betterankles

COACHING FOR COACHES (COACHING THE CLASSICS BEYOND TECHNIQUE) at Pineapple studios, on the afternoon of Friday 1st September. Please check Emma Northmore's Ballet Boost website www.balletboost.com 'other courses' - for details of participation, time and address. AN INTRODUCTION TO MAINA GIELGUD’S APPROACH TO COACHING THE CLASSICS. THIS WORKSHOP IS INTENDED FOR PROFESSIONAL DANCERS TRANSITIONING TOWARDS CAREERS AS BALLET REPETITEURS/COACHES, AND TEACHERS COACHING CLASSICAL BALLET VARIATIONS FOR COMPETITIONS SUCH AS LAUSANNE AND YAGP. ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME. SEPTEMBER 1st, 2017, PINEAPPLE STUDIOS LONDON “CLASS IS THE SEARCH FOR PERFECTION, REHEARSAL IS THE SEARCH FOR ILLUSION” Maina’s well known “Steps Notes and Squeaks’ performed in London in the early 80s at the Open Space Theatre, the Royal Court, Ambassadors, and Old Vic was then the culmination of her fascination as a dancer, with the process of coaching. Since then, as Artistic Director, Stager, Master Teacher and Coach all over the world, she is committed to restoring classical ballet to its rightful place as a living and relevant art form, and believes that inspiring and relevant Coaching is vital to this end, and should be considered a distinct and separate skill from that of teaching technique class. “It has long been in my mind that there are innumerable teaching courses, but none appear to exist relating specifically to coaching. To attempt to address this, in the framework of Emma Northmore’s Ballet Boost, this afternoon will be a pilot to test the possibilities of studying and discussing specific areas which can enhance the coach's ability to bring out the best artistic result in the (often limited) time available". *'Coaching the coaches' will take place at Pineapple studios, on the afternoon of Friday 1st September. Please check Emma Northmore's Ballet Boost website www.balletboost.com for details of participation, time and address. ** Kevin O'Hare has kindly given permission for Anna Rose O'Sullivan and Teo Dubreuil from the Royal Ballet to be coached by Maina in a classical variation. *** Maina Gielgud's website for biography etc: www.mainagielgud.com Below: Maina Gielgud coaching Anais Chalendard (Principal Boston Ballet) for La Sylphide Rome Opera Ballet

I hope they scooped the prizes because they were the most interesting.....

Many dancers take little time off - performing until 'it shows' and then continuing to do class right up to birth, and getting back to performing even in a couple of months often going on to perform better then ever..

There are many beautiful young dancers at SF Ballet!

Usually that is the case - the mime from Hilarion to Albrecht is: you, think, he, loves...

Live long and healthy lives on the whole loveclassics - and no more arthritis then the general public. Plus a good strong pain threshold!

Oh come on - dancers often get bruised and battered when rehearsing a new ballet. Would you ban all MacMillan's pas de deux?

Ehhh? The audience sitting in Stalls Circle Sides seats near the stage made so much noise that it was a danger to the players hearing??? I don't get it...

Agree entirely with Sim, re the solo ending of Flight Patterns.. To me it seems absolutely right if unexpected - incredibly potent, overwhelmingly sad. It's over a week since I saw it, and remembering it still makes me sob...

I suspect it will not matter where you sit for 'Flight Pattern' - it will overwhelm from wherever...

Flight Pattern is truly WONDERFUL. Run to see it. Exceptional in every way!

The Italian Fouettee - the real one, as in Queen of the Dryads, releve a la seconde or ecarte, followed by a fouettee to attitude on same leg, done several times, is now a travesty of itself. The releve a la second or ecarte used to be treated as a preparatory step, (with leg at about 90 degrees) for the fouettee, which was the meat of the enchaînement. And with lots of epaulement in both ecarte a la seconde, and the following attitude which 'hovered'. It is now done as a high kick to show off how high the dancer's extension is, which entirely spoils the whole thing and mucks up the dynamics as well. There is nothing ugly about the step when done properly! As for the Lilac Fairy last enchainements. Yes, a different step from the Italian Fouettee, (it should be a series of normal fouettees to first arabesque, with a little hop between each); and the main difference to a regular fouettee (also done by men as a jump, beaten or not), is that a normal fouettee is done with a half turn, whereas these should be done with a FULL turn on pointe. Beryl Grey does it beautifully, although 'cheated' as she only actually does a half turn on pointe, but she hovers at the end on POINTE, which makes it look light and puts the line in value. For decades since, it has been coached with each fouettee finishing in 1st arabesque on DEMI PLIE! This not only kills the dynamics and makes the step look hard and heavy, but more tiring for the dancer to execute, killing for the thigh of the supporting leg. /

And noone seems to remember Raymonda Larrain's opulent production for the Marquis de Cueva company, staged by Bronislava Nijinska and I think Robert Helpman - the first Western production in which Rudolf Nureyev appeared as both Bluebird and Prince Desiree... It ran for several MONTHS at the Theatre des Champs Elysees. Auroras were Rosella Hightower, Nina Vyroubova, if memory serves me, also Genya Melikova and maybe Lyane Dayde in a second run - also Marilyn Jones later with Garth Welch as her Prince Princes were Rudolf Nureyev, Serge Golovine - and I don't remember the others.... Later George Goviloff Perhaps little known - that Marcia Haydee was a 3rd Fairy in the original production. I can't remember what their names were in this production. Nijinska choreographed an original vision scene solo for Aurora, which was based on Hightower's amazing hovering balances and musicality. The sets and costumes were extravagant both in look and cost!

De Valois coached that solo in a very neo classical way, with non violent twists of the wrists, and huge amounts of epaulements - not the short sharp twists sometimes done.

Booing in France and Italy was quite common in the late fifties. Probably just more demonstrative nations! It was also very usual to shout BIS, BIS, when something was considered wonderful by a favourite dancer - and get an encore of a coda whether in a full length ballet or in divertissements - something that is now totally out of fashion in the ballet world... Slow simultaneous hand claps still occur in a number of countries, pretty much regardless of the standard of a production or of the dancing. As do standing ovations... VERY rare in the UK. Standard in the USA...

I believe it was Nureyev who introduced the entrechat six to Albrecht's coda in act 2. Without them there should be plenty of dancing for Albrecht, as it should be two diagonals of very brilliant brises, and then a manege of which the original step is very difficult and very hard to do - and exhausting... In Mary Skeaping's production there are no sixes. Incidentally those done last night were entirely off the music...

If a dancer thinks of a leg movement coming from the foot, it makes quick work much easier - and quicker! The foot takes the leg to wherever it goes, and as it's the extremity if it goes fast, everything is fast! The same applies to arms/hands. Some very tall dancers can move surprisingly quickly, and some small dancers cannot. To do with training and enforcement of various speeds of enchainementst in class - or not.... Dancers nowadays tend to do preparation steps at the same speed as the steps they are supposed to be preparing for, which also slows down tempi more and more (and doesn't allow for exciting dynamics either).

Let me get back to you, as have had other offer to collect immediately... but maybe some to you and some to them...

Breaks my heart to throw all these into the bin.... Isn't anyone interested in getting these, and going through - there are some real treasures there, and don't think all is on youtube...

Dancers used to start even at age 14 - Fonteyn, Beriosova, Grey etc ... (and of course the 'baby ballerinas', Toumanova, Riabouchinska and Baronova)

I have a smallish box full of these. Most are of ballet. Have copied all to DVD, and do not wish to throw these out, as would much rather they find a good home There are: Kirov performances from the sixties Plisetskaya Makarova Some Massine ballet, performed I believe by Dutch National Ballet, but also Symphonie Fantastique with Baronova in silent Ballets Russes in Australia bits Baronova mime class for The Australian Ballet Bhakti by Bejart complete film Nijinski with Jorge Donn from 1990 (NOT the full company piece) Orpheus (Tetley created for The Australian Ballet) A couple of films (Amelie, some Woody Allen) Katya and Valodia (Maximova Vassiliev documentary) Various others to be discovered sometimes on end of home copied tapes! Please PM me if interested. Would need to be picked up in Central London

Hello Orlandau - please could you PM me and perhaps we can then talk on the telephone about this?

I am sorting out things in my apartment, and simply have to make some space, which means that most of the dance magazines and programmes will have to go... Rather then just throwing them out, I just wondered if anyone is interested? I have Dance Europe and Dancing Times, most issues dating from 2009 until recently. A number of Dance Magazines and some other USA or UK dance related magazines. Many programmes from performances of Royal Ballet, ENB and various visiting companies, as well as plays. Year books from Royal Ballet School, The Australian Ballet. All the above available immediately. In store, so more difficult to dig out, but will have to also get rid of soon, there are more of the same, dating back not only to 1999, but quite a lot if I remember well, including some 'Ballet today' and Dance and Dancers probably from around 1972 or 73 to 1983. Failing any one person interested, does anyone have any good ideas about how to dispose of them usefully?

At least an hour and a half classical class every day, six days a week, plus preferably some pointe, and some character - if aiming at a professional classical ballet career

Not the same step, she passes through to attitude, not developpee. More like it in the Black Swan coda, but much much faster, and consecutive rather then with sissones before... After the fouettees..