What Got You Into Watching Ballet?

[bridiem]

Really interesting post, rosefairy! I hope you see many more live performances in the coming years.

[LinMM]

And you are still young!! Perhaps even  try a ballet class or two yourself? 

[Jan McNulty]

1 hour ago, rosefairy said:

I loved reading this thread back in February when many forum members posted their stories of getting into ballet and wanted to add mine too - I thought it would be the perfect first post, but I have had an incredibly busy few months since then, so even though I read the forum daily, I never got around to posting, so I've reviving this thread now😅

For context, I'm 21 years old and from Germany (near Frankfurt am Main).

 

Hello Rosefairy and welcome to the Forum!

[alison]

Welcome to the forum, Rosefairy.  Your English is impressive, even by German standards   And I suspect you won't totally have missed out on the "livestreams" - I think a lot of them may well be returning to the ROH website in due course.

[rosefairy]

@bridiem Thank you! Yes, I hope so too - first of all I'm hoping for 2022/23 to be the first season without Covid restrictions and aside from that, hoping my finances will be sufficient to take a few "ballet short trips" to different European cities. At the moment I'm thinking of seeing the new Cinderella production in London (everything else I'll see in the cinema) and as I'll probably visit a friend in Vienna before Christmas, I could see either the new Sleeping Beauty production or a revival of La fille mal gardee during that period. Other ideas include Munich and Milano, but both of them haven't announced their upcoming season yet, so I'm excited for that  

 

@LinMM I had the same idea sometime last year and at first thought it impossible because, while I've always been in a weight region that would be deemed appropriate for ballet, I'm the most unathletic person you could think of. No strength in arms, legs or core and no flexibility either... but then I set my mind on trying anyway, so I bought a yogamat and started doing Pilates as well as stretching. During my final 3 months of my undergraduate degree I had to pause because I just felt like I didn't have the time, but after submitting my BA thesis I re-started and in June, I'll finally start taking a 10 week Absolute Beginners course😅

 

@alison Thank you very much, it's lovely to hear that coming from a native speaker! I think so too about the livestreams. Two I've already managed to see are Sleeping Beauty with Marianela Nunez in January and "Marguerite and Armand" in March. Maybe there'll be more offerings from various companies during the summer break, since there are no live performances in that period?

[Odyssey]

I wrote on this topic a few years ago when I recalled having had the wonderful experience as a child of seeing Fonteyn in Swan Lake at Coventry Hippodrome. I wanted to add here, that around the same time, my Junior School ran a couple of trips to Stratford Upon Avon - one was to see the D’Oyly Carte Opera  and the other, The Royal Ballet Touring Company which became SWRB, then BRB. I saw Monotones1 & 2 & Giselle ( you don’t get the luxury of such programming these days) with Margaret Barbieri as Giselle, Kerrison Cooke as Albrecht and Elizabeth Anderson as Myrtha. For those here who remember those days, you might be interested that the cast for Monotones 1 was Alfreda Thorogood, Brenda Last & David Wall, & Monotones 2 Jane Landon, Paul Clarke & Hendrix Davel.  My rather scrappy programme from all those years ago also tells me Christopher Carre, Sarah Conley & David Morse were part of the Pas De Six. Such riches! My point is how important  such school trips are in capturing youngsters’ interest in the arts. In my case, along with the fortune of seeing Fonteyn later in the same year - no doubt  after pestering my parents to see more dance as a result of that school trip, I began  a life long passion for ballet. I’ve since witnessed first hand the wonderful outreach work of BRB in working in schools and colleges, culminating in that vital experience of seeing ballet performed live on stage in a theatre/opera house. I’m just thankful to the farsighted teacher who took the time to organise those trips and wonder how many other appetites were whetted on that afternoon. 

[Dance*is*life]

Odyssey -you brought back memories!   Paul Clarke was at RBS upper school, when I was there.  We girls always flocked to the Baylis Hall to sit in the balcony and watch him with adoring eyes! So tragic that he died so young!  Jane Landon danced as Aurora in my first school performance.  I was a very humble lady-in-waiting thrilled to be in it at all!  Alfreda Thorogood trained with Nancy Robinson in Streatham originally, which was where I had my start in ballet too.  And of course I was a great fan of David Wall, Brenda Last and Margaret Barbierri, who was also at RBS when I was there.

[Suffolkgal]

It all started up a steep and very narrow stairway as the song goes! At about 4 years old - and parents who took me to theatre and ballet at a very early age. In my head the RBS used to perform at Richmond, near where we lived, plus there were trips to London. We moved to Suffolk when I was 10 but still travelled up to see ballet in my mother’s dinky MGB. At that time LFB now ENB and SWRB now BRB performed in Norwich regularly so used to see them there. Fonteyn came with a troupe including Desmond Kelly, Lynn Seymour, David Wall

and Alain Dubreuil. I have the programme!
 

Memories especially of Nureyev Festival. And dancers yes Paul

Clarke and Jonathan Kelly among others. So many dancers I admired are gone and so tragically. Bless them all.

 

 

Then in 1981 I went to university in London mainly so I could go to theatre and ballet (life was much cheaper then and much more generous for students!) Up steep and narrow stairs to the slips and rear amphi - fantastic ballets, amazing dancers. David Wall I followed until one night for R and J he was injured.

 

and flying on to the stage came mr eagling and that was that till

1994 though of course I saw many other dancers as well. I also met a group of fellow admirers with whom I spent many freezing hours at the stage door - Wayne had some great mates hence we met George Harrison!  Those friends remain I am glad to say 
 

I was back in Suffolk for work for a few years but up and down to town (like now) but having seen Mukhamedov with the Bolshoi

a number of times when they came, I knew when he came to the RB I had to see as many performances as possible so I moved back to London! Left in 2004 to care for parents but kept on coming when I could for ballets rather than dancers so lost touch a bit with the company.

 

the days of supporting debuts of people like Michael Nunn Ross macgibbon Fiona Chadwick Wendy Ellis etc etc and marking departures  and so on long gone.

but more recently I have engaged more with the dancers and the company and rediscovered the utter joy of watching dancers excel and develop. So do your worst unions. I’ll get there somehow!

 

[Jan McNulty]

22 minutes ago, Suffolkgal said:

It all started up a steep and very narrow stairway as the song goes! At about 4 years old - and parents who took me to theatre and ballet at a very early age. In my head the RBS used to perform at Richmond, near where we lived, plus there were trips to London. We moved to Suffolk when I was 10 but still travelled up to see ballet in my mother’s dinky MGB. At that time LFB now ENB and SWRB now BRB performed in Norwich

 

 

Do you see Northern Ballet when they come to Norwich?  It's one of my favourite venues to visit.

 

[Suffolkgal]

Yes I do, it’s a lovely theatre and city

[alison]

Saw them doing Sleeping Beauty back in the day - as far as I know, it would have been a standard one.

[LinMM]

Odyssey I saw those original casts too at the Oxford Playhouse when I was a student in Reading. I had a picture of Alfreda Thorogood and Margaret Barbieri on my student room wall as well as some of Fonteyn. 
Paul Clarke went to the same primary school and very initial ballet teacher as I did in Byfleet in Surrey. 
We had different ballet teachers by the time he won the scholarship to the RBS…. a great local achievement of course! 
It’s interesting Dance is Life that you all flocked to see Paul at RBS as I seem to remember he was popular with the girls in the primary school playground with his thick mass of blonde hair and definitely cheeky grin. He got chased a lot!! 
A terrible shock and tragedy and great loss when he died so young. 

Suffolkgal we share a bit of a ‘past passion’ on Wayne Eagling which I’ve mentioned here before and still have his signed photograph. 
It’s many years now since did the stage door visits for autographs etc but couldn’t resist getting Joe Sissens autograph more recently (although 3 years ago now already but can hardly believe it) when bumped into him in Floral St! 
 

[LinMM]

I always regret now not being braver about getting Ed Watson’s autograph a few years back as found myself standing next to him at a bus stop in Bloomsbury when he had one leg in a boot. But somehow because it was away from the “Ballet scene/setting” I thought it might be a bit too cheeky but no doubt he wouldn’t have minded that much! I was just trying to even summon up the courage to say anything at all like “I really enjoyed your masterclass rehearsal at ENB a few months ago “ but then the buses came along and he got on the 38 and I got on the 19 so missed that opportunity! 
I also missed out on Muntagirov walking on his own at the back of the Colisseum after a gala. It was rather late but was at least brave enough this time  to say I’d enjoyed his dancing and got a lovely beaming smile back and a rather humble “I’m so pleased you enjoyed it” That seemed enough somehow! 

[DoctorDerry]

I am really enjoying reading these diverse stories on ‘finding ballet’.. So here is mine. Like many girls I was sent to ballet in a local church hall which I enjoyed but was not heart broken when we moved away and ballet stopped. I imagine we watched some ballet on TV but a small black and white set did not set my blood racing. However a school trip to Covent  Garden to see R and J with Lynne Seymour and Christopher Gable did exactly that. I was in love with the ballet, the story which was also my GCE English Shakespeare play from then on.nonetheless lack of money and time restricted performances.

Then as a junior doctor working crazy hours my husband and I decided that if neither of us were on duty on a Friday night we would ‘ go and see something / anything !’  We bought season tickets for Les Grandes Ballets Canadien as we lived in Montreal, so we saw all the  Canadian companies and the New York and Boston companies who toured north of the border. It was wonderful, then I had a second light bulb moment. The next touring company was the Kirov so off we went on Friday (of course) and at some point this young male dancer appeared and totally consumed the stage and the theatre with an astonishing performance which defied gravity with consummate artistry   We had never heard of him, it was Baryshnikov, two weeks later in the US he defected.

On coming back to the U.K. to live I saw only occasional BRB performances, no RB,but wherever we were in the world on holiday we always went to the ballet.

Opera and theatre had displaced ballet until I saw the film ‘Romeo and Juliette beyond words’ and had another light bulb moment. So thank you Ballet Boyz,  Bracewell and Hayward,I have a relit enthusiasm for this beautiful art form

 

[Dance*is*life]

On 26/05/2022 at 17:02, LinMM said:

I always regret now not being braver about getting Ed Watson’s autograph a few years back as found myself standing next to him at a bus stop in Bloomsbury when he had one leg in a boot. But somehow because it was away from the “Ballet scene/setting” I thought it might be a bit too cheeky but no doubt he wouldn’t have minded that much! I was just trying to even summon up the courage to say anything at all like “I really enjoyed your masterclass rehearsal at ENB a few months ago “ but then the buses came along and he got on the 38 and I got on the 19 so missed that opportunity! 
I also missed out on Muntagirov walking on his own at the back of the Colisseum after a gala. It was rather late but was at least brave enough this time  to say I’d enjoyed his dancing and got a lovely beaming smile back and a rather humble “I’m so pleased you enjoyed it” That seemed enough somehow! 

I have a funny tale about seeing people in weird places and being embarrassed to say something.  I went to the Garden once with a friend and in the interval paid a visit to the ladies,  as one does.  Well so did Madam (de Valois) at the same time.  My friend hissed in my ear - Don't you dare curtsey to her !!    It was so difficult not to after three years of doing just that whenever I saw her -I have often wondered how she would have reacted had I done so :l 

[DoctorDerry]

Following the missed opportunity with Ed Watson.

I had an odd experience at the theatre in Oxford. Probably the New Theatre but I honestly can’t remember. It was ages ago .I was there with my ballet mad daughter, her friend and the friends mother to see a ballet ,at the interval I bumped into a familiar figure whom I could not place ( that usually meant a patient ) So we chatted away about this and that for a good 10 minutes asking how each other was etc. When I returned to my seat my friend who was supervising the girls said “ I didn’t realise you knew Lynn Seymour”… I did not. Obviously her performance in R and J all those years before had engraved her in my brain.

I wonder who she thought I was?

[Dance*is*life]

12 hours ago, DoctorDerry said:

Following the missed opportunity with Ed Watson.

I had an odd experience at the theatre in Oxford. Probably the New Theatre but I honestly can’t remember. It was ages ago .I was there with my ballet mad daughter, her friend and the friends mother to see a ballet ,at the interval I bumped into a familiar figure whom I could not place ( that usually meant a patient ) So we chatted away about this and that for a good 10 minutes asking how each other was etc. When I returned to my seat my friend who was supervising the girls said “ I didn’t realise you knew Lynn Seymour”… I did not. Obviously her performance in R and J all those years before had engraved her in my brain.

I wonder who she thought I was?

What a great story!   Yes indeed I wonder who she thought you were?

[LinMM]

Hee hee love that story Doctor Derry. 
Perhaps you reminded her of one of her Doctors lol!! 

[DoctorDerry]

My default when I find someone very familiar ,but cannot remember from where is to presume they were a patient whom I had seen only once or twice. This has led to hilarious misunderstandings. Now I studiously avoid any such false memories. Better not to know than to guess wrong!

 

 

 

 

 

[Linnzi5]

My love of ballet originally came from me loving music, though my mother loved ballet as a child she has told me and did as an adult too (still does!). I didn't have the opportunity to take ballet lessons as a child and suspect I would have been terrible but I made sure both my young daughters had the opportunity to experience ballet lessons. However, I was musical and trained as a violinist.

 

As a child, playing in a youth orchestra, we played the Swan Lake Suite. I then became interested in finding out about ballet and how the art forms of music and dance combined and complemented each other. From then on, I have always loved ballet and certainly as an adult, seen as many live performances as possible. I've been going to ROH (and other venues) particularly for the last decade, but over lockdown, I became totally obsessed with the RB. I watched as many YouTube clips as I could, bought loads of dvds, live-streamed what I could and read loads. It really helped me to find something to occupy myself with and really just took me out of the rather scary Covid world at the time and into a safe and comforting place. The more I have seen, the more I have appreciated ballet. Swan Lake remains my favourite ballet, though I love many more, of course.