Adult Ballet - questions, answers, classes and info

[Fiz]

No ballet for me tonight. I have damaged my left shoulder and hip, heaven knows how but I am not going to exacerbate them in class. I have also had some rotten news about my youngest's drama audition. Drama schools are even more picky than ballet schools, it seems to me and Heaven help you if you are middle class. I feel gutted for her. That's her third rejection since September and I am so sad for her. I know all you dance mums will understand this.

[LupusMelis]

Hello fellow adult ballet dancers, I'm interrupting your thread by asking for your help! My regular dance school here in Sheffield, Hype Dance Company, needs to find a qualified and experienced ballet teacher to take over our Advanced, Intermediate and Pointe classes whilst our lovely teacher, Emily, is on maternity leave from May to September. With the short notice and everything I was hoping some of you knowledgeable members of the community might know of suitable freelance ballet teachers based in Yorkshire/North England.

 

I've posted further details on the For Sale/Wanted section: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/6509-advanced-ballet-teacher-needed-rad-pref-for-adult-classes-in-sheffield/ (not sure if that was the right thing to do, though). But if you do have any suggestions please go ahead and PM me!

 

Thanks in advance everyone  

[Jan McNulty]

Gillian Lynne is releasing a Fitness DVD at the age of 88, as reported in The Stage today.

[Sheila Beelam]

Amazing Janet! Inspirational to us all

[Terpsichore]

Gillian Lynne is releasing a Fitness DVD at the age of 88, as reported in The Stage today.

 

I remember her chiefly for A Simple Man which was the first time I saw Northern Ballet after I moved back to the North. It was still in Manchester then and I think we saw it in The Palace or possible the Opera House on Lowry's centenary. 

 

Talking of longevity I have just learned about a Norwegian dancer called Grete Brunboll who continued to dance professionally until she was well into her 80s.

[Jan McNulty]

I remember her chiefly for A Simple Man which was the first time I saw Northern Ballet after I moved back to the North. It was still in Manchester then and I think we saw it in The Palace or possible the Opera House on Lowry's centenary. 

 

Talking of longevity I have just learned about a Norwegian dancer called Grete Brunboll who continued to dance professionally until she was well into her 80s.

 

It was at the Palace.  If I recollect correctly it was part of a double bill with a delightful production of Alice in Wonderland.  Alice was Jayne Regan's firs principal role and Steven Walther was the faun at the performance I saw (and again when I went to see the same programme in Bradford)!  Of course, Christopher Gable was Lowry and the rest was history....

[Jan McNulty]

I've come across this article while culling the links this morning:

 

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/12/take-up-ballet-adult-classes

[Sheila Beelam]

Thanks Janet

[LinMM]

Thanks Janet! This is where I do my grade 6 and Intermediate classes!!

 

Sonya is amazing and although very recently .....last month....had a baby(girl) she was in the local paper for completing the Brighton Marathon last week pushing her other child round the course in a wheelchair!! She even took a tap class the day before the new baby was born. There are quite a few adult tap dance beginners at BBS as well.

Edited April 12, 2014 by LinMM

[Fiz]

I thought it might be, Lin.

[Jan McNulty]

I've just come across this featurette in the Guardian while starting my cull of links for tomorrow.

[Terpsichore]

I attended the first rehearsal for the over 55 class's contribution to Northern Ballet Academy end of year show. I am so thrilled to have taken part in it. If I am good enough for the show it is no exaggeration to say that it will be the proudest moment of my life. Ballet does not come easily to me whereas most other things do.

 

Our teacher. Annemarie Donoghue has chosen a lovely piece of music for us.  It is a by Shostakovich.  It lasts 3 minutes and I just can't get it out of my head. 

Annemarie has choreographed the first part for us and the rest will be up to us.

 

The show will take place in the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds where many of my favourite dancers have performed.  Just to think that I may one day tread on the same stage as the one upon which Leebolt, Batley, Robinson and Kundi have delighted me.

[LinMM]

Very exciting!

[Billyelliott]

Oooh that's enough to make anyone want to practice harder and harder !

Fingers and toes crossed for you !

Edited April 22, 2014 by Billyelliott

[Fiz]

That was a super class! Barre was great and center was fine to begin with but we were all tired and it all fell apart somewhat at the end but we all enjoyed it and we all get on well so it was really good fun.

[Terpsichore]

Oooh that's enough to make anyone want to practice harder and harder !

Fingers and toes crossed for you !

 

Thank you so much.

 

I got a little bit of extra practice this evening at The Base Studios in Huddersfield. Our teacher who has two children at Northern Ballet Academy asked me to run through the steps that I had learned earlier in the day and she got everyone in the class to repeat them. For the first time in my life I got my temps levé right.  I have a mountain to climb but I am giving this my best shot.

 

Earlier today I tweeted about this rehearsal and how thrilled I was at the chance of performing on the same stage as such wonderful dancers as Tobias Batley, Martha Leebolt, Cira Robinson and Sarah Kundi.  Robinson and Kundi picked up the tweets and sent the most encouraging messages back. It was so sweet of them.

[LinMM]

I'm looking forward to first LAB class tomorrow at Sadlers Wells. We will be learning Les Sylphides as far as I know will post how it goes.

[Terpsichore]

I'm looking forward to first LAB class tomorrow at Sadlers Wells. We will be learning Les Sylphides as far as I know will post how it goes.

 

Les Sylphides is a lovely ballet, Linda, but one that is not seen very often on these shores. It is, however, more popular in America and I saw a wonderful performance in New York though I struggle to remember the name of the company. Probably American Ballet Theatre because I followed them as avidly as the Royal Ballet when I was young.

 

Happy St George's Day by the way. I hope I haven't lost all my Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish and other friends by tweeting the link to Flanders & Swann's thoroughly racist but very amusing song for England.

[Fiz]

Have a smashing day, Lin!

[Jan McNulty]

Just come across this article as I have started to cull the links for tomorrow:

 

"Dancing is worth a £1600 pay rise"

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/10781227/Dancing-makes-people-as-happy-as-a-1600-pay-rise.html

[Fiz]

So stiff today! The muscles over my knees on the outside of both legs are killing me and via Twitter, I discovered that two of my classmates feel the same. Our teacher wants us all to do the splits by the end of term and she was getting us to do a number of preparatory exercises last night. Oww!

[Moomin]

Blimey fiz, is it even possible for most adults to get into full splits?? Has she given you stretches to do at home?

[Fiz]

Thanks, Michelle. Yes, we've been doing barre stretches amongst other things. Moomin, I am much the oldest in class and I have only ever managed the splits once when I was about fourteen. I very much doubt I will manage it now but never say never!

[Terpsichore]

Now that I am making an effort to learn some ballet in the hope of getting into the Academy's end of year show, my other teacher in Huddersfield is starting to treat me as she does her other students.

 

As I am old enough to be her mother and the other students' grandmother she had always overlooked my faults but not any more. "Jane! Tummy in" she snaps. "You're sickling your feet."  "Straight back."

 

I don't mind in the least.  My technique is coming on by leaps and bounds,   And I am thinking more about what I'm supposed to be doing when I am in Leeds where the teacher still goes easy on me.

[LinMM]

I really loved the class Tom gave on Wednesday in a huge studio at Sadlers Wells(veritable rabbit warren of studios there) and with an amazing live pianist. It is so nice to do a class with a real pianist instead of a CD etc!!

 

There were five new ones and another girl who had returned after a nasty injury to her foot(much much worse than mine) so we weren't that up on the repertoire.

They had already started learning the Les Sylphides piece last term in fact so we may get a piece to do in this towards the end. We mostly just watched tonight and will know more next week what "our line" will be doing!!

I do wish I was in this piece more though as I liked what they were doing.

I don't know yet what the new piece we will be learning for this term is yet except that it is from The Nutcracker!! I'm hoping it is Snowflakes as I love the music for that! I certainly don't think I 'd be bendy enough for the Arabian dance anyway!!!!

I did know one or two people there from other workshops but everyone is very friendly and I felt very pleased I'd joined this group.

 

So although did quite a bit of watching tonight this was probably good for the foot as I'm not really supposed to be doing much ballet until middle of May sometime!!!

My foot wasn't too sore the next day but then I had ultra sound and acupuncture on Thursday and have this rock tape stuff on the foot and supporting a muscle going up the leg from the inside of the ankle and yesterday it felt very strange and was very achey but today not so bad.

I'll know it's really getting better when I get up in the morning and it's not stiff!! And when I can do a full demi plié without it hurting.

Edited April 26, 2014 by LinMM

[Jan McNulty]

I've just come across this article while culling Today's Links:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keesha-beckford/words-of-wisdom-from-an-o_b_5192102.html

[Lisa O`Brien]

Well I have decided to go back to ballet lessons.There are a few schools around. One or two have RAD qualified teachers but they are too far away from me,unfortunately. A school in the centre of Newry would be more practical.There are 2  dancing schools in Newry. On one of their websites,the teachers are all qualified in ...Line Dancing.!!  But the other one has a Ballet teacher who is from Russia and it states she has teaching qualifications from various countries. I contacted them tonight via their Facebook page and was told to speak to this ballet teacher directly when she is there tomorrow. I just happened to put it on my Facebook  status that i was thinking of taking adult ballet classes,and immediately 3 of my friends were all "liking" my status ,and telling me what a good idea if would be.Guess i`ve kind of backed myself into a corner now.!!!!

[Thecatsmother]

It's always different going back the second time but one of the joys is you can evolve and bin the bits you did not like the first time round. Best of luck and I hope you can find the right class for you. Sometimes it takes a bit of shopping around to find one you feel comfortable with. It took me a while when I went back. I shall keep my toes crossed and pointed for you????

[Fiz]

Good luck, Lisa!

[Lisa O`Brien]

Just wondered what on earth I would wear? The thought of my big Ham Hocks in pink tights brings me to a shudder. Not that i think they make pink ballet tights for someone a size 20 anyway.! Any suggestions? A T- Shirt is all very well and good,but the teacher would need to see my body for correct placements etc.

Edited May 2, 2014 by thequays

[GTL]

As a complete stranger to amateur adult ballet, I am wondering how close this rehearsal footage is to the actual performance standard?

Assuming my link works, it's a 2013 YouTube clip posted by London Amateur Ballet.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EdI_DCPj5KI

 

I'd also be interested to know what sort of an audience pays to attend amateur adult ballet performances - in your (collective) general experience what proportion are family and friends of the performers?

[Jan McNulty]

As a complete stranger to amateur adult ballet, I am wondering how close this rehearsal footage is to the actual performance standard?.

Assuming my link works, it's a 2013 YouTube clip posted by London Amateur Ballet.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EdI_DCPj5KI

 

I'd also be interested to know what sort of an audience pays to attend amateur adult ballet performances - in your (collective) general experience what proportion are family and friends of the performers?

 

Thanks for the link GTL.  I have never attended an amateur ballet performance, probably because I have not known anyone who has participated.  I have attended amateur theatrical performances, nearly always because I have known someone in the cast.  Some friends of mine used to go regularly to the Little Theatre in Southport for an evening out and not because they knew anyone in the cast. 

[2dancersmum]

I would imagine that the vast majority are friends and family but there will always be a contingency that have no association and either just love ballet or are just having a night out.  I have helped with DDs school dance shows - so 3 year - 18 year olds and there are usually at least twenty each night out of a maximum of 300 who are there because they love ballet.  Some have been attending the dance shows for decades.  In addition, there are always quite a lot who do not know anyone in the cast but come along with a friend who does have someone involved and they often come back for the next show.  I would have thought that the numbers would be higher for an adult amateur performance, much higher as the expectations would be higher for an adult cast and for the average audience member the same as going to see an amateur dramatic performance.