I am over 70." However, I am proud to say that several of my classmates who are also adult ballet students did very well even managing a couple of cartwheels. In yesterday's performance, Taylor was in the Spanish dance. As my box in the grand tier overlooked stage right, I shouted "Bravo Joey" at the end of the divertissement which I hope he heard. If not, he will know that I appreciated his performance should he ever get round to reading this review.
After the party, the Christmas tree expanded and giant baubles descended from the ceiling. Mice and toy soldiers appeared and fought a battle that the mice nearly won. Clara saved the day for the soldiers by clobbering the mouse king (Gabriel Anderson) with one of her pointe shoes. As a reward, she was transported to the land of sweets by a jet-propelled seagull. The expansion of the Christmas tree was achieved by massive side panels on either side of the stage. The same side panels showed rotating rotor blades in engines below the seagull's wings. In the land of sweets, Clara was treated to the Spanish, Arab, Chinese and Russian divertissements followed by the mirlitons, waltz of the flowers and the Sugar Plum pas de deux.
Gittens was excellent as ever Over the years I have seen her in most of the leading classical roles. I think that she is particularly good in The Nutcracker. I should mention in passing that she is this publication's ballerina of the year, her company is Terpsichore's "company of the year" and Ruth Brill is our choreographer of 2019. Finally, Birmingham Royal Ballet's former director, David Bintley, has been awarded a knighthood in the 2020 honours list. As he comes from the next village but one to mine in the Holme Valley I take particular pleasure in congratulating him on that accolade (see My Home and Bintley's12 May 2015). Quite an annus mirabilis for the company.
Everybody danced well yesterday and I say that despite a couple of slips on the artificial snow. Lawrence partnered Gittens deftly and jumped impressively in the final pas de deux. Rogers was a splendid Drosselmeyer. Yijing Zhang was a delightful snow fairy. Anderson was a fine mouse king. Maslen made an impressive Jack-in-the-Box. Finally, it was good to see the musicians at work. Kessels, whom I met briefly at the Dutch National Ballet's gala in 2018, is almost a dancer in his own right and I was grateful for the monitor that remained focused on the maestro throughout the show.
There are three more performances of The Nutcracker before the season ends. Ticket prices are not cheap. Even the programmes cost £10. However, if you see no other ballet over the coming year this is the one to catch.
(c) 2016 Chelmsford Ballet Company, all rights reserved
Reproduction licensed by the company
Chelmsford Ballet Company, The Sleeping Beauty, Chelmsford Civic Theatre, 19 March 2016
Some would say that I am not the best person to write this review on the ground that I am far from unbiased. It is true that I am more than a Friend or well wisher of the Chelmsford Ballet Company as I am an associate member of the company and if I lived nearer I would audition for dancing membership. My membership of this remarkable company, which will celebrate the 70th anniversary of its origins next year, is a source of enormous pride. Never have I been more proud of my membership of the Chelmsford Ballet Company than I was on Saturday evening when I saw its performance of The Sleeping Beauty.
Our company responded to that challenge admirably.
First, our choreographer and artistic director, Annette Potter, pruned Petipa's choreography to manageable lengths adapting the work to the capabilities of her dancers who ranged widely in age and experience without sacrificing any of the important and often difficult bits such as the rose adagio or bluebird pas de deux.
Secondly, she had an excellent cast: Scarlett Mann as Aurora who had danced the title role in Pineapple Poll so enchantingly last year (see A Delight Indeed22 March 2015), Lucy Abbott as the lilac fairy (quite a challenge as the company's co-patron dances Count Lilac in Sir Matthew Bourne's production of The Sleeping Beauty). guest artists Andrei Iliescu as Prince Florimund, Emily Starling as the fairy in the vision and Matthew Powell as one of the princes in the rose adagio, Morgan Wren who has advanced tremendously since I saw him as Fritz in The Nutcracker two years ago (see The Nutcracker as it really should be danced - No Gimmicks but with Love and Joy20 March 2014) and of course the magnificent Marion Petter as Carabosse. Everybody in the show performed well and the only reason why I have not mentioned them all individually is that this review is long enough already.
The third ingredient of the show's success was its special effects. There were indoor fireworks as Carabosse made her entrances and exits. A menacing image projected onto the backdrop presaged her arrival at Aurora's christening and birthday party. An ingenious animation represented a century's growth of vegetation around Aurora and her family. The programme credited Phil Rhodes with special effects. Clearly he is a talented young man and I hope to see more of his work in future.
There is in fact a lot of talent in Chelmsford. For me, Marion Pettett stole the show as she did last year as Mrs Dimple and Britannia in Pineapple Poll and the mother in Carnival of the Animals. She positively exuded evil with her rodent like acolytes. Gita, the other member of Team Terpsichore, likes to choose a man or woman of the match when she attends the ballet as she is an accomplished sportswoman. Her choice for this show was Morgan Wren and I can quite see why. But there is also talent bubbling up from below. The smallest of Carabosse's acolytes had real stage presence as she took her leave of the audience before scurrying off with her evil mistress. I don't know that child's name but I do hope she carries on with her dance and theatre studies because she has great aptitude for the performing arts. It is worth adding that that young girl was by no means the only young person to show promise.
It is rare for ballet companies to receive a standing ovation in this country but there were more than a few members of the audience who rose to their feet at the end of Saturday evening's show. The audience in the Chelmsford Civic was not unsophisticated. It knew when to clap - for instance the entrance of the principals and difficult bits of the choreography. I don't think that they would rise for anyone or anything without good reason and the fact that so many did on Saturday night speaks volumes for the show.
I do not know what Annette Potter and Marion Pettett are planning for next year's show but as it was in 1947 that Joan Weston organized a troupe of dancers at Broomfield YMCA which became Chelmsford Ballet I am sure that it will be good. Having achieved a lot over the years the company has a lot to celebrate. Though the March show is the highlight of the year the company holds other events such as Let's Make a Balletfor children in the Autumn and the Hutton and Shenfield Choral Society's Christmas show. Occasionally, they arrange coach trips to West End shows. I know we have the Choral but I wish we had a something like the Chelmsford Ballet in Huddersfield.
