_emeralds

Balanchine
Theme and Variations
Liebesleider waltzer
Apollo
Stravinsky Violin Concerto
Jewels
Agon
Serenade
4 Temperaments
Western Symphony
Concerto Barocco
(Though I would also really want to add Duo Concertant, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet and Chaconne)

Robbins
Afternoon of a Faun
In the night
Dances at a Gathering
Opus 19 / The Dreamer
Other Dances

Macmillan
Romeo & Juliet
Concerto
Requiem
Manon
Song of the Earth

Lander
Etudes

Nijinska
Les Noces

Fokine
Les Sylphides
The firebird

Hi all, would just like to share that the North East Dance Co-operative have organised an observation of Vienna Festival Ballet at work in company class and in rehearsal for Giselle.

This takes place on Friday 31st of May at Middlesbrough Theatre.

A great opportunity for any members in the North East - the event is free, but you must sign up to the NEDC first (details in the link)

http://bit.ly/NEDC-ViennaFestivalBallet-2019

I thought this may be of interest to any dancers in the North East

There is a free workshop (free with show ticket) on Saturday 27th April at Newcastle's Theatre Royal with the amazing Mark Morris company.

The level is 'general'/open level, so likely suitable for teens and adult dancers. They still have places left, and I'm weighing up if my knees are up to it 😁 but it just seems such a fabulous opportunity!

It's organized by the North East Dance Cooperative, this is the link to find out more: https://bit.ly/MarkMorrisDanceGroupWorkshop-NEDC-2019

It may also be possible to attend without a show ticket, and just pay for the workshop on its own, but the NEDC would be able to give more details

Thank you for your detailed post, Floss. Most illuminating and interesting.

Well, I disagree, I think it's more factually accurate to say Cinderella became 'strongly associated' with Fonteyn.

Personally, I think otherwise it's doing Moira Shearer a disservice. Shearer wasn't simply an understudy, she worked with Ashton in rehearsal and created the role with him. I don't dispute Fonteyn was Ashton's ultimate muse, and he must have missed her tremendously in rehearsal.

According to Daneman's biography, Fonteyn and Shearer were originally down to alternate performances, though the premiere was to be Fonteyn's. This apparently was unprecedented, and Fonteyn was surprised to not have been given every performance.

Anyway, I guess I am splitting hairs

Back to the discussion which I have been reading with interest.

I would have loved to see some rarer Ashton/Fonteyn revived for the centenary. I can't help but feel it's a great missed opportunity.

On 05/03/2019 at 12:23, Richard LH said:

 

"The Royal Ballet pays tribute to its Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Margot Fonteyn, to mark the centenary of her birth. The exquisite lyricism and passionate characterizations of Margot Fonteyn have influenced generations of ballet lovers, from her Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty to her Firebird. Frederick Ashton created numerous ballets for her including Ondine, Sylvia, Cinderella and Symphonic Variations. Her partnership with Rudolf Nureyev captured the world’s attention from their first Giselle through many classical works and Ashton’s Marguerite and Armand, also created for them.

In this special celebratory performance, The Royal Ballet performs The Firebird alongside some of the works indelibly associated with one of ballet’s most revered and influential dancers".

 

As far as I'm aware, and according to Meredith Daneman's biography, Ashton's Cinderella was created for Moira Shearer. Admittedly, (if I remember correctly) Fonteyn was to be the lead role but she was seriously ill. Of course, Fonteyn came to be strongly associated with the role but I'd have thought the ROH would get such details correct?

There is news on Instagram of the sad passing of Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo ballerina, Raven Wilkinson.

I fist became aware of her in the Ballet Russes documentary film by Geller and Goldfine. What an inspirational and beautiful woman.

That is so wonderful, thank you for sharing

Exciting news via Facebook from Ballet Black and Freed on the launch of two new skin tones of shoe for poc.

So, so sad.

What a legend. He will be dancing on in the next life.

3 hours ago, FLOSS said:

No one ever seems to ask whether the much vaunted technical "improvements" are simply the result of concentrating on aspects of technique which were not emphasised previously and ignoring aspects of technique which were once accepted as central to everyone's training. The most obvious example of the shift in emphasis is that fifty or more years ago pretty much everyone accepted that all movement originated from the central core of the body and that the movement of arms and legs began and ended there which meant that arabesques were lower and the overall aesthetic emphasis was on symmetry and balance rather than asymmetry and extremes......

.........

Somehow everyone has become so impressed by the idea that technique has " improved" that it has blinded us with the result that we tend to look at the great dancers of earlier generations as if they must be technically deficient  in some way. We discuss them in terms of what they can not do rather than what they can do. In addition we tend to forget that ballet is a theatrical art form and that every choreographer who is any good will take the basic building blocks of the classroom steps and modify them for use in  the performance of their ballets. In other words it is unreasonable to expect to see perfect classroom renditions of steps in performance because in most cases that is not how the choreographer intended them to be seen.  Today there seems to be an emphasis on displaying every step rather than showing the steps in the context of a phrase and giving them the emphasis which the choreographer wanted.

 

 

Couldn't agree more with this!

This has pretty much summed up what 'bothers' me about so many of today's dancers.

A very moving film. I enjoyed it very much and you look beautiful Sophie Rebecca

Odyssey, I don't know if you have Instagram, but Ashley Bouder posted some great footage from the wings on her stories, gives a little taste. It seems to be of Programme B.

3 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

 

I hope they never do the clown one with the wailing woman in the pit (name escapes) or most of Glenn Tetley's come to that

😂😂 Pierrot Lunaire! 

That really made me laugh. However, I LOVE that ballet.

I haven't lived in London for some time, so forgive me if my info is incorrect....

But yes! I'd agree the 1pm weekday class at Danceworks is a good one to try. There's a mix of ages/abilities in there; from professionals to adult recreational dancers. There are usually a good few young people in that class too; so it won't be intimidating for your daughter. Anna is a fantastic teacher; so warm and welcoming, and so musical, and because of her connection with Young Dancers Academy and West London School of Dance, YP are always present and welcome.

However, it is unlikely to be Anna herself teaching in the summer holidays, not sure if cover teachers are yet announced on the Danceworks website, but covers in the past have been Raymond Chai, Darren, Denzil Bailey, Adam Pudney. All of whom I would recommend. Adam's class is perhaps the most challenging, but if your daughter is studying Adv 1 I'm sure she'll cope.

The 1 o'clock class also has amazing accompanists, including John Sweeney. Taking class to his music was always such a joy!

As for your daughter's interest in contemporary, yes she could try Tory's Contemporary Ballet class at Pineapple. Tory's great! Another suggestion would be Liz Alpe's Advanced ballet class at 2pm on a Saturday at Danceworks. Her class is very 'free', with lots of rolling through and dynamic emphasis. Her accompanists are fantastic too. She had one musician who played bongos, guitar and piano.

As for levels, that's a difficult one...It so much depends on the teacher. Some give harder classes than others even though the 'level' will be called 'General' for both.

If your daughter is in Adv 1 she will have probably covered most of the steps in an advanced or professional open adult ballet class. However it's the pace and unset nature she may not be used to. The Advanced and Professional classes mark exercises much less and move at a quicker pace. If she's done a lot of unset classes she'll be more prepared for this. She probably is a little young for Professional classes but would be ok in most Advanced classes. Elementary/General/ Intermediate classes would be fine for her.

As for specific contemporary classes, I have no experience of those. I'm sure someone else on here can help.

Hope your daughter enjoys it! 

Congratulations!! 👍💃

Fabulous results you should be really proud of yourself xx

3 hours ago, SMballet said:

 ditto if the turns are out of the music. For me, thus, musicality and elegance are more pleasing than the technically correct execution of a step, perhaps because I dont know enough to know when a step is being executed correctly. .....

........I am less impressed by the height of the jump, or how quickly they beat their feet, if it doessnt go with th emusic, and if the landing is ugly/loud. I think I prefer an understated delicate style.

You're spot on there, SMballet, musicality and technique are inseparable. There is no movement without the music, and if the way the steps are executed doesnt fit to the music, or if the dancer doesn't react to the music then to me it's not technically 'correct' anyway.

As for fouettes, I can't stand them off the music! Coda music really 'helps' fouettes so it must be twice as hard for the dancer doing them off!

On 28/03/2018 at 19:39, LinMM said:

 

It is interesting though as the weight shouldn't really all be on the supporting leg anyway I thought

 

....you are working for the centre line ...

 

Centre work ONLY could make you too much on the supporting leg to just get balance sometimes when you are not strong enough.

 

 

Couldn't agree more!

Well the French say Donkey Shot 

I've also heard kwix -ote, as well as the more commonly heard Kee Ho Tay pronunciation that nycitybird mentions.

i stick to Don Q - it's easier 

Interesting question.

As an adult dancer, I've taken barre-less classes and they really don't work for me personally. I'm hypermobile and I have spent many years attempting to stop over-using my quads and glutes and trying to activate the backs/inside leg muscles. I find barre-less classes send me into a state of tension and over gripping! I don't feel warm from the 'centre practice' part, and never on my leg, I always have a 'bad' class.

Some people seem to find barre-less class fine. Different things work for different bodies.

Should you be able to let go of the Barre and be on balance at any time -yes! But I believe the Barre section is part of most class structures for a reason.

In fact I like to do a whole floor exercise  routine myself before I even do the Barre.

A teacher once lent me an amazing book on dance imagery and visualisation, some of which I still repeat in my head when I'm taking class.

I can't for the life of me remember what it was called, but a quick Google search has brought up Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance by Eric Franklin, which I'm 90% sure was the book. 

If so, it's a great teaching and learning tool.

Was thinking of buying tickets for this programme but was holding back a little as I'll have to take a day off work and book a hotel.... well the half price offer has spurred me on nicely! SO excited for this!!

I had a very strange experience at the ROH several years ago - I think it may have been a Macmillan triple bill; Concerto/Judas Tree/Elite Syncopations.

I was visiting the theatre alone, and was seated in the Upper Slips. In the second interval another lady who was visiting the show alone approached me and said she was not staying for the third piece. Would I like her amphi ticket for Part 3. (A slight seat upgrade) She'd seemingly spotted me and didn't want her seat to go to waste when someone else could use it. I was delighted and very touched, thanked her and took her seat about half way through that second interval. 

Straight away I was approached by an audience member from about two or three rows behind aggressively questioning why I was there, I wasn't sitting there before. 

I explained the situation but I was rather dismayed, I thought this person rather rude and nosey!  

And I very much stayed put! 

And I am not tall, with a tall hairstyle or hat, or a fidgeter so that was not their concern.

You can still use normal embroidery thread. Just use several ends at once to get a chunky stitch.

 The aim is to make a rim around the platform. It adds security as it increases the platform size and flattens out any curve at the edges of the platform therefore making it easier to balance and less easy to slip. Even psychologically feeling that you're less likely to slip will help the dancer take the risk to step out or transfer weight properly rather than holding back. It also lengthens the line of the foot.

see pic: (not my shoes!)