Jan McNulty

Links - Tuesday, December 09, 2014 Obituary – Alla Sizova: Roslyn Sulcas, NY Times Reviews – Royal Ballet, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Lyndsey Winship, Standard Katie Columbus, Stage Review – William Tuckett, Wind in the Willows, London: Fiona Mountford, Standard Feature – Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris, Paris: Judith Mackrell, Guardian It’s that Nutcracker time of year!: Reviews: Ballet Austin, Austin: Wendi Reichstein, Broadway World Ballet West, Salt Lake City: Heather Hayes, Deseret News Preview – Washington Ballet, Washington: Jason Fraley, WTOP Review – National Ballet of China, The Little Mermaid, Beijing: Catherine Sutherland, Bachtrack News – Bolshoi Theatre hosts concert in aid of Ukraine, Moscow: Roland Oliphant, Telegraph News – Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Executive Director to stand down: Allan Kozinn, NY Times Feature – Misty Copeland at the Wall St Journal Café: Pia Catton, Wall Street Journal Interview – Misty Copeland: Budd Mishkin, Warner Cable News Review – Meredith Monk, On behalf of nature, New York: Lauren Wingenroth, Broadway World Feature - Five of the best dance shows based on films: Lyndsey Winship, Guardian Review - Tanzcompagnie Rubato, ACT, Beijing: Catherine Sutherland, Bachtrack Review – Peter Carpenter/The Seldoms, #12, RockCitizen, Chicago: Laura Molzahn, Chicago Tribune

ALL OF THEM!!!!

ENB has announced some cast changes for the Nutcracker season at the Coliseum: Cast changes announcements: http://blog.ballet.org.uk/cast-changes-nutcracker/ Casting page: http://www.ballet.org.uk/whats-on/nutcracker-2014/

Luke Jennings listed his 5 most exciting dance moments in yesterday's Observer. I know the year isn't over yet but I thought we could start a round up thread! I've had some incredible dance-watching highs in 2014 and it was very hard to choose just 5 things to highlight but here goes: I love Northern Ballet's Cleopatra and the Saturday evening performance in Sheffield in March was possibly the best performance I have seen of anything all year. The whole cast was incandescent and it was incredibly moving and emotional. Martha Leebolt was Cleopatra, Javier Torres Caesar, Toby Batley Mark Antony, Kenny Tindall Wadjet, Hiro Takahashi Octavian and Hannah Batemen Octavia. I enjoyed BRB's Prince of the Pagodas much more than I expected and I even grew to like the music. One of my favourite moments was Rory Mackay's performance as the Emperor which I found incredibly moving. Rory is such a fantastic actor and I loved the way he inhabited this role - I wept for him. Saying I enjoyed Northern Ballet's triumphant season at the Linbury is probably the understatement of the year. I loved the programme, I loved the quality of the performances and I loved the audience reaction. I can't wait for the 2015 season! Northern Ballet's new production of Cinderella was a feast to my eyes and I loved the depth of characterisation that Toby Batley brought to the role of Prince Mikhail. The reconciliation duet at the end is very beautiful and I wept for Toby every time he fell to his knees. I was swept away by Maureya Lebowitz and Brandon Lawrence's debuts in BRB's Beauty and the Beast. So much so that I felt immediately obliged to book for their matinee at Sadler's Wells. They both brought every ounce of pathos out of the roles and I wept tears of joy in the final duet. I've just realised that tears come into nearly every moment I have mentioned! There were so many other performances I enjoyed too: Celine Gittens in just about everything she did but especially as the Debutante in Facade. Surely she must be promoted to principal soon. Akram Khan's Desh was absolutely stunning. I'm so glad I finally got to see it. Francesca Hayward, Edward Watson and Alexander Campbell in Manon - nuff said!!! Everything about ENB's Le Corsaire! Maureya Lebowitz and Chi Cao in Fille. BRB's Evening of Music and Dance at Symphony Hall. Kenny Tindall's The Architect - can't wait to see it again. Mark Bruce's amazing Dracula - Jonathan Goddard was outstanding. The list could go on...

OH YES!!!! Thanks for posting Jane. I am getting ridiculously over-excited!

Links - Monday, December 08, 2014 Royal Ballet, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Reviews: Laura Thompson, Telegraph Jann Parry, DanceTabs David Nice, Arts Desk Gallery - Dave Morgan, DanceTabs Review – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Chroma, D-man in the Waters (Part 1), Revelations, New York: Gia Kourlas, NY Times Roundup - 2014's most exciting dance moments: Luke Jennings, Observer Review – William Tuckett, Wind in the Willows, London: Louise Levene, FT Gallery – ZooNation, The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, London: Dave Morgan, DanceTabs It’s that Nutcracker time of year!: Reviews: Kansas City Ballet, Kansas: Libby Hanssen, Kansas City Star Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Step Afrika, Washington: Rebecca Ritzel, Washington Post Feature – National Ballet of Canada, Cannon Dolls light up the stage, Toronto: Trish Crawford, Toronto Star Feature - Scottish Ballet's Christopher Harrison & Sophie Martin getting ready for Nutcracker, Edinburgh: Barry Didcock, Sunday Herald Scotland News – Clive Barnes Award nominees: Lori Holcomb-Holland, NY Times Review – Jessica Lang, The Wanderer, New York: Brian Seibert, NY Times Reviews – Doug Varone and Dancers, Castles, Dome, The Fabulist, New York: Deborah Jowitt, Arts Journal Marianne Adams, Danceview Times Review – Neil Greenberg, This, New York: Martha Sherman, Danceview Times

Here are some suggestions from London Dance

Links - Sunday, December 07, 2014 Reviews – William Tuckett, Wind in the Willows, London: Howard Loxton, British Theatre Guide Helen Babbs, Londonist Video Interview – Liam Mower, Edward Scissorhands: Tom Beal, Claudia Redmond, BBC It’s that Nutcracker time of year!: Reviews: Birmingham Royal Ballet, Birmingham: Luke Jennings, Observer Australian Ballet, Sydney: Valerie Lawson, Dancelines Unattributed, Daily Telegraph Joffrey Ballet, Chicago: Laura Molzahn, Chicago Tribune Washington Ballet, Washington: Sarah Kaufman, Washington Post Nebraska Ballet. Omaha: Kim Carpenter, Omaha World-Herald Feature – Tulsa Ballet, A trio of real characters return for The Nutcracker: James D Watts Jr, Tulsa World Preview – Ballet Theatre of Maryland, The Nutcracker, Annapolis: Mary Johnson, Baltimore Sun Review – Neil Greenberg, This, New York: Deborah Jowitt, Arts Journal Review – Jess Curtis, The Dance that Documents Itself, San Francisco: Allan Ulrich, SF Chronicle Review – Rashaun Mitchell, Performance, Los Angeles: Lewis Segal, LA Times Review - Fuzion Dance Artists, Voices of Fuzion, Sarasota: Carrie Seidman, Sarasota Herald Tribune

No Cathy, it's the families' movements that have become more dance like.

Wonderful review Lin. Thanks!

I've seen this twice before and loved it so it was a "no-brainer" that we would go and see the latest revival when it was at the Lowry a couple of weeks ago. It has most definitely been tweaked because there is a lot more dance content in Act 1. I just loved it all over again! The whole cast was great and Dominic North was outstanding as Edward. I was moved to tears at the end. There was a super Q&A with Matthew Bourne and Dominic North after the show.

Links - Friday, December 05, 2014 It’s that Nutcracker time of year!: Review – Birmingham Royal Ballet, The Nutcracker, Birmingham: Richard Edmonds, Birmingham Post Preview – You won’t believe these sexy twists on The Nutcracker, New York: Leigh Witchel, NY Post Interview – Allison Miller (Houston Ballet) talks Nutcracker: Katricia Lang, Broadway World Review – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Uprising, Unfold, A Grateful Gathering, Revelations: New York: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times Feature – Arthur Pita, The Little Match Girl, London: Lyndsey Winship, Standard Q&A – Patrick Howell (Milwaukee Ballet): John Schneider, Milwaukee Express Reviews – Neil Greenberg, This, New York: Apollinaire Scherr, FT Gia Kourlas, NY Times Preview – Cas Public, Suites Curieuses, Montreal: Victor Swoboda, Montreal Gazette Review – Meredith Monk, On behalf of nature, New York: David Allen, NY Times Preview – Ryan Heffington, Wading Games (a punk rock water ballet), Los Angeles: Priscilla Frank, Huffington Post Feature - Ballet Philippines, A day in the life of a dance company: Jasmine Agnes T Cruz, Business World Weekender

Wow!! Are you going Anna?

Well it did happen with London Festival Ballet (now ENB) in the mid-1980s with 16yos Trinidad Sevillano and Katherine Healey who were both principals. As a ballet-watching newbie I did not realise just how wonderful Trini was until I recently saw some clips of her on You Tube, I just knew I loved her!

Northern Ballet have issued a lovely video interview with Darren: http://northernballet.com/?q=video/darren-goldsmith-21-years

North Tour Details South Tour Details

On a personal note, Darren has long been one of my favourite dancers. As well as the roles listed above, he was an outstanding Wadjet in Cleopatra as well as a truly awesome Dracula in Michael Pink's production. One of my favourite memories of Darren is him performing Benvolio during a magical few days in Istanbul, The performances were in an outdoor, modern, amphitheatre. At the "curtain calls" at the end of each performance Darren's glorious smile lit up the whole skyline! I would also like to thank Darren for all the support he has given to Friends during his time with the Company. Darren will be sorely missed on stage and I would like to send him my very best wishes for the future. I do hope we will still see him! And yes, I've got my ticket booked for 14th December.

Darren Goldsmith says farewell after 21 years with Northern Ballet Northern Ballet’s Principal Character Artist, Darren Goldsmith, is to retire from Northern Ballet after 21 years with the Company. His farewell performance will be as Captain Hook in Northern Ballet’s Peter Pan on Sunday 14 December at Leeds Grand Theatre. Darren joined Northern Ballet in 1993 after training at The Royal Ballet School. Then under the directorship of Christopher Gable CBE, Darren worked his way up the ranks and was promoted to Premier Dancer in 2009 by Northern Ballet’s current Artistic Director, David Nixon OBE. He has performed many leading roles during his career, including Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Tybalt and Romeo in Romeo & Juliet, Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly and Claudius in Hamlet along with many others. He also worked with Gillian Lynne DBE to recreate the role of LS Lowry in her ballet A Simple Man for a Channel 4 documentary. Darren’s met his wife, Northern Ballet’s Soloist Victoria Sibson, at the Company and the couple welcomed a son in April 2014. David Nixon OBE said: ‘Darren is a versatile dancer and an excellent partner but, for me, it was his unique ability to make the correct choices during a performance and act with clarity and precision, defining his roles with his interpretation. My most memorable moments are his powerful creation of Claudius in Hamlet, his sweet and humorous interpretation of Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and his performances opposite Chiaki Nagao in Madame Butterfly. On behalf of Northern Ballet I wish to thank Darren for the many years on and off stage, the laughter, the tears, even the difficult times, as they form who and what we are. It is my hope that this is not an end for Darren but a new beginning.’ Darren Goldsmith said: ‘Over my career I have been fortunate to work under three Artistic Directors, all of whom have inspired me and shaped me into the performer that I am. Every show has been its own experience and I have been blessed with some amazing roles. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me throughout my career but especially the Company because one person by themselves cannot make a show and the support you need when you’re taking the lead can only come from them. I hope I have supported them as well as they did me.’ Darren’s farewell performance as Captain Hook in Peter Pan will take place at Leeds Grand Theatre on Sunday 14 December. Northern Ballet will perform Peter Pan at Leeds Grand Theatre from 11 – 20 December 2014, tickets for all performances can be booked atleedsgrandtheatre.com or by calling 0844 848 2700.

Wim Vandekeybus & Ultima Vez - What the Body Does Not Remember Dance History on Stage NATIONAL TOUR: 10 February – 20 March 2015 London, Brighton, Poole, Truro, Doncaster, Newcastle, Nottingham, Blackpool, Canterbury, Coventry, Salford and Cardiff. Dance Touring Partnership proudly presents the seminal dancework What the Body Does Not Remember by Brussels-based Wim Vandekeybus and Ultima Vez, as part of a national tour that visits 12 UK venues, including Sadler’s Wells, London. www.UltimaVezTour.co.uk Premiering in 1987, Wim Vandekeybus’s What the Body Does Not Remember caused a sensation in the world of dance with its intense atmosphere and high octane physicality. It was so well received in New York that year it garnered a prestigious Bessie Award - unusual for a debut piece of choreography - for Vandekeybus and composers Thierry de Mey and Peter Vermeersch. What the Body Does Not Remember, Vandekeybus’ first piece of choreography is neither polite dance nor pleasant shapes to pretty music. It balances on the razor edge of attraction and repulsion. The dancers are driven to act and react at high speed, and with split second timing, to both each other and to the music – and where its moments of humour thread through explosions of aggression, fear and danger in an adrenaline-fuelled performance, played out on a combative landscape. 28 years on and with a new cast, this iconic piece of physical theatre, remains one of the most exciting pieces of dance ever made. “Tough, brutal, playful, ironic and terrific. Adjectives seem unduly passive in describing What the Body Does Not Remember, an extraordinarily innovative dance piece.” -
 The New York Times, 1987 TOUR DATES Spring 2015 10–11 Feb Sadler’s Wells, London 0844 412 4300 ** 13 & 14 Feb Gulbenkian, Canterbury 01227 769075 17 Feb Brighton Dome 01273 709709 20 & 21 Feb Sherman Theatre, @ The Dance House, Cardiff 029 2064 6900 24 & 25 Feb Hall for Cornwall, Truro 01872 262466 27 & 28 Feb Lighthouse, Poole 0844 406 8666 3 & 4 Mar Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry 024 7652 4524 6 & 7 Mar Nottingham Playhouse 0115 941 9419 10 Mar Cast Doncaster 01302 303959 13 & 14 Mar The Lowry, Salford Quays 0843 208 6000 17 & 18 Mar Northern Stage, Newcastle 0191 230 5151 20 Mar Grand Theatre, Blackpool 01253 743346 ** Music performed live by ICTUS www.UltimaVezTour.co.uk Co-produced by KVS. Co-producers of the original performance Centro di Produzione Inteatro Polverigi, Festival de Saint-Denis, Festival d’Eté de Seine-Maritime, Toneelschuur Produkties Haarlem. The UK tour is funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Arts Council of Wales. Dance Touring Partnership Formed in 2002, Dance Touring Partnership (DTP) is a network of theatres working together to bring exciting and engaging dance to audiences around the UK. It has commissioned new work and, through its national tours of groundbreaking dance, aims to build audiences, increase the range and diversity of work available and encourage new attenders into dance. It also gives people the opportunity to meet artists and experience new dance first-hand through workshops and talks as well as providing useful education resources to students and teachers. The combination of these has helped to dramatically change the face of dance in the UK. Since 2004 DTP has toured Ultima Vez, Australian Dance Theatre, Jasmin Vardimon, Renegade Theatre, Stan Won’t Dance, Theatre Rites, Hofesh Shechter, Tanja Liedtke’s Twelfth Floor, Bounce Street Dance Company, Danish Dance Theatre, Shaun Parker & Company, Blanca Li Dance Company, Fabulous Beast and most recently Boy Blue Entertainment. www.dancetouringpartnership.co.uk DTP core members. Brighton Dome: Hall for Cornwall, Truro: Lighthouse, Poole: The Lowry, Salford: Northern Stage, Newcastle: Nottingham Playhouse: Oxford Playhouse: Sherman Cymru, Cardiff: Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry. Ultima Vez Ultima Vez was founded in 1986 as the company and organisation of choreographer, director and filmmaker Wim Vandekeybus. Since its foundation, Ultima Vez has intensively developed its activities as an international contemporary dance company with a strong base in Brussels and Flanders. Currently the activities of Ultima Vez are focussed around: - the creation, production, distribution and promotion of the artistic work of Wim Vandekeybus - the organisation of educational activities for various target groups - the support and counselling of choreographers through the European Network Life Long Burning Wim Vandekeybus Born in Herenthout, Belgium in 1963, Director, Choreographer and Scenographer Wim Vandekeybus had a rural upbringing in a large family with his parents and five siblings. His father’s occupation as a vet had a significant impact on Wim as he grew up, as he was exposed to the rawness of nature and the beauty and catastrophe of life and death. He began to study psychology and developed an interest in theatre, film and photography. In his early twenties he began working with theatre maker Jan Fabre, playing the part of the naked king in The Power of Theatrical Madness. He would work intensively and tour with Fabre for the next two years and during this time he began to research his own ideas, reading, writing and talking with potential collaborators. He founded his company Ultima Vez in 1986, creating his first production What the Body Does Not Remember with music performed by 11 musicians that amazed the world of dance of the time. In New York Vandekeybus and composers Thierry de Mey and Peter Vermeersch received the prestigious Bessie Award for this ‘brutal confrontation of dance and music: the dangerous, combative landscape of What the Body Does Not Remember’. Since then, Vandekeybus has created theatre, dance and film works, collaborating with composers, actors and dancers – and working with animals and children. Twenty-eight years since its first performance and with a new cast, What the Body Does Not Remember is again on a world tour. “The intensity of moments when you don’t have a choice, when other things decide for you, like falling in love, or the second before the accident that has to happen; suddenly they appear, with no introduction, [and are] important for me because of their extremeness rather than for the significance to be given to them. The decision to use this as a basic material for a theatrical composition is at least a paradoxical challenge, considering a theatrical event as repeatable and controllable. Perhaps when all is said and done, the body doesn’t remember either and everything is a subtle illusion of luck which helps to define or exhaust the game”- Wim Vandekeybus

ENB have set up an online advent calendar. Here is the link: http://advent.ballet.org.uk/?utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=16158-261342-Advent+Calendar+2014

Northern Ballet have issued a trailer for this delightful piece. The trailer also includes a synopsis of the plot: http://northernballet.com/?q=video/elves-the-shoemaker-trailer

John Chesworth OBE, 1930 - 2014 Rambert is sad to announce the death of its former dancer, choreographer and Artistic Director John Chesworth. John Chesworth was born in Manchester in 1930. He served in the RAF, and after demobilisation in 1950, with no prior dance experience, he enrolled in the Rambert School of Ballet. After only 18 months at the School he was invited to join Rambert’s corps de ballet, and he would continue to work for the company for the next 28 years. Chesworth quickly established himself as one of the company’s finest and most versatile character dancers, with roles including Hilarion in Giselle, Dr Coppelius in Coppelia and the title role in Don Quixote, and leading roles in ballets by Frederick Ashton and Antony Tudor, including Façade, Les Masques, Dark Elegies and Gala Performance. He also created principal roles in most of Norman Morrice’s early ballets, and later Glen Tetley choreographed roles for him in Ziggurat and Rag Dances. In 1966 Ballet Rambert reinvented itself as a contemporary ensemble under the co-directorship of Morrice and Dame Marie Rambert. Chesworth was appointed Assistant to the Directors, and Time Base, his first choreography for the company, had its premiere in November of that year at the Jeannetta Cochrane Theatre. Chesworth would go on to make six more works for the Rambert repertoire as the company built audiences for its new style of work: H (1968), Tick Tack (1968), Pawn to King 5 (1968), Four According (1970), Pattern for an Escalator (1972) and Ad Hoc (1972) – the latter an enormously popular improvised work with a different theme and cast for each performance. Chesworth became Associate Director of Ballet Rambert in 1970, and succeeded Morrice as Artistic Director in 1974. He would lead the company for the next six years, developing Rambert’s reputation for technical excellence and diverse repertory, which included new creations by Richard Alston, Christopher Bruce, Siobhan Davies, Anna Sokolow and Glen Tetley. A notable success of his tenure was Cruel Garden(1977), created by Bruce and Lindsay Kemp and featuring Chesworth in the cast, which was performed in a Ralph Koltai-designed bull-ring set at the Roundhouse in London. Chesworth also supported the choreographic development of Rambert’s dancers, reviving regular workshop seasons of company members’ choreography. He was very interested in the possibilities for dance on film and television. He created Project 6354/9116 Mk2 for BBC TV (1974) and directed the experimental film Dancers (1978), a collaboration with Derek Hart and Yutaka Yamazaki which won awards at the Chicago and Krakow film festivals. In 1977, he was Associate Producer of the BBC production of Rambert’s children’s programme Bertram Batell’s Side Show. Talking to Dance Europe in 2001, Chesworth said of his time with Rambert: “When you look at it, it’s as if I was in three different companies. When I joined in 52 it was the ‘old’ company, where the whole repertoire was basically single act works dating from the 30s and 40s – a nice way to get into the past. Later it changed into a more classical style company with just one new modern work a year, normally by Norman Morrice. Finally in 66 it changed quite abruptly to be a totally contemporary company. I think that’s what kept me going, if it had been the same all the time I wouldn’t have lasted the course. “I was fortunate that Dame Marie just let me get on with whatever I did. We never had any terrible clashes, it just seemed to work for me and work for her.” After stepping down from his role at Rambert in 1980, Chesworth would go on to become the founding Artistic Director of the National Youth Dance Company, which he led from 1985 to 2003, the year in which he was appointed OBE for services to dance. In 2012, Chesworth joined the other surviving Rambert Artistic Directors past and present in planting a time capsule of memorabilia from the company’s history in the foundations of its new home on London’s South Bank. Rambert’s current Artistic Director Mark Baldwin said: “John was Artistic Director when I first joined Rambert, where he had the reputation as a great coach of performers, and nurturer of young choreographers. He was enormously charismatic and had a beautiful speaking voice. This made him a fantastic advocate for Rambert, and for dance. I remember him introducing the matinees, which he continued to do when he was director of the National Youth Dance Company. He commissioned a work from me for NYDC, which he would introduce at each performance with warm insight. It certainly gave confidence to a burgeoning choreographer.” Christopher Bruce, Associate Director of Ballet Rambert under Chesworth and later Artistic Director said:"As a dancer, choreographer and director, John was always totally dedicated to the Rambert company. He was a man of ideas and just the nicest person you could ever hope to work with. I will be forever thankful for his support during my time with the company and especially grateful to him for bringing Lindsay Kemp and I together for the creation of Cruel Garden. I will so miss his sense of fun as well as our discussions on the subject of cricket."

There is a place called Kitchenette opposite the Palace Theatre (which may be around a 10 minute walk away). Here's a link to the menu: http://www.mudcrabindustries.co.uk/files/menus/020914_1650_A3%20K-LD.pdf I loved the duck and sweet potato hash (had it twice in a week!) and the ice cream cones are to die for! If you walk a few minutes further up from the Palace Theatre I think there are a number of other restaurants. If you have time to kill during the day there's a super cafe called Java on the slip road up to Oxford Rd Station: http://www.javabarespresso.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=8 I think it's open till around 9pm too. There is also the Corner House (or whatever it is called these days) and a Starbucks seems to have opened adjacent to the theatre.

Holland, Germany, Italy, certain Eastern European countries too! I've long since lost most of my interest in football but I get very annoyed when people assume it is only the British (or specifically the English) who behave in this way. It's time we pointed this out!

Fiz we don't lead the world in football hooliganism - it's just reported in our press more than the hooliganism in other countries is reported in their press. Some European and South American countries have a far worse problem than we do but we do not really hear about it!