LupusMelis

Hello! You mention NDT in your post, so you might want to check out Codarts in Rotterdam: http://www.codarts.nl/EN/dance/BDA/content/info/BDA-080121-INFO-the_programme.php. If I was of the 'right age' to be accepted onto this course I would apply in a heartbeat

You and me both, Fiz!!!

Thanks Fiz. Not even close, I raised a total of £50 in donations on the day from the friends who had come to support me and my Kickstarter reached a total of £110 in pledges. I don't even have a quarter of what I need to pay for Laban on 1st September and I haven't made the minimum total I wanted to hit to donate to Cats Protection League as well

Hope this is the right place to share this info. Former NBT & Ballet du Rhin dancers (and friends to my own Hype Dance Company!!) Shannon and Pete Parker have been picked for Ashley Banjo's team for Got To Dance Forum members connected to Opes Summer School and Midlands Associates will also recognise them Hope they go far, they're both stunning dancers and such generous people and teachers

Just wrote a quick blog about it: http://skydancermel.com/2014/08/23/boy-did-this-bitch-kick/ NSFW due to swearword contained in the post!!

Thanks everyone! In quite a bit of pain today, but I'm sure it will all be worth it From 300 to 700 hundred I hit a bit of a mental block, but powered on through it. The final stretch home (1000 onwards) got a bit easier! Lin, look forward to hearing from you

Thanks Michelle! Well I reckon I broke the record Managed to do 1265 continuous grand battements. My back is pretty exhausted but not feeling to broken...yet!

Lin, did you get my reply?

Thanks Janet! Lin, the record attempt is tomorrow afternoon

Aileen I think only you can answer that one! If Mats Ek's vision and movement language doesn't 'speak' to you in some way, then you probably won't enjoy Juliet and Romeo. But if you're curious then I would recommend giving it a go! Ek's work is always engaging and thought-provoking as well as being aesthetically satisfying to watch (to me at least)...

Thanks for posting these, Janet. Would you mind if I shared the link to my DanceMuse interview with David Murley here? Seems relevant: http://dancemuse.org/2014/08/20/a-quick-chat-with-murley-dance/

It does look like class places for Crystal Ballet's Associates have been allocated now, however I have it on good authority that there are a few spaces left on the weekend workshops including the Female rep/pointework etc on 21st Sept and the PDD weekend in November (29-30th). Maybe I'll see some forum members there....?!

Hello everyone! There's 23 hours left to sponsor my record attempt via Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1671982406/world-record-attempt-grand-battements so if anyone's thinking of doing so now's the time to do it!!! I've managed to arrange a free Ballestics taster session with Jamie Thomson before I make my attempt on the 22nd August too, AND, I'll be running a little raffle with Mr David Plumpton's new Andrew Lloyd Webber CD as one of the prizes!! If anyone wants to be entered into the raffle get in touch via the link in my signature. Here's an event page I created for the record attempt, easily shareable too (hint, hint!!) https://tackk.com/w5zq3n

I've just posted an interview with Celia from the Dance Again Foundation over on DanceMuse, so thought I'd share the details of their fundraising gala here. Dance Again Foundation Gala 2014 SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE Sunday 28th September 2014 7.30pm Tickets now available!! Call 0844 412 4300 or click here Tickets from £49 - £12 Hospitality tickets available VIP seats, pre-show corporate hospitality, private reception with food and wine, private cloakroom - £125 Hospitality Packages available Gold, Silver, and Bronze For hospitality information contact:- Dr Julian Widdowson 07989381512 or email julian.widdowson@bathrugby.com The line-up includes Edward Watson, Principal Dancer with Royal Ballet ENB’s Alison McWhinney and Junor Souza performing their winning Grand Pas de Deux from the ENB’s emerging Dancers Competition Yat-Sen Chang, former principal dancer with ENB in a Pas de Deux from Don Quixote with Emma Lucibello Ballet Black performing Christopher Marney’s ‘Two of a Kind’ Richard Alston Dance Company The whole company of Stomp! ZooNation Youth with Groove On Down The Road A comedy from Birmingham Royal Ballet’s ‘Flowers of the Forest’ Tap Attack’s Extreme Tap with their prize winning routine on the steps Gavin Henson, reprising his ‘Strictly’ Waltz World Tap Champion Matt Hill and students from Tring Park Musical Theatre Course in a new piece by Scot Miller and two exclusive premiers from: Kenneth Tindall & Northern Ballet – ‘Forbidden Fruits’ Jack Widdowson, back to dance after suffering a broken neck Should be a good evening's performance

I am incredibly appreciative too, but sad that I probably won't get the chance to see her perform over the next 12 months. And she certainly did do it her way!!!

We've always known it was going to happen at some point, but so soon?!

Just wanted to excitedly share the news of Crystal Ballet Associate's teaching faculty: We are very pleased to announce that our class teachers have been appointed for this coming term. Elementary/Intermediate class on a Monday will be taught by Royal Ballet Company soloist Laura Carter. Intermediate/Advanced class on a Wednesday will be taught by ex-English National Ballet first soloist and international guest star Yat Sen Chang. Welcome! Taken from the Facebook page. Soooo exciting!!!

Hello Swanprincess. I'm glad that you can air your frustrations and anxieties with your therapist and get sensible advice from the forum members here. I echo most of their comments, if you haven't got that 'need' to dance then you will most likely focus on the pain, expense and exhaustion (because these things are irrelevant when you do dance!) but if the need is there in your heart then follow it. You say you want to give the gift of inspiration through dance, but you don't have to be a prima ballerina to do this! You can still inspire people and emote if you're a corps dancer, provided you're dancing work that moves you and is close to your heart. You may dream of going to vocational ballet school, but there are other programs out there like the CAT at the Northern Ballet for example that can provide decent enough ballet training to run alongside any other training you choose to do. Similarly, you will get a good dance education at Rambert, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Trinity Laban (where I'm headed in September) and the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance and even though this isn't the traditional ballet dancer's pathway there's nothing to stop you getting out there and creating your own work and company when you graduate. Take it from someone who is just starting their professional dance career 10+ years later than the 'approved' age I would also suggest looking into the UK's contemporary ballet companies. Check out Chantry Dance Company for starters if you want a good example of reaching people and inspiring them through dance. Similarly Murley Dance, Hack Ballet and The Crossword Ballet. Many of these small companies audition apprentices and dancers on a project basis, yes they want to see excellent levels of technique but they also want dancers who can communicate themes, ideas and stories with their bodies and as long as you are training and trying your hardest to get the best level of tuition you can they aren't going to be so bothered about 'where' you do your training (within reason!) If it really is your passion you will end up following it! So even if you do take a break from dance now I'm sure, like me, that you will find your way back to it. Good luck and trust in yourself xx

Thanks for sharing the interview, Janet So bats, vampires and ghouls give Javier the willies?! Bless!!!

I'm sure I will see you in class at some point this year, Lin. Everything's official with Laban now, just need the funds to keep coming together! Yes, Michelle that's a great pic. Coincidentally I attended a summer school at Chantry Dance Company the other week and one of my fellow dancers was none other than Kat Anderson (Lincoln ballet teacher)!

Great! And thank you, Janet

Bruce, I shared some of the news a few weeks back under 'Kenneth Tindall': http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/7398-kenneth-tindall/. Maybe you're thinking of that?

Haha, Pilates is in everything. That's what makes it great Meh, legs up by the ears and split jetes are all very well but they are just demonstrations unless they are filled with soul and meaning. I've not seen you dance yet Lin, but from your evident love for moving I'm sure someone will get equal amounts of emotion from watching you dance as they will a 'typical' technician (if not more!)

Oh yes, I've heard of Martin Corri but never taken class with him (must've been a treat!) He was a dancer with NDT before he joined the company in Israel. Lin you are right to spot the connection between Authentic Movement, 5 Rhythms and Gaga as they are all somatic practices it's just the intention of the movement that's different. Stuff comes up with Gaga, but the focus isn't as much on healing as it is with the other two than just moving through to the next thing and the next thing. But if you are connected properly you will feel the movement's restorative qualities (because that's why we move after all, to restore the body and the mind) but with Gaga you just let it go rather than let the brain get in the way. There are cues in Gaga/Dancers classes like float, let stuff move through etc to inform the session but it's not structured in the traditional sense. Gaga is a way of moving, but that can be applied to more technical elements of a ballet class (try doing a continous rond de jamb, a port de bras that never stops reaching) to enliven the movement. The thing with Gaga is that you never stop, it is like blood flowing through your veins and as such it is very internal and unique to the individual. I found the Gaga way of moving to be incredibly primal and energising, it really created heat in my body and opened up both body and mind to new potentials. But others find it to be calm and meditative so it really is an individual thing. Try applying some of the Gaga way during your next ballet class, Lin and let me know what happens! It reminds me a lot of the Yogamonks method of Yoga that I practice (http://www.yogamonks.com/). There is certainly structure in the vinyasa, after all a forward bend is still a forward bend, but it's the way in which we practice the vinyasa that's different. Our focus is on moving through things, letting one movement flow into the next rather than stop adjust, stop adjust, stop adjust. We feel where we are at that moment in time and move with it. Although you couldn't 'choreograph' a Gaga class beforehand, you can use Gaga to inform choreography with the intention of a performance. After all it's just a way of moving, rather than a set objective, and that's often what happens with the R&D element of a choreographic process anyway. If you watch videos of Batsheva you will see that the dancers are incredibly individual and internal, but powerfully so because of it. Their Gaga training develops a really intimate way of moving that results in effective and authentic performances. I hope you'll make some further investigations into Gaga

Double post - please delete