London Visit

[balletbeautiful2013]

Hi, I hope it is ok to post this. I am taking my dance mad children to London for a few days to see a ballet show. Are there any dance related places, that may be worth a visit? Eg dance shops, museums etc Any tips appreciated.

[Sim]

4 minutes ago, balletbeautiful2013 said:

Hi, I hope it is ok to post this. I am taking my dance mad children to London for a few days to see a ballet show. Are there any dance related places, that may be worth a visit? Eg dance shops, museums etc Any tips appreciated.

How old are your children, and when are you coming?  Freed of London near Covent Garden.  If you can book a tour of the Royal Opera House you might be able to catch sight of the RB in class or rehearsal.  

[balletbeautiful2013]

It will be bank holiday weekend, age 9 & 12. I will look Freed up.

[Guest oncnp]

They might like the ROH tour, although it is sold out for Bank Holiday itself and since the dancers are still on their holiday's (I think they come back after Bank Holiday) you might not see them. 

 

Behind the Scenes Tour (roh.org.uk)

 

You could also keep an eye out for the special ballet tour + tea to see if they add any dates

 

Ballet Tea and Tour (roh.org.uk)

Edited August 6, 2023 by oncnp

[alison]

The dance collection at the V&A, whatever it is?

[Emeralds]

The painting of Marie Camargo, historically regarded as one of the first and most prominent professional ballerinas, by Nicolas Lancret at the Wallace Collection museum (free entry). Nearest Tube station: Bond Street or Marble Arch. 

 

The painting Ballet Dancers by Edgar Degas at the National Gallery (unfortunately his two other paintings of dancers, Ukrainian Dancers and another Ballet Dancers are not currently on display). Free entry. Nearest Tube station: Charing Cross, Embankment or Leicester Square. 

 

The National Portrait Gallery has bronzes of Margot Fonteyn (room 28) Alicia Markova, Ninette de Valois, Marie Rambert (all three in the Weston Wing cafe), paintings of Darcey Bussell and Monica Mason, photographs of Anthony Dowell, Frederick Ashton, Rudolf Nureyev, Robert Helpmann, Fonteyn, Markova, Bussell, de Valois, Rambert and other famous dancers and choreographers on display (the photographs are rotated to reduce damage from light exposure), although they don’t say on their website which photographs will be on display this month. 

 

The painting Ballet Scene from Robert Le Diable by Edgar Degas (the production that made ballerina Marie Taglioni famous and kickstarted the Romantic Era in ballet, leading to ballets like Giselle, La Sylphide, etc which are still danced today) room 81 , poster of Tamara Karsavina in Le Spectre de la Rose designed by Jean Cocteau, in room 106, Leslie Hurry’s set model for Helpmann’s Hamlet, room 104, at Victoria and Albert Museum. (They have  many more ballet and dance items in those rooms and other parts of the Museum- have a browse online before visiting to see what interests you all). 

 

Worth booking a backstage tour (if available) or just turning up to visit both Sadler’s Wells Theatre (the birthplace of the Royal Ballet) and the Royal Opera House if your show is not at either venue. If neither have tours available on the day of your visit, also worth finding out if London Coliseum does- summer (before 1990) or Christmas (since the late 1990s) home of English National Ballet (previously called London Festival Ballet), famous dancers who have performed there include Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Alina Cojocaru, Tamara Rojo, Marcia Haydée, Richard Cragun, Sylvie Guillem, Natalia Osipova, David Hallberg, Peter Schaufuss, Olga Smirnova, Vadim Muntagirov, Nicolas Le Riche, Marianela Nuñez, Yasmine Naghdi, etc (some of whom may return to dance there). 

 

Also worth returning for Nutcracker in the Christmas school holidays for a performance at either Royal Opera House or London Coliseum by the Royal Ballet or English National Ballet respectively, or in the Easter holidays (Sadler’s Wells too), as August is usually the month when the top ballet companies are off on their summer holidays. 

[alison]

There's also that bronze of David Wall somewhere down the Embankment ...

[Ginny]

I did the ROH behind the scenes tour earlier this summer with my family (visiting from the US) and really loved it. Even my husband who doesn’t know/care much about ballet! We happened to see Francesca Heyward warming up to rehearse, multiple principals’ pointe shoes on display (cool even for me, the adult, to hold a pair of Marianela Nunez’s shoes!), and many stunning tutus on display. To me, the Freed shop was a little underwhelming (in comparison). Hope you enjoy! 

[Peanut68]

It’s quite a treat to go to the cafe at Sadlers Wells as you sort of enter same place as for the Stage Door & as you walk up the ramp there are lovely bronzes of dancers to your left. Plus you may see some performers/producers etc walking in & out or in the cafe! Good food reasonably priced too!
Also go the The Actors Church in Covent Garden….lots of benches in garden dedicated to performers & plaques inside too…. Including dance related. Often concerts/events there too. 
https://actorschurch.org/

 

oh and go to the South Bank! The National Theatre & Queen Elizabeth Centre really inspiring with often events/activities for all ages….and the poetry library was a surprise hit with my then young kids!!! 
And the ‘singing lift’…. Lots of funny free entertainment going from basement to top floor & back & seeing others reactions! 
Good street theatre/buskers often in area too! 

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by Peanut68

[alison]

2 minutes ago, Peanut68 said:

It’s quite a treat to go to the cafe at Sadlers Wells as you sort of enter same place as for the Stage Door & as you walk up the ramp there are lovely bronzes of dancers to your left. Plus you may see some performers/producers etc walking in & out or in the cafe! Good food reasonably priced too!

 

Yes.  I sometimes eat there even when I'm not attending a performance there.  And it all goes to support Sadler's Wells, too.

[Peanut68]

Also consider booking them onto a class or 2 - lots for all ages including children at Pineapple/Danceworks that I’m pretty sure you can do as a one off - I’d have found that pretty exciting to do a class in a new city!

RAD HQ is pretty swanky with sone lively historical boards showing firmer presidents /benefactors etc & sone nice portraits on display…. I’m guessing you can just wander in as there’s a nice dance related shop & a cafe too

[Emeralds]

Just a quick reminder to @balletbeautiful2013 to check the TfL journey planner on their website as there is industrial action planned on Saturday 26 August of the Bank Holiday weekend, so whether taking the trains or alternative transport, the Tube and buses could be very congested on many London routes and stations as people who would normally use the train to get around are forced to use Tube or buses instead, adding to queues and extra congestion. 

[alison]

And watch out for the Notting Hill Carnival if you happen to be in that part of London - buses get quite severely diverted, I think.

[Suffolkgal]

From memory there are some dancers remembered at the Actors Church in Covent Garden. I know there is a plaque to David Blair but I am sure there are others. It’s worth a visit anyway... a little oasis in the heart of London. And of course Eliza Doolittle sold flowers on its steps ...

[Geoff]

14 hours ago, alison said:

And watch out for the Notting Hill Carnival if you happen to be in that part of London - buses get quite severely diverted, I think.

Speaking personally, given all @balletbeautiful2013 wants to do, I would stay well clear of the carnival and the surrounding area. This is not an event one can pop in to for a quick hour and pop out again, it is quite a commitment, given the crowds and the crush. Either one does it - which probably rules out anything else for the rest of the day - or one stays as far away as possible. 
 

I used to live in the middle of it, and after a couple of years, always spent the long weekend elsewhere to avoid the event. 

[Ondine]

14 hours ago, Suffolkgal said:

Actors Church in Covent Garden

 

Lilian Baylis. Anton Dolin. Tamara Karsavina. Robert Helpman.  Marie Rambert. Constant Lambert. Edouard Espinosa. Stanislas Idzikowsky. Cyril Beaumont. Many others! It's well worth a visit.  It has a delightful churchyard where you can sit and also, many concerts (a cushion is recommended if it's a long one though).

https://actorschurch.org/whatson/

 

Pictures of a number of the plaques via this link:

 

 

And if you're feeling fit, how about trying this walk? A Diaghilev walking tour.

 

http://www.vam.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/177065/v-and-a-diaghilev-walkingtour.pdf

 

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by Ondine