Dance*is*life

Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!!!!!!! And of course it worked because they are such beautiful dancers, we realise that they are doing it on purpose......... By the way what piece of Chopin is that? It's driving me nuts trying to think what it is!

Personally I think that those old musical films had some of the best dancing around! I love the bit with Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry the mouse in Anchors Aweigh!

I just found this old thread and wanted to add one of my personal favourites - . Hope it works it's Gene Kelly from Cover Girl - I had no idea that they had the technology in 1944 to create this amazing sequence, but apparently they did. He is supposed to be furious with himself over his girlfriend and the image is his alter ego.

The comments about struggling past people to get to seats reminded me of the time I went to the opera house when I was heavily pregnant! My stomach just would not let me squeeze through - in the end I had to do a sort of couru sideways on demi-pointe, so that I would be tall enough to lift my vast stomach over the back of the seats in front. Unfortunately it meant that I disturbed two rows of people, muttering "sorry" and "excuse me" as I went, but fortunately people were considerate of my "condition" and didn't complain!!!!

I do hate it when parents give a loud non-stop monologue in order to explain to their young children what is happening on stage! Why can't they tell them the basic story line before they even go to the ballet and then just remind them of what's going to happen before each act. And why can't they whisper the story anyway? One can also teach children to whisper in your ear if they do have questions or something they don't understand. I take my own small grandchildren and have drummed into them how to behave at the ballet. It is possible........

http://www.afn.org/~alplatt/tube.html This gives you a London Underground map. Marble Arch would be really far to walk from, because you'd have to go the length of Oxford Street and then down to Covent Garden. If the coach stops on the way at a Picadilly Line tube station then that would be ideal, Covent Garden station was closed for access when I was there in July, but Leicester Square is really only a few minutes walk. The 11 is a lovely route, but you need time for it. Victoria Line tube one stop from Victoria to Green Park and change to Picadilly Line would also work. We keep Oysters with some money on them, unregistered, and use them when we're in London. If they're unregistered anyone can use them, which has its pluses and its minuses! It's simply easier just to swipe everywhere you go. I travel into the outer zones to visit family, so it's worth it. You can buy a card at a machine too without having to queue. Have fun at the "Garden"!

Interestingly, we had a student some years ago, who was told to learn ballet in order to help her with the scoliosis. Her doctors were very pleased with the result and said that the ballet exercises had strengthened her back muscles to such an extent that it had definitely improved the condition. I don't know if that would always be the case, but it certainly helped this particular girl.

A former student of mine did it two years ago. She also got through to the final audition and,if I remember rightly, she said that the class was harder for the finals, with more advanced exercises. She was accepted for the touring section and she really enjoyed it. She had wanted to try and audition again in the hope that next time she would get into the London week production, but was away at audition time. The nice thing about the touring company is that it's a smaller group and she got chosen for a couple of solos, which were super. So don't be disappointed if that's what you get, because it's also very worthwhile doing and a privilege to be chosen. :-)

Are there any schools near enough so that she wouldn't have to board? Or are situated near family or close friends with whom she could stay instead. I agree with you that when means testing they should definitely take into account the number of children or young people living at home. An income that's above the cut off point, but is used to support 6 people should surely be considered as much as a lower income, which only has to support 3 or 4. I know my parents couldn't have afforded to send me to the schools where I studied if I had not won scholarships and lived at home. I was very lucky and I do hope your daughter will be too.

I am so jealous of you all being able to see this lovely programme - I am coming to the UK the weekend after next for a cousin's 80th birthday celebration and of course there are no performances of it on the dates I am there. Perhaps they'll make a DVD of it. Did anyone notice cameras filming it at any performance?

Wasn't he in Greece before that? I believe he did well there. He was teaching senior boys at Elmhurst some years ago very successfully. A former student of mine, who was studying there at that time, used to watch them and M was really nice to him, occasionally allowing him to join in. He is so charismatic and exciting - I would certainly not describe him or his works as bland! Very strange............. Wonder what really happened?????

Fonty - I agree! I was once sent a clip on Facebook of a ballerina in the Rose Adagio, who balanced for so long it actually disturbed me! Totally broke all continuity, especially as the audience clapped wildly every time she changed princes! It stopped being artistry and became more like the Chinese circus version of Swan Lake where she promenades on pointe on the prince's head!

I am delighted to hear that they are keeping his heritage alive at the RBS - good news indeed! Dance training has become very universal in style and I think it's important to retain the specific qualities that made up the English style/ Danish style/ French style etc. I am so relieved that the RAD has left in the Higher Grades. When I teach Grade 7 to my students with its very romantic style I feel like I am imbibing them with a sense of ballet history too. Musicians have to learn to play music from all periods, so why not dancers?

Two Pigeons wrote above: Lesley Collier (who danced the lot) always quoted Fille and Two Pigeons as her favourite roles. Yes, but Lesley Collier is from a different generation. She came up through White Lodge and then the RBS senior school in the 50s and 60s. I was at the senior school in Talgarth Road at the same time and the training and style of dancing then suited Ashton. We understood Ashton and loved his ballets. There has been another thread about the exaggeration and coarseness of the humour in Ashton's ballets when performed nowadays, as compared to some decades ago. Subtlety is not a common trait nowadays, I think, and Ashton definitely requires subtlety......... I really agree with the suggestion that the Ashton repertoire should be classified as Classics in order to preserve them and keep the wonderful English heritage intact. It would be such a shame to lose them. His ballets are beautiful, but sadly, IMO, it seems that they are not as relevant to today's crop of dancers as to those of the past. I believe that part of that is because the training is so different nowadays, which leads to many dancers finding his choreography difficult. Lesley Collier excelled in Ashton ballets - her Fille was sheer delight to watch - she was almost (but not quite) comparable to the gorgeous Nerina in the role. I am not surprised that she loved dancing them.

I think it's a great shame that more archive films are not released on DVD. They have made a start, but I would so love to see Enigma Variations and Two Pigeons on DVD. I remember seeing both on TV and can only dream of seeing Enigma with the divine Beriosova again...........

Our Seniors did the cell block number from Chicago - similar style - and even though they were 16,17 and 18 year olds I felt a bit uncomfortable watching it, so I know exactly want you felt seeing these young supposedly "innocent" children making such suggestive moves. Hate it! I remember when I used to do competitions in the 1950's and '60's the judges had no compunction in stating flat out if they felt the dance was not appropriate for the age group. It would probably be considered as restricting freedom of choice nowadays!!!!

It reminds me of that fly on the wall programme, The Family, that ran in 1974 about the Wilkins family from Reading. It was the first time something like that had been shown on UK TV and my Mum and I would watch fascinated at their goings on - a truly disfunctional family, I'm afraid to say. It was okay watching the adults in the family scandalising the nation, but I simply couldn't watch when the little boy, Christopher, who was about 8 or 9 was involved. I couldn't believe that his parents would allow him to be used in that way. I felt so sorry for him! Interestingly, I googled the show and discovered that he refuses to have any association with it (and possibly his family for putting him through that ordeal) and I was actually pleased that he'd taken that stand. If adults agree to put their lives into the public domain that's one thing, but to subject a minor to such negative exposure is the pits, IMO! Incidentally, the parents divorced a couple of years after the show ran - it finished their 26 year marriage. Perhaps it needed to be finished and should have been earlier - they both remarried.

Well yes it's great to earn millions of dollars and become famous, but the show just reeks of exploitation and if they had had this type of programme when I was a kid, I can't imagine my Mum agreeing to appear on it with me and I wouldn't want to. Personally I don't think anything is worth being exposed like that, in such a personal way. Having a chance to expose ones talent is one thing - like on Britains Got Talent or So You Think You Can Dance etc - but I find this show uncomfortable to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EO-o7v5mY8 This is Part 1 (2 and 3 don't seem to exist) of Symphonic Variations as shown on BBC TV. It's so polished - such timing and sync. The men are amazing - I think it's the Bonelli, McRae version, but not sure.

I had a former student who was in the local TV version of So You Think You Can Dance.. She was excellent and always passed through to the next round without any problems - I think she got to the last three. Anyway, the judges suddenly criticised what had been to my eyes just as good a performance as her previous ones and she had to do a solo to stay in the competition. When I asked her about it, she said that they did it on purpose, so that it wouldn't look fixed, as everyone else had had to do a solo to save themselves!

I think it's an appalling show and quite honestly if I or the other teachers in our school dared talk to the mothers or the students like Abby does, I am sure they would all leave in a huff!

How true Anjuli ! And I must point out that the RAD marking system includes marks for Presentation, (which includes expression and quality), Musicality (including both keeping time and also response to music) and Use of Space. Dancing is very definitely not just about technique and you can't hope to suddenly become a "performer" overnight once you've mastered the footwork. Also, the quality of the movement as a response to the music is actually what completes the technique. For example, you can't perform a waltz step properly technique wise if you don't understand its quality. I like to ask my pianist to play the waltz music staccato (which she finds very difficult to do!) and my pupils always cringe at how awful it sounds. Oh, I point out, but that's how you all dance it! Nuff said.........

I think we all start off with the ballet school that's handy and fits in with regular school and other extra-curricular activities. I went to a local school, when I first started at age 3 1/2, but I was very lucky in that it was a really good school for those all important first years of training. The problem seems to be if and when the child reaches a point where she needs to move on. Parents can't always recognise when this is necessary, especially if their child seems happy and enjoys the lessons. And of course there is not always a valid alternative that is manageable logistically. My Mum had the intuition to know when it was time for me to move on and bless her, was prepared to take me on two buses after school, so that I could take classes that were more challenging and serious. That doesn't always work out. I know my Great Niece learnt for about 5 years at the local "round the corner from the house" dance school and I started nagging my niece after about two or three years that her daughter was wasting her time there and not learning anything. My niece finally took her away, but they have not been able to find a good school whose location and timetable fit in with the regular school run and heavy homework schedule, so she's actually given up dancing, which is such a pity :-(.

A friend of mine once invited me to watch her daughter's end of year show and I was horrified!!!!! They spent a fortune on tutus and costumes, but I didn't actually see anyone perform a ballet step! Not even the big ones - there was something that might have been an attempt at an assemble, but that was all. I felt I couldn't remain silent, so told her honestly what I thought. This was a highly intelligent woman with a job in academia and I'm afraid she was totally insulted :-( It also took until our niece was about 12 or 13 for my sister-in-law (who is an ardent theatre, concert and ballet goer herself) to move her to the school where I was teaching, in spite of her knowing that I was a serious teacher. I taught her more in the couple of years she was with me than in all the seven years before, but it was really too late. The arguments are always - it's handy - she has friends there - it's fun for her there. The fact that they are not learning anything doesn't seem to enter their heads. Oh well it's obvious that life isn't dance for them!

Are the 4.5 hours your daughter dances a week all ballet classes working on the Grade 6 syllabus or does she take only one of them at that level? Grade 6 is lovely, but a huge syllabus with masses of work to learn. Tons of new steps and a big jump from Grade 5. I remember one group I had of Grade 6s who just could not remember it at all. I got so frustrated! A month before the exam, they couldn't even remember how they were supposed to stand to begin the the adage!!!! A pep talk and lots of encouragement got them over the hump and they did fine in the end. Still personally I think the new IF is easier in many ways! Although of course the expectations are higher in IF and you don't have the benefit of getting extra marks for character and free movement. Does your daughter know that the Higher Grades are based on the Romantic era style? Grade 7 is even more stylised in that way than 6, but there's a lot of it in Grade 6 too. Perhaps it might help her if she pretends to be an old-fashioned ballet student - you could show her Degas paintings to get the idea! It might make her feel less self-conscious! I too would suggest buying her the DVD to help her learn it. Once she comes to class better prepared it will be easier for her. Do tell her that she is not alone - most students find it hard to learn, but once she manages to learn it, I am sure she'll love it and enjoy dancing it. The Waltz enchainement is gorgeous, for example, but she probably hasn't even got up to that yet. If she sees the whole syllanus on the DVD, it may encourage her! I remember having to dissect an English novel for GCE and I found it the most boring book imagineable, so one day I decided to read on and I got involved with the story and suddenly it wasn't boring! Watching the DVD and realising what's in store for her may just do the trick!