Pas de Quatre

When I went on a tour of the newly refurbished ROH some years ago they said that although the auditorium was air-conditioned there was no air-conditioning backstage. This was because the opera singers cannot tolerate it, and that suits the dancers too.

I would have thought that Tudor's ballets would be a very suitable choice for BRB's split tours, when they send smaller groups to smaller venues.

Apprenticeships mean exactly what the company offering them wants them to mean. There isn't a hard and fast rule.

Agreed - I never understood blanket instructions about which brand of pointe shoe must be worn, no elastics, type of padding etc. Every dancer needs to find out what works for them. Personally I prefer the "belts & braces" approach of having elastic. No harm is done if it isn't really needed, but harm may be done if it is needed and isn't there. One danger is that without elastic a dancer may choose a size of shoe that is too small to avoid loosing the heels, but then cannot demi-plié fully as the toes hit the end of the box.

I have found with my pupils that dancers who appear not to need elastic when we are just doing pointe exercises in class, can have a problem with heels slipping when dancing a ballet in pointe shoes which involves lots of jumps, runs, waltzes etc.

It is indeed a shame that Tudor's ballets are not often seen in UK these days. When I was a teenager many of the touring companies included them. My main memories are of Dark Elegies, Lilac Garden and Gala Performance. Lots of companies say it is difficult to create triple bills, but these ballets are ideal for them. Not all together, but combined with newer works. However, you do need dancers with strong personalities able to project drama and/or comedy, which are precisely the qualities many critics fear have been lost today in the pursuit of technique. I also saw Shadowplay several times at ROH - which grew on me with each viewing.

Yes she is, at the end of this season in 2013. The management stated they wanted a more radical contemporary approach! Obviously Cathy has many strings to her bow so it will be interesting to see what she does next.

That's funny - I've never seen a classical piece by her only Contemporary. The apprentices the company takes come via the London Contemporary Dance School's MA programme (and I believe Phoenix's are too)

Choreography

Cathy Marston has been choreographing professionally since 1995. She has worked with many ensembles in the classical and contemporary dance fields as well as in opera and theatre.

Marston has two strands of choreographic interest: The first is in ‘story-telling’ through her own classical-contemporary dance language. Many of her works are inspired by works of literature and biographies. The second approach is more thematically and musically based; she refers sometimes to these shorter dance works as ‘dance poems’ rather than ‘stories’.

Marston is often collaborative in her work with composers, designers and also the dancers; she insists that movement comes from a clear intention and works to develop this clarity of connection between mind and movement with the performers.

Her work has been performed by professional companies in the UK, Switzerland, Finland, Austria, Germany, USA, Cuba and China. She has also contributed four solos for the ‘contemporary variations’ for the prestigious Prix de Lausanne competition.

For a full list of works please see the yearly catalogue links.

Better make that 3 to Contemporary - Bern ballet is contemporary.

• Just found this list on Central's website under Graduate success 2012.
  
• Chris Aguis Darmanin - Phoenix Dance Theatre (apprentice)
  
• Carlos Ibanez De Le Cadiniere - Cape Town City Ballet
  
• Max Maslen - Birmingham Royal Ballet
  
• Yukiko Matsumoto - K Ballet, Tokyo (apprentice)
  
• Lucy Monaghan - Moulin Rouge, Paris
  
• Kyle Murray - Scottish Ballet, The Nutcracker production
  
• Anton Rosenberg - Bern Ballet, Switzerland (apprentice)
  
• Sumire Takimoto - K Ballet, Tokyo (apprentice)
  
• Ellie Waite - Phantom of the Opera, worldwide tour
  
• Jacob Wye - Ballet Black (apprentice)
  
• Carmen Vazquez Marfil - Phoenix Dance Theatre (apprentice)
  

Just noticed - the cover of Dancing Times October issue has a photo of Zenaida Yanowsky - you can clearly see her elastic!

Elastic should be sewn either side of the heel seam in a big loop that passes round the front of the ankle. This is safe and commonly used - look at photos of professionals! The dangerous one is sewing a small loop that the ribbons pass through behind the ankle, it can cause all sorts of problems, particularly with the achilles tendon.

Have many of the 2012 Graduates found work, or gone on to further training?

Yes exactly spanner, if the dancer has gained enough strength to control the hypermobility then it is ok.

The degree of acceptable hypermobility will be decided by the school and measured by the physio using the Beighton scale. Yes it can give a very desirable line in classical ballet, but such dancers can be more prone to injury.

http://www.trinityla...ingle_pages.pdf

This link is to a report by Laban Dance Science dept which is also applicable to Classical dancers.

As Rambert doesn't have a second audition they ask a few dancers to stay behind for the physio exam. Generally in all physio exams it is to check there is no reason the student would not be suitable for intensive training. As an example, at the two extremes, excessive tightness or hypermobility, both of which can present problems.

There were quite a few people upset (I think it was mentioned in a thread on the old forum) when a couple of years ago one of the UK main 16+ training establishments sent a letter to the girls saying that they needed a BMI of 18 to be a classical dancer.

Did anyone see the article a couple of weeks ago in one of the weekend colour supplements, I think it was the Sunday Times, about auditioning for Crazy Horse? I found it curious that the requirements were also very strict - classical training, height 5ft 6 or 7 ins and weight 54 Kilos (approx 8 1/2 stone). Not a job many of us would like our dds to aim for though!

Some of my pupils have attended various of these over the years and thoroughly enjoyed them. They do help by familiarising the students with the staff and the venues. However, the standard of those attending is variable, and so not necessarily a true indication of the level for auditions. The average standard of dancers at auditions for post GCSE courses tends to be higher because you have those already at Vocational schools and foreign students to add to the mix.

The most unfair part about the Scottish university fees situation is that it disadvantages English students in comparison to other EU countries as well. Only the English have to pay fees other European nationals don't. Someone tried to bring a court case about it, but it was not allowed.

Thanks everyone - we already have zipped school hoodies. I think maybe the close fitting T-shirt is the way to go.

Why is it that there are lots of cardigans/crossovers for girls, but nothing equivalent for boys? My boy pupils just tend to wear their school jumper for a bit if it is cold. However, one of the mothers asked what the official uniform was, which set me thinking. I asked our local ballet shop and they didn't have an answer either. Does anyone know of a close fitting top for young boys?

I don't think Harid school itself is connected to the Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg, but their head of ballet Vicki Schneider attended the teachers course there (after a performing career).

I don't think you even need to go to a new establishment - viruses are doing the rounds of all the schools here. Every day at the moment I have mums ringing to say dk not coming to class as ill.

Back to the original question - with Russian training what you should notice is expressive strong use of the upper back and épaulement, with breadth of ports de bras and flow to the movement. Extensions of the leg will be high with particularly beautiful arabesques and attitudes. Elevation (jumps) should be good with an ability to cover distance. The Bolshoi stage is several times larger than any in UK so the dancers have to learn to travel. In the early days of UK ballet, the stages used were small, so the English style involved smaller more intricate movements and lots of change of direction - otherwise you would run out of stage!

Who sits naturally in splits - nobody. Even the most flexible have to work for it!

Lovely - thanks for posting the link!