The Knight's Move, an evening of music and ballet, 14th February at Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

[Lusodancer]

The Knight’s Move is an evening of classical ballet to live music, curated by a final year music student from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. The dancers of the Kinetic Ballet Ensemble are professional dancers and final years students of the London Studio Centre, who have united for this performance to present some new choreographies composed for this project by Jamie Carter, director of Capital Ballet of London, and other notable classical solos and duets. 

 

The music of some familiar works , arranged where necessary, is played by the Hedwig quintet, a wind quintet of senior students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and a  pianist.  The musical leader of the project has joined with her ballerina sister to create a unique event of a mixed program, that is the culmination of years of dedication to their crafts and possibly the beginnings of future artistic collaborations.  

 

 

'As Schlovsky put it in 1923 “There are many reasons for the strangeness of the knight’s move, the main one being the conventionally of art, […] The second reason lies in the fact that the knight is not free… it moves in an L-shaped manner because it is forbidden to take the straight road.”

Life rarely follows a linear path, and art may have its conventions and traditions that encourage compliance, but these also need challenging. Obstacles need to sidestepped, or we can be led off a continuous path by luck, choice, or things beyond our control, or even defiance of the expected rules. The L-shaped Knight’s move, whether forwards, backward or sideways, as a metaphor for the unexpected and illogical connections can represent life’s compromises or those occasions where we need to tarry a while on a square with a different perspective in order to plan the next advance. In the context of this project, it signifies the serendipity of chance meetings and positive opportunities that have culminated in the creation of the show with this team, and the countless alterations of the programme list since conception.'

(notes from the program)

 

Although the project stems from a degree assignment, this is very much a public performance to be enjoyed by all. Tickets are available online or in person through the Crescent Theatre box office in Birmingham. The performance starts at 19.00 hours.  

 

The program consists of: 

 

Brian Boru’s March

Baroque Suite, Purcell and Marcello

Cupid from Don Quixote, Minkus

String Quartet No. 2, Nocturne, Borodin

Paquita, Minkus

Aurora, Tchaikovsky

Jazz Medley, Gershwin

Bluebird from Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky

Morceaux de fantaisie, Elégie, Rachmaninov

Spanish variation from Coppélia, Delibes

Corridinho Algarvio

Interval

 Concerto de Aranjuez, Rodrigo

Salle de Danse, Françaix

Libertango, Piazzolla

New York, New York, Lukas Foss

Jewels from Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky

                                                                                                                                 Sheherazade, Rimsky-Korsakov

  Walpurgisnacht, Gounod

 Marco Spada, Auber

Oceans and Pearls from The Little Humpbacked Horse, Shchedrin

  Tico-Tico no Fúba, de Abreu

 

Details can be found on the theatre page at:
https://www.crescent-theatre.co.uk

Plus, under the name, The Knight’s Move, on the usual social media sites, and the website is https://theknightsmove.godaddysites.com

 

[trog]

I saw this last night, and it was a pleasant way to spend a Tuesday evening. I assume this was a one off performance and it won't been seen elsewhere, which is a pity. The artists presented a mixed program of dance and music. That is two evenings of music and dance that I have seen in less than a week! Heaven.

 

Music played by Hedwig quintet from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and a piano. The quintet sat across the back of the stage, hiding being their music stands. It wasn't until final piece in which they took centre stage, when we could see them. The choice of instruments, bassoon, clarinet, flute, French horn and oboe, meant some of the tunes sounded a bit different to normal. I think some pieces worked better than others.

 

Of the dances, the ensemble pieces gave the most visual pleasure. Only 8 dancers, all girls, gave each artist lots of solo opportunities, including parts from The Sleeping Beauty (not my favourite ballet), and others. I especially liked the Spanish variation but as a sucker for Flamenco, that isn't surprising. A couple of boys would probably have improved the visual effect. The stage at the Crescent is quite small, but this didn't seem to restrict the dancers. I hope this is the start of a successful career in ballet for all the dancers. I'll have to keep my eye out for them in the future.

 

I spotted David Baddiel in the foyer. Why would he attend a low key ballet evening at a small theatre in Brum? He is related to one of the dancers.