Birmingham Royal Ballet reaches out to Birmingham's LGBT Community

Sarah Lambert (no relation as far as I am aware but one never knows) has drawn my attention to a very generous offer by the Birmingham Royal Ballet to Birmingham's LGBT community.  She writes:

"For a while now I've been working informally with BRB on extending participation in ballet and to this end they work with various community groups. The latest initiative is an amazing offer to the LGBTQI community. They are putting on a taster workshop in one of their wonderful studios and led by one of their Principal dancers. Anyone attending will also get a free ticket to a matinee theatre performance of Coppelia on the same day immediately after the workshop. SO far we have twelve people signed up, but we can go up to 20."

 Particulars of the offer have been posted on Birmingham LGBT's website by Ros Gammie who is the charity's administrator and sports activator who will allegedly answer correspondence in Latin and Runes as well as English.

The taster and matinee take place on 15 June 2017 and the timetable is as follows:

• 10 am, arrival at Birmingham Royal Ballet Reception (next to Hippodrome Stage Door), Thorp Street B5 4AU
• 10.30 am, 90-minute Ballet taster session
• 12.30 pm, tour of Birmingham Royal Ballet building
• 1 pm, hour lunch break
• 2 pm, performance of Coppélia at Birmingham Hippodrome.

Sarah adds that she worked with both Ros Gamey of the Birmingham LGBT Centre and Kasia Krause of Birmingham Royal Ballet to make this happen. She posted the following announcement on a Facebook ballet group:

"We can now take up to 20 people for the workshop and free ticket to Coppelia, so if you haven't signed up, you still have a chance. The class will be led by one of BRB's principal dancers, so how cool is that? The chance to dance in one of Birmingham Royal Ballet's wonderful studios in a class led by one of their principal dancers... And then seeing a performance of Coppelia, all for free. It doesn't get any better than that!
If you're unsure because you're a total beginner and you're nervous, remember this is a totally safe space for all trans and LGBQI people, and how often can you say that of a beginner ballet class? Also I will be there, and believe me, there's no-one more of a novice than I am!"

I think Sarah may be a bit modest there. I have never met her but we are connected on Facebook and she tells me that she attends classes at Elmhurst and the DanceXchange in Birmingham which sounds pretty high powered to me.

Sarah has also offered the following invitation to her friends in the Facebook Group who are members of the LGBT community in Birmingham:

"We could all meet up in Izzi and Jess's board gaming cafe in the LGBT Centre for tea and cake; it's going to be amazing!  http://cakesandladderscafe.co.uk/"

I saw Birmingham Royal Ballet's Coppelia when it visited the Lowry in 2015 with Tyrone Singleton and Celine Gittens in the lead roles. Their performance was sensational, hence the title of my review of 6 March 2016. I hope to see the ballet again on Saturday, 17 June 2017.

I congratulate both the Birmingham Royal Ballet and Birmingham LGBT on this initiative. I hope that the visitors to the company will enjoy their visit, perhaps consider adult ballet or other dance classes and support the company with donations and patronage. I hope that the company will continue to reach out to all communities of the third city of this nation.

The Ballet Retreat

According to its website The Ballet Retreat is a joint venture between David Paul Kierce and Hannah Bateman to produce "two and three day, adult ballet courses, held at world class professional studios for dance enthusiasts, facilitated by industry experts." The first of those courses took place in Leeds last bank holiday weekend (27 to 29 Aug 2016) and was attended by Mary Howard who is a regular member of my adult ballet classes at Northern Ballet Academy in Leeds. I asked Mary to write about her experience and this is what she sent me:

"THE BALLET RETREAT AUGUST 27th 2016
Led by
Hannah Bateman and David Kierce

​There is a buzz of anticipation in the beautiful glass reception area of Northern Ballet's home in St Peters Square Leeds. It's the first day of our Ballet Retreat and everyone is anxious about how the day will progress. Hannah is calm and smiling behind her desk where we all sign in to accept our name badge and T-shirt. David is bouncing with energy and greets everyone with enthusiasm. ​I look around to determine how many other dancers are in my age group (over 60) there are a few which is good. There are also some male participants which is very good because they are a rare and welcome species.

Whilst we all mingle and chat over coffee, I start to feel much more relaxed. At 10:00 O'clock we watch the Northern Ballet Company at their training class in the main Burton theatre. This is amazing and very inspirational. At 11:45 we warm up with Hannah for half an hour. Beautiful relaxing exercises mostly on our Yoga mats. Now it's time for a Ballet Class in technique with David. This is very different to my usual  "0ver  55" class, and I love it. We have a wonderful pianist but David's voice carries well above the music so instructions are clear. He is very entertaining whilst also being firm in his requirements of our dancing. He misses nothing and occasionally stops to correct an arm position or foot that may be straying. After this we all welcome the delicious and plentiful buffet lunch laid on by the catering team.

After lunch there is a further one hour ballet class involving exercises carried out in the centre of the studio. Following this one hour of Classical Repertoire, Hannah joins us and we begin to learn the Aurora Variation from The Sleeping Beauty. This is the culmination of a fabulous day, the music and steps of the Variation are light and so expressive of a young girl who is presented for the first time at an adult ball. After cooling down and relaxation I float down to the station in a thunderstorm of hail but also an imaginary fluffy cloud.

Over the next two days the curriculum follows a similar pattern, except on Sunday afternoon there is a Surprise Taster Class of traditional Indian dancing which involves moves that are totally alien to classical ballet: no pointed toes and much stamping of the feet. In the Classical class's we progress the Aurora Variation to it's finale. This is very rewarding and I begin to feel the exhilaration of a performer!

On Monday afternoon David extends the seating area of the theatre and whilst most of the group are seated, five people at a time perform the Variation to thunderous applause from the "audience". I must say that our six male dancers who tackled a very energetic routine from Swan Lake received not only applause but whistles and shouts of extreme enthusiasm. They were magnificent.

We exited the theatre and after a delicious afternoon tea it was time to bid farewell to our new friends, many hugs, kisses and selfies were taken. Sadly the three days were over too quickly and how I would have loved to carry on for much longer. Maybe I will see you in a future Retreat?"

I am very grateful to Mary for this report. As I would have expected, the weekend seems to have been great fun. I have seen Hannah on stage many times and I admire her dancing very much indeed. She is one of my favourite dancers with Northern Ballet - indeed with any company. Having seen Akram Khan's remake of Giselle for English National Ballet last Tuesday I for one should like to learn more about Indian dance.

Hannah and David have announced two more retreats. One at Rambert's studios in London between the 19 and 20 Nov 2016 and the other at Northern Ballet's studios in Leeds between the 14 and 15 Jan 2017. The London retreat costs £199 and the Leeds retreat £279. Places may be booked through David and Hannah's website.