Olga Preobrajenska

Olga Preobrajenska was appointed prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theatre in 1900. She spent 25 years with that company where she created many roles. Important though she was as a dancer she was even more influential as a teacher first in St Petersburg and later at the Salle Wacker near the Place de Clichy in Paris.

I was lucky enough to step inside the Salle Wacker on my first trip to Paris in September 1969 less than 7 years after that great dancer and teacher had died.  My guide was one of her former students, Pamela Tipton (now Mrs. Carl Newton) who was then a graduate student at St. Andrews. Pamela, who is an American, had come to Europe when she was a little girl to study ballet.

I asked Pamela whether she could write something about Preobrajenska and this is what she sent me:

"Haven’t forgotten about your Olga P. request….don’t really know what to say except that she was a tiny and fierce little lady who believed in physical punishment and commanded the utmost respect from her students.  I was 9 years old and terrified of her.  I grew to love her and when she died, mother and I attended a benefit and somewhere I have one of her linens that we purchased.  There was a gentleman at the studio who acted as her manager…he appeared to be slavishly devoted to her.  As a child I did not know what their relationship was other than he also collected money for the dance lessons.  I remember the time that Maria Tallchief came to the studio.  She was beautiful.  Many famous dancers came to her for instruction." 

Tallchief was the first native American ballerina, the wife of George Ballanchine and one of his greatest dancers.  Preobrajenska's other students included Margot Fonteyn, Maurice Béjart and many other stars.

Nick Wallace-Smith has uploaded some clips of Preobrajenska to YouTube, one of the her walking through the streets of Paris and another of her teaching at the very time Pamela was her pupil.

Happy Easter everybody!

Central Forward

Ballet Central, The Lowry, Salford 25 March 2013

Ballet Central is the Central School of Ballet's touring company.  Its members are final year students on its honours degree course in professional dance and performance. Apparently that is the only degree course of its kind in the UK.  It is the sort of course I used to dream about when I was an undergraduate reading a conventional honours degree subject.

On 25 March 2013 I attended the company's octuple bill at The Quays theatre in the Lowry.  It was a wonderful show. One that I would eagerly have watched from beginning to the end immediately afterwards.  It was good to see the company in Manchester because it was founded by Christopher Gable who later became artistic director of the company that is now Northern Ballet.

The programme was arranged in three acts.  The first consisted of five short works by different choreographers including "Fireside Pas de Deux" by Gable himself. The music for that work (and indeed several others) had been composed by Philip Feeney and the maestro was at the piano in the auditorium. Indeed, I also caught a glimpse of him in the bar at the first interval.

All the ballets in the first act were good but the one I enjoyed most was Stacey Haynes's "Love on Top". Set to the music of Michael Bublé's "Cry me a River" and Beyoncé's "Love on Top" this was a jazz piece with the girls in black sparkly dresses and heels and the boys in white shirts and black ties. This was a work to show off the company's versatility and the boys' virtuosity with some spectacular jumps.

The second act showed the company in a familiar classical work, a pas de trois from Act III of Sleeping Beauty.  It was good to have this little bit of Petipa's choreography fresh in my mind as a reference point when watching Matthew Bourne's re-working of the ballet at The Alhambra in Bradford on Thursday. Tchaikovsky's score, Petipa's choreography executed convincingly by promising dancers with good technique resplendent in Richard Geller's sumptuous costumes this little work satiated all the senses. It was a good example of what I call total ballet.

The extract from Sleeping Beauty was followed immediately afterwards by Darshan Singh Bhuller's Mapping #3.  With males and females dressed alike in loose white judo style tops and trousers dancing to a score that included Shankar this was a perfect foil to Tchaikovsky and Petipa. The clever bit of the choreography was to protect dancers' movements on the floor on to a screen that gave the impression of weird and wonderful acrobatics.

If anyone wonders why I called this post "Central Forward" it is because the last act was about football.  At least that was one of the dreams of a bespectacled bookworm danced engagingly by Bethany Pike in Christopher Marney's anon. She also dreamt of Viennese waltzes. Sitting on a massive pile of books the bookworm receives a delivery of books from the postman into which she daydreams roles for herself first at a ball of which she was the belle and then at a football match in which she was the striker's darling. I loved Marney's humour - longing glances by the girl at the very fit postie and her futile attempts to dance a romantic pas de deux with her beau without her glasses. The quest for love makes fools of us all.  With costumes by Geller ingeniously morphing Royal Mail blue shorts and shirt into red and white football strip and music arranged by Feeney it was another example of total ballet.

This is the 30th anniversary tour by Ballet Central. Tours like this must provide  enormously valuable experience for young dancers at the start of their careers.  It is only possible through generous public support.  There are several ways in which balletomanes can help future tours from funding pointe shoes at £35 a throw to sponsoring a whole production or a dancer for £5,000.  Further information about helping the company is available from Joanne McIntosh, the company's development and communications director, on 020 7837 6332. Oh and don't forget the School which also welcomes support from its audiences. You  don't have to be Bloomberg to bankroll ballet.

From Bar to Barre

Although I have been a balletomane for over half a century I have always known my limitations when it comes to ballet.   I make my living from the law and even as a child that was my aspiration though I loved my trips to Covent Garden, the Colosseum and the Wells .

"What do the Bar and ballet have in common?"   I hear you say,   "More than one might suppose" is my reply.

For a start both ballet dancers and barristers perform in costume,  We wear wigs and gowns and they wear whatever the part demands.


We're also neighbours.   The Royal Opera House is just across Kingsway.   In fact, I discovered Lincoln's Inn while looking for a parking space near Covent Garden one matinee.   Sadlers Wells is just up the road from Gray's while the Peacock is on our door step.

They say that barristers are actors manqués but look how they perform in court.  The exaggerated courtesy to the judge - "May it please your Lordship" and opponents - "my learned friend" - remind me of the flourishes of the courtiers in Act 1 of Swan Lake.   A rough cross-examination reminds me of the denunciation of Albrecht in Giselle  and sadly can have similar consequences.

Like ballet the Bar is a very competitive profession.   You have to be good to get into chambers - any chambers - in the same way that you have to be good to get into a company - any company.

Both professions have their stars - ballerinas and premier danseurs nobles in ballet - and silks or Queen's Counsel in the law.

Despite having much in common the two professions seldom come together.   There are very few ballets that have a role for a lawyer.   At the top of my head I can only think of the attorney at the end of the last act in Fille tearing up Simone's settlement.   One occasion when the two worlds did meet is when Margot Fonteyn was a guest at Grand Night in Lincoln's Inn.   Normally the Bar and Students bow as each bencher exits Hall but Fonteyn's exit was marked with thunderous applause.   That was the first and only time something like that has ever happened in my recollection.   And Fonteyn rewarded us with her smile - the same smile that I had seen so many times on stage.

Ballet 101 - for those need it

In an American university the foundation class for a new subject is numbered "101". Thus, introductory French is designated "French 101".  In anticipation of a visit to Washington DC by American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet and the Russian National Ballet Theatre and a season by the District's own Washington Ballet, Stephanie Merry, the Washington Post's arts correspondent, offers "Ballet 101: Dispelling myths for newcomers and skeptics" in today's paper.  As she puts it,

"Ballet is more than layers of tulle and satin shoes. It’s ripples of muscle, explosive athleticism and inexplicably moving stories."

However, the best bit of Merry's article is the video in which Septime Webre, Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet and two male members of his company offer some useful tips for enjoying ballet to those new to ballet.

On the company's website there  is an even better "Ballet 101" which covers History of Ballet, The Famous Ballets, Septime’s Top 10 Must See Ballets (which includes I have yet to see but omits Sleeping Beauty and La Fille mal Gardee which I find surprising), Tips for Enjoying the Ballet with which I heartily agree and some useful Ballet Terms.

Most "newbies" - as Webre calls newcomers to ballet - are captivated the first time they attend a performance.   If not by the dance then by the music, sets, costumes or drama.  Ballet is the fusion of many arts.  That's why it is so captivating.

Ballet Black's Appeal

Writing in the Independent ("Dance review: Trouping the colour - Why Ballet Black puts on such a jolly good show" 9 March 2013) Jenny Gilbert opined:

"There should be no need for a company called Ballet Black, just as there should be no need for all-female political party shortlists. But there is, and for two reasons: to offer a platform for classically trained dancers of colour, particularly women, conspicuously absent from Britain's big ballet companies; and to provide role models for a rising generation of talented kids. But in the 12 years of Ballet Black's existence, it has found itself a third raison d'être. It's hard to think of another small company that even comes close to its turnover of new work."

I can think of a fourth reason and that is that there are some works that black dancers can do better than anyone else. I realized that when I first saw Dance Theatre of Harlem in London many years ago.

I have yet to see Ballet Black on the stage but I fell in love with the company just by watching this film of  Depouillage by Jade Hale-Christifi and Sarah Kundi on YouTube: Ballet Black, an associate company of the Royal Opera House, has just finished a successful season at the Linbury with a quadruple bill by Robert Binet, Ludovic Ondiviela, Javier de Frutos and Christopher Marney. The company is now taking the show on tour to Bracknell, Cambridge, Exeter and the Bernie Grant Centre in Tottenham. It has a school in Shepherd's Bush where the children are lucky enough to be taught by Cassa Pancho, the founder and artistic director of the company.

It is sad that the appearance of Tyrone Singleton and Celine Gittens in Swan Lake made news not just for their virtuosity which is self-evident but for their ethnicity (see "Birmingham Royal Ballet to make history" ITV website 4 Oct 2012) but that will change as the kids from Harlem, Shepherd's Bush and indeed Nairobi  come on stream.

Ballet Black is hoping to raise £60,000 for its 2012/13 season to help it  continue to support

• its brilliant and inspiring dancers, 
• its new choreographic work, and 
• its junior school and associate programmes, where it will develop the dancers of tomorrow.   

Apparently it costs £350,000 a year to run Ballet Black and any donation of WHATEVER size can make a difference to the future of the company, whether it's £1 or £1000. The company emphasizes that any support we the great British public can offer will be greatly welcomed.

Contributions can be made through Ballet Black's Just Giving web page.  Please dig deep.

Related Posts
"'Dépouillement' - another beautiful Pas de Deux by Kundi and Christofi" 22 May 2013

"What Makes Ballet Black Special" 20 May 2013

Happy Mothers' Day

YouTube Lady Feli  "Song 4 Mama"

Today is Mothering Sunday which we celebrate as Mothers' Day in the United Kingdom though other countries celebrate a similar festival on different days.  Those who love ballet owe a special debt to mothers because it is they who do the driving, dry the tears, give the encouragement, launder the leotards, pay for the lessons, put up with the tantrums, sooth the pain, suffer the disappointment and very occasionally bask in the reflected glory.  It is usually necessary to start young to reach the highest levels in this art.   That art requires a lot of dedication, determination and sacrifice not just by the students who are often very young children but also by their families and especially their mothers.

Of course there are some mums who can be a thundering nuisance as Judith Woods pointed out in her article  "Pushy Parents to a Pointe" (Telegraph 21 Jan 2011). However, pushy parents are not confined to ballet or indeed the arts.  My father, who taught economics, often complained of parents who sought to realize their ambitions through their less than abundantly talented offspring - and I'm not altogether convinced that my teachers would not have been justified in making a similar complaint of him.

Pushiness in parents can sometimes be a good thing.   If a child has talent at anything from archery to zoology it is the parents and in particular the mothers who spot it first.  It is not always good enough to rely on the schools to let the talent rise because society as a whole shun tall poppies and rejoices at their fall.  So a round of applause to ballet mums, and indeed mums everywhere.   Happy Mothers' Day. 

More on Ballet West

Just before I set off for Leeds to see The Great Gatsby the postman delivered a large white envelope from Ballet West. One of my very few criticisms of their performance of The Nutcracker at Pitlochry was the lack of a programme. Inside that envelope to my enormous delight was a programme.

Inside the programme was a compliments slip from the company's administrator and admissions officer, Leanne Irwin, with the following message:

"Many thanks for the lovely review! We think it's amazing you travelled such a long distance to see us perform! We hope to see you at our next show."

I was so pleased that I called them immediately to thank them. The lady who answered the phone thanked me again for the review and told me that they were so happy that they printed it out and posted it on a notice board by their rehearsal studio. I am grateful that people read my blog and the thought that the company were happy with it was a bonus.  Dancers have brought me and millions of other members of the public around the world considerable pleasure.  It is gratifying occasionally to be able to return the favour.

Now that I have the programme I can tell you so much more about the company.   It is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. It is directed by its founder, Gillian Barton.   Jonathan Barton is the company's senior principal dancer (which some companies would call premier danseur noble) and I am told that Sara-Maria Smith, its other senior principal dancer or ballerina is his sister.   It will be remembered that it was Mr. Barton and Mrs. Smith who danced at Pitlochry. The choreography that I admired so much 2 weeks ago was adapted by its guest chorus master Daniel Job.   I still can't tell you who designed the sets or arranged the lighting but the costumes were by Anne and Vicky Horn.

Much of the programme is about the work of the school which claims with some justification to be a Centre of Excellence. Its students have done well in all sorts of national and international competitions and many have found their way in to major ballet companies around the world.   As well as its full time courses it holds

• holiday schools for particularly gifted students in July, 
• monthly classes for aspiring professionals in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth, and
• outreach classes for kids and adults at various centres around the Highlands and Islands.

Ballet West's patron is the comedian Billy Connolly.   "I know ballet isn't something that people associate with me" wrote Connolly in the foreword, "and they're always surprised .when they see me in the audience, but I've loved ballet for a long, long tine ever since my daughter took me to see "Cinderella" in London." He adds that he went under protest and has been a "ballet convert ever since."   We know the feeling, Mr. Connolly. That has happened to us too.

In the inside of the back cover is the headline "Can you help Ballet West?"   Suggested ways include:

• Helping students with tuition costs;
• Becoming a patron or sponsor;
• Joining the mailing list for information about future events. and
• Making a donation.

If you are interested in doing any of those things please contact

Ballet West
Ichrachan House
Taynuilt
PA35 1HP
Tel 01866 822641
balletwest@btconnect.com

The same page indicates that they are planning to tour the rest of the UK and that was confirmed by the lady I phoned on Thursday.   The next show is planned for March 2014 or thereabouts and this time they hope to dance in London and perhaps a few other big cities in  England.

Update: 
9 March 2013
I have just added Gillian Barton's adult ballet class to the "Where to learn" page and the "Adult Ballet" side panel.

Ballet West also have a Facebook page with some great video and photos.