The Junior Company Ten Years On

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Just over 10 years ago I flew to Holland to watch a troupe of dancers in their late teens and early twenties called "The Junior Company" (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 25 Nov 2013).  

I had come to see Michaela DePrince whom I had already mentioned several times in this blog. She had been born in Sierra Leone, the country of my late spouse and my former ward who is the nearest I have to a daughter.  I was amply rewarded for my journey because DePrince danced magnificently. But so did the other dancers some of whom are now principals or soloists in the Dutch National Ballet and other great companies.

That visit to Amsterdam was the start of many good things.  I met members of the company, parents and other relations of those members and fellow fans of the company from the Netherlands and elsewhere.  I made friends with many of them.   Yvonne Charlton visited Powerhouse Ballet.  She gave us some great classes in Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester and taught us some of her choreography.  In the miserable days of lockdown, Maria Chugai raised our spirits with two wonderful online classes and her appearance at "The Stage Door".   

On my visits to the Dutch National Ballet, I got to know the Netherlands, its cities and its people.   I learned about its history, its traditions and its view of the world.  Even though it has sounds that do not exist in our language, Dutch is actually a first cousin to English.  Had it not been for brexit which ended free movement it is more than likely that I would be living there now.  

To celebrate its 10th anniversary the Junior Company has just announced a tour of the Netherlands between 3 Feb and 17 March 2024 called quite simply Ten.  Its programme will consist of George Balanchine's Valse Fantaisie and new works by Krzysztof Pastor, Joseph Toonga, Wubkje Kuindersma and Kirsten Wicklund. This will be the first opportunity to see some of the world's most promising young dancers many of whom could be household names in a few years from now.  Every time the Junior Company renews its membership it reinvents itself as its Artistic Coordinator Ernst Meisner remarks in Astrid van Leeuwen's article.

The Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company has been so successful that other companies, including the Birmingham Royal Ballet, have followed its example.   Earlier this year I attended the launch of BRB2 and met its Artistic Coordinator Kit Holder at Elmhurst Ballet School (see An "Evening with Ashton" and the Launch of an English Junior Company  30 Jan 2023).   I was in the audience when it visited Nottingham on 28 April 2023 and was very impressed (see BRB2 in Nottingham 29 April 2023).   I am looking forward to its next tour which will take in Poole, Canterbury and Northampton in May 2024 (see BRB2: First 2024 Tour Venues Announced 26 July 2023 Birmingham Royal Ballet website).

The idea of a junior company as a bridge between vocational school and corps de ballet is an excellent one. I shall continue to support Ernst Meisner and Kit Holder in their endeavours in any way I can. 

Powerhouse Ballet Celebrates Dance

 

Powerhouse Ballet Extract from La Sylphide Chrima Q Theatre, Leeds, 25 Nov 2023 15:00 and 19:00

Every Autumn The Dance Studio Leeds presents a Celebration of Dance at the Chroma Q Theatre in Leeds. It is a gala to which the studio's students and dance groups and companies from Leeds and beyond contribute.   We took part in it for the first time last year when we danced an extract of Giselle (see A Celebration of Dance: Wilis and More 23 Nov 2022).  We were invited back this year to dance an extract from La Sylphide on 25 Nov 2023. (see Powerhouse Ballet's Romantic Ballet Workshop 26 Sept 2023 Powerhouse Ballet's website).

For the first time since our formation, we staged a show with a mixed cast. We have always welcomed gentlemen to our classes but we have been unable to persuade any of them to perform in public.  This year Frank Lee danced James for us, a role that he performed with flair and gallantry.   He was supported by the ladies in the above photograph who excelled themselves.

Our performances could easily have gone wrong because two of our most talented and experienced members were indisposed through illness and injury.  I sensed a ripple of despair as the news sank in which was arrested abruptly by our wonderful choreographer, director and producer, Jane Tucker, by assuring us that our show would be wonderful.   I have to say that I thought she had her work cut out because the tech rehearsal had exposed several issues.   In a rehearsal in our dressing room which she called immediately afterwards, she adjusted the choreography and reassigned roles.  Confidence quickly returned and our cast was ready for anything.

There were two performances on 25 Nov: a matinee at 15:00 and an evening show at 19:00.  Jane and I watched the matinee and were very impressed. Many styles of dance were represented. All had been thought out well and rehearsed.  I enjoyed all the pieces but I particularly liked the Indian dancers.   I have invited their teacher to give us an exhibition class in the New Year.   Having been one of the founder members of the St Andrews Dance Club I was delighted to make contact with the director of the Leeds Union University Ballet Society.   I shall do all I can to support the Society with reviews and announcements,   Their dancers will be very welcome at all our classes and workshops.

Our dancers performed magnificently in the matinee.   I think the absence of two of our number encouraged them to dance as they had never danced before.   I have never been more proud of them.  They also danced well in the evening though I only saw them from the wings.  After the matinee the cast presented Jane and me with beautiful bouquets of roses,   I am glad to say that mine are still going strong.

The purpose of the gala is to raise money for charity.  This year the cause was bowel cancer research and relief which this publication is proud to support.  We were one of the sponsors of this year's show.  Anybody who wishes to contribute to the charity can donate to Bowel Cancer UK.

Powerhouse Ballet is now on a roll.   We have been invited to dance in Shake Your Tutu (Northern Dance Academy's Christmas show) at the Creative Centre Theatre, York, YO31 7EX on 10 Dec 2023 at 19:30. Karen Lester Sant has offered us a slot in KNT Danceworks's next show in Manchester.   Our next company class will take place on 27 Jan 2024 between 09:45 and 11:15 at Dance Studio Lees when we shall welcome back Annemarie  Donoghue of Northern Ballet Academy.   Karen will give us our next class in Manchester on 17 Feb 2024,   Anyone wishing to join any of our activities should call me on 07966 373922 or send me a message through this contact form.

Salford Pioneers

Author Philip Stevens Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed Source Wikimedia

Jeremy Bentham

Ballet Black Pioneers (Then or Now and Nina: By Whatever Means) The Kowry 1 Nov 2023 20:00

Having missed the start of Then as Now in York on 13 June 2023 as a result of acute traffic congestion in that city (see Ballet Black Takes York By Storm 9 July 2023) I was determined to arrive on time for the start of Ballet Black's Pioneers double bill at the Lowry.  I arrived at the theatre car park for an 8pm curtain rise while The Archers were still on the radio.  Normally, I can park on the second or third floor of the multistorey but this time every floor was full.  I climbed and climbed until I found myself tracked in a queue of cars in front of me and at the back.  There I stayed until just after 20:00 when the queue miraculously started to flow downstairs towards the exit.   

Had I known that the Lowry would be full I would have driven straight to Media City which is a 5-minute walk from the theatre.  Plenty of spaces there and a clue as to what had happened at the theatre car. park There was a  notice addressed to football spectators about parking charges.  The Lowry is about a mile from Manchester United Football Club stadium where parking spaces are either scarce or deare.  Whatever the cause, football spectators strayed into our space on the night that beautiful Ballet Black was in town.  

Perhaps the reason I was able to park so easily in the Media City car park is that many MUFC fans have yet to discover it.  I am told that a "Welcome to Manchester" sign used to be displayed at Maine Road whenever City played United because United fans come from anywhere but Manchester.  I think there may be some truth in that story because I have noticed MUFC shops in Liverpool and Dublin airports but not in Manchester.  If I followed football (which I don't) I would support City over United as I was born in Didsbury, I understand that United were playing Newcastle and that the Magpies won.  "Serve them bloody right," I thought,

My antipathy towards United was more aesthetic than nativist.  I was reminded of Jeremy Bentham's remark in The Rationale of Reward that "the game of pushpin is of equal value with the arts and sciences of music and poetry." Total nonsense, of course, but what can you expect from someone whose glass-cased, mummified remains continue to confront visitors to the University College London nearly two centuries after his death.  I am with John Stuart Mill on this one.  Football is the modern successor to pushpin.  Folk may call it "the beautiful game" but its value does not come close to ballet. 

I arrived in the auditorium at just about the same point in Will Tuckett's Then as Now as it had reached in York when I was admitted there.  It is an extraordinarily beautiful work as can be seen from the video on the BBC iPlayer.  Unfortunately, as I have yet to see the work on stage I can't review it properly.  But readers can get a very good taste of it from the recording which I heartily commend to them.

However, I did see Nina: By Wahtever Means again and that saved the day for me.  This was danced with the same energy as in York and was received equally enthusiastically but as I knew what to expect I focused on the individual performances.  Isabela Coracy's role as Nina is pivotal.  She threw every milligram of her being into that performance.  Once again her repetition of the word "power" with clenched fists was mesmerizing. Her final cry "That's it" unleashed a tsunami of applause.  Nina was my last chance to see Sayaka Ichikawa whose departure I shall miss greatly (see Cassa Pancho's announcement on Instagram on 21 Oct 2023). She danced Nina's piano mistress.  As always she danced with flair.  She is a delightful dancer and Cassa's tribute says it all.   There were great performances by Ebony Thomas as Nina's husband, Helga Paris-Morales as the young Nina and Taraja Hudson.  It was also good to see the piece's choreographer Mthuthuzeli November take a role.

Ballet Black has recruited a lot of new dancers whom I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting.  They include Acaoã de Casto,   Megan Chiu, Bhungane Mehlomakulu, Mikayla Isaacs and Love Katiya. They have added sparkle.  Their company is a great national treasure which has come of age this year.   It will launch a whole new tour called "Heroes" from the Hackney Empire with Mthuthuzeli November's The Waiting Game and a new piece by Sophie Laplane on 22 March 2023.  Not long to wait!

Ailey II in Bradford

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Ailey 2 (Enemy in the Figure, Freedom Series, The Hunt and Revelations) Alhambra Theatre, Bradford 18 Oct2023 19:30

Aikey II is to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre what NDT2 is to the Nederlands Dans Theater.  According to its website, Ailey 2 is "universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers."  By inference, it consists of some of the best early-career dance talent in the United States.

The company has just completed a tour of England and Inverness.   I caught it at the Bradford Alhambra on 18 Oct 2023 where it performed four of its works:

• an excerpt from William Forsyth's Enemy in the Figure; 
• an excerpt from Francesca Harper's  Freedom Series; 
• The Hunt by Robert Battle; and 
• Alvin Ailey's Revelations.

The choice of works and the order in which they were presented were a reverse retrospective of the development of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Ailey II.  Although William Forsyth is an American he made his reputation in Germany.  His works have been performed by companies all over the world including the Royal Ballet but it was through performances by Continental companies that I learned about his work.  Ailey II's artistic director Francesca Harper danced with the Frankfurt Ballet while Forsyth was the Director.  Robert Battle is the current Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Alvin Ailey was, of course, the companies' founder.

Another way of looking at the programme was that it started with a work or at least a style that is familiar to European audiences as it is in the repertoire of many of the world's leading companies, continued with a work in the same tradition but by an American choreographer, followed with one that was quintessentially American and finished with pure African-American music and dance.  Visually my abiding memory of Freedom Series is of the illuminated white globes carried by the audience.  Aurally it is of the juxtaposition of voice against the electronic score.   Excitement mounted with the beat of Les Tambours de Bronx.  The show climaxed with Revelations bringing African-American spirituals that were familiar but sung and danced with a rawness and energy that was anything but.

Revelations was my favourite piece of the evening.   There were remarkable performances by everyone in the cast but I was particularly impressed by Spencer Everett in I Wanna Be Ready and Corinth Moultrie, Patrick Gamble and Alfred L Jordan II.  Interestingly, I heard some of the same music two weeks later in Mthuthuzeli November's Nina By Whatever Means where it was interpreted subtly differently by a South African choreographer and a Brazilian lead dancer.  

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Ailey II are more than just performance companies. There is a vocational school in New York and classes for the general public,   I was pleased to read in the programme notes that there is a scheme for the school and companies to train promising British students known as Ailey Project UK.  Apparently, the first batch of British students is already in the USA.   The programme also states that the project has been promoted by Marcus Willis who danced with Alvin Ailey and is now the Artistic Director of Phoenix.   I met Marcus several times when he was with Ballet Cymru and was very impressed.

The last tour of the UK by Ailey II was in 2011 though we have seen the main company several times since them.   I hope that we do not have to wait another decade to see those super-talented young artists again,

My Visit to the Acosta Dance Centre

Jane Lambert

(c) 2023 Melissa Rayne Reproduced with kind permission of the copyright owner

 

During that glorious Indian summer at the beginning of September, I was in London.  I was there for many reasons.  A landmark birthday of someone very dear and close to me.  Open house Sunday at the Royal Opera House and Lincoln's Inn.  A reception at the House of Lords to launch Wales Innovation Week in London.   A webinar on digital enterprise at the Welsh Government's office in Victoia.  And the piȅce de résistance a visit to The Acosta Dance Centre in Woolwich.

As its name indicates, the Centre is a project of Carlos Acosta.   Its mission is "to become an international reference for dance, providing a nurturing space for dance-creative practitioners, industry professionals, and passionate dance enthusiasts."  It is situated a short distance from the Elizabeth Line in the former Royal Arsenal. 

As it is some distance from the West End, Woolwich may not be the most obvious choice for "an international reference for dance" but it is culturally and socially one of the most diverse neighbourhoods of London   It already has several theatres and it now hosts the Thamesmead Festival to which my good friend Melissa Rayne contributed The Tree of Life Emergence.

Melissa also teaches a regular Creative Dance and Improvisation class at the Centre. She gave me a tour of the premises and took the photographs.  I have seen a lot of dance studios over the years and most of them are run down.   The Acosta Centre is one of the most impressive I have ever seen,  Every studio had a well-sprung floor with barres and a pristine feel like a new car in a showroom, but even more impressive were the space and natural light.  

That is perhaps best illustrated by the following photo which I believe to have been the ground floor.

 

However, I think it would be impressive even at night because the light fittings are glorious,

Mel demonstrated her dramatic prowess below which prompted me to stand bras bas.  Unfortunately, I was wearing quite the wrong trousers 

There is a massive range of classes in all styles of dance.    Ballet with great teachers like Denzil Bailey, Diana Conti and Ludovic Ondiviela.  There is also ballroom, contemporary, Cuban, orishas, rumba - you name it.   There are several membership schemes and gift cards.  Fees vary with the teacher and dance style but ballet classes seem to start at around £10 per session.  That is not much more than I pay in the North of England and it is certainly not bad for London.

Although Carlos Acosta founded the Centre it is run by his compatriot Javier Torres. He was one of my favourite dancers at Northern Ballet.  I can't think of a better qualified person to undertake that role.  

Northern Ballet's Generations - A Treat in Store for London

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Northern Ballet Generations Three Short Ballets 16 Sept 2023 14:00

Tomorrow Northern Ballet will dance Benjamin Ella's Joie de Vivre, Hans van Manen's Adagio Hammerklavier and Tiler Peck's Intimate Pages at the Linbury.  Those who are fortunate enough to obtain tickets are in for a treat.  I saw the show at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds on 16 Sept 2023. I have to think back to the first time I saw A Simple Man nearly 40 years ago for a show by Northern Ballet that I have enjoyed as much.  

In his foreword to the programme, Federico Bonelli wrote how much he had been looking forward to the moment when he could present a programme of his own to reflect his ambitions for Northern Ballet in the years to come.  Each of the works that the company danced had a connection with the Bonelli.  Adagio Hammerklavier was a reminder of his time with the Dutch National Ballet, Joie de Vivre of his career at the Royal Ballet and Intimate Pages of his guest appearances around the world.

My favourite work of the three was Adagio Hammerklavier.  I had seen it online as part of the Dutch National Ballet's Hans van Manen's Variations which were screened from an almost empty Music Theatre on 27 and 28 Feb 2023.  In my review of that performance, I referred to a panel discussion in the Stanley and Audrey Forum in 2015 when a critic who really should have known better opined that Beethoven is impossible to choreograph (see My Thoughts on Saturday Afternoon's Panel Discussion at Northern Ballet 21 June 2015).  It was glorious to watch a ballet set to Beethoven's music in the same theatre in which it had been declared impossible.   

In my humble opinion, van Manen is the world's greatest living choreographer.  I had the enormous good fortune to shake his hand at the Dutch National Ballet's gala in June 2022.  This is not the first time Northern Ballet has performed his work   The company performed Concertante in 2013 and on being asked what he thought of the dancers he replied that he liked them very much indeed (see YouTube Dance Master Hans van Manen on Concertante & Northern Ballet),   There is now a new generation of dancers at Northern Ballet and I think he would like today's artists even more.  The first couple in Adagio Hammerklavier were Amber Lewis and Jonathan Hanks, the second Alessandra Bramante and George Liang and the third Dominique Larose and Joseph Taylor. The pianist was Colin Scott.  They danced with flair and precision and I think van Manen would have liked them too,

I was not the only one to relish that ballet.   In the second interval, I spotted Bonelli standing on his own so I introduced myself.  As I was telling him about my blog Janet Mclty of  BalletcoForum joined us.  She like me had been impressed by van Manen and she asked the director whether we could have more van Manen, ideally one of his ballets in every mixed bill.  Bonelli did not think that would be possible but said that it was a very nice idea and I agree.

Joie de Vivre was light, fresh and exuberant - a perfect start to a triple bill.   The score consisted of 8 violin and piano concertos performed live by Geoffrey Allan and Ewan Gilford.  Ella described it as "a poem or epigram of human feelings, emotions or reactions."  Three couples performed this work: Dominique Larose and Joseph Taylor, Sarah Chun and Harris Beattie, Kirica Takahashi and  Jun Ishii.  Finally, I should say a word for the costumes and lighting which were exquisite.

The last piece was choreographed to Leoš Janáček's String Quartet No. 2 Intimate Letters and again we had a live string quartet  consisting of Geoffrey Allan, Helen Boordman, Rosalyn Cabot and Toby Turton.  The music was plaintive and haunting. Peck explained in the programme notes that the composer wrote it with a love interest in mind.  The piece requires a main couple, two soloists and three couples.  Sarah Chun and Harris Beattie were the main couple.  Aerys Merrill and Kirica Takahashi were the soloists.  The couples were Julie Nunes and Stefano Varalta, Kaho Masumoto and Archie Sherman and Helen Bogatch and Bruno Serraclara.

Just before the show I watched the dancers in company class.  They looked happy, energetic and motivated.

Sarah Kundi - An Appreciation

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Readers of this blog will know that I have a particularly high regard for Sarah Kundi.  Although I must have seen her several times when she was with Northern Ballet she first came to my notice through the YouTube video of Depouillage in which she danced with Jade Hale-Christofi.  It was that film that led me to Ballet Black (see Ballet Black's Appeal 12 March 2013).  When I saw her dance for the first time in  "Dopamine (you make my levels go silly)" and War Letters at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre on Saturday 18 May 2013 I was bowled over (see Why Ballet Black is Special 20 May 2013).

When Ballet Black came to Leeds 6 months later, Sarah Kundi had left the company.  As I said in Ballet Black is Still Special on 7 Nov 2013, I enjoyed Ballet Black's performance in Leeds at least as much as their show in Tottenham but I did miss Sarah Kundi.   I did not have long to wait because I found out that she had joined MurleyDance which performed in Leeds on 1 Dec 2013 (see MurleyDance Triple Bill 2 Dec 2013).

Sarah Kundi did not stay long with MurleyDance and there were reports that she had been offered work with Victor Ulate in Spain (see ByeBye and All the Best 10 June 2014).  Happily, English National Ballet offered her an appointment while she was dancing in Romeo and Juliet in the Round (see Saved for the Nation 17 July 2914).  She remained with that company for the rest of her career picking up the emerging dancer award and triumphing as Lady Capulet (see Congratulations to Sarah Kundi on 20 June 2018) and Hortensia in Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella (see Cinders in the Round  13 June 2019).

She announced her retirement on Facebook at the end of English National Ballet's latest season in the Royal Albert Hall and I shall miss her greatly.   She was blessed with an expressive countenance that made her a remarkable actor as well as a fine dancer and a physique that gave her an aetherial appearance on stage. Those are qualities that not all principals possess and it is why there were many times that I enquired whether she was in the cast before looking up the leading artists.

Although it is unlikely that we shall ever see her on stage again, Sarah Kundi is not lost to dance.  I was delighted to see the Royal Ballet School's announcement that she has joined its staff. There she will pass on her skills, knowledge and experience to promising students.   I have had the good fortune to meet her at the stage doors of the Palace Theatre in Manchester and the Albert Hall as well as interview her over Zoom for the Stage Door.   I can report that she is as graceful and charming to her fans as she is magnificent on the stage.

I have to thank her for the many years of pleasure that she has given me and no doubt countless other balletgoers and wish her well in her new career as a teacher.