Jan McNulty

Judith Mackrell's obituary in The Guardian

There's a condolence thread on the News forum BR1: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/10342-jonathan-ollivier/#entry138792

Good for Mr Cumberbatch and all the other actors who took action!

And from David Nixon, AD Northern Ballet

I've received an email from Milton Keynes Theatre about Youth classes coming up: Youth Classes at Milton Keynes Theatre Sep 2015 New! Mini Tappers A brand new tap dance class for young children focusing on learning basic tap steps and improving rhythm and coordination to the latest music. Fridays 4.15-5pm - £50 per term (10 weeks) Ages 4-8 years MKT Youth Theatre Our successful youth theatre opens its doors for new participants in September. We run sessions in our backstage studio for every age group and cover a wide variety of different themes every term with a yearly performance. Tuesdays and Wednesdays - £75 per term (10 weeks) Ages 4 - 18 years Primary Ballet We combine traditional ballet syllabus with fun, current music to help young budding dancers engage in ballet and body awareness, control and placement. Saturdays 10.15-11.15am - £75 per term (10 weeks) – Ages 4-7 years Street Dance Learn how to dance like your favourite pop stars in this fun and energetic street dance class. Saturdays 11.30am-12.30pm - £75 per term (10 weeks) – Ages 6-12 years Musical Theatre A fantastic introduction to the three aspects of musical theatre: singing, dancing and acting. Fridays 5-6pm - £75 per term (10 weeks) Ages 8-12 years

He performed the eponymous role in both the Pink/Gable production and the Nixon production. He had incredible charisma on stage.

Totally devastating news. Jonny Ollivier had a huge following during his time at Northern Ballet and he was always so lovely with his fans. I was thrilled when I saw him in the bar at Sadler's Wells during the NBoC season in 2013. He came over to say hello and have a catch up about NB fans. When we saw him in Swan Lake at the Lowry he saw a group of us on the front row and acknowledged us with a wink during the curtain calls. Sincere condolences to his family and friends.

SCOTTISH BALLET - NEW DANCER APPOINTMENTS Scottish Ballet is delighted to announce the appointment of Melissa Parsons, Grace Horler, Matthew Broadbent and Grace Horne, who all join the Company as Artists. Melissa Parsons joins Scottish Ballet from the National Ballet of Portugal. She is from Pembury in England and trained at the Royal Ballet School. Grace Horler was born in Windsor and trained at The Royal Ballet School where she was awarded the Aud Jebsen Young Dancers Programme with The Royal Ballet. Matthew Broadbent was born in Zevenaar in the Netherlands and trained at the Royal Ballet School. He joins Scottish Ballet from Northern Ballet, which he joined in 2010. Grace Horne grew up in Lincolnshire and studied at The Royal Ballet School. She previously danced with Scottish Ballet during the winter 2014 season tour of Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. In addition to these appointments, Scottish graduates from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Jamie Reid and Elayne Seaton will be joining the Company until the end of the winter season. Glasgow-born Jamie Reid joins Scottish Ballet for the Autumn/Winter 2015/16 seasons. Reid trained with the Scottish Ballet Associates Programme and graduated from the BA Modern Ballet course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland this summer. Elayne Seaton first performed with the Company last winter and joins Scottish Ballet for this year’s winter season, an imaginative re-telling of the classic ballet Cinderella, choreographed by CEO/ Artistic Director Christopher Hampson. Seaton trained with Scottish Ballet’s Associates programme and graduated this year from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. The Company has begun rehearsals for Scottish Ballet’s Autumn Season featuring Javier de Frutos’ Elsa Canasta, Bryan Arias’ Motion of Displacement and Sophie Laplane’s Maze. Scottish Ballet’s Autumn Season will be performed at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow from 24 – 26 September, Festival Theatre in Edinburgh from 29 – 30 September , Eden Court in Inverness from 2 – 3 October and His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen from 9 – 10 October.

Oh yes ... and cild callers persistently calling and telling me I am eligible for free loft insulation. I looked up the T&Cs on the internet and I wasn't ... but could I get rid of them. Fortunately for me my little Chunkydog loves barking (in a friendly way) at visitors and most (but not all) of them take the hint these days.

A friend of mine did just that and 2 1/2 hours later, after a really good discussion, the JWs left and never came back.

Well don't please tar us all with the same brush! What goes on the internet stays on the internet...

The ones who get me are the ones trying to get you to sign up to regular donations to a charity. I've had a couple of callers recently who just will not take a polite "no". There was quite a bit of publicity recently about charities being way too persistent with people. I have a "no cold callers" sticker on my porch too. BTW I do make small monthly payments to charities of my choice that I make of my own volition!

Sadler’s Wells announces support for 21 new artists with its four-year dance development programme Sadler’s Wells today announces the 21 UK-based dance professionals who have successfully gained a place on the theatre’s Summer University via an open application process. The 21 dance makers and artists form the second cohort of participants attending the Sadler’s Wells Summer University over the next four years. Directed by one of the most respected choreographers working in Europe today, Jonathan Burrows, in collaboration with Eva Martinez, Artistic Programmer for Sadler’s Wells, the first edition of the project ran between 2011 and 2014, supporting 15 dance artists from a wide range of dance styles and practices. This first edition was funded by Jerwood Charitable Foundation, who have continued their support into this second edition. Summer University takes the shape of a two-week intensive period every summer with the same group of artists. Exceptionally, this first year takes place in September. Devised to offer a longer-term approach to choreographic enquiry, the four-year programme is aimed specifically at dance artists who have been active in their field yet are at the earlier stages of their career as dance makers. The artists chosen are therefore all at a crucial stage in their development. Moreover, they have been selected on the strength of their distinctive approach to choreographic practice across a wide range of choreographic backgrounds. As a group, this cohort represent an informed and ambitious gathering of artists that bring their existing experience as performers, teachers, academics and self-producers to a different focus aiming with this course to consolidate and further their contribution as dance makers. The artists taking part are encouraged to extend their perspective on what constitutes choreographic practice and are supported to grow in confidence as artists contributing fully to the dance ecology. The intensive fortnight involves sharing work, hearing talks, exploring methodologies and philosophies of performance making and extending their own practice through peer exchange and focussed interventions. With additional input from international guest speakers and workshop facilitators spanning dance, theatre, visual arts, philosophy and artistic development, the Summer University focuses on compositional and choreographic processes, performance and philosophies and how to sustain a creative career as a dance artist today. The 21 artists chosen for the Second Edition are: Adrienne Hart, Alesandra Seutin, Alexandrina Hemsley, Antonio de la Fe, Charlotte Spencer, Dan Daw, Eva Recacha, James Cousins, Joe Moran, Katerina Paramana, Katye Coe, Kwame Asafo-Adjei, Marquez & Zangs (Mariana Lucia Marquez & Emma Zangs), Neil Callaghan, Nicola Conibere, Patricia Okenwa, Pepa Ubera, Stefan Jovanovic, Stephanie McMann, Theo Clinkard. Guest speakers for the first year of the Second Edition include Art Angel Director Michael Morris, Dramaturg and Performance Theorist Bojana Cvejic and Tate Modern Curator, Catherine Wood. Summer University Director Jonathan Burrows says: “In an intensive two weeks the 21 participants will be encouraged to listen, look, study, discuss and reflect upon their own practice and on that of other dance artists, not in an academic way but as a preparation for the making of new work. Rather than experiment, the idea is to clarify what has been done and push that towards what might also be possible. The impact of this work when repeated over a number of years has a greater chance of spreading beyond the initial group of participating artists, and slowly shift approaches to choreography.” Sadler’s Wells Artistic Programmer Eva Martinez says: “Summer University was born out of Sadler’s Wells’ desire to nurture artists in a more sustained way at specifically crucial stages of their development. Its first edition revealed just how much the artists benefit from an ongoing dialogue with each other over several years and with the theatre also. It has created a real sense of generational change and an unusual peer support network reaching beyond traditional artistic differences, thanks to the unique perspective Jonathan brings to this process. We are now embarking on a new journey with a bright and ambitious group of dance makers, academics and performers stemming from across the spectrum of dance made today, driven by a shared aspiration to expand the confines of our art form.” The Summer University programme is part of a range of initiatives Sadler's Wells offers to support and develop choreographers and dancers at varying stages of their practice. This starts with hosting the National Youth Dance Companywhich, funded jointly by Arts Council England and the Department for Education, draws together some of the brightest young talent aged 16-19 from across the country, to work with the theatre’s internationally renowned Associate Artists. With Wild Card, Sadler’s Wells invites emerging choreographers and producers to curate an evening of work for its Lilian Baylis Studio, offering them production, technical and marketing support as part of the process. Sadler’s Wells’ New Wave Associates programme, established in 2012 and supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, offers the next generation of artists a structured programme of support, by directing them to opportunities that will further develop their careers and through a commitment to commission and show original new work by each of them. Completing the continuum of support, Sadler’s Wells’ 16 Associate Artists, three Resident Companies and Associate Company, are offered opportunities to work alongside collaborators and dancers, and develop concepts and ideas for large-scale productions which the theatre commissions and co-produces. Jerwood Charitable Foundation is supporting the inaugural year of the second Summer University and was the founding funder of the initiative through the successful work of the Jerwood Studio at Sadler’s Wells. This major initiative was launched in 2006 and ran until 2014. Developed by Sadler's Wells in partnership with the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, it has helped to develop artists and their networks to the benefit of the wider arts ecology and audiences all over the world. The full programme came to an end in 2014 leaving a substantial creative legacy, having provided dance artists with the much needed artistic space, support and resources to explore ideas, experiment, take creative risks and form new relationships outside of their scheduled performances and production commitments. As well as the first edition of Summer University, the Jerwood Studio supported over 32 collaborative projects involving a diverse range of artists such as Carrie Cracknell and Lucy Guerin, Martin Creed, Jasmin Vardimon, Carol Ann Duffy, Liv Lorent and Mark Wallinger. Despite the research focus of the programme, most of these projects have subsequently progressed to mid or large-scale production, either by Sadler's Wells or through other commissioning organisations in the UK and overseas, and a wide range of award-winning productions have been born such as Russell Maliphant’s Afterlight, Javier de Frutos and the Pet Shop Boys’ The Most Incredible Thing, and Gallim Dance’s Fold Here. Sadler’s Wells Summer University Second Edition, Year 1 will be held at the theatre from Monday 14 – Sunday 27 September 2015 Summer University is supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation and is made possible thanks to funding through the Leverhulme Trust Arts Scholarship Notes to Editors Sadler’s Wells Summer University graduates from the 1st edition from 2011-2014 were: Melanie Ingram, Amy Bell, Vicki Igbokwe, Wilkie Branson, Jamila Johnson-Small, Cameron McMillan, Efrosini Protopapa, Hemabharathy Palani, Danya Hammoud, Alexander Whitley, Valentina Golfieri , Hetain Patel, Gillie Kleiman, Lorena Randi and Matthias Sperling. Guest speakers included Liz Lerman, Ruth Little, David Hinton and James McDonald. Summer University Second Edition Student Biographies Adrienne Hart (Choreographer / Artistic Director) Adrienne initially trained at Swindon Dance, winning a scholarship at the age of 17 to train at London Contemporary Dance School. She now works internationally as a choreographer and as Artistic Director of Neon Dance. Collaboration is at the heart of her practice and she has developed a reputation for working with an array of collaborators, from critically acclaimed composers to award-winning media artists. In 2015, Adrienne became a ‘Dream Artist’ at Pavilion Dance South West signalling two-years of support and investment. She has worked in Russia, Norway, Germany and most recently Kosovo, choreographing the tragic comedy War In Times of Love by Jeton Neziraj. She is currently working on her first full-length work titled Empathy due to premiere in 2016. The production features an original score by the Danish pop band Efterklang and is supported by Arts Council Southwest. Alesandra Seutin Alesandra is a London-based choreographer, teacher and performer with African and European roots: born in Harare, raised in Brussels and trained in London (Laban & Middlesex University). Her movement language reflects her cultural roots and is a hybrid of Contemporary, African and Urban dance styles. She champions cross-art forms and is always looking for new ways of pushing boundaries of how people watch and interact with dance both locally and internationally. In 2007, she founded Vocab Dance Company. In addition to the body of work she has built for Vocab Dance Company, she has created work for Phoenix Dance Theatre, 12º North Dance and most recently State of Emergency as an independent choreographer. Furthermore, she has acted as Movement Director for two plays at Theatre Centre. In 2011, she was the only UK-based dance artist to be selected by Germaine Acogny to learn and pass on Acogny’s technique. In 2014, she became an ADAD Trailblazers Champion for her continuous contribution as an artist of the African Diaspora in the UK, bridging the gap between African and Contemporary dance. Alexandrina Hemsley Alexandrina is a choreographer/performer/occasional writer. Through her artistic practice she explores ways to make work that aims to celebrate and reclaim her identity as a mixed-race woman and challenge the various cultural frameworks that mark, violate and subjugate her body. Her approach to her work is mostly through collaborations, such as Project O with Jamila Johnson-Small and Dad Dancing with Helena Webb and Rosie Heafford. Her work has included choreographies for stage, interventions in public spaces, a publication, a performance lecture, teaching and free training - The New Empowering School. Alexandrina also co-edits and writes for BELLYFLOP Magazine alongside a group of independent dance artists. Antonio de la Fe Antonio is a Spanish choreographer and performer based in London with a background in physiotherapy. After coming relatively late to dance and initially training in Madrid, he moved to London and completed an MA in performance at The Place in 2010. Since then he has danced for Matthias Sperling, Eva Recacha, Riccardo Buscarini and Jonathan Lunn. His choreographed works include Place Prize finalist 2011 Cameo, an open OPENLAB: a hybrid, Va por Vds. and A void. Antonio is currently recipient of the BBC Performing Arts Fund Fellowship, with support from Independence Dance. During the fellowship he has been researching and developing his Unrehearsed Series in collaboration with producer Martine Painter. He is a Chisenhale Dance Space’s member, where he runs OPENLAB: a space for shared practice for performers. He is also a member of BELLYFLOP and has recently been named Associate Artist at Queen Mary University of London. Charlotte Spencer Charlotte is a choreographer, facilitator and occasional performer. As artistic director of Charlotte Spencer Projects she works across art forms and predominantly in outdoor environmental contexts. She is an Artist Activator for Greenwich Dance and was associate artist at The Point, Eastleigh 2010-13. She has been working with Siobhan Davies Dance since 2010, as commissioned choreographer and lead artist for their year-long choreographic course for young people, Next Choreography. Commissions include Jerwood Gallery, Turner Contemporary, Brighton&Hove Library, London Contemporary Dance School and Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Charlotte was a priority artist for Dansce Dialogues 2 2012-14, and Tour d’Europe des Choreographes2010/2011. Walking Stories - an audio walk for parks was created in 2013 and will be part of Dance Umbrella 2015. Charlotte is working on a new ambitious production Is this a Wasteland? She graduated from London Contemporary Dance School with a 1st Class BA (Hons) in 2003. Dan Daw Dan completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts at the Flinders University Drama Centre (2004) and since joining Restless Dance Theatre (2002) has danced with FRONTLINEdance (2006), Scottish Dance Theatre (2007), Force Majeure (2007 – 2009), Candoco Dance Company (2010 – 2013) and Skånes Dansteater (2013 – 2015). Following his collaboration at Skånes Dansteater with Swedish choreographer Martin Forsberg and designer Jenny Nordberg, Dan commissioned Martin, Jenny and lighting designer Guy Hoare to further collaborate with him on the creation of BEAST, which previewed at the Swedish Performing Arts Biennale in May 2015. A Greenwich Dance & Trinity Laban Partnership Compass Commission, BEAST will have its UK premiere later this year. Now a Candoco Associate Artist, BBC/South East Dance Performing Arts Fund Fellow and Artistic Associate of his newly co-founded company Murmuration Dance Theatre, Dan continues to work at the forefront of dance and disability in the UK and Australia through his advocacy and performance work. Eva Recacha (choreographer) Eva studied classical dance in her country of origin (Spain) and later trained at the London Contemporary Dance School (UK). Since 2009 she has been choreographing in the UK and her practice has focused on exploring ways of relating movement and text, creating a blend of poetic, humorous, and nonsensical juxtapositions through the interplay of both mediums. She was a Place Prize Finalist in 2011 with her work Begin to Begin: A Piece About Dead Ends, and again in 2013 with The Wishing Well. In 2012 she was a recipient of the Marion North Mentoring Award. Eva has been commissioned work by EDge, LCDS, DanceXchange, Bloomberg SPACE and the Opera Estate Festival in Veneto. In 2014 Eva curated a Wild Card at Sadler’s Wells, and premiered Easy Rider at The Place as part of the Spring Loaded season. Eva is a Work Place Artist. She lives and works in London. James Cousins James has been recognised by Time Out magazine as one of the future faces of dance, called ‘a rising star’ by The Independent and described by Matthew Bourne as ‘one of the UK’s most promising choreographic talents’. In 2012, he was the winner of the inaugural New Adventures Choreographer Award, where his work was critically acclaimed as ‘outstanding’, ‘visually breath-taking’ and ‘spellbindingly beautiful’ at a sold out performance at Sadler’s Wells, London. After the showcase he formed James Cousins Company with producer Francesca Moseley, to act as a vehicle for creating and performing his work, touring to popular and critical acclaim both nationally and internationally from South America to East Asia. As a freelance choreographer James has been commissioned to create work for companies around the world including National Ballet of Chile, Oper Graz, Royal Ballet of Flanders and Scottish Ballet. James is a Work Place artist at The Place and an Associate Artist at DanceEast. Joe Moran Joe is a choreographer, dancer and Artistic Director of Dance Art Foundation, through which his performance and curatorial work is produced. His work has been presented in theatres, galleries and public spaces gaining recognition for its ambition, complexity and intelligence. Commissions and recent touring include Block Universe/fig-2 at the ICA (2015), David Roberts Art Foundation (Frieze, 2014), Nottingham Contemporary (2014), Assembly (UK tour, 2014), The Modulated Body (2013) commissioned by Ordovas for its Bacon and Rodin exhibition, and The Place Prize (2013). Associate Artist with Dance4 and Affiliate Artist with C-DaRE (Centre for Dance Research at Coventry University), Joe’s work is informed by his background in improvisation and experimentation which he marries with a fascination with formal choreographic composition and conceptually driven dance. As a dancer, Joe has worked with many distinguished choreographers including Deborah Hay (USA), Siobhan Davies (UK), Florence Peake (UK) and Pontus Pettersson (Sweden). Katerina Paramana Katerina is a London-based artist and researcher from Athens, Greece. Her work draws on dance, theatre and the visual arts and takes the form of performances, installation-and lecture-performances. It has been presented in theatres, studios and galleries in the UK, US, Sweden, Portugal and Greece, in venues such as The Place, Gasworks Gallery, The White Building, Toynbee Studios, the Institute of Design (Stanford University), Kultuhuset (Stockholm), Galeria Boavista (Lisbon) and Michael Cacoyannis Theatre (Athens). As a performer, Katerina has collaborated with artists and companies such as Tino Sehgal, Ivana Müller, Bojana Cvejić and Christine De Smedt, Lea Anderson, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and Simon Vincenzi. She holds a BA in Theatre and a BΑ in Dance from University of Maryland, College Park; a Masters in Choreography from Laban; and a PhD in Contemporary Performance from University of Roehampton, London (funded by the Onassis Public Benefit Foundation). Katye Coe Katye is a dance artist based in the UK. She has practiced as a performer, curator, choreographer and teacher since 1994. She is a senior lecturer in Dance at Coventry University, and the founding director of Decoda. One of her latest works, ‘(to) Constantly Vent’ was recently presented at the Hayward Gallery, and she curated a Wild Card evening at Sadler’s Wells’ Lilian Baylis Studio earlier this year. Her practice reaches across forms and communities, and is informed by the belief that thinking happens differently when it is located in the activity of dancing or moving. Kwame Asafo-Adjei Kwame is the artistic director, founder and choreographer of Spoken Movement UK, which he has run for the last three years. A dancer for seven years, Kwame was mentored by Jonzi D and Jonathan Burrows through Breakin’ Convention’s artist development program Back to the Lab. Kwame aims to create awareness through his work in order to challenge reality. Marquez & Zangs Marquez&Zangs research and implement commercially viable ways to apply choreographic thinking to different industries. Their grand mission is to inspire people to experience life through their bodies as respite from digital-heavy lifestyles. They create content for live events, films, virtual reality experiences, and anything in-between. The duo work with dancers, models and actors on clarifying their performance, attitude and presence for the camera, catwalk or stage. They have worked with Riff Raff Films, Dance Umbrella and Trinity Laban Conservatoire, among others. Current projects include Dance.Club, in partnership with MixCloud co-founder Nikhil Shah. They also run Metaspeech, a company that supplies tech start-up founders with training on upgrading their body language for public speaking. Neil Callaghan Neil is a dance artist whose work consistently centres on negotiating collaboration and facilitating experience. His current interest is in extraordinary movement which he understands as movement that lies between the everyday and the spectacular. As a dancer he has worked with amongst others: Lea Anderson, Nicola Conibere, Dan Canham, Requardt&Rosenberg, Laura Simi, Doris Uhlich and most recently Meg Stuart. He is involved in an ongoing collaboration with Simone Kenyon with whom he has made numerous interdisciplinary pieces. Their work has been shown at the Lilian Baylis Studio, The Hayward Gallery, Nottdance and in October will be presented as part of the Fierce festival in Birmingham. His own solo work has been presented at Chisenhale Dance Space, What Now festival / Independent Dance, Undercurrent festival, among others. Nicola Conibere Nicola is a London-based choreographer making work for theatres and art galleries. Her work engages choreographic processes to explore the potentials of how bodies relate, investigating states of exchange between people, duration, place and other materials. She is particularly interested in the politics and potentials of spectatorship, and often investigates notions of theatricality, public appearing and social choreography in her work. Her current research is exploring ideas of bodied excess and contagion in relation to the choreographic. Nicola was an Associate Artist with Dance4, 2009-14. She has a practice-based PhD from TrinityLaban and is a Senior Lecturer in Dance at Coventry University. She has participated in residencies and choreographic research projects internationally. Her work has been shown at venues including: Royal Academy of Arts, Hayward Gallery, ANTI Festival of Contemporary Art in Finland, Hepworth Wakefield Gallery, Nottingham Contemporary, Laban Theatre and the Royal Opera House. Patricia Okenwa Patricia is a choreographer and dancer with Rambert for the past 11 years and now working towards her first main stage commission for the company in 2016. She is also a founder member of New Movement Collective, whose interdisciplinary, site specific productions have earned them a nomination for Best New Company at the 2014 and 2015 Critics Award. Her choreographic style is informed by her need to explore physical extremes and the wish to bring emotional content fuelled by authentic experience to the stage. Most recently she was commissioned to create Ride, a new solo for BBC Young Dancer 2015 winner Connor Scott. II. Void 2015, No.1 Convergence 2014, Solo 2013 and three pieces 2014 are recent studies of specific dynamics, while previous ensemble works includingMemoria 2013 and Hold Me 2010, have given her opportunity to collaborate with composers and designers. Pepa Ubera Pepa is a freelance dancer, choreographer and curator based in London since 2003. In the summer of 2011 she was awarded a Dance Web Scholarship program at the Impulstanz Festival showcasing her choreographic work in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in Vienna. She has been an artist in residence at micadanses Paris, Charleroi-danses Brussels, K3 Hamburg, Matucana 100 Santiago de Chile, Teatros del Canal in Madrid, among others. She was a core member of TripSpace Projects and until 2015 she has been one of their artistic programmers, curating nights of performance, professional class and developing her performance practice. She has curated a number of events including The Palest Light: a night of contemporary performance, Trip-tic: a night of improvisations and LIMEN: a two day durational exhibition of performance in collaboration with the Hayward Gallery. Her approach to curation is deeply informed by her choreographic practice, with a particular interest in social choreography and live art. Stefan Jovanović Stefan is an architect and artist from Serbian origins, currently based in London. He trained at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, developing narrative-based projects in collaboration with film-makers, dancers and designers. He has worked with multi-faceted performance, dining, and art collectives in the past, most recently with Astronaut Kawada Architecture, Pret a Diner, LabDORA and Musée de la Danse. His research and work revolve around the integration of performance and dance within architectural design, and the fusing of experimental theatre and event production in the 21st century city. Stephanie McMann Stephanie is a London-based dance artist who graduated from De Montfort University and went on to gain an MA with distinction in performance from London Contemporary Dance School. She has worked predominantly as a performer/collaborator for many years with artists including Maresa Von Stockert, Hussein Chalayan & Damien Jalet, Seke Chimutengewende, Theo Clinkard, Dan Canham, New Art Club, Sally Doughty, Jonathan Lunn, Joe Moran, Immigrants & Animals, Alex Reynolds (World War Z) and long-term collaborator Roberta Jean amongst others. More recently Stephanie has been working as a performance/rehearsal director (currently for companies including; Nora, mysteryskin andAcrojou), as well as teaching professionally across the UK and France. She is interested in both provoking and sustaining the knowledge and experience of moving and being moved. Her practice is involved with formed presences/states of being that can linger but equally collapse, aiming to be present with thought, memory and experience, increasing ways of knowing and noticing the not yet learnt. Theo Clinkard Theo is a Brighton-based dance maker, performer, theatre designer and teacher. For 20 years he worked as a performer with many of the UK’s most celebrated choreographers including Wayne McGregor, Matthew Bourne, Siobhan Davies, Leah Anderson and Rafael Bonachela. In 2012, he formed his own 7-strong company to develop a portfolio of eloquent and visually arresting works that explore the communicative potential of the body and the empathetic nature of dance in performance. Since launching, his company has presented two full-length evenings of work through 60 performances across the UK, Switzerland and Chile. He regularly creates commissioned works and is one of the three artists commissioned to create a work for Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch to premiere this September. Theo also teaches internationally for professional companies and open studios and is a Resident Artist at Greenwich Dance and Associate Artist at Dance4. About Sadler’s Wells Sadler's Wells is a world leader in contemporary dance, committed to producing, commissioning and presenting new works and to bringing the very best international and UK dance to London and worldwide audiences. Under the Artistic Directorship of Alistair Spalding the theatre’s acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap. Since 2005 it has helped to bring over 90 new dance works to the stage and its international award-winning commissions and collaborative productions regularly tour the world. Sadler’s Wells supports 16 appointed world class Associate Artists, three Resident Companies and an Associate Company, including Sylvie Guillem, Akram Khan, Hofesh Shechter, Crystal Pite, Jasmin Vardimon, Russell Maliphant, Wayne McGregor, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and ZooNation and nurtures the next generation of talent through hosting the National Youth Dance Company, its Summer University programme, Wild Card initiative and its New Wave Associates. Located in Islington in north London, the current theatre is the sixth to have stood on the site since it was first built by Richard Sadler in 1683. The venue has played an illustrious role in the history of theatre ever since with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Opera all having started at Sadler’s Wells. Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation and currently receives approximately 9% of its revenue from Arts Council England. About Jerwood Charitable Foundation Jerwood Charitable Foundation is dedicated to imaginative and responsible revenue funding of the arts, supporting artists to develop and grow at important stages in their careers. It works with artists across art forms, from dance and theatre to literature, music and the visual arts. For more information on Jerwood Charitable Foundation visit: www.jerwoodcharitablefoundation.org

Some rehearsal photographs have been released: http://northernballet.com/?q=1984/rehearsal-photos The "Try before you buy"/Friends Event on 19th August is also being live-streamed: http://northernballet.com/?q=1984/live-streaming

I assume from your comments Floss that you didn't go to see any of Ms Guillem's performances at the Coli last week.

Aileen, it was the BRB Sinfonia conducted by Andrew Moreglia.

I took advantage of the Timeout offer and had a really good seat in the stalls this afternoon. I really enjoyed the performance. I did think it was a bit slow to get going but was hooked by the time we got to the pas de huit in Act 1. I loved Act 2 and was very moved by the end. In many ways this was a trip down Memory Lane for me as this was one of the first productions I saw as a ballet-watching newbie in August 1985 (LFB at RFH - Evdomimova/Schaufuss) and I am so glad I got to see this lovely production again. I loved Hao Bin as James; I don't think the Bournonville style came naturally to him but his dancing in Act 2 was sublime and he gave a really intelligent performance. Eleanor Freeman was absolutely wonderful as Effie. I was not quite as convinced by Clare Morehan as the Sylphide in Act 1 but she was glorious in Act 2. Now, as long as I am on time for my train from Euston, I will have had a fabulous day out.

Links - Thursday, August 06 2015 Review – Sylvie Guillem, A Life in Progress, London: Judith Cruickshank, Danceview Times Gallery – Queensland Ballet, La Sylphide, London: Foteini Christofilopoulou, DanceTabs Feature – Isaac Hernandez (English National Ballet): Lyndsey Winship, Standard Q&A – Natalia Osipova: Anna Galaida, Russia Beyond the Headlines Review – Vail International Dance Festival, NOW: Premieres, Vail: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times News - National Museum of Dance (USA) to honour Mark Morris, Nureyev and Chita Rivera: Joshua Barone, NY Times Book Feature – Being A Dancer: Lyndsey Winship, London Dance Review – Joshua Beamish’s MOVE: The Company, Surface Properties, burrow, New York: Gia Kourlas, NY Times Feature/Review - American Dance Festival 2015, Durham, USA: Byron Woods, Indy Week Feature – Natnaree Pipit-Suksun: Harry Rolnick, Bangkok Post Preview – Malpaso Dance Company, Jacob’s Pillow: Dance News Desk, Broadway World Feature – Sharon Fridman (choreographer): Ori J Lenkinski, Jerusalem Post Feature - Great Mountains International Music and School Festival, Pyeongchang: Yim Seung-Hye, Korea Joongang Daily And finally…. Feature – Unexpected Ballet: Charlie, Improv Everywhere

Lyndsey Winship (dance critic of The Standard) has written a new book "Being A Dancer". London Dance has a feature about the book, together with a competition to win a copy and a discount code for money off if you wish to buy it. http://londondance.com/articles/features/being-a-dancer/

I'm hoping to get there for the Saturday matinee - will let you know if I can get there!

WILD CARD Botis Seva: InNoForm Thursday 24 September Performance at 8pm, pre-show activities from 7pm Sadler’s Wells Lilian Baylis Studio, EC1R 4TN Tickets: £17 Ticket office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com This autumn Sadler’s Wells presents hip hop dancer and choreographer Botis Seva on Thursday 24 September in the Lilian Baylis Studio as the newest and one of the youngest ever curators of Wild Card, the unique initiative providing a glimpse of the rich variety of work that makes up the current dance landscape. Seva presents a rebellious, immersive and politically charged evening examining questions of race and identity in modern Britain and taking the hip hop form in surprising directions. Presented in partnership with Sadler’s Wells resident company Breakin’ Convention, this Wild Card evening reveals hip hop theatre in a new light, incorporating elements of contemporary dance, spoken word and physical performance. Instead of handing over clearly formed narratives, Seva provides audiences with an immersive experience challenging them to engage with the issues of the work, crack the code, and piece the story together. InNoForm challenges the social and political forces that structure young people’s lives in Britain today. Seva also invites the audience to question the commercialised brand of hip hop culture we have become accustomed to today, proposing a more thought-provoking and socially engaged perspective and reminding audiences that hip hop’s roots lie in the quest for justice and truth. Botis Seva said: “The commercialised culture in which we live today means that there is often little freedom for people to think. I want people to break out of their boxes and be free to see things from a different perspective. A lot of people who think they know what hip hop is might be surprised by what they see in my show.” A Londoner born and bred, Botis Seva has made performance pieces across theatre, film and local community work with his company Far From The Norm since 2010. At the age of 23, he is one of the youngest ever guests of Wild Card. Seva has performed at various international showcases including Breakin’ Convention. He is currently mentored by Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Hofesh Shechter. Increasingly popular with audiences and artists alike, Wild Card opens the stage to an exciting and adventurous community of dance makers, giving a broad range of artists the unique opportunity to curate their own programmes of dance. These specially curated evenings feature exploratory approaches to choreography and combine different mediums, broadening audiences’ perspectives on dance made today. Wild Card is part of Sadler’s Wells’ programme of support for young and emerging dance talent, alongside other initiatives including the New Wave Associates programme, Sadler’s Wells Summer University and hosting the National Youth DanceCompany. InNoForm is presented in partnership with Breakin’ Convention Wild Card is supported by The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and The Garrick Charitable Trust. Free post-show talk (BSL-interpreted): Thursday 24 September Pre-show activities from 7pm and extra content to be announced. See www.sadlerswells.com for details NOTES TO EDITORS: Sadler’s Wells Sadler's Wells is a world leader in contemporary dance, committed to producing, commissioning and presenting new works and to bringing the very best international and UK dance to London and worldwide audiences. Under the Artistic Directorship of Alistair Spalding the theatre’s acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap. Since 2005 it has helped to bring over 90 new dance works to the stage and its international award-winning commissions and collaborative productions regularly tour the world. Sadler’s Wells supports 16 appointed world class Associate Artists, three Resident Companies and an Associate Company and nurtures the next generation of talent through hosting the National Youth Dance Company, its Summer University programme, its Wild Card initiative and its New Wave Associates. Located in Islington in north London, the current theatre is the sixth to have stood on the site since it was first built by Richard Sadler in 1683. The venue has played an illustrious role in the history of theatre ever since, with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Opera all having started at Sadler’s Wells. Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation and currently receives approximately 9% of its revenue from Arts Council England.

Congratulations to you and your friend FC. No wonder you are chuffed to bits, it's a great achievement!

Well, unless it's torrential rain, I shall be on Shanks Pony for my trip to the Coli tomorrow.

A career in dance is so comparatively short that dancers, however hard they find it, must have plan Bs and beyond. I came across this article while I was culling the links this morning and thought it was a good read about a dancer moving on when his career was cut short by injury: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/dancer-turned-doctor-landed-in-second-dream-job-after-injury/article25841364/

Links - Wednesday, August 05 2015 Review – Bolshoi Ballet, A Hero of Our Time, Moscow: Isabella Zijp, Bachtrack Review – Jessica Lang Dance, The Wanderer, Jacob’s Pillow: Deborah Jowitt, Arts Journal News – Dance this week in New York and Vail: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times News – Kim Brandstrup to create new work for Royal Danish Ballet: Clare Evans, London Dance Review – Dusk Dances, Toronto: Martha Schabas, Toronto Globe and Mail Book feature – Matthew Brookes, Les Danseurs: Benazir Wehelie, CNN News – On the Town cast changes, New York: Andrew Gans, Playbill Edinburgh Festival & Fringe: Preview – Dance at the Festival: Carmel Smith, London Dance P/review – Fringe at the Place, London: Lise Smith, London Dance