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Cambridge University Ballet Club’s Don Q - 1st/2nd March 2019


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Hee hee I do recognise that scenario with amateur ballet performances over the years! 

All sorts of things can go wrong at venues so what looked like a whole afternoon/ eve of rehearsals can be a rushed couple of hours!! 

Then the lighting won't work, the sound system is kaput.....you name it....yes the first performance is usually the dress rehearsal lol!!

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They have a cast of a little over 120, so the logisitics aren't trivial. I'm always amazed that they manage to cobble together a show at all!

 

Did a photoshoot at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning.... One thing they do have is lots of nice backdrops!

 

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Edited by thewinelake
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On 23/01/2019 at 19:23, thewinelake said:

Not sure if anyone’s particularly interested, but ISTR vague mutterings in the past!

 

This is a ballet show from the club that is not restricted to students - quite a few “townies” in it.

 

More here https://adcticketing.com/whats-on/dance/don-quixote

 

That's a big change from my student days, I went to some of their classes at Kelsey Kerridge and the non beginners class had only 2 girls (including me) who had every done pointe work, so it clearly wasn't going to advance my ballet skills, so I took up other forms of dancing.

 

I shall keep this in mind, I'll have to check on blue badge parking, it's a long time since I've been in the West Road area - I did get a bit confused by it being adcticketing and it being at West Road not the ADC. West Road is bigger, but it's not exactly an ideal venue for ballet.

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1 hour ago, annekh510 said:

 

That's a big change from my student days, I went to some of their classes at Kelsey Kerridge and the non beginners class had only 2 girls (including me) who had every done pointe work, so it clearly wasn't going to advance my ballet skills, so I took up other forms of dancing.

 

I shall keep this in mind, I'll have to check on blue badge parking, it's a long time since I've been in the West Road area - I did get a bit confused by it being adcticketing and it being at West Road not the ADC. West Road is bigger, but it's not exactly an ideal venue for ballet.

I think West Road has excellent parking, for normal cars as well as blue-badge holders.

I don't know if there is an ideal venue for ballet. Leys School is often used, and has a very good theatre. I think it's quite small.

That's the trouble with a collegiate system, the central facilities aren't as good as at a more university-centric institution (eg. Bath or Exeter or many others).

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
17 minutes ago, thewinelake said:

Interesting that ticket sales this year have been somewhat sluggish. I think that Don Q seems to have limited appeal for non-balletphiles. Actually, even many here have been skeptical about it. 

 

Do you mean because they haven't heard of it, or because it wouldn't appeal to them for some reason, thewinelake?

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Might putting it on at the same time as the RB's production affect the ticket sales? If they were doing a piece I'd never seen & didn't have the opportunity to see done professionally then I might have considered going after this thread had alerted me to the performances, as I live near Cambridge. However having just seen the RB's production I don't feel the need to see an amateur version which, however well done by amateur standards, I cannot believe could come anywhere near the RB's standard.

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Mmm, interesting notion! I thought that could work both ways - i.e. those who loved the RB version might want to see it again (admittedly differently) and maybe some couldn't make RB and thought this would be a consolation! But really I think that big names like Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Giselle would attract the crowds. Not sure how many went to see Romeo & Juliet, but would guess that would be another less-famous ballet.

 

Actually, I think a more relevant fact is that the cast is a bit smaller (perhaps because there's less attraction there - what amateur ballerina wouldn't want to be a swan?!) and with these shows, 90%+ of the audience will be friends and family.

Edited by thewinelake
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Not bad performances at all for amateur dancers...at least the main dancers were really confident on pointe which is really good ...I hate to see amateurs allowed to totter around in public performances....and some pretty good fouettés there ....brave of her even to opt to do them ...so quite an achievement. 

I had hoped to be in Cambridge this weekend to see this but it didn't work out in the end.....waiting for a baby to arrive!! 

But lucky Cambridge dancers to have this opportunity....I know how much hard work ( and angst) goes into these performances!!

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