Ballet Association News

Hello all, Following on from last night's extremely interesting meeting, we have another one mext week. On Monday 22nd April, we are delighted to welcome Royal Ballet 1st Soloist Melissa Hamilton. She will have a lot to talk to us about. Fpr instance, alongside her performances with the Royal Rallet, she has recently performed in the Melissa Hamilton's International Ballet Stars Gala in Singapore. She has also frequently guested with Roberto Bolle. This is an in person event Start time: 7.30pm Location: American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road (right by Goodge Street station, and a brief walk form Warren Street Station). Admission (at the door): £5 members, £4 concessions, £9 non members Admission (if booked in advance via the website): £5.50 members, £4.50 concessions, £10 non members visit www.balletassociation.co.uk for further details. We look forward to seeing people there.

Hello all, Just flagging up our next meeting. Our next meeting will be on Monday 15th April, with Joshua Junker and Francisco Serrano, both First Artists with the Royal Ballet. Both dancers have featured in a number of roles recently, such as Hans-Peter/Nephew in The Nutcracker (Joshua), and the Drum Major in Different Drummer (Francisco). Joshua has also been choreographing recently as well, so they will have a range of interesting topics to cover. This is an in person event Start time: 7.30pm Location: American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road (right by Goodge Street station, and a brief walk form Warren Street Station). Admission (at the door): £5 members, £4 concessions, £9 non members Admission (if booked in advance via the website): £5.50 members, £4.50 concessions, £10 non members visit www.balletassociation.co.uk for further details. We look forward to seeing people there.

Our next meeting will be on Monday 4th March with Sae Maeda and Harris Bell. This is an in person event. Start time: 7.30pm Location: American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road (right by Goodge Street station, and a brief walk form Warren Street Station). Admission (at the door): £5 members, £4 concessions, £9 non members Admission (if booked in advance via the website): £5.50 members, £4.50 concessions, £10 non members visit www.balletassociation.co.uk for further details. We can look forward to an entertaining evening, and look forward to seeing people there

Hello again, Just giving the 'heads up' for our next meeting. Our next meeting will be with Gemma Bond on Monday 19th February 2024. Although mainly based in New York these days, people may well remember her from her days as a dancer with the Royal Ballet and ABT. She is currently in demand as a choreographer, and is currently in London creating a piece for the Royal Ballet School. She also has a ballet Boundless featuring/premiering on the main stage. Gemma last spoke to us via zoom in 2022 having just created a pice for the Cuban Ballet, so this will be a wonderful opportunity for us to catch up with her, in person! We can look forward to an enjoyable, interesting evening. Speaker: Gemma Bond Date: Monday 19th February This is an in person event Start time: 7.30pm Location: American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road (right by Goodge Street station, and a brief walk form Warren Street Station). Admission (at the door): £5 members, £4 concessions, £9 non members Admission (if booked in advance via the website): £5.50 members, £4.50 concessions, £10 non members visit www.balletassociation.co.uk for further details.

Giving this a 'bump up,' as it's tomorrow evening. Agree time has certainly flown! Stuart Cassidy also came back for that 1 guest appearance in 'Coppelia' with Marianela Nunez after the house had re opened, and she needed a Franz. It will be fascinating to hear all about it, and catch up with what he has been up to over the years, as well as hearing from the students tomorrow evening. We really look forward to what should be a fabulous evening.

Just an update to our speakers on Tuesday 23rd January. Yasemin Caynak will be away, so Stuart Cassidy (teacher) will come along with Alejandro Munoz (as scheduled), along with 2nd year students Layla Hotham and Pietro Zironi. We can stil loook forward to a fascinating evening, and look forward to seeing people there.

Hello all. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 23rd January with Royal Ballet School teacher and former Royal Ballet principal Stuart Cassidy, with the winners of our 2023 BA award winners, RBS students Yasemin Caynak and Alejandro Munoz. This is an in person event. Start time: 7.30pm Location: American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road (right by Goodge Street station, and a brief walk form Warren Street Station). Admission (at the door): £5 members, £4 concessions, £9 non members Admission (if booked in advance via the website): £5.50 members, £4.50 concessions, £10 non members visit www.balletassociation.co.uk for further details. We can look forward to an entertaining evening, and look forward to seeing people there 🙂

The other meeting with Stuart Cassidy and the students should be going ahead, yes - we're looking forward to it 👍

On Moday 8th January, we were hoping to hear Sae Maeda and Harris Bell as our speakers, but owing to a combination of a late 'Manon' stage call, and a tube strike, we have had to postpone this talk until a future date. As soon as we know when this date will be, we will of course, let everyone know. We can look forward to an extremely interesting talk, when it does ultimately happen.

Hello all, Our next meeting is on Tuesday 5th December 2023, with Royal Ballet Principal Matthew Ball. This is an in person event. Matthew has performed in a range of roles, and recently performed as Basilio in the recent cinema relay of Don Quixote. Start time: 7.30pm Location: American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road (right by Goodge Street station, and a brief walk form Warren Street Station). Admission (at the door): £5 members, £4 concessions, £9 non members Admission (if booked in advance via the website): £5.50 members, £4.50 concessions, £10 non members visit www.balletassociation.co.uk for further details. We look forward to seeing people there 🙂 NB: the talk is preceded by our AGM at 6.45pm.

Apologies for the late notice, but....... On Monday 20th November, we look forward to welcoming Royal Ballet soloists Banjamin Ella and Tomas Mock as our guests. Both dancers have performed a range of roles within the company, and we can look forward to an interesting evening. This is an in person event. Start time: 7.30pm Location: American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road (right by Goodge Street station, and a brief walk form Warren Street Station). Admission (at the door): £5 members, £4 concessions, £9 non members Admission (if booked in advance via the website): £5.50 members, £4.50 concessions, £10 non members visit www.balletassociation.co.uk for further details. We look forward to seeing people there 🙂

Our next talk is on Monday 30th October, with Royal Ballet Principal Ryoichi Hirano. He has performed a wide variety of roles, as well as having done a certain amount of guesting. We can look forward to an enjoyable evening. This is an in person event. Start time: 7.30pm Location: American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road (right by Goodge Street station, and a brief walk form Warren Street Station). Admission (at the door): £5 members, £4 concessions, £9 non members Admission (if booked in advance via the website): £5.50 members, £4.50 concessions, £10 non members visit www.balletassociation.co.uk for further details. We look forward to seeing people there 🙂

Hello all, Our next meeting is on Monday 2nd October, and is with First Artists Nadia Mullova-Barley and Amelia Townsend. Both dancers have danced a variety of roles since joining the company, first as Aub Jebsen Young Dancers, then into the company full time. This is an in person event. Start time: 7.30pm Location: American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road (right by Goodge Street station, and a brief walk form Warren Street Station). Admission (at the door): £5 members, £4 concessions, £9 non members Admission (if booked in advance via the website): £5.50 members, £4.50 concessions, £10 non members visit www.balletassociation.co.uk for further details. We look forward to seeing people there 🙂

Hello all, For our meeting on Tuesday 19th September, our speaker will be Isabella Gasparini, promoted to First Soloist at the end of last season. Since joining the Royal Ballet in 2014, she has danced a range of roles in the company, and so we can look forward to an fascinating, entertaining evening. This is an in person event. Start time: 7.30pm Location: American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road (right by Goodge Street station, and a brief walk form Warren Street Station). Admission (at the door): £5 members, £4 concessions, £9 non members Admission (if booked in advance via the website): £5.50 members, £4.50 concessions, £10 non members visit www.balletassociation.co.uk for further details. We look forward to seeing people there 🙂

Hello all, Our first meeting of the 2023/24 season will be on Tuesday 5th September 2023 with Carlos Acosta, Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, and Acosta Danza. This is an in person event. Start time: 7.30pm Location: American International Church, 79a Tottenham Court Roed (right by Goodge Street station, and a brief walk form Warren Street Station). Admission (at the door): £5 members, £4 concessions, £9 non members Admission (if booked in advance via the website): £5.50 members, £4.50 concessions, £10 non members We can look forward to what should be a fascinating evening, and we look forward to seeing people there.