Jan McNulty

Courtesy of Cloud Dance Festival I have just picked up that Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui has been announced as the new Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet of Flanders. It looks s if the press conference is still ongoing. The twitter tag for the company is @BalletFlanders

Links - Wednesday, February, 04 2015 Review – New York City Ballet, All Bach, Hear the Dance: Russia, New York: Marina Harss, DanceTabs Review – San Francisco Ballet, Giselle, San Francisco: Carla Escoda, Bachtrack Reviews – Jonathan Burrows & Matteo Fargion, One Flute Note, Body Not Fit for Purpose, London: Sanjoy Roy, Guardian Hannah Weibye, Arts Desk Film Reviews – Ballet 422: Rebecca Shapiro, Huffington Post Zachary Wigon, Village Voice Reviews – Pacific Northwest Ballet, Don Quixote, Seattle: Sandra Kurtz, Seattle Weekly Maggie Larrick, Queen Anne News Review – Cape Town City Ballet, La Sylphide, Cape Town: Shirley-Anne Bezuidenhout, Artlink Review – Gareth Okan & Oliver Connew, MAN MADE a new dance, Wellington: Deidre Tarrant, NZ Theatreview Review – Natural Wings, Elements, Northbridge: Nerida Dickinson, Australian Stage Preview – Misako Ballet Company, Columbia: Carolyn Keleman, Baltimore Sun Blog – Sadler’s Wells could teach the RSC a thing or two about future audiences: Lyn Gardner, Guardian And finally… Features: Comparing Super Bowl break out stars’ performance with the Mariinsky Paquita!: Rebecca Ritzel, Slate In defence of the Super Bowl’s Left Shark: SE Cupp, CNN

No, the festival is at the Chatelet. I've clicked on Katherine's link and you can book direct with the theatre - here is a link to book for Ailey: http://chatelet-theatre.com/fr/event/alvin-ailey-american-dance-theater You can also sign up for a newsletter.

Hello Danceintherain and welcome to the Forum. I am sure you will find plenty of advice and support from our Doing Dance members and I hope you will continue to contribute.

Welcome out of the lurking shadows PJW. I do hope you will continue to contribute.

I know I have told this tale before and it is from the point of view of watching ballet. When I first started watching ballet (and even put posters on my office wall) one of my male colleagues used to rib me unmercifully quoting all the obvious stereotypes that all the men were gay and that it was only for girls to watch etc. His mother in law had booked to take one of his daughters to see a Russian company performing Swan Lake at the Empire and unfortunately she was too unwell to go. His wife refused to go in her place (for all the usual stereotypical reasons! - yes women think the same thing too). Rather than waste the tickets my colleague decided to take his daughter. The following day in a meeting with around 20 other people he apologised to me for all the teasing I had had to put up with for years! He said he had had no idea how beautiful the ballet was or how much effort went into it and how much strength the men had. He also said that he would go again quite happily. True to his word I have bumped into him at ballet performances in Liverpool over the years! What makes this sad is that so many people have these opinions without ever having watched a ballet and if we could only persuade people to go then they may change those misguided opinions about stereotypes.

An interesting perspective on mobile phones (or lack of compared to other events!) at ROH from the editor of the Sunday Express

Links - Tuesday, February, 03 2015 Reviews – Mariinsky Ballet, Le Sacre du Printemps, La Spectre de la Rose, The Swan, Paquita Grand Pas, Washington: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times Oksana Khadarina, DanceTabs Review – New York City Ballet, Donizetti Variations, La Valse, Chaconne, New York: Mary Cargill, Danceview Times Review – New York City Ballet, Symphonic Dances, The Cage, Andantino, Cortege Hongrois, New York: Rose Marija, Broadway World Review – Royal Ballet, Onegin (Golding/Osipova), London: Judith Mackrell, Guardian Reviews – San Francisco Ballet, Giselle, San Francisco: Rita Felciano, Danceview Times Janos Gereben, SF Examiner Review – Birmingham Royal Ballet & Sinfonia, An Evening of Music and Dance, Birmingham: Paul Marston, Birmingham Mail Reviews – Pacific Northwest Ballet, Don Quixote, Seattle: Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times Kevin Kwong, The Daily Alice Kaderlan, Seattle pi Review – Pilobolus, mixed programme, Cleveland: Roy Berko, Broadway World Review – Daniel Leveille Danse, Solitudes Solo, New York: Apollinaire Scherr, FT Preview – Dance Immersion, Toronto: Michael Crabb, Toronto Star Review – Ballet West, Romeo and Juliet, Stirling: Mary Brennan, Herald Review – Peeping Tom, 32 Rue Vandenbranden, London: Jeffrey Gordon Baker, London Dance Review – Scott Wells and Dancers, The why ask why we dance dance, Mutually Assured, Allan Ulrich, SF Chronicle Feature – The editor of the Sunday Express goes to the ballet and contemplates audience behaviour: Martin Townsend, Express Film Review – Ballet 422 (NYCB documentary): Harvey Karten, Shockya

I absolutely agree with you about missing Oleg, Porthesia!

Done Linda!

For anyone who subscribes, Debra Craine has reviewed the Golding/Osipova cast in The Times

Hello Vmmom! I can't answer your query but I just wanted to welcome you to the Forum. Please let us know how you get on!

If you lived on Merseyside you would panic too!!!

Hello Maria_Ballet and Ballet-Lyon and welcome to the Forum to you both! Please let us know how you get on.

Hello Sozo and welcome to the Forum. I think Aileen and Harwel have given you sound and positive advice. As you have mentioned that you are only 14 could you please make sure that your parents are happy that you are contributing to the Forum? I do hope you will continue to contribute and let us know how you get on.

Thanks for the clip Artem! I enjoyed it very much.

Couldn't agree more MAB.

Hello Julie - you should have come and said hello!! Sorry but you won't get a more informed critique from me - I loved the whole performance from start to finish and am still on a high!! The annual evening of music and dance has been a highlight of my ballet-watching year for quite a few years now and last night was no exception! I enjoyed all the musical excerpts but particularly La Valse. I thought the orchestra (augmented for the occasion) sounded absolutely wonderful in this glorious hall and they were enthusiastically conducted by Koen Kessels. This year the students from Elmhurst performed the first danced piece and danced it very well. Ruth Brill's Matryoshka was light and fluffy and really used the music well. There was lots of deft footwork shown off brilliantly by the dancers and Samara Downs was absolutely superb in the pas de trois. Ruth seems to me to be a very musical choreographer and I hope we get to see lots more from her. Elisha Willis and Iain Mackay were just gorgeous in the Cinderella pdd. Despite it being out of context they managed to inject so much feeling in to it. And what a treat the magic scene from Coppelia turned out to be! David Bintley gave a beautifully judged, subtle performance as Dr Coppelius and his interaction with Momoko Hirata was glorious. As with Elisha and Iain they were able to create the mood without the set and the props. Momoko was out of this world as Swanilda. I loved how they had organised the bit where Swanilda is forcing the dolls into motion - Momoko raised a violinists arm (sorry I don't know her name) and leader Robbie Gibbs leg (how they kept on playing was beyond me!). The four Seasons from Cinderella were another treat ... this evening was just getting better and better (lucky Japan being treated to the whole work!). And so to Celine Gittens and Tyrone Singleton - what can I say - Peach3 is right they were absolutely on fire. Celine showed all the guile and womanly wiles of Odile and it was very obvious why Seigfried was taken in by her. It never ceases to amaze me how the dancers can perform these firecracker pieces so spectacularly on a performance space the size of a pocket handkerchief. I think it rude to count the number of fouettes and I never do but for the record Celine filled the music with a serious of fouettes so rooted to the one spot that I am sure she was trying to drill through to Australia. It was an outstanding end to an evening that started spectacularly and went from strength to strength throughout. I am now anticipating next year's event and I would urge everyone who can to go and experience one of these joyous evenings for themselves! It looked as though it was a near full house last night so you need to book early!

Well that's condemned all Merseysiders then Hudds! We can't cope with a flake of snow let alone half an inch!!! (That is because it is such an infrequent occurence).

Wild Card Casson & Friends Lilian Baylis Studio, EC1R Wednesday 18 March Performance at 8pm (with pre-show activities from 7pm) Tickets: £17 Ticket office: 0844 412 4300 or www.sadlerswells.com Wild Card welcomes dance artist Tim Casson, best known for his record-breaking project The Dance WE Made, and his collaborators to the Lilian Baylis Studio on Wednesday 18 March for a playful evening of unexpected and unique collaborations between artists, machines and the audience. This is Sadler’s Wells’ fifth season of Wild Card evenings, the initiative which opens the stage to an exciting new generation of dance makers, giving rising artists the unique opportunity to curate their own evenings of dance. Tim Casson is a London-based performer and choreographer with an interest in interactivity, technology and playfulness. His Wild Card show invites audiences to join performers to explore the wonderful things that can happen when people work together. The evening consists of three pieces, including Casson’s own work and other pieces by his collaborators. The London premiere of Fiend, Tim Casson’s creation in partnership with video technician Tom Butterworth,uses innovative manipulation of live video to allow Casson to dance with multiple digital replicas of himself. The work uses Vaslav Nijinsky’s iconic ballet Afternoon of a Faun as a starting point, and is set to Claude Debussy’s original score along with new music by Jamie McCarthy. The projected video creates a magical world, where the multiplied performer questions the nature of solo performance. With its themes of connection and voyeurism, the audience watches this character search for a meaningful connection in his virtual reality, provoking questions about what it means to watch and be watched by others in the digital age. Sonata in Three Movements, choreographed by Cornelia Voglmayr, is a duet between a dancer and a violinist that challenges the preconceptions of which artist should occupy which role, and takes a playful look at the conventions of classical music performances. Copter, choreographed and performed by Nina Kov, explores ideas of surveillance through a dancer’s interaction with a remote controlled helicopter. The piece, which made the semifinals of the Place Prize in 2012,questions our relationship with machines, in a playful and sometimes unsettling way, and illustrates how an unlikely combination of disciplines can create compelling artistic work. Also presented is the latest incarnation of Casson’s dance project The Dance WE Made, this time using four performers who will create and perform a new dance piece using ideas and suggestions from the audience. Increasingly popular with audiences and artists alike, Wild Card evenings are unique experiences providing a rare glimpse of the rich variety of work that makes up the dance landscape today. Wild Card is part of Sadler’s Wells’ programme of support for young and emerging dance talent, alongside other initiatives including National Young Dance Company, the New Wave Associates and Sadler’s Wells Summer University programme. Wild Card is supported by The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and The Garrick Charitable Trust. Aside from his Wild Card evening, Tim Casson is also currently working as a course leader with the National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) on a newly commissioned piece choreographed by internationally renowned contemporary choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, to be premiered at Sadler’s Wells in April. Pre-show activities from 7pm Casson & Friends is BSL interpreted Notes to Editors: 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 and 3 Resident Companies and nurtures the next generation of talent through its National Youth Dance Company, 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 Wild Card Wild Card is a Sadler’s Wells initiative which opens up the theatre’s Lilian Baylis Studio to the next generation of choreographers and dance makers. The initiative aims to bring fresh perspectives to the stage and each time gives emerging artists from different spectrums of the dance landscape the opportunity to curate a mixed bill evening of cutting edge work. Wild Card is supported by The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and The Garrick Charitable Trust. About Tim Casson Tim Casson trained at The BRIT School and Bird College before completing an MA in Contemporary Dance at London Contemporary Dance School. He has performed extensively for Jasmin Vardimon Company as well as for Nigel Charnock and Katie Green among others. He has featured in various music videos, commercials, the movie 'World War Z' and covered the role of 'Puck' in Opera North's production of Benjamin Britten's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' choreographed by Ben Wright. Tim works extensively in education, regularly leading projects for Sadler’s Wells, and other organisations. He is the founder of ‘JV2’ the Jasmin Vardimon Professional Development Certificate Course and is currently the course leader for The National Youth Dance Company. Tim choreographs for stage, television and opera, is currently a Catalyst Artist at dancedigital, Associate Artist at Pavilion Dance South West and created the World Record Breaking online performance project, ‘The Dance WE Made’. In 2013, Tim founded his company Casson & Friends to create contemporary dance performance with a focus on collaboration, find out more at www.cassonandfriends.com

It's not TP, it's another chum who passed away last January.

Hello Janeyshell and welcome to the Forum. I've moved your topic to the more appropriate "Doing Dance" Forum, where you are more likely to get responses. There are already lots of topics about summer schools. I used the search tool at the top of the forum page and these are the results: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=search&fromMainBar=1 I hope you will continue to join in and share your and your DD's experiences.

Well I just went on line and booked for Northern Ballet at the Linbury with no problems. Not so with the Illa Masqua sale however! (Couldn't book earlier as was out for the day)

Uchenna Dance Company presents Our Mighty Groove Our Mighty Groove is an immersive and interactive piece set within a New York underground nightclub. The audience is both spectator and participant as they observe and experience the individual attributes of five club goers. Let the music take over you as you experience a blend of House, Vogue and Waacking, combined with African and Contemporary dance fused together for what is, Uchenna Dance’s signatory aesthetic. Following a sell out show at the Lilian Baylis, Sadlers Wells in 2013, Our Mighty Groove has been developed into a full-length production. The piece is inspired by choreographer Vicki Igbokwe’s baptism of fire at a New York underground club as she recreates an authentic setting and characters that are based on those she encountered. Vicki Igbokwe, Creative Director of Uchenna Dance said: “Dancing in New York was a life changing experience for me. I was literally baptised on the dance floor of this underground club; I came in as this shy and nervous individual who felt out of her comfort zone and left a confident woman embraced by a loving community of dancers. I wanted to return to London and share this experience with everyone! Our Mighty Groove is for the PEOPLE irrespective of your gender, sexual orientation, age, race, class, education or economic status. Just enjoy the story unfold as you create your own memories.” Dancers: Shanelle Clemenson, Diana Igbokwe, Habibat Ajayi and Sheila Attah. Running Time: 50 minutes Ends Notes to Editors Tour dates Venue Theatre Royal Stratford East, E15 1BN Date Friday 27 March at 7:30pm and Saturday 28 March at 8:30pm Tickets: £15 / £12 Concessions Ticket Office 020 8534 0310 or http://www.eastlondance.org) Venue Greenwich Dance, The Borough Halls, SE10 8RE Date Saturday 11 April 2015 at 7pm & 9pm Tickets: £12 / £9 Concessions Ticket Office 020 8293 9741 or http://greenwichdance.org.uk (Presented by Greenwich Dance in collaboration with Dance UK) Please note performance details and castings are subject to change. Uchenna Dance Formed in 2009 under the vision and leadership of artist Victoria Igbokwe, Uchenna Dance operates under three strands: Performance Company, Participation & Training and Events. The Uchenna dance style is unique and cannot be replicated. Igbokwe fuses together a blend of club dance styles such as Waacking, Vogue and House with traditional and powerful styles such as African and Contemporary, creating a signatory aesthetic that simply is, Uchenna. Uchenna Dance successfully delivers a range of participation & training opportunities including an established Summer School and weekly evening classes at WAC Arts, where Uchenna Dance became an Artist in Residence in 2014. Vicki Igbokwe Vicki is an Independent Artist and works as a Choreographer, Teacher, Lecturer, Curator and Producer. Igbokwe’s career as a dance professional started in 2001 with Impact Dance. In 2004 Vicki was appointed Youth Dance Practitioner for East London Dance and was then promoted to the Creative Projects Manager in 2007. At the same time (2005 – 2010), Vicki was a sponsored Nike Dance Athlete and Master Trainer for the Nike Rockstar Workout. Igbokwe’s most recent credits include: Mass Movement coordinator of the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (London 2012). Mass Movement Choreographer of the opening ceremonies for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Sochi 2014), Choreography Coordinator for Opening Ceremony of Commonwealth Games (Glasgow 2014), Sadler’s Wells Wild Card Curator and Artist (Between The Lines, 2013), Association of Dance of the African Diaspora (ADAD) Trailblazer (2007-2008) and Trailblazer CHAMPION (2012-2013). Credits Our Mighty Groove is supported by Arts Council England. Original research and development of piece was supported by Arts Council England, The Association of Dance of the African Diaspora (ADAD) and Sadler’s Wells. The piece was presented as part of Sadler’s Wells event Wild Card, Between the Lines, curated by Victoria Igbokwe at the Lilian Baylis Theatre (2013).

I'm thrilled to see that Max Westwell has been nominated - for me he hasn't put a foot wrong in the last couple of years and indeed has lit up the stage at every performance I have seen him in.