Press Release: ENB at HOME: free online Youth Dance Course

[Jan McNulty]

ENB at HOME: Youth Dance Course
3 – 7 August 2020 
www.ballet.org.uk/youth-dance-course-summer-intensive

 

This summer (3-7 August), English National Ballet will run a course of free online classes for young dancers aged 14-19 years. 

 

The course, curated by ENBYouthCo Creative Director Richard Bermange, will be streamed on English National Ballet’s YouTube channel and aims to give young dancers an opportunity to work on technique, develop skills and learn from leading professional artists from the dance world. 

 

Each day sees a 60-minute dance class focussed on keeping active, maintaining technique and expressing creativity in the morning, followed by a 75-minute choreographic creative workshop in the afternoon with guest artists Renaud Wiser and Malgorzata Dzierzon, and on Friday, a West End Broadway workshop with Carrie Johnson. Full programme below. 

 

Day 1 – Monday 3 August
11am — Ballet Technique with Richard Bermange
Richard will lead a ballet class beginning with barre and moving into the centre, with a focus on building upon technique and practising safely at home.
1pm — Choreography with Malgorzata (Gosia) Dzierzon*

 

Day 2 – Tuesday 4 August
11am — Contemporary Creative with Naomi Cook
Naomi’s creative, release-based class will encourage participants to continue to travel in space and with weight, despite working in potentially confined dimensions.
1pm — Creative Choreography with Malgorzata (Gosia) Dzierzon*

 

Day 3 – Wednesday 5 August
11am — Ballet with Crystal Costa
Crystal has found great joy in sharing her discoveries learned throughout her dancing career. Her classes are filled with energy and are aimed at sharing her love of dance with her students. Crystal brings a focus on dynamics, musicality and where to feel the energy in the body in order to enhance movement. She aims to energise her students with passion and determination to explore and discover what the body and mind are capable of.
1pm — Creative Choreography with Renaud Wiser*

 

Day 4 – Thursday 6 August
11am — Contemporary Technique with James Muller
Drawing on his years of experience with Richard Alston Dance Company, James’s progressive technique class will explore musicality and phrasing with precision and playfulness. The class is Cunningham-based with elements of release work.
1pm — Creative Choreography with Renaud Wiser*

 

Day 5 – Friday 7 August
11am — Yoga and Meditation with Crystal Costa
Crystal will be sharing a yoga practice connecting mindful movement with breath, focusing on internalising throughout. She enjoys sharing how yoga has helped keep her grounded and balanced both mentally and physically throughout her dancing career. Her practice is aimed at finding a connection with the body and mind and creating a sense of a moving meditation.
1pm — Broadway/West End workshop with Carrie Johnson

The session will involve learning repertoire from one of McOnie Company's first full dance shows, which was created in collaboration with composer Tasha Taylor Johnson in 2012. As an Olivier award winning choreographer and Broadway theatre director, Drew McOnie’s work focuses on celebrating the unique qualities in each dancer and focuses on the creation of dance material that is authentic to each artist. The session will deliver an insight into the productions choreographic material and what the process was like being part of the original company. 

 

*Choreography Sessions 1&2 Malgorzata (Gosia) Dzierzon and 3&4 Renaud Wiser

Led by this year’s Dance Journeys Artistic Co-Directors the choreographic sessions will draw on English National Ballet’s legacy as a springboard to develop creativity. Participants will learn new choreography inspired by English National Ballet’s repertoire and bring their own unique movement to the sessions in response to images and recordings from the Company’s history.

 

This summer intensive follows the success of English National Ballet’s spring Youth Dance Course, which recieved almost 90,000 views, and is just one of the many online classes and programmes on offer as part of ENB at HOME. ENB at HOME classes are tailored to suit a range of ages and abilities and include a series of professional Company Classes lead by Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, Youth Ballet Classes for 11-16 year olds, Chair Based Class for those with limited mobility or space, Ballet Fit and Beginner’s Ballet Class. Seewww.ballet.org.uk/enb-at-home for more information.

 

-ENDS- 

English National Ballet is a National Portfolio Organisation supported by Arts Council England. 

 

Notes to Editors

About Malgorzata Dzierzon and Renaud Wiser
Dzierzon and Wiser have collaborated on a number of occasions including as Artistic Co-Directors of the 2019 Dance Journeys (Uncharted). Former dancers with classical and contemporary dance companies, both are members of New Movement Collective and co-direct Newcastle based company Fertile Ground. 

 

About English National Ballet 
English National Ballet has a long and distinguished history. Founded in 1950 as London Festival Ballet by the great English Dancers Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, it has been at the forefront of ballet's growth and evolution ever since. 

 

English National Ballet brings world class ballet to the widest possible audience through performances across the UK and on eminent international stages including The Bolshoi Theatre and Palais Garnier; its distinguished orchestra, English National Ballet Philharmonic; and being a UK leader in creative learning and engagement practice, building innovative partnerships to deliver flagship programmes such as English National Ballet's Dance for Parkinson's.

 

Under the artistic directorship of Tamara Rojo CBE, English National Ballet has introduced ground-breaking new works to the Company's repertoire whilst continuing to honour the tradition of great classical ballet, gaining acclaim for artistic excellence and creativity. 2019 saw English National Ballet enter a new chapter in its history with a move into a purpose-built state-of-the-art home in East London which brings a renewed commitment to, and freedom for, creativity, ambition, and connection to more people, near and far, than ever before.
www.ballet.org.uk

 

About Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people's lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries - from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
www.artscouncil.org.uk 

[Jan McNulty]

This sounds like a good opportunity!