Press Release: The Chelmsford Ballet Company to perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream as part of its 70th anniversary celebrations

[Jan McNulty]

The Chelmsford Ballet Company to perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream as part of its 70th anniversary celebrations

The Chelmsford Ballet Company celebrates its 70th anniversary year in 2019, having kick-started the celebrations with special free workshops for its dancing members, followed by company auditions for dancing membership and looking ahead to its annual production in March.

 

2019 will see the company present A Midsummer Night’s Dream & 70th Anniversary Celebrations at the Civic Theatre, Chelmsford, from 20 – 23 March 2019, a specially commissioned piece accompanied by a historic performance from past repertoire.

 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a wonderfully romantic comic tale, set in a moonlit woodland in the realm of fairyland. The fairy King and Queen, Oberon and Titania, argue over Titania's refusal to give up her changeling boy to Oberon; he has become quite jealous of her giving him so much affection. He sends Puck, his servant, to find a magic plant to cast a spell on Titania. The juice of the magic plant, when squeezed onto the eyes of someone asleep, causes them to fall in love with the first creature they see when they wake up. Puck overhears a group of men rehearsing a play in the woods, and magically transforms the head of Bottom, a weaver by trade, into that of an ass. The men are terrified and flee the forest. When Titania wakes, the first creature she sees is Bottom and she falls madly in love with him...

 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be choreographed by Artistic Director, Annette Potter.

 

Company auditions were held for dancing membership on 30 September, where 11 Junior/General dancers and two Senior dancers were accepted, with one upgrade to Senior membership. Every dancing member is eligible to audition for the company’s annual production, on 14 October.

As an amateur company with professional standards, The Chelmsford Ballet Company has a reputation for staging impressive productions with fantastic artistry. From the choreography to the sets to the costumes, the company prides itself on the regard with which it is held by Chelmsford audiences, and those further afield. The company continues to celebrate artistic success under the leadership of Artistic Director Annette Potter, nurturing the company’s dancers from company classes to workshops, through to rehearsals and the company’s annual production. The amateur company prides itself on its professional standards, demonstrating a huge array of talent through its dancers excelling themselves each year.

For more information, visit the company website https://www.thechelmsfordballetcompany.co/

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About The Chelmsford Ballet Company

In 1947, Joan Weston created the Broomfield YMCA Ballet Company in order to give the more senior students at her existing dance school the opportunity to learn and perform to the public. It was after their 1949 performance of Coppélia at the Shire Hall that the then Mayor of Chelmsford suggested the name ‘The Chelmsford Ballet Company’, and with a small committee the company was born.

Since 1949, the company has staged a full-scale production every year. Initially a part of the Arts Festival, and then the Cathedral Fringe Festival, they occur today as an annual event in their own right. Today the company is led by Artistic Director Annette Potter, who is a former dancing member. Annette danced many leading roles with the company before moving on to teaching and choreography.

The ballet company is a way for skilled dancers from across the area to perform together and to showcase their considerable talents to appreciative and receptive audiences. These performances always maintain the high standards set by Joan Weston and have become a well-loved cornerstone of Chelmsford’s cultural calendar.

The Chelmsford Ballet Company is “an amateur sompany which sets professional standards for all its work, involving professionals in its productions, courses and other teaching and workshop opportunities”. The standards are such that both junior (aged 10 and Standard/Grade 2 or above) and senior (over 14) dancers must audition to become members and again each year to perform in any production. These high standards are maintained through the monthly company classes, where the dancers are able to meet and take a class with experienced and distinguished teachers. In the 1960s a Scholarship Fund was created to help young dancers moving to professional training.

https://www.thechelmsfordballetcompany.co/

[Jan McNulty]

The Chelmsford Ballet Company joined by Ballet Central students for A Midsummer Night’s Dream

 

The Chelmsford Ballet Company will be joined by two third year Central School of Ballet students for its performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream & 70th Anniversary Celebrations this year. Oliver Harrison and Thomas Varney will be performing with the company from 20-23 March at Chelmsford’s Civic Theatre, in the roles of Demetrius and Lysander.

 

The pair are third years at London’s Central School of Ballet, where they are about to embark on the 2019 Ballet Central tour, Central School of Ballet's renowned graduate performing company. With Ballet Central a regular at the Civic Theatre as well as The Chelmsford Ballet Company, Oliver and Thomas follow a rich and wonderful history of Central alumni who have also performed with the company. These dancers include Christopher Marney, Ballet Central Artistic Director and previously a dancer with Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures; Andrei Iliescu, performing in The Phantom of the Opera; dancer and choreographer Richard Bermange; James Parratt, previously with Ballet Cymru and New English Ballet Theatre; and Jasmine Wallis, dancing with Vienna Festival Ballet. With Christopher and Jasmine dancing with the company as members too in their youth, the sense of the company’s nurturing and supporting young, aspiring dancers is only too apparent.

As part of its 70th anniversary year in 2019, and looking ahead to the next 70 years, The Chelmsford Ballet Company is working closer than ever with Central School of Ballet: the two sets of dancers have already performed together as part of Hutton & Shenfield Choral Society’s Music for Christmas at the Brentwood Centre in December. Upping the ante this year, The Chelmsford Ballet Company will be performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a specially commissioned piece as part of the celebrations, accompanied by a historic performance from past repertoire, and choreographed by Artistic Director, Annette Potter.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a wonderfully romantic, comic tale, set in moonlit woodland in the realm of fairyland. The fairy King and Queen, Oberon and Titania, argue over Titania's refusal to give up her changeling boy to Oberon; he has become quite jealous of her giving him so much affection. He sends Puck, his servant, to find a magic plant to cast a spell on Titania. The juice of the magic plant, when squeezed onto the eyes of someone asleep, causes them to fall in love with the first creature they see when they wake up. When Titania wakes, the first creature she sees is Bottom, having had his head transformed into that of an ass by Puck, and she falls madly in love with him…

As an amateur company with professional standards, The Chelmsford Ballet Company has a reputation for staging impressive productions with fantastic artistry. From the choreography to the sets to the costumes, the company continues to celebrate its success under the artistic leadership of Annette Potter, nurturing the company’s dancers from company classes to workshops, through to rehearsals and the company’s annual production. The company demonstrates a huge array of talent through its dancers, excelling themselves each year.

Tickets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream & 70th Anniversary Celebrations are on sale from the Civic Theatre, Chelmsford. Call the box office on 01245 606505, or visit https://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/theatres/whats-on/dance/a-midsummer-nights-dream/

Photography by ASH.

 

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About The Chelmsford Ballet Company

 

In 1947, Joan Weston created the Broomfield YMCA Ballet Company in order to give the more senior students at her existing dance school the opportunity to learn and perform to the public. It was after their 1949 performance of Coppélia at the Shire Hall that the then Mayor of Chelmsford suggested the name ‘The Chelmsford Ballet Company’, and with a small committee the company was born.

 

Since 1949, the company has staged a full-scale production every year. Initially a part of the Arts Festival, and then the Cathedral Fringe Festival, they occur today as an annual event in their own right. Today the company is led by Artistic Director Annette Potter, a former dancing member. Annette danced many leading roles with the company before moving on to teaching and choreography. The company’s patrons are Doreen Wells, Marchioness of Londonderry and Christopher Marney, Artistic Director of Ballet Central.

The company is a way for skilled dancers to perform together and to showcase their talents, but it is not affiliated with any one dance school. It has become a well-loved cornerstone of Chelmsford’s cultural calendar, and repertoire includes The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Napoli, Pineapple Poll, Petroushka, La Boutique Fantasque, La Fille Mal Gardée, Tales from Beatrix Potter, Les Sylphides, Coppélia and Cinderella.

The company’s aim is to inspire and progress enthusiastic dancers in a safe, friendly and open environment with a professional approach, whilst having fun along the way. It is an amateur company whose aim is to set professional standards for all its work, involving professionals in its productions, courses, teaching and workshop opportunities. The company is not an extension of any dance school, and dancers are auditioned via a panel of professionals from a dance background.

In 1999 the company celebrated its Golden Jubilee with a triple bill which included Beat Bop Boogie (a fun look back over the last 50 years). In 2009 its Diamond Jubilee Production was The Sleeping Beauty and in 2017 and 2018 it performed two specially commissioned ballets, Alice’s Adventures followed by Snow Queen. The Chelmsford Ballet Company is looking forward to celebrating its exciting 70th year in 2019, looking back over the company’s history since 1949.

More information can be found at www.thechelmsfordballetcompany.co

 

About Central School of Ballet
 

Central School of Ballet is one of Europe’s leading centres for dance training. The school is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance & Drama and is led by Director Heidi Hall and Artistic Director Christopher Marney. The school was founded in 1982 by Ann Stannard and the late Christopher Gable CBE, who established the school’s values of artistic expression in dance, and the importance of technique. Central offers a two year Foundation Degree in Professional Dance and Performance leading to a further year of training to complete a BA (Hons) degree, and a ballet-focused MA Choreography programme, all accredited by the University of Kent.

 

About Ballet Central

 

Ballet Central is the Central School of Ballet's renowned graduate performing company. The company’s annual tour takes place from March to July each year; audiences across the country have the chance to see young and dynamic dancers on the cusp of their professional careers showcasing newly-commissioned works and celebrated masterpieces by the dance industry’s top choreographers.