Ballet Cymru - Tir et al

[Quintus]

I saw this last night and understand it is a production that has toured before.  I booked without any particular expectations, but the idea sounded intriguing: Cerys Matthews, whose early career I'm familiar with, singing revived traditional Welsh songs accompanied by Ballet Cymru, with whom I was not at all familiar.  Fair to say if I'd seen advertised an evening of Welsh songs by Mifanwy Pugh and with no dancing, I'd not have leapt at the chance.  Well, what a delight it proved to be!  The first two pieces were unaccompanied by singing, but the very youthful and passionate company were very engaging - not the polish of a big company but still very impressive and with bags of warmth and charm.  The final section saw Cerys on one side of the stage with her guitar, and the dancers reflecting a variety of moods in the accompanying choreography, but typically very uplifting - broad smiles across the audience. The latter mood changed with a final tribute to a company member who had died a few weeks ago. Cerys' singing was emotionally very powerful and a couple of the dancers could not hold back the tears.  Quite a few people in the audience were sniffing and dabbing too and I must admit things got a bit blurry at one point ..  So this was an evening that opened my eyes both to a new genre of music, and to a young company that I will make a point of seeking out in future.  Did anyone else go?

[Jan McNulty]

Lyndsey Winship of the Standard was there:

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/theatre/ballet-cymru-sadlers-wells-dance-review-pure-warmth-from-a-company-full-of-emotion-a3125976.html

[zxDaveM]

I was there too - and almost blubbed at the end. Very touching, and the dancers were obviously moved. When she sang 'Myfanwy' I almost bawled, it made me so homesick...

 

Really enjoyed the show though - highly recommended

[Quintus]

Was that the last song, Dave? That was a real heart wrencher.. I saw one of the dancers in the lobby with I presume her mother, in floods of tears. Clearly a painful time for the company, so all the more credit for getting through the earlier upbeat parts of the performance with such control

[zxDaveM]

I can't remember what it called now. I'll have to look it up when I get home.

 

Didn't you just want to rush up and give them all a big hug at the end? I know I did

[Quintus]

Ha ha yes, there was a major 'awww' factor

[zxDaveM]

Was that the last song, Dave? That was a real heart wrencher..

 

I think it was "Ei Di'd Deryn Du?" - but not 100% sure

[zxDaveM]

I was wrong - it was: Reverend Eli's Jenkins Prayer from Under Milk Wood, the collection of songs Cerys recently released drawn from Dylan Thomas' works

[Quintus]

Thanks - you're right, I since saw a blog entry that also mentioned it.  I did loiter for a while with the intention of buying a copy of Tir from Cerys but had to leave before she surfaced; so this track would have been on a different CD in any case. 

[zxDaveM]

she was selling/signing the Dylan Thomas ones as well, so she said  :-)  (which is actually a fun listen to, around the festive season)

[trog]

I didn't see the production last night, but I saw it earlier in the year in Cardiff, as part of a double bill (no Marc Brew). That evening, many of the audience knew the songs and were encourage to join in. This really added to the atmosphere - I doubt that happened in London. When I saw it, I really enjoyed the Celtic Concerto. I always think it's very special when the harp takes centre stage. It doesn't happen often enough.

 

Ballet Cymru are, IMO, the best small company in the UK. They are always worth seeing.

[zxDaveM]

I did join in on the couple I knew  - like Calon Lan, Sospan Fach and a little of Myfanwy. I bet the people around me were glad of that!!!