Press Release: The Chelmsford Ballet Company's 2015 programme

[Jan McNulty]

The Chelmsford Ballet Company's 2015 programme

 

 

  In its 2015 programme The Chelmsford Ballet Company will present Pineapple Poll and an all-new work for the company, Christopher Marney's Carnival of the Animals.

 

The programme will run from 18-21 March 2015 at the Civic Theatre in Chelmsford, Essex. Tickets will go on sale in late November, for which contact the box office on 01245 606505.

 

Christopher Marney is the company's patron, having danced with the company and current Artistic Director Annette Potter in previous years. Christopher Marney is currently establishing himself as a much sought after choreographer; he has recently been studying for his Masters in Choreography from Central School of Ballet and is a longstanding member of Matthew Bourne's New Adventures. He is currently dancing the Prince on the international tour of Swan Lake. The company is excited to work closely with its highly valued patron.

 

In this delightful double bill, full of humour and family fun, audiences will experience the Company's varied work in both genre and era.

 

Pineapple Poll, a comedy ballet of sailors and their sweethearts, takes its form in Annette Potter’s adaptation. Pineapple Poll is full of fun, originally choreographed in 1951 by the celebrated John Cranko. Captain Belaye and the HMS Hot Cross Bun arrive in Portsmouth and the sailors, who are now on shore leave, head into town for the pretty girls and the local inn. Fun and games ensue as Poll and the girls, Jasper the pot-boy, sailors, Blanche, her Aunt and Captain Belaye plot to capture the attention of their hearts’ desire.

 

Christopher Marney's Carnival of the Animals, a first for the company, is set in a 1930s theatre. A young stage hand falls for a dancer in the corps de ballet of a touring company: humour and romance ensue as he sets about joining the show to win her hand. This ingenious piece is accompanied by the beautiful music of Camille Saint Saëns, Poulenc and Strauss.

 

 

For further information:  www.thechelmsfordballetcompany.co.uk

 

 

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About The Chelmsford Ballet Company

 

In 1947, Joan Weston created the Broomfield YMCA Ballet Company in order to give the more senior students at her existing dance school the opportunity to learn and perform to the public. It was after their 1949 performance of ‘Coppélia’ at the Shire Hall that the then Mayor of Chelmsford suggested the name ‘The Chelmsford Ballet Company’, and with a small committee the Company was born.

 

Since 1949, the Ballet Company has staged a full-scale production every year. Initially a part of the

Arts Festival, and then the Cathedral Fringe Festival, they occur today as an annual event in their own right. Today the Company is led by Artistic Director Annette Potter, who is a former dancing member. Annette danced many leading roles with the company before moving on to teaching and choreography.

 

The Ballet Company is a way for skilled dancers from across the area to perform together and to showcase their considerable talents to appreciative and receptive audiences. Theatre-goers are constantly ‘thrilled’ with the productions, which always maintain the high standards set by Joan Weston. It has become a well-loved cornerstone of Chelmsford’s cultural calendar.

 

The Chelmsford Ballet Company is “an amateur Company which sets professional standards for all its work, involving professionals in its productions, courses and other teaching and workshop opportunities”. The standards are such that both junior (aged 10 and Standard/Grade 2 or above) and senior (over 14) dancers must audition to become members and again each year to perform in any production. These high standards are maintained through the monthly Company classes, where the dancers are able to meet and take a class with experienced and distinguished teachers.

In the 1960's a Scholarship Fund was created to help young dancers moving to professional training.