Jan McNulty

Northern Ballet have released some rehearsal photographs: http://northernballet.com/jane-eyre/rehearsal-photos Today (21st April) It is also the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Bronte's birth: http://northernballet.com/blogs/northern-ballet/21-04-18/happy-birthday-charlotte-bronte Report in the Yorkshire Evening Post, including a couple of photographs of Hannah Bateman and Javier Torres in the National Portrait Gallery: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/love-story-on-tour-to-mark-200-years-since-bronte-s-birth-1-7865326

Northern Ballet prepares for World Première of Jane Eyre Join one of literature’s most iconic heroines on a journey of courage, romance and tragedy with the World Première of Northern Ballet’s Jane Eyre. Based on the novel by Charlotte Brontë and performed during the 200th anniversary of her birth, Northern Ballet will bring this beautiful love story to life at the Cast theatre in Doncaster from 19 – 21 May 2016before commencing a national tour to Richmond, Aylesbury, Wolverhampton, Stoke and Leicester until June 2016. Orphaned at a young age and cruelly treated by her Aunt, Jane Eyre is a plain but intelligent child who grows up knowing little kindness. Sent away to a charitable school, Jane later accepts a position as a Governess at Thornfield, a gentleman’s manor whose master is the dark and impassioned Mr Rochester. In spite of their social differences, an unlikely bond grows between the pair but as their romance develops, it becomes clear that Mr Rochester has a hidden past that threatens to ruin them both. The ultimate dramatic tale of romance, jealousy and dark secrets, Jane Eyre is the story of one woman’s indomitable spirit overcoming all boundaries. Jane Eyre is choreographed by internationally acclaimed British dance maker Cathy Marston who previously created the Dickens classic A Tale of Two Cities for Northern Ballet in 2008. For this new production, Cathy has brought onboard composer Philip Feeney to compile and arrange a score for Jane Eyre made up of original compositions and existing work. In addition, Patrick Kinmonth, who has worked closely with photographer Mario Testino and has designed over 20 theatrical productions, will design the sets and costumes. Completing the creative team, Alastair West, whose Northern Ballet credits include Giselle, I Got Rhythm, A Christmas Carol and The Architect, will design the lighting. Cathy Marston said: ‘Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre was a novel far ahead of its time and when I think of Jane I feel inspired by images of her passionate but 'impossible' relationship with Mr Rochester, the fire and emotional destruction symbolised by Bertha Mason - the infamous 'woman in the attic', the contrasting icy moorland through which she seems to run from one chapter of her life to another, and of course her final reunion with Rochester. But these images only touch the surface of a character and a book that continue to provoke and move - generation after generation, re-read after re-read.’ Northern Ballet’s Artistic Director David Nixon OBE said: ‘Having already adapted Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights it seems appropriate that Northern Ballet should also immortalise her sister’s Jane Eyre through dance and doing so in the bicentennial anniversary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth makes it all the more special.’ Join Northern Ballet for this beautifully timeless tale told through the Company’s unique blend of classical ballet and drama. Tickets are on sale now, for more details and booking information visit northernballet.com/jane-eyre. -ENDS- Notes to Editors For more details of Northern Ballet's tour, on sale dates and booking information, please visit northernballet.com/whatson. Nominated for Outstanding Company at the 2015 National Dance Awards and voted Best Company at the 2014 TaglioniEuropean Ballet Awards, Northern Ballet is one of the UK’s five large ballet companies. Based in Leeds it performs throughout the UK as well as overseas. Northern Ballet’s productions mix classical dance and theatre, embracing popular culture and taking inspiration from literature, opera, or giving a unique interpretation of popular classical ballets. Northern Ballet is the busiest touring ballet company in the UK and is typically on the road for around 32 weeks of the year. The Company of 45 dancers tours a combination of full-length new work and established repertoire to cities throughout the UK. Northern Ballet also tours widely with its ballets for children, all four of which have been adapted for TV by CBeebies, and also performs a mixed programme showcasing the versatility of its dancers. Production Credits Choreography & Direction Cathy Marston Music Philip Feeney Set & Costume Design Patrick Kinmonth Lighting Design Alastair West Jane Eyre – Tour Dates Doncaster, Cast (World Première) 19 – 21 May 2016 Box Office 01302 303 959 castindoncaster.com Richmond Theatre 31 May – 1 Jun 2016 Box Office 0844 871 7651* atgtickets.com/richmond Aylesbury, Waterside Theatre 3 – 4 Jun 2016 Box Office 0844 871 7607* atgtickets.com/aylesbury Wolverhampton, Grand Theatre 10 – 11 Jun 2016 Box Office 01902 429 212 grandtheatre.co.uk Stoke, Regent Theatre 14 – 15 Jun 2016 Box Office 0844 871 7649* atgtickets.com/regent-theatre Leicester, Curve Theatre 17 – 18 Jun 2016 Box Office 0116 242 3595 curveonline.co.uk See northernballet.com/whatson for updates. Subject to change. *Calls to 0844 numbers are charged at up to 7p per minute plus your phone Company’s access charge.

Lovely review TTP - I only saw the cinema broadcast but you have summed them up beautifully.

And from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/19/arts/music/tosca-angela-gheorghiu-missed-entrance.html

Well my weekend has started today! We are staying overnight at the very wonderful Blakeney Hotel before going bird watching in Cley tomorrow and onwards to Norwich for Northern Ballet's Swan Lake (natch!).

So very sad to hear this news. Sincere condolences to Victoria Wood's family and friends at this awful time.

mpaley - I've merged your topic (as you will have seen) into the Bolshoi casting thread. Osipova performed in the RB's Giselle recently (see that thread for some members' thoughts).

Links - Wednesday 20 April, 2016 Review - Mariinsky Ballet, Concerto DSCH, Rite, Cardiff: David Jays, Guardian Review - Royal Ballet, The Winter’s Tale, London: GJ Dowler, Classical Source Review - Martha Graham Dance Company, mixed programme, New York: Alastair Macauley, NY Times Q&A - Ludovic Ondiviela, on his new work Sliver of Sky: Staff, DanceTabs Review - Miami City Ballet, Symphony in 3 Movements, Sweet Fields, Symphonic Dances, New York: Deborah Jowitt, Arts Journal Review - Pacific Northwest Ballet, Coppelia, Seattle: Maggie Larrick, Queen Anne News Feature - How do we cut down on dance injuries: Helen Laws, Stage Feature - Bio-banding could cut risk of injury for ballet dancers, says study: AP via Guardian Review - Atlanta Ballet, The Princess and the Goblin, Atlanta: Kathleen Wessel, Arts Atlanta Review - Isabelle Schad & Laurent Goldring, Der Bau (The Burrow), Los Angeles: Victoria Looseleaf, Fjord Review Featurette - Danza Acosta in Havana: Elio Delgado Valdes, Havana Times Review - New York Theatre Ballet, Cinderella, New York: Marsha Volgyi, Broadway World Review - Los Angeles Dance Festival 2016, Los Angeles: Jeff Slayton, See Dance Review - Companhia Urbana de Dansa, ID:Entidades, Na Pista, Boston: Marsha B Siegel, Arts Fuse Review - Ballet West, Afternoon of a Faun, Games, Rite of Spring, Salt Lake City: Heather Hayes, Deseret News Review - Oregon Ballet Theatre, Beautiful Decay, Portland: Martha Ullman West, Oregon Arts Watch Feature - Melanie Hamrick (ABT) shares her diet, skincare and makeup regimen: Gillian Sagansky, W Magazine

Not heard anything. Why do you think that?

I've just come across this featurette while culling the links for tomorrow: https://www.thestage.co.uk/advice/2016/how-to-apply-for-dance-auditions/

I don't definitively know the answer but I suspect not. I know a youngster who was doing a part time uni course (12 hours a week) who was given the stark choice of giving up the course or losing JSA altogether. She was then made to go on courses to learn how to work in a call centre (mostly cold call variety - don't get me started on that one). Did she get a job in a call centre ... no she did not!

Sadly not ... special birthday with a friend and then wall to wall 1984. Maybe I can somehow fit in another trip while it is still on and still with Mr Shaw as Hobson.

I've got a feeling I've read somewhere that the balcony duet from R&J is being performed. If it's not BRB then I assume it must be dancers from RB.

From the BRB website: BRB perform on a global stage to celebrate with the Royal Shakespeare Company Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal Dancers Elisha Willis and Tyrone Singleton will be making the short journey to Stratford-upon-Avon this week to take part in the BBC and Royal Shakespeare Company’s Shakespeare Live! From the RSC. During 2016 Birmingham Royal Ballet are presenting seven different ballets in ten theatres around the UK to commemorate 400 years since William Shakespeare’s death, including two world premieres and two pieces new to the Company; all inspired by Shakespeare’s stories, characters and prose. On Saturday two of BRB’s most celebrated dancers will travel to Stratford-upon-Avon to help the BBC and the Royal Shakespeare Company mark the 400 year anniversary by performing an excerpt from David Bintley’s The Shakespeare Suite at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra will accompany Birmingham Royal Ballet’s dancers for the occasion. The performance in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre will be given in front of an invited audience, which will include His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who is President of both Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, as well as RSC supporters, partner schools and theatres, local residents and the general public through a series of ballots for free tickets. On Saturday 23 April, Elisha Willis and Tyrone Singleton will be performing an excerpt from Birmingham Royal Ballet’s current Shakespeare season. The Othello pas de deux from David Bintley’s The Shakespeare Suitesets two of the Bard’s best-loved characters, Othello and Desdemona, to a swinging Duke Ellington score. One of Ellington’s earliest masterpieces, ‘Black and Tan Fantasy’, accompanies the tragic union of Othello and Desdemona and will be played by the Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra. Commenting on the Company’s involvement in the BBC and Royal Shakespeare Company’s Shakespeare Live! From the RSC, Birmingham Royal Ballet Director David Bintley said, ‎"It is a great honour for Birmingham Royal Ballet to be performing at Shakespeare Live! From the RSC. Elisha Willis and Tyrone Singleton are two Principal dancers who are well known to Birmingham Royal Ballet audiences, and they are very much looking forward to performing at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. They will be dancing the roles of Othello and Desdemona in an excerpt from The Shakespeare Suite, my ballet based on Duke Ellington’s ‘Such Sweet Thunder’, a jazz composition inspired by Shakespeare’s immortal characters which forms part of our season marking 400 years since the Bard’s death. We are thrilled too that the Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra will be accompanying us. I know that Shakespeare Live! From the RSC will be hugely enjoyable for anyone lucky enough to be there, and also everyone watching on screens around the world. We at Birmingham Royal Ballet are very proud to be involved.” David Tennant will be hosting the show alongside Catherine Tate and will be joined by performers such as Judi Dench, Rufus Wainwright, Ian McKellen, Joseph Fiennes, Helen Mirren, Gregory Porter and Benedict Cumberbatch. This once in a lifetime cast, assembled and directed by Gregory Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, will come together to stage a unique show which will be broadcast on BBC2 at 8.30pm on Saturday 23 April. It will also be screened live to 368 cinemas in the UK and Europe by Picturehouse. https://www.brb.org.uk/post/brb-perform-on-a-global-stage-to-celebrate-with-the-royal-shakespeare-company

Oh Alison ... I wish you hadn't reminded me ... that was what I was going to see in MK the day the railway line between Rugby and MK was flooded. The nearest I got was changing platforms at MK station!!!

Hello Ponklemum and welcome to the Forum! I can't answer your questions but I am sure other members will chip in.

I think I have mentioned this before but when a group of us went to see Northern Ballet in Aberdeen performing Giselle we saw Jayne Regan in the title role twice. At a theatre organised event we had the opportunity to chat to her and I mentioned that we had been completely blown away by her Thursday performance. She commented that she had been a lot better on Tuesday and she had not been feeling that good on the Thursday. How dancers perceive their performance and how the audience sees it can be two totally different perspectives. In my experience too, dancers are always seeking perfection in their performances but, in their own opinion, they never achieve it.

This should work Sim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuqbE87iYqE

Links - Tuesday 19 April, 2016 Review - Mariinsky Ballet, Five Tangos, Infra, In the Night, Concerto DSCH, Rite, Cardiff: Zoe Anderson, Independent Review - Mariinsky Ballet, Concerto DSCH, Rite, Cardiff: Mark Pullinger, Bachtrack Feature - Aurelie Dupont, AD Designate Paris Opera Ballet: Marina Harss, New Yorker Review - Paris Opera Ballet, Iolanta / Nutcracker, Paris: Patricia Boccadoro, Culture Kiosque Review - Australian Ballet, Swan Lake, Sydney: Deborah Jones, Blog Report - San Francisco Ballet, valedictory performance for 3 retiring principals, San Francisco: Allan Ulrich, SF Chronicle Reviews - NDT2, I New Then, mutual comfort, Solo, Cacti, Woking: Bruce Marriott, DanceTabs Review - Miami City Ballet, Serenade, Symphonic Dances, Heatscape, Viscera, New York: Apollinaire Scherr, FT Review - Miami City Ballet, Heatscape, Viscera, Bourree Fantasque, New York: Andrew Blackmore-Dobbin, Bachtrack Review Miami City Ballet, season roundup, New York: Nancy Dalva, NY Observer Review - Zurich Ballet, Romeo and Juliet, Zurich: Sarah Batschelet, Bachtrack Reviews - Gary Clarke Company, Coal, London: Siobhan Murphy, DanceTabs Rachel Elderkin, London Dance Neil Norman, Stage Review - Queensland Ballet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Brisbane: Michelle Potter, Blog News - Joffrey Ballet announces team for new Nutcracker: Lauren Warnecke, Windy City Times Review - Washington Ballet, Carmina Burana, Theme and Variations, Washington: Hilary Stroh, Bachtrack Review - Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Re:Play, Silent Ghost, Huma Rojo, Los Angeles: Christina Campodonico, LA Times Review - City Contemporary Dance Company, Little Pieces, Hong Kong: Natasha Rogai, South China Morning Post Review - American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, Knightlife, Third Wheels, Libera!, Danse Baroque, Murmuration, New York: Mary Cargill, Danceview Times Feature - Keir Choreographic Award: Philippa Hawker, Sydney Morning Herald Review - Gabriel Missé and Guillermina Quiroga, Four Tango Duets, New York: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times Feature - Native Earth Performing Arts: Michael Crabb, Toronto Star News - Milwaukee Ballet announces roster changes: Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Review - Nora Chipaumire, Portrait of Myself as my Father, Montclair: Siobhan Burke, NY Times Q&A - Kwame Asafo-Adjei: Carmel Smith, London Dance Review - American Tap Dance Foundation, Rhythm in Motion, New York: Melanie Votaw, Broadway World Review - Arcane Collective, Return to Absence, Ebb, New York: Brian Seibert, NY Times News - Court rules “Whistle blowing” Ballerina must be reinstated at La Scala: Nick Squires, Telegraph (and widely reported elsewhere) Feature / Book Preview - Brown Girls do Ballet, The Ballerina’s Little Black Book: Katherine Brooks, Huffington Post

He stepped in at the last minute to dance James in Kobborg's production of La Sylphide when one of the James was injured.

Hello Ruth and welcome back to the Forum! I think Osipova and, to a certain extent, McRae are a bit like marmite! I've only seen Osipova live once - in Rubies - and I thought she was sensational, as was McRae. I saw them in the Rhapsody live stream and while I enjoyed the performance, my personal preference was for Hayward/Hay. Fortunately we are all different and can all have valid and different opinions. The world would be a very boring place otherwise!

Hello Queenofspades and welcome to the Forum!

We've had recent discussions about pirouettes that may be worth reading: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/8851-tips-on-multiple-pirouettes/?hl=pirouette http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/8806-pirouettes/?hl=pirouette#entry116755

Links - Monday 18 April, 2016 Review - Mariinsky Ballet, Concerto DSCH, Sacre, Cardiff: Nadine Meisner, Arts Desk Review - Royal Ballet, The Winter’s Tale, London: Vicki Jane Vile, A Younger Theatre Reviews - English National Ballet, She Said, London: Jann Parry, DanceTabs Emily May, A Younger Theatre Feature - Cathy Marston on creating Jane Eyre for Northern Ballet: Sarah Freeman, Yorkshire Post Feature - Bolshoi’s new director promises best of classical ballet: Kate de Pury | AP via Washington Post Feature - Evan McKie, National Ballet of Canada guests at Mariinsky: Martha Schabas, Toronto Globe and Mail Feature Review - Miami City Ballet, season roundup, New York: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times Review - American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, Knightlife, Third Wheels, Liberal, Murmuration, New York: Siobhan Burke, NY Times Feature - Defining Dance Theatre: Danielle Georgiou, Theater Jones Feature - Peoria Ballet born from a chance conversation 50 years ago: Leslie Renkin, Peoria Journal Star

Thanks for the review Duck. You are making me really jealous now!