Terpsichore

I am optimistic. For the last 200 years, the art form has reinvented itself and found new audiences in waves. It has survived (and indeed flourished during) cataclysmic events like the Communist revolution, the Depression and World War II. I see no reason why it should not do so again. I expect Sub-Saharan Africa and the African diaspora will be the next great source of talent. Perhaps choreographers, composers and artists will draw inspiration from traditional dance and music and adapting them to the classical tradition. New markets will develop as an educated middle class with plenty of money and leisure emerge in Asia, Latin America and indeed Africa. I agree with Two Pigeons that there will be pressure to cut or maybe even end direct public funding of the performing arts by bodies like Arts Council of England but I am not sure that is altogether bad. I have never been very comfortable with the idea of the general public paying for a minority interest. I think there are new income streams in licensing, merchandising and sponsorship that are available to companies, theatres and individual artists. If there is a reduction in public funding I can see a shake-out in the number of companies though I think great national companies like the Royal Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet should survive and continue to perform the same sort of repertoire as they do now. I see greater use of communications technologies especially as graphics (and 3D in particular) improve. That will also contribute to the shake-out in the industry. I think more and more people will take up or resume dance in later life. Classes may even be funded by health insurance companies and national health services as a public health initiative.

Thanks to everyone for their contributions. I will check out all the companies I do not already know and try to attend their performances. If any of those companies have websites I shall insert links to them.

I used to enjoy his Thought for the Day broadcasts as well and have several of his books, I am also grateful for his work for the transgender community.

Don't forget Duchy Ballet in Cornwall. There is also a Harlow Ballet Association. Also, there is or at least was an elder company associated with Scottish Ballet Finally there are also the performance companies attached to ballet schools such as Manchester City Ballet and Ballet West. I have written about all those companies in Terpsichore and should be glad to cover any more that subscribers to this website may bring to my attention.

I must confess that I don't know your city as well as I might, Fiz, but I have seen some good shows by Ballet Cymru at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, I have spoken at the University conference centre and had a great meal in the chapter house. Further afield there is Grantham with St Wulfram's church and its great spire, the grammar school that Sir Isaac Newton attended, the house in which Lady Thatcher was born (whatever one thinks of her politics and I appreciate that she is a very controversial figure she was still our Prime Minister for 11 years and led her party to three consecutive election wins which is an achievement) and the Beehive pub where they use a beehive with live bees for a pub sign. They also have the Gravity Fields science festival every other year. Finally, I forgot to mention that Grantham is the hometown of Chantry Dance. In my Holmfirth where I have lived for over 30 years we have the locations of the well-known TV series, Last of the Summer Wine, which I never watched. We have some beautiful heathland (particularly in late summer), Holme Moss (a hill that commands breathtaking views of large parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire,) the West Nab (another hill), a rather charming parish church, lots of pretty villages with curious names like Paris which is pronounced Pair-is, two lovely 18th century Quaker meeting house in Wooldale and High Flatts where I worship occasionally, some fine old pubs, lots of farm shops and a vineyard. We have a film festival, folk festival, food festival and arts festival every year and, best of all, we are only 25 miles from my birthplace Manchester which in my impartial opinion is the best city in England if not the world. Don't get me started on what Manchester has to offer but we have the Museum of Science and Industry, a C of E and an RC cathedral, a test cricket ground, lots of football clubs including City and United, many great universities, many great museums, many great theatres with some unique collections, great restaurants and, of course, the Northern Ballet School with its Dancehouse Theatre where I have danced occasionally. I could go on. Beats Leeds and Liverpool into cocked hats!

I got to see the last performance of La Baydere last Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Sasha Mukhamedov danced Nikiya, Jozev Varga Solor, Vera Tsyganova Gamzatti and Nicolas Rapaic the Brahmin. The young Brazilian dancer, Daniel Silva, whom I had last seen in the Junior Company's Ballet Bubbles on 14 Feb 2016 danced the bronze idol. He joined the Junior Company only last year and is already an eleve in the main company. That lad is really going places. It was also nice to see some of the current members of and recent recruits from the Junior Company. In fact we were treated to quite a stellar cast. Rising stars like Michaela DePrince and Floor Eimers were in the corps. It was nice to be in Amsterdam last weekend because our visit coincided with the annual visit of Sinterklaas and Black Piet from Spain. Although the name sounds very like Santa Claus he is nothing like our Father Christmas. He parades with floats and marching bands through the centre of town on the middle Sunday of November. The procession passed the Music Theatre or Stopera about 20 minutes before the start of the show. Coming from UK I felt a little uncomfortable about people blacking themselves up. I understand there is some controversy in the Netherlands and I don't think we would encourage it here but there were plenty of Back and Asian folk in the crowd and they seemed to enjoy themselves. Although I had come primarily for ballet I did do other things while I was there. I attended a concert at the Concetgebouw on Saturday night for Brahms and Shostakovitch. A very civilized tradition at that concert hall is to offer patrons a free drink before the show and in the intermission. Waiters greeted us with trays of red and white wine, fizzy and still water and soft drinks. Coffee and tea were also on offer. So much nicer than having to elbow one's way to the bar and then down the beverage before the second bell as usually happens to me here. I also toured the modern art and design museum which is just across the road from the concert hall. Looking forward to returning to Amsterdam on 11 Dec for Ted Brandsen's Coppelia. Here's a rather fun animation I have found a very convenient flight from Manchester which will arrive in good time before the show and a convenient one back the same day. Except for having to show a passport Amsterdam is just as easy to reach than London and, despite the recent tombe - no fish dive - of the pound, considerably less expensive. I have written a couple of articles about my trip with some lovely pictures supplied by the company in Terpsichore if anyone is interested

Surely the Royal Ballet has always been adventurous. I think that is one reason why it is so good. Helpmann's Miracle in the Gorbals with its uncomfortable story and absence of pointe work must have seemed off the wall to theatregoers when it was first performed. I have seen works that are stranger than McGregor's triple bill in the 50 years or so that I've been coming to Covent Garden. I might add that the Royal Ballet is not the only major classical company to stage McGregor's work. I mentioned the Dutch National Ballet's performance of Chroma last year and I see from McGregor's website that the Australian Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet and even the Bolshoi have danced it. Finally, I am rather grateful for the opportunity to sit in the centre of the stalls for £47. Usually, I have to pay that amount just to get into the amphitheatre although that sum would usually buy me a good seat in The Lowry or The Alhambra. It is a shame that the House can't discount its seats more often.

I was at last night's performance and enjoyed all three works although my favourite was Carbon Life which I saw for the first time yesterday. I had already seen Chroma several times including a performance last year by the Dutch National Ballet who staged it as part of their Cool Britannia triple bill with works by Christopher Wheeldon and David Dawson. I can't remember whether I mentioned that performance on this website but I certainly reviewed it in Terpsichore. I thought last night's performance was good too and I was particularly impressed by the Alvin Ailey dancers, especially Roberts. However, Lamb, Cutherbertson, Bonelli et al were good too - or at least I thought so. Multiverse was a bit more challenging especially in the way it started but it softened as it continued, particularly after It's gonna rain ended. I certainly hope to see it again I was enchanted with Carbon Life from the start, I enjoyed every scene and every song. I particularly enjoyed the rapper and sniggered with everyone else at his dig at President-elect Trump. I liked the show so much I felt compelled to rise to my feet at the end and I was glad to see that I was not the only one. I did the job properly yesterday. I had a seat in the centre of the stalls and a table to myself in the Paul Hamlyn balcony where I could reflect over a good meal and an endless supply of coffee. Usually, my trips to London have to be rushed but I finished work early, had a nice chat with a chum over afternoon tea and was the first one in the theatre at 17:15. I had time to read the programme properly, I wasn't straining my eyesight from the amphitheatre or elbowing my way to the bar at each intermission. I am sure that helped my appreciation of the performance. I can understand why the triple bill might not appeal to everyone and that's OK. We're all different with different tastes and preferences. Most folk seem to like Nixon's Swan Lake, Akram Khan's Giselle and Anastasia more than I do. As I say, it's all a question of personal preference and individual taste. If anyone wants to read more about what I thought of yesterday's show I have posted a short review in Terpsichore which I penned on the train back to Yorkshire.

Dunno Janet! I thought I saw you at the Lowry. One of the endearing traits of what used to be called "SELNEC" (South East Lancashire and North East Cheshire), later "Greater Manchester County" and now "Manchester City Region" is flexibility of boundaries. Folk in the leafier southern suburbs will insist on giving their address as "Cheshire" despite local government reorganization even if they are north of the Mersey. Similarly, a lot of businesses on the western side of the Irwell (especially law firms and chambers) like to say they are in Manchester, As they are within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester and city region I don't see why they shouldn't. As one who was lucky enough to have been born in Didsbury (just north of the Mersey) I am a true Mancunian by birth but I don't begrudge that description to the 2.5 million or so other residents of the region,

Jolly good write up Helen. I am seeing La Bayadere at the Stopera this weekend. I've already seen and blogged about extracts from this production. There will be a full review in Terpsichore early next week. HNB usually hand out some free programmes cum cast sheets and there are often a few left over at the end of the show. I'll look out for some for you, Helen, and also for Janet as I did for the gala,

Alison, I think you are right about Jacob Wye's training (see The Company page on Ballet Black's website). I don't know whether he was the changeling boy. He is, however, an excellent dancer and he performed the sailor role particularly well last night. The company is performing the mixed programme at Watford and Harlow (which are far from London) as well as Exeter and Lichfield. In the terminology of the Michelin rouge, they are "vaut le voyage."

I didn't bother with the live streaming of Anastasia last night. I had been at one of the first performances in 1971 with Lynn Seymour in the title role and even though Dowell, Beriosova, Sibley, Rencher, Eagling and many other favourite dancers were in that show I have never been tempted to see that work again. Instead, I went to see some live ballet in Doncaster, namely the last performance by Ballet Black of their triple bill, Cristaux, To Begin, Begin and Storyville, in the North. Ballet Black danced particularly well last night. I had seen them at Leeds and Manchester earlier in the year and enjoyed their performances very much indeed, Yesterday they made some cast changes in Storyville that changed the dynamic of the ballet and enhanced my appreciation of the piece. Damien Johnson, who had danced the lover in Leeds and Manchester, became the villain, Mack. He brought a real chill and creepiness to the row. Jacob Wye was the lover and he brought sensitivity to that role. In some respects, he was as vulnerable as Nola. Isabela Coracy danced Lulu. She is a tall powerful dancer and her dance "Sorry" was scornful, not effacing as was Sayaka Ichikawa who had danced the role well but differently in Leeds and Manchester. It was a bittersweet moment yesterday. We in the North had been spoilt this year. I saw them twice at Sale in Dogs Don't Do Ballet as well as the triple bill in Leeds and Manchester as well as Donny. I had also seen their rehearsal at the Barbican and attended Cassa Pancho's talk at the London Ballet Circle. In my view this has been their best tour ever but I look forward to their new season that opens at the Barbican in March.

Floss raises an interesting topic for debate: However, I think we need to consider what is meant by "narrative", what is meant by "successful" and whether we are talking about narrative ballets in general or just new ones. On 20 June 2015, Northern Ballet held a symposium on narrative ballet which was chaired by Mike Dixon. The panel consisted of the critics Mary Brennan, Louise Levene and Graham Watts, Christopher Hampson, the artistic director of Scottish Ballet and dancers Tobias Batley and Dreda Blow. Janet McNulty was in the audience and so was I. The discussion lasted nearly two hours and in the last few minutes the chair invited questions from the floor. Thinking of works like Les Sylphides and Jewels I asked whether a narrative ballet had to have a plot. Except for a mutter of dissent from Batley the panel seemed to think it did not. I repeat the question to subscribers to this website. Turning to the second question how do you define success? Is it to be judged solely by the number of ticket sales or do we consider the work's artistic qualities? As to the third question, unless we insert the adjective new between "see" and "narrative" in Floss's question, the proposition is self-evidently wrong. There's more than enough productions of Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Giselle around the world. But I think there are good new story ballets coming out all the time. Katherine Barber mentioned that Ted Brandsen's Mata Hari. I was lucky enough to see that ballet in February and I think she is right. It is an effective new story ballet both artistically and in terms of punters on seats by any standard. I would say the same about Scottish Ballet's Streetcar Named Desire which Hampson commissioned and indeed his Storyville for Ballet Black. I suggest that Wheeldon's Winter's Tale has merit. The recently created narrative ballets that I don't like are those with dramaturges. If you want to make three act ballets more successful you should simplify the plot, have good costume and set designs and a nice catchy score. Of very recently produced work I'd say that Bintley's Tempest ticks all those boxes, but then not everybody shares my taste.

Thank you very much Kate_N for your flattering remarks about Terpsichore. I can't take credit for everything. We have had some great contributions from Mel Wong, Joanna Goodman, David Murley, Alison Winward, Janet McNulty, Gita Mistry and others and look forward to welcoming more. But that's not the reason for my post. I just wanted to mention KNT Danceworks' wonderful adult ballet intensive on The Nutcracker which I attended at the Dancehouse Theatre in Manchester in the buildings of the Northern Ballet School yesterday. The workshop was taught by Jane Tucker who is one of my teachers at Northern Ballet Academy (an entirely different establishment connected to Northern Ballet) in Leeds. This was the fourth workshop that KNT has arranged and it was for me the most demanding but also the most enjoyable. We learned three dances: part of the prince's solo from Act II, the Sugar Plum fairy (on demi pointe) and the party scene at Mr and Mrs Stahlbaum's just before Drosselmeyer shows up with his presents. The first two pieces were simplified for us but were still demanding. For instance, we had to do a tour en l'air from a standing start and then several more not to mention some arabesques, jetes and as many pirouettes as we could manage at the end. Sugar Plum was even more difficult as it required a lot of control and precision, Not even the party scene was a doddle. What made yesterday so special was Jane's teaching - she pushes us to our limits but we responded to the best of our ability - and the genial company of my fellow participants - including, in particular, some lovely young people from Liverpool. Also, because the ballet is set at Christmas and is often performed at that time of the year, the intensive launched us into the Christmas spirit. The Dancehouse lets out Northern Ballet School's studios to lots of different dance classes some of whom performed in Move It! last week. There's African and Brazilian dancing, belly dancing, Chinese folk and classical, flamenco to mention just a few. In the studio next to ours, a group of kids of South Asian heritage were learning bharatnatyam yesterday. Their teacher explained that their course was part of the CAT (Centre for Advanced Training) programme which is great for young dancers of all cultures in our city. Sadly we do not yet have our own resident professional classical company in Manchester. We do have a special link with English National as they performed their very first show at the Opera House and premiered Akram Khan's Giselle in our city, However, Birmingham Royal Ballet and ENB are frequent and welcome visitors and we get to see many other touring companies. Also, Northern Ballet School's performing company, Manchester City Ballet, presents a very good full length ballet just before Christmas. They are doing Coppelia in December and if it is anything like their Giselle and The Nutcracker I strongly recommend it.

I strongly agree though I would say that I liked David Dawson's Swan Lake for Scottish Ballet which I saw in Liverpool earlier this year. In fact I liked it a lot better than the Australian Ballet's or indeed the Bolshoi's though I also saw merit in those works. I think that the Royal Ballet should look to its tradition and build on its previous productions. There's no need for rewriting the plot or adding gimmicks. New designs maybe. Any new choreography that may be added should serve a dramatic purpose. On a tangent I am looking forward to the Norwegian Ballet's version by Alexander Ekman where the dancers are several inches under water in Paris at the end of March. I don't generally take kindly to change for change's sake but the video looks like it could be fun.

This post caught my eye in LegalFutures, a blog about innovation in the law: You will find the rest of the story at http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/law-firms-ballet-dancers-advert-mild-innuendo-not-sexist-advertising-watchdog-rules

Quite agree with you Janet. I have often been out of step with newspaper critics and occasionally with majority opinion on this forum. Press reviews are a matter of impression and one person's meat is another person's poison. Similarly one person's opinion is as authoritative as the next person's. Sometimes the view of a child or a first time ballet goer can be particularly instructive.

Just reviewed Toer van Schayk's Episodes van Fragmented which was premiered at the 7 Sept gala and now forms part of the Dutch National Ballet's Dutch Masters. On the opening night of that show the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science pinned the medal of the Order of Nassau-Orange (roughly equivalent to an OBE) to the chest of the choreographer. My article contains some lovely pictures of the ballet which I have been licensed to reproduce in my blog only.

Richard Heideman, the press officer of the Dutch National Ballet, has kindly sent me some lovely photos of the Dutch National Ballet's opening gala which he has licensed me to reproduce. They include pictures of ballets that were premiered at the gala or which are not often performed here. There are some great shots of Michaela DePrince who is one of my favourite artists in any company. As I am not sure that I can publish the photos here, I am reproducing them in Terpsichore if anyone would like to see them. I am starting with the Grand Defile or opening sequence of the gala where the whole company and the National Ballet Academy appear. The photo focuses on Igone de Jongh who celebrated 20 years with the comany. My next post will be the photos of scenes from La Bayadere.

Last week Northern Ballet danced Wuthering Heights in the Quarry Theatre of the West Yorkshire Playhouse. As I was in Amsterdam for the Dutch National Ballet's opening night gala for much of last week I had intended to give the season a miss this year. I had seen Wuthering Heights in Sheffield and Bradford the year before and I prefer other works in its repertoire. I hasten to add that is not because there is anything wrong with the choreography or dancing but I am not a big Bronte fan and Wuthering Heights is my least favourite work by those sisters. Give me Jane Austen any time. Her novels are set in rather more agreeable places than the benighted heaths of 18th century Yorkshire and I might add that her characters are somewhat less disagreeable people. I was persuaded to check the West Yorkshire Playhouse on Friday night by the excellent review that Janet McNulty kindly contributed to Terpsichore and was glad to find that there were still a few tickets left for Friday night. Of the three performances that I have seen over the 18 months or so last Friday's was by far the most enjoyable. Brookes-Daw was a vivacious and passionate Cathy and Dixon was the perfect Heathcliff. Jenny Hackwell and Maria Topliss's were their younger selves. Giuliano Contadini was a great Heathcliff and Pippa Moore represented a sweet and besotted Isabella. The West Yorkshire Playhouse is only a few hundred yards from the company's premises at Quarry Hill and audiences there are fanatically loyal to Northern Ballet. The auditorium is in amphitheatre form and seats about 750 so it has an intimate atmosphere. I think the audience must give the dancers a life and they reciprocate by making a special effort. The net result was a very enjoyable show. Some members of the audience actually gave them a standing ovation. After the show Kiara Flavin and Gavin McCaig, two of the company's younger members, stayed behind to answer questions from the audience. I learned several things that I did not know before from the Q & A. I had featured McCaig in Terpsichore a few years ago so I know him better than most of the dancers and I am glad to see his progress in the company. If anyone is interested, David Nixon, the artistic director of Northern Ballet, will appear at the London Ballet Circle, Civil Service Club, New Scotland Yard off Whitehall at 19:30 on 28 Nov 2016. That meeting is open to all members of the public.

Every September the Dutch National Ballet opens its new ballet season with a party in its home at the Stopera. The show begins with a big parade beginning with the first year students of the National Ballet Academy, continues with the second and subsequent years, the Junior Company, Eleves, Corps de Ballet, Coryphees, Grands Sujets, Soloists and ends with the Principals. There is then a speech by the artistic director, Ted Brandsen, which is mainly in Dutch but partly in English to introduce Alexandra Radius who presents the prize which was established in her honour to the best dancer of the previous year. After the prize giving members of the company dance selected pieces from their repertoire. After the performance waiters pass round the theatre with drinks and canapes. The dancers and choreographers meet their fans. Everybody has a good time until well into the morning. I attended the show last year and described it as my best evening at the ballet and I have attended some great shows in my time including Frederick Ashton's retirement gala. I enjoyed this year's even better because several of my favourite artists took part. My overall favourite was the Junior Company's performance of Ernst Meisner's No Time Before Time which I loved from the moment I first saw the video of the finals of the Lausanne prize. I saw it live at the Meervaart Theatre a few weeks later and I was delighted to see it again on Wednesday night. I was also lucky enough to see Meisner dance again for the first time since he left the Royal Ballet. He was on stage together with Floor Elmers, Juanjo Arques, Rachel Beaujean, Marijn Rademaker, James Stout, Alexander Zhembrovskyy, Vito Mazzeo and Igone de Jongh in an extract from van Manen's Kammerballett to celebrate de Jongh's 20th anniversary with the company. Another piece I particularly enjoyed was Balanchine's Tarantella Pas de Deux in which Michaela DePrince danced excitingly with Remi Wörtmeyer. It was good to see a bit of Brandsen's Mata Hari again not to mention extracts from La Bayadere. The Sleeping Beauty. Balanchine's Theme and Variations and so much more. The party was also good. I met several of my favourite artists including Cristiano Principato whose gala in support of Casa Alessia I mentioned on this website earlier this year. I shall return to Amsterdam on 12 November to see La Byadere and Ted Brandsen's Coppelia. I tried to post pictures of the auditorium and Cristiano to this site but apparently it is not allowed even though I have the copyright owner's licence to share her work. They are nice pics and if you want to see them I will post them elsewhere on the web in due course.

Good afternoon Dormouse. I missed this thread earlier so I add my congratulations to everybody else's. The news report about your Grade 6 pass kept me going through our La Bayadere intensive in Manchester earlier this month. In fact I wrote a little piece abut you at the time: The "old girl" in the title to the post was intended to refer to me by the way - not you. I added: Our Over 55 class at Northern Ballet resumes very soon. As I said in my post there are some members of that class who are even older than you and me. I am sure your success will give us all good cheer.

Sadly our 3 day intensive workshop on La Bayadere at KNT finished far too soon. For me it was the best workshop of the three and Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet had been good too. A lot of very happy ladies left the Dancehouse this afternoon, Tomorrow a new course starts for more advanced students which I hope and believe they will enjoy as much as we enjoyed ours.

Great that the Olympics are under way and even better that out swimmers have won some medals but for me and I suspect many other cricket fans there is nothing quite like a test match - particularly when we have just won it. So well done our chaps for yesterday's famous victory over the Pakistanis http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/37003208 However, a thought occurred to me. As tennis and golf have recently become Olympic sports why not cricket? According to Wikipedia cricket was once included in the Olympics the last match being played in Vincennes in Aug 1900 .According to the Sydney Morning Herald the restoration of our noble sport to Olympic competition was canvassed for Rio (and the Italians have promised that they will include it in 2024 if Rome wins the opportunity to host the games (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/1031283.html). That would be appropriate for I was told by my Latin master at prep school (who also taught games) that Julius Caesar brought cricitus to our shores. I understand that there is irrefutable archaeological proof at Caerleon near Newport for one of the tiles in the bath bears the imprint of the impact of a hard ball on one of the tiles. The tegula was recycled for use in the garrison baths as nobody wanted a defective tile in their patios and you can still see it if you visit the baths which I strongly recommend. Vale

Even though I did not get to my daughhter's house until after midnight as I had to retrieve my car from Luton Parkway where I had left it yesterday evening than risk being snared in rush hour traffic I felt compelled to rush out a quick review. Exhausted though I was I would not have slept otherwise. In short I was delighted. Of all the screenings from Moscow last season Taming of the Shrew had been the one that I enjoyed the most. I enhoyed it even more upon seeing it live. As I said in my blog I think the Bolshoi has always been respected in this country but until last night I don't think it has ever been loved. Or if it has I have not seen it and I have attended at least one performance from most of the company's previous visits to the UK. Yesterday there was a lot of love for the Bolshoi. The interraction with the audience was quite different from that at Saturday afternoon's Swan Lake and for good reason for it seemed to be a different company. They danced superbly with energy and vivacity. As much like a new world company as the Bolshoi. When Maillot took a bow the house exploded particularly when Lantratov clowned with a flower in his teeth. Cranko's Shrew had always been my favourite ballet and having seen it again recently in Birmingham it was fresh in my mind. There are actually aspects of Maillot's version that I like better. The plot is tighter. It is very funny from the moment the housekeeper strolls onto the stage, files her nails and puts on her pointe shoes to the final "Tea for Two". Above all I love the score. Talking of whcih I note that a lot of subscribers to this forum were in the House last night. I would love to have met you. I did put out a tweet just before the show inviting subscribers to Balletco Forum to join me for "Tea for Two" (or somehting stroner) during the interval. Logistics and the demands of my job prevent my coming to town for every show that I'd like to see so when I do come down mid week it is usually for something that I think will be special such as last night.