Tamara Rojo appointed as Artistic Director of English National Ballet

[Pas de Quatre]

I really enjoyed the interview too. She sounds like a breath of fresh air. The first time I saw her dance was with ENB in Ben Stevenson's Three Preludes and I can still picture it clearly. I wish her every success in her new position.

[Bruce]

"here" or "her" - that 'e' makes a huge difference in meaning! ;-)

 

Duh - can't be trusted in front of a keyboard - will fix!

[Guest Effie]

I really enjoyed the interview too. She sounds like a breath of fresh air. The first time I saw her dance was with ENB in Ben Stevenson's Three Preludes and I can still picture it clearly. I wish her every success in her new position.

[Anna C]

Effie, did you accidentally press "quote"? It looks as if you meant to post but instead quoted Pas de Quatre. :-)

[Guest Effie]

Effie, did you accidentally press "quote"? It looks as if you meant to post but instead quoted Pas de Quatre. :-)

 

Spannerandpony - I do apologise, am afraid I got into a bit of a mess as am not too hot on all this technology!

[Irmgard]

Much as I deplore the manner of Wayne's leaving, I am pleased that Tamara Rojo has maintained strong links with the company, guesting recently and being a judge for the Emerging Dancer Award. I am not sure we need to be too worried about her lack of experience - after all, even though it was a smaller organisation then, Beryl Grey took over as AD at the tender age of 41 and without the benefit of the courses Tamara has attended in preparation. I am sure the dancers will give her their full support and that we can look foward to the present excellent performing standards being maintained (and hopefully a revival of "Manon"!).

[aileen]

I heard on the grapevine that Tamara was at Artifact on Thursday evening. She seems to be keen on that type of choreography, and I wonder whether we might see some Forsythe and Ek at ENB in the next few years. Wayne is probably more conservative in his tastes than Tamara, who will have to reconcile her desire to put on more unusual and challenging work with the economic realities that ENB faces.

 

Irmgard, I'm pleased to see that you seem to have reconciled yourself to Tamara's appointment (and actually welcome her as the new AD) despite your unhappiness about the fact and manner of Wayne's departure. Only time will tell whether she is a successful AD of ENB. Certainly, she has a lot going in her favour but there are many challenges in running a company like ENB which I hope she will be able to meet. Rather than looking at what the Royal are doing, perhaps she should be looking at companies like Royal Ballet of Flanders and, in the UK, Scottish and Northern Ballets for ideas as to the way forward. I'm probably going to upset some people by saying this but I wonder whether ENB needs to contract in size (say, down to 50 from 64 dancers) and bring in freelance dancers for productions requiring a large corps eg Swan Lake, Rite of Spring. I question whether there is sufficient work to keep 64 dancers occupied for enough of the year but others may disagree with me on this.

[alison]

I heard on the grapevine that Tamara was at Artifact on Thursday evening. She seems to be keen on that type of choreography, and I wonder whether we might see some Forsythe and Ek at ENB in the next few years.

 

Tamara Rojo attends a lot of dance, of all types, from what I hear and have observed, not to mention arts events in other fields, so I wouldn't necessarily draw any conclusions from her watching Forsythe. Mind you, she has previously expressed an interest in dancing Ek's Giselle ...

[MAB]

I'm probably going to upset some people by saying this but I wonder whether ENB needs to contract in size (say, down to 50 from 64 dancers) and bring in freelance dancers for productions requiring a large corps eg Swan Lake, Rite of Spring. I question whether there is sufficient work to keep 64 dancers occupied for enough of the year but others may disagree with me on this.

 

And which fourteen dancers would you like to see sacked?

[capybara]

Aileen - surely, a corps de ballet achieves the kind of excellence currently on display at ENB by working with one another over time? Bringing in additional swans for the Albert Hall is arguably necessary.... but it is an exception.

 

Please could we avoid potentially upsetting speculation here as to how Tamara will approach the job?

[aileen]

I thought that this was a forum on which one was entitled to express opinions without other posters objecting to such opinions being given in case they might upset other people.

 

MAB, I would not LIKE to see any dancers sacked but the facts, as I understand them, are that ENB is financially stretched, with grant funding unlikely to increase in the future, and staff costs (which include dancers) make up the largest part of the budget, as in most organisations. I am a big fan of ENB (I saw 5 of the recent BBR performances) and so I hope that you understand that I am not just having a go at ENB. I merely venture to suggest that there are not enough performance opportunities for all the dancers and that it would be possible for ENB to perform at the same level (ie very high) with a smaller company and thereby reduce costs.

[Anna C]

If I were a dancer I would prefer slightly fewer performances to losing my job...

 

I don't think 64 is a particularly huge company; it's still small enough for the audience to feel as if they know most or all of the dancers. Another 30 doesn't sound like a huge difference but certainly with the Royal Ballet it's enough to ensure that there are a lot of names I'm not familiar with, let alone faces. I know "Agony and Ecstasy" helped but one of the things I love about watching ENB is spotting familiar faces.

 

It's becoming difficult enough for our young dancers to get jobs when they graduate; let's not give anyone reading this forum the idea of actually sacking dancers!

[Amelia]

“… bring in freelance dancers for productions requiring a large corps eg Swan Lake, Rite of Spring.”

O yes, freelance dancers of all sorts might be brought in to make large corps for “Rite of Spring”! Modern, classical, contemporary, “hip hop”, “random”, etc. Not enough of those, bring Flamenco and incredible Chinese acrobats. They all will grasp and master “Rite of Spring”.

One can not do it with “Swan Lake”. I don’t mean the 64-swan version performed at the arena but the stage version, which can not be thoroughly enjoyed without perfect performance by the corps. Perfection of the corps can not be achieved with temps. Don’t we know that it takes years, even decades to achieve perfect lines, uniform style and united breath of the corps? In order to remain a classical company the ENB, like any other troupe, must maintain full size corps de ballet. IMHO

[alison]

I thought that this was a forum on which one was entitled to express opinions without other posters objecting to such opinions being given in case they might upset other people.

 

Within reason . Dancers are human beings and have feelings like the rest of us, so it behoves us all to think about the effect our words may have before we click on "Post". (For example, if you don't like someone's physique, there are ways of saying that which are perfectly acceptable, others which could be extremely hurtful, and everything in between. But that's rather getting away from the subject of this thread ...)

 

Hello, Amelia. I don't think I'd registered that you were back with us - it's good to see you. (And hark at the pot: I just clicked on "Post" before realising that I'd meant to say I agreed with you and others about the necessity of keeping a corps going :blush:).

[aileen]

Amelia, Swan Lake is only one ballet, which one would not normally expect a company to perform annually, as ENB is doing at the moment basically because it is short of money. I'm actually rather worried about how well the August performances will sell in the light of the Olympics, the Peter Schaufuss Ballet's visit the week before (they're putting on SL among other things) and the Royal's decision to open their season with SL in October). Surely the swan corps for the proscenium version of SL is only 24 or 32 anyway. Are you suggesting that the freelance swans didn't perform well at the Albert Hall performances? It would not necessary to bring in other types of dancer for large productions. There are plenty of good ballet dancers (both freelance and student) around. ENB is twice the size of Scottish ballet, a lot larger than NB and larger than BRB and they all manage very well. In these difficult economic times a reduced ENB might be the only realistic way forward.

 

Alison, I appreciate that there are limits to what one can say on this forum but I don't think that expressing the opinions that I have done stray beyond those limits.

[Irmgard]

The company has worked so hard to increase the number of dancers from the time when it was reduced during Ivan Nagy's directorship and every single one of them is needed for the autumn tour of 'Beauty' and 'Nutcracker' and the Christmas season at the Coliseum. As it is, they often have to supplement with students from ENBS (as they did with 'Rite' recently). I, for one, hope that if savings have to be made it is not at the expense of the extremely hard-working dancers.

[Amelia]

Thank you for the greeting, Alison. My coming back was delayed by my struggle with the new format. Technology is the curse of my life. I don’t even comprehend how I managed to register again. And in spite of being registered with the same name ‘Amelia’ I am listed now as a ‘Newcomer’ with just 3 posts to my credit. Makes be feel miserable. Where the smiley has gone?

 

Dear Aileen, you wrote again:

“There are plenty of good ballet dancers (both freelance and student) around.”

 

It misses completely the point I was making. Good dancers drawn ad hoc into the swan lines will not necessarily make a good corps. Even if you line up all best female principals together, you might have the worst corps ever because every single one will stick out.

 

One can not underestimate the importance of training and moulding rows of dancers into a single body, which can be called “corps de ballet”. Where all members are well matched physically, have the same style of movement, feel each other, and are breathing together. You can not achieve it in one month or two or three… The morale in the corps is aslo very important.

Even the best corps in the world had their higher and lower times.

 

You also wrote:

“Swan Lake is only one ballet, which one would not normally expect a company to perform annually…”

But they perform ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Nutcracker’, which also require the pefect classical corps. Thank God the ENB’s corps is doing well, and this must be maintained. The work with the corps must never be interrupted if we want ENB to remain a classical company.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Amelia

[Anna C]

Amelia, you're a "member" now, not a "newcomer"! :-))

[Amelia]

But why I have just 4 posts instead of hundreds I had before?

Even the smileys ran away from my 4th post.

Where is the most fierce smiley?

[aileen]

Amelia, how many dancers do you need in the corps for The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker?

[alison]

Amelia, I'm afraid we've all had to start back from zero on this new board, even those of us who've been around for a decade or more. At least you've managed to work out how to get back in! If you know anyone else who's having difficulty, please let us know. (And I think you get out of "Newcomer" once you hit 10 posts, or something).

 

You're right, of course, about what you say about the corps. I'm trying to remember what Derek Deane used to say when he was in charge: Rudolf Nureyev had said something about the corps being the jewel of a ballet company, or something like that?

[taxi4ballet]

I would be interested to know how freelance ballet dancers continue with training and daily class etc. How can they afford it if they are unemployed?

[alison]

With difficulty, I think, if the commercial theatre is anything to go by. (I saw a thread about this somewhere - may have been on a theatre forum, but can't remember where now). Sometimes ballet companies may be accommodating, especially if the freelancers dance with them at times.

[Amelia]

Aileen wrote:

" how many dancers do you need in the corps for The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker?"

 

It depends on production. In the SB Vision Scene at Mariinsky they have 16. I think the RB has the same number. Please correct me if they have more.

In Grigorovich's Nutcracker there are 24 Snowflakes.

The Vision Scene in Don Q. at Mariinsky looks very crowded when performed at home: corps of 24 plus a line of Cupids (8 or more) from Vaganova Academy.

You know that the most demanding are SL and Bayadere.

 

Alison, if "all had to start back from zero on this new board", why you have 545 pasts and I have 5? Where all my hundreds have gone? Please don't laugh at me, I am not longing to compete and am asking just out of curiosity.

[alison]

Amelia, it's because I've posted 545 times on the new board. There's no other way of doing it, I'm afraid. And I suspect I'd clocked up thousands of posts on the old one - all gone

[Anna C]

Alison and I have just been posting a lot! :-)

[DavidW]

I wonder if ENB would benefit from a small off-shoot company touring smaller venues performing mixed bills of 'compact' works in their rep such as Apollo (much like NYCB did recently - I believe it was called "Lines"?). It would not have to be a fixed separate company - dancers would move in and out depending if needed with the main company at the time. They could tour during London seasons when the full company is not necessarily needed at the Coliseum. It seems to have worked well for NYCB and would seem a nice way of keeping all their dancers busy, performing to the whole UK and (hopefully) earning a bit more money!

[aileen]

I've been wondering when ENB is going to appoint a new MD to replace Craig Hassall. I hope that whoever it is s/he will work well with Tamara. It's probably not part of Tamara's remit but I hope that once she is in post a root and branch review of ENB's programming and marketing strategies is carried out. Dave, you make an interesting suggestion. The Flawless collaboration (but I think that this only involves four dancers plus Jenna Lee) and the ENB2 Sleeping Beauty tour (but this only involves ENBS students, surprisingly) are along the lines you suggest. I notice that Scottish Ballet are doing a huge tour with their new Streetcar (including smaller centres such as Norwich and Canterbury which I doubt are visited by ballet companies much - I wonder how well it will sell) and that Northern Ballet are also touring their new Sleeping Beauty widely. Perhaps ENB need to seek out some new, smaller venues. I just don't know what the economics of performing at the Coliseum are for ENB. Perhaps a half-full Coliseum is still profitable and more profitable than Sadler's Wells where I personally would like to see ENB perform more. This is the kind of thing that I hope the new MD will be looking at.

[alison]

I suspect that the smaller venues may prove uneconomic (and some of them really aren't terribly suited to ballet). David, your suggestion is precisely what they used to do: split into two groups with two different sets of repertoire and tour to smaller theatres, just as BRB do now. For example, I remember seeing Rojo herself dancing in Sphinx at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea: a good example of a far-from-ideal venue (like a school hall, but with a raised area on three sides and a stage on the other). Or the Cornmarket or whatever it's called in Cambridge, where if you wanted any elevation whatsover you had to sit what felt like quarter of a mile from the stage! I never found out why they discontinued Tour de Force, but I suspect financial considerations must have played a part: some venues seemed to prove difficult to sell.

 

If I understood Wayne Eagling correctly when he spoke to the London Ballet Circle a couple of years ago, I think that although London theatres were more expensive to rent, the fact that they could charge higher prices than in the regions (and also didn't have to pay touring subsistence allowances to the dancers) tended to make them more economical.

[Jan McNulty]

Aileen,

 

The Theatre Royal in Norwich is usually visited twice a year by Northern Ballet, Rambert go there and they have other dance companies performing there. I adore Norwich and always try to go when NB are there. Canterbury is also an NB stronghold. The company have just started revisiting the city now that the theatre has reopened after refurbishment.

 

I used to love it when ENB split to perform at smaller venues (in a similar way that BRB's midscale is one of my highlights). I even went to Crewe to see them once!

[rowan]

I'm surprised that ENB's marketing is under question. It seems to me that ENB are in the papers and on TV quite frequently because of all their community-based performances and activities that don't take place in theatres. I've got no idea about the financial arrangements behind these sorts of events, many of which are free to spectators, but they certainly raise the profile of the company.

[aileen]

Rowan, I don't get much through the post, (and nothing by e-mail) promoting ENB's forthcoming productions. Part of ENB's problem is that it does not have a home theatre like the Royal. It is treated as a visiting company by the Coliseum which is not going to promote it any more than any other visiting company. In contrast, I am bombarded by promotional e-mails from ENO which I've never even been to see! ENO only have my details because I have booked for ENB. Sadler's Wells are very efficient. I get many e-mails from them about forthcoming productions and their multiple-buy discount is prominently displayed on their web-site. Recently, I discovered that ENB does offer some sort of multi-buy discount; it was referred to in small writing in their little brochure. I've never seen it on the Coliseum's website. If it is there I've not noticed it. IMO, marketing in the widest sense includes pricing policy which I think needs to be looked at as well.

[DavidW]

Rowan, I'm personally not questioning ENB's marketing (I agree that they've been doing some excellent high-profile collaboration work etc) but just suggested a small offshoot company might be a good idea. I live in Bath and recently saw Rambert and The BalletBoyz at the Theatre Royal here (a nice small venue) and would love to see a high-quality small classical company visit. I also want to commend ENB for some excellent education work - I took part in a workshop on the Coliseum stage last summer and it was a great experience.

 

One thing they could look into though is a "young person" (16-30) scheme. ENO have the "Access all Arias" scheme, ROH have a separate Friends membership (the "Insiders"). Although hunting through the website I discover that you can get a discounted Friends membership what ENO and ROH do is more encouraging for "young people" to join. With ENO/ROH you not only get a friends membership of some sort but you also get the chance to go to social events at certain performances where you can meet and chat to others around your age with a passion for opera or ballet. I think this is a big encouragement and surely leads to people joining as "proper" friends once they have established careers and greater disposable income. Just a thought!