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Wells Ballet Masterclasses/Dar Danse

swanprincess

By swanprincess
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Tulip

Tulip

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Hi swanprincess I can't see anything about this on their web site, I thought that they only did their summer school in Morocca now? This used to be one of the best summer schools the standard was very high, it was a real shame that they stopped doing them in London.

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swanprincess

swanprincess

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Oh, I received an email inviting me to it; there was one advertised on their website in February, which I enquired about, but unfortunately the train times meant I couldn't attend. I don't think this one has been mentioned on the website; it may be on their Facebook page though?

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Jazzpaws

Jazzpaws

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My DD went to the one in February too and loved it, this one clashed with Dance East, but hopefully there will be more around the holiday times. It would be lovely if they did longer bones in London again, fingers crossed !

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Circe

Circe

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Thanks for posting this Swamprinces as I have been checking their website to try to get daughter onto one of their courses..morocco being a bit out of our reach! I will attempt to get on mailing list and follow on Facebook...something else to try and keep track of!

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if only!

if only!

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Is anyone going to the Wells Ballet Masterclass at the Royal Opera House next Sunday? Would be nice to meet some of you! :)

 

Go swanprincess! Who knows you may be one of the lucky ones and end up going to Morocco!

 

DD attended and loved it, (she said Francesca Filpi was lovely!) Wished it was longer though, (but we did spend very happy time in Covent Garden afterwards) and wished she could attend next one, (alas, clashes with DanceEast...but it was a very tough call!)

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if only!

if only!

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Swanprincess... not sure how many, there were 6 given out last time, (it's on their facebook page) but don't know whether it's always the same. But Morocco in October....... no cold wind, fog, rain, sleet and all the other forms of precipitation our English weather chucks at us. If I was younger, (a lot) and much much better at ballet, (a lot, a lot, a lot better) I'd give it a go!

 

Scholarships aside, it was a fantastic afternoon and definitely worth every minute. I hope you love it as much as my DD and her friends did :) !

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Anna C

Anna C

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Not on the day. Apparently they issue some bursaries to people going to their Dar Danse ballet courses in Morocco (would be lovely to be able to afford that!!) after the day.

 

My dd did it just for the experience and had the most incredible time. She couldn't stop smiling all the way home and said it was like a lovely dream. :-)

 

Edited to add that it was lovely to meet Swanprincess briefly! :-)

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swanprincess

swanprincess

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Hope there will be some reports back on the day :)

With pleasure, LinMM ;)

 

So we arrived, in Floral Street at last. After a few photos next to the Opera House and RBS Bridge (with mum getting a bit tetchy that I was doing arabesques whilst she was stood awkwardly with a camera...) it was at last time to step through the Stage Door. I suppose it felt a bit like border control in an airport; our parents werent allowed in, and we were even given posh "Visitor" passes! I also had the pleasure of meeting a particularly lovely Ballet.co member and her dd, you know who you are ;-)

Anyway... Amid a flurry of nervous excitement, we were escorted up to the De Valois studio. And Wow, what a studio!!! It was the biggest, most beautiful place imaginable!! Francesca Filpi taught the class, and i have to say, she was a rather fab teacher!! We began barre exercises, which were challenging but very enjoyable. For me, the highlight of barre was adage; i was expecting a soft, slow piece of music, so a lively rendition of "I couldve Danced All Night" was particularly lovely :-)

We began centre work with a very pretty adage, then a pirouette enchainement. I was slightly disappointed that we did pirouettes from 5th, not 4th, as Ive been managing triples from 4th recently,but pirouettes from 5th are awkward, lol!!!

We did a very complicated allegro; Francesca set a simplified version for those working at Intermediate level (which I am) however I decided to just go for it, and do the advanced version :-P

After a gorgeous grand allegro then reverence, it was time for a quick break, before Lauren Cuthbertson's solos class.

Lauren was a wonderful teacher; she taught us a solo from Act 3 of Sylvia. The dance was very long and quite confusing, but I loved learning it. Although we only had an hour, we finished the solo, which was satisfying but tiring!!! (my mum couldnt understand why, if it was a solos class, we didnt actually dance it as a solo!!)

After a final photo with Lauren, we made a little detour on the way out, to visit the shoe department. (wow!!!)

I felt quite sad to leave, but an hour in Capezio for new pointe shoes cheered me up!!! ;)

I think the masterclass was an incredible experience, although it was very difficult!! If there is another one I would love to go!! :)

And Tulip, there were no prizes awarded on the day, but they said they will put on Facebook about which dancers have been awarded a bursary to the Morocco week (im not optimistic though- all the other dancers were totally incredible!!) ;)

Sorry for such a long post, haha!

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Tulip

Tulip

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So lovely to hear about your experiences. It doesn't surprise me though that you had such a lovely time as the Wells courses are renoun for having such a exceptional reputation and high standard, just a shame that they don't do more in London again.

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LinMM

LinMM

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Thanks Swanprincess for that lovely feedback I really enjoyed reading it.....you obviously have other talents as well as your ballet now revealed!!

 

What a fantastic day and well done for having a go at the harder version like that not an easy thing to do when more advanced dancers around so that took a bit of courage. :)

 

Will you all get a copy of the piccie with Lauren....a nice memento to have too.

 

So now will expect at least a video blog from your summerschool adventures!!

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if only!

if only!

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Forgot to add... lovely photo of all the girls on the Wells facebook page, (DD has been trawling through various FB pages to see what she's missed, thus the 2 replies to Wells and RAD awards... it's been a busy Sunday for some!)

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