Terpsichore

Although I do not really approve of the honours system I am glad to see the recognition of dancers while it subsists. I am particularly pleased to see the inclusion of Gillian Lynne for her services to musical theatre and dance. She was the choreographer of "A Simple Man" on the life of LS Lowry. That was the first full length ballet by Northern Ballet (I think it was then still called Northern Dance Theatre) that I saw, shortly after I moved back to the North..

While slimming through the New York Times today I came across this very interesting article on ballet shoes by Michael Cooper: "At City Ballet, Footwear Is Almost as Important as Feet" 31 Dec 2013. I was delighted to learn that there is at least one sector of manufacturing in which the UK still leads. The article states that almost all New York City Ballet's shoes come from Freeds of London. The article and comments discuss ways of reducing noise, increasing durability and. of course. managing stress and strain on dancers' feet through improvements in design and the use of new materials. Finally, there are some lovely photos, not only of dancers en pointe but also choosing, manipulating and generally adjusting their footwear. Although I read the New York Times primarily for business, technology and US political news that is relevant to my practice as a patent lawyer I also check the arts section because there is nearly always an interesting vignette on dance in general and ballet in particular. It is well worth subscribing to the NYT for the arts section alone. The URL to the article is http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/30/at-city-ballet-footwear-is-almost-as-important-as-feet/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131231 This is almost certainly my last post for 2013 so happy New Year to all the other subscribers to BalletcoForum. :-)

Balleteacher and Michelle_Richer, thanks for the information about the English National Ballet's classes for members of the public. I would not object to subscribing for a course of classes in advance. I do my utmost to attend my classes at Northern Ballet Academy and The Base Studios in Huddersfield. Do let me know if and when you attend another class in Leeds, Michelle_Richer because I shall also try to take such class and look out for you. In the meantime I wish you and everyone else in this thread a Happy New Year.

One of the most interesting companies that I saw last year was MurleyDance, a troupe of 6 very talented dancers founded by David Murley. They include some of my favourites such as Umberto Aragno, Sarah Kundi and Joshua Royal. I saw them at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds at the end of a short nationwide tour that included the Lillian Baylis and Lowry and introduced exciting new works by Briar Adams, Gwyn Emberton and Murley himself. It says something for MurleyDance that a significant proportion of the audience on the night that I saw them were Northern Ballet dancers who had given up their Sunday evening to see the show. My review of the performance (for what it is worth) is at http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/murley-dance-triple-bill.html. According to the company's website Murley is preparing a new work to a score by Patrick Hawes for another tour. MurleyDance also promises ballets by Richard Chappell who is still a student at the Rambert School and Ash Mukherjee. No details of the tour have yet been announced but I will certainly mention it in Terpsichore and here when they are published and I shall catch a performance somewhere in the country if I can. As I am not sure that I shall get round to any more posts before the New Year because I have a mountain of work and nobody pays me to watch or write about ballet I wish everyone in the Forum a happy New Year. I am very glad to have found you all.

Here's the review that I promised you http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/northern-ballets-cinderella-triumph.html I loved the score, the choreography, the sets, the magic, the rapport between Torres and Solari, the performing bear and Cinders mobile. Every girl in North Leeds will want one for her 18th birthday, prom or hen party, Also, do look at Janet McNulty's comprehensive notes above. Cinderella will be at the Grand until the 4 Jan and in Hull and Cardiff in April, Do go and see it.

Just got back from Leeds. Cinderella was a triumph. Now I have to blog it.

Hi Janet McNulty I have tickets for this evening's performance in Leeds and will review it in http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/ shortly afterwards. I saw Matthew Bourne's in Bradford a year or so ago and I have seen Ashton's at Covent Garden several times. I love the Ashton version and remember Fred Ashton and Robert Helpmann as the ugly sisters. Matthew Bourne's is also good but in a different way. I am hoping for the best with Nixon's though I have reined in my expectations as I was spoilt by the excellence of the last ballet that I saw (http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/scottish-ballets-hansel-and-gretel.html) and also by my recollection of the Ashton version. Hope you had a good Christmas by the way. My expectations for the day (which are never high) were greatly exceeded. Happy New Year

Mary, both ballets seem well suited to the small screen. I saw Sleeping Beauty at the Bradford Alhambra and was somewhat underwhelmed http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/why-cant-i-be-nicer-to-matthew-bourne.html. For some reason or other I like the film version much better I have yet to see this version of Don Quixote on stage but I saw the live streaming in October. Again I was underwhelmed http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/por-favor-don-quixote-streamed-to.html However I like the ballet http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/more-thoughts-on-don-quixote.html For some reason I enjoyed the TV recording more than the broadcast. I appreciated Acosta's dramatic skills better this time I think.

Today's New York Times reported that Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish, who starred with Alvin Ailey between 1984 and 1997, has returned to the company at age 55 and after a hip replacement. The video shows she has not lost her touch http://www.nytimes.com/video/arts/dance/100000002619817/returning-to-the-stage-at-55.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131225

Michelle_Richer now that you have mentioned your class at ENB I remember talking to you in the canteen just before Annemarie came down to escort us to the studio. I was a bit apprehensive because the "Improvers" class is more advanced than my usual class. I survived it and learned something however. If as is likely I have to move to London for work in the next year or so I shall be looking for a similar class there. I would love to attend ENB's if I am good enough but it is a big "if". I hope you are enjoying Christmas by the way. I am appreciating Don Quixote rather more than I did the live streaming http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/por-favor-don-quixote-streamed-to.html

Hi Michelle_Richer I was at the class that Rose attended on the 17 Dec. She was standing on the opposite side of the studio. I regret that I did not attend the Cinderella workshop. I usually attend Annemarie's Thursday morning class, I attended her class on Tuesday because I had to miss her class on the 12 Dec owing to work commitments. I shall look out for you in future.

I saw Midsummer Night's Dream at the West Yorkshire Playhouse on 14 Sep 2013 and it was a remarkable performance. One of only three standing ovations that I have witnessed http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/realizing-another-dream.html

Here are some very short clips of dePrince which I have embedded in my posts: http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/michaela-deprince.html http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/the-dutch-national-ballet-junior.html http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/dutch-national-ballet-junior-company.html You can also visit her website at http://www.michaeladeprince.com/ but none of those films do this remarkable young dancer justice. She is much more impressive in real life.

May I mention a project that excites me very much? The Dutch National Ballet and its ballet school have gathered 12 outstanding dancers from around the world including Michaela dePrince who was featured in First Position and given them performing experience by forming a company ("the Junior Company") to tour the Netherlands. I made a special trip to Amsterdam on 24 Nov to see them at the Stadsshouwburg which is a lovely theatre, an opera house in miniature. Here is my review of that performance http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/the-junior-company-in-perforance.html That was only the third standing ovation I have ever seen, the others being Ashton's retirement gala in 1969 and Northern's Midsummer Night's Dream in Leeds a few weeks ago. Incidentally, the Junior Company's artistic director, Ernst Meisner, is part of the creative team for a new app called Bounden which a small software house in Utrecht is developing. Here is an article on that project http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/bounden-something-that-appeals-to-my.html I have written a lot of articles about the Junior Company in general and dePrince in particular. She and Sho Yamada danced the pas de deux from Diana and Acteon at the Netherlands tribute to Mr Mandela. This article also embeds clips from the ballets that I saw in Amsterdam. http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/dutch-national-ballet-junior-company.html Merry Christmas to one and all by the way.

A gorgeous production http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/birmingham-royal-ballet-sleeping-beauty.html

I saw that ballet in Bradford last month. Here is my write up http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/christmas-carol-fine-performance-filled.html

I saw the ballet in Kendal in May. Here's my write up http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/theyre-not-from-chigwell-theyre-from.html

I have wanted to see this ballet ever since I saw the review in Dance and Dancers in 1969. I saw it on 23 Nov 2013 and it was well worth the wait http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/stuttgart-ballets-taming-of-shrew-well.html

I also saw Klimentova and Muntagirov on the 11 December and enjoyed it very much. Here are my thoughts on the performance http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/cracking.html I have lost count of the number of times I have seen ENB (or Festival as we used to call it) perform this work. Nobody does it than ENB IMHO though I prefer some of their earlier versions.

Northern Ballet do some very valuable outreach work including teaching elderly hippopotamuses like me to dance but I think My Hansel and Gretel is different in that it encouraged the public to help design the ballet.

I returned to ballet a year ago at age 63 after a gap of 40 years and felt very much at sea, especially as I was 20 years older than the next oldest and more than 40 years older than the rest of the class. I am not built for ballet and I was never very good at it when I was young but I enjoy class and have stuck to it. I am a member of the "Over 55 class" at Northern Ballet which I blogged in this artilcle http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/adult-ballet-classes.html. I have also taken classes at Pineapple and the Base Studios in Huddersfield which I have also described in my blog. The index page to my experience of those classes is here http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/adult-ballet-classes.html I hope others may find it useful. I forgot to congratulate Vbee on her ambition and to add my keep my fingers crossed for LinMM's friend's daughter in Australia.

Thanks for the welcome Alison. I have followed Scottish Ballet for many years even before they came to Glasgow and I got to know them well when they moved to Scotland in 1969 which I have mentioned in http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/scottish-ballet.html. I am very impressed with the My Hansel and Gretel project where the company worked with the Library and Galleries of Scotland and other bodies to involve the public in the development of the ballet. I should like to see other companies do that, particularly those like Northern Ballet and Ballet Cymru which also identify with a region or nation. It would be good for the company and dance generally in that it would create an audience and it would be good for the public.

I saw the ballet on Saturday and enjoyed it thoroughly. If anyone is interested I reviewed it today in http://jelterps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/scottish-ballets-hansel-and-gretel.html. Incidentally, I also enjoyed earlier in the afternoon the "Hansel and Gretel" tea at the Blythswood Hotel described in the blog post that Janet McNulty referred to earlier in the afternoon.