Sapphire Gala, Northern Ballet

[Terpsichore]

I don't think I have been as excited about a performance in the theatre as I am about tonight's Sapphire gala in Leeds since 24 July 1970 when I attended Sir Frederick Ashton's retirement gala.   You can see a photo on the House's twitter stream here. Look at the line-up on the curtain call - Nureyev, Fonteyn, Helpmann, Beriosova, Sibley, Dowell and Sir Fred himself.

 

Tonight I shall see many of my favourites of the present such as Parish, Klimentova and Muntagirov as well as my beloved Northern Ballet. Just look at the line-up for this evening.   

 

I am particularly looking forward to Javier Torres's interpretation of The Dying Swan as my mother saw Pavlova dance to the same music on the same stage. She must have been very young at the time but it made such an impression on her that she could describe every detail right until the end of her life.

 

I shall be blogging about the performance and I shall try to cut and paste highlights from my review over the next few days.

[Don Q Fan]

Look forward to reading your review Terpsichore wish I could have gone too but can't do it all. Luckily Xander did Ballet 101 at the Russian gala last week! ENJOY!!!!!

[Terpsichore]

Thanks Don Q Fan. I will enjoy it.

 

I am glad to know that Xander Parish is still in one piece,   I saw Daniel Montero damce the same ballet for the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company.

 

You may remember my friend Gita Mistry to whom I introduced you at Covent Garden when we saw Osipova and Acosta in Giselle. She is looking after the contemporary, Indian, jazz - everything that's not ballet - side of Terpischore. She is coming too and looking forward to meeting any of the members of this forum who turn up.

[Jan McNulty]

Well Northern Ballet and their fans certainly know how to enjoy themselves! Tonight's gala was enormous fun and fabulous entertainment.

 

More later...

[Bruce]

Well Northern Ballet and their fans certainly know how to enjoy themselves! Tonight's gala was enormous fun and fabulous entertainment.

 

More later...

 

Look forward to hearing what you have to say Janet. Nearly made it but alas not.

[Terpsichore]

This year marks the sapphire anniversary of the formation of Northern Ballet so the company celebrated yesterday with a magnificent gala at the Grand Theatre in Leeds. Four new works were premièred by the company and dancers came from Australia, Germany, Russia and London. There have been only three other occasions when I have seen such an array of talent from around the world. They were the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School gala at Sadler's Wells on 29 Sept 2013, the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School gala at the Grand Opera House in York on 30 July 2007 (when incidentally I saw Xander Parish and his sister Demelza for the first time) and a gala for Sir Frederick Ashton's retirement on 24 July 1970. Artistically it was a glorious evening to which the audience duly paid homage by rising as one at the end.

We saw 13 works last night:

• Sapphire by David Nixon danced by Giuliano Contadini, Kevin Poeung, Nicola Gervasi, Sean Bates, Joseph Taylor, Matthew Koon, Mlindi Kulashe, Filippo Di Vilio, Luke Francis and Riku Ito;
• Fatal Kiss by Daniel de Andrade danced by Lucia Solari and Javier Torres;
• Shift by Christopher Bruce danced by Sandrine Monin, Carmen Vasquez-Marfil, Vanessa Vince- Pang, Andreas Grimaldier, Ben Mitchell and Sam Vaherlehto of Phoenix Dance Theatre;
• A Northern Trilogy by Jonathan Watkins danced by Martha Leebolt, Hannah Bateman, Dreda Blow, Kevin Poeung and Isaac Lee-Baker;
• A Dying Swan by Michel Descombey danced by Javier Torrers
• The final pas de deux from Alexei Ratmnsky's Cinderella danced by Lana Jones and Adam Bull of The Australian Ballet;
• The pas de deux in The Great Gatsby by David Nixon danced by Tobias Batley and Martha Leebolt;
• Little Monsters by Demis Volpi danced by Dreda Blow and Joseph Taylor;
• The final pas de deux from John Neumeier's version of The Nutcracker danced by Alexandr Trusch of the Hamburg Ballet and Lucia Solari;
• Kenneth Tindall's We Never Said by Martha Leebolt and Tobias Batley;
• Ballet 101 by Eric Gauthier danced by Xander Parish of The Mariinsky Ballet;
• The pas de deux of Siegfried and Odette in Anthony Dowell's Swan Lake danced by Daria Klimentova and Vadim Muntagirov of the Royal Ballet; and
• The Charleston scene from The Great Gatsby by the whole company led by Hannah Bateman and Giuliano Contadini.

They were all good but for me there were three highlights.

The first was seeing Klimentova and Muntagirov together again. I never thought I would ever see that beautiful ballerina again especially after her last performance at the Royal Albert Hall and certainly not with Muntagirov after he left English National Ballet for The Royal Ballet. The last time I had seen then was in The Nutcracker at the Coliseum just before Muntagirov announced his departure). Theirs was one of the great partnerships of ballet and seeing them again together in my own county was like a miracle. That pas de deux alone made the evening for me.

Next was Torres's A Dying Swan and there's a story behind that. I inherited my love of ballet from my mother. My father, a highly educated, urbane and kindly man, didn't care for it at all. He regarded men's tights and women's tutus as bordering on indecency and the whole art form an instrument of Soviet propaganda. Don't forget I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s when we scrambled the V-bombers on more than one occasion. The Bolshoi arrived in London immediately after Khrushchev had crushed the Hungarian uprising. But my mother had seen Pavlova dance the Dying Swan at the Grand Theatre in Leeds when she must have been a very little girl. It made such an impression upon her that she could describe the choreography in every detail. I have seen Pavlova's performance on flickering film and I know my mother's recollection was accurate. I had longed to see a modern ballerina perform that dance and I did at the Gala for Ghana 4 Feb 2014 when Elena Glurdjidze danced the piece. It was as beautiful as my mother had described and I wept. A few days later I actually met the great ballerina at the London Ballet Circle and told her the story and she seemed to be moved too.

So there was a lot of emotion welling up inside me before Torres took to the stage. At first I was in despair because the cello was almost drowned by sound effects but then it shone through and so did Torres. He was as beautiful and as moving as Glurdjidze. And indeed as Pavlova so far as I can tell from my mother's description and the film. Again I was moved to tears. Now I am a hard nosed barrister specializing in patents and I don't cry easily but I couldn't help myself yesterday. Some of those tears were prompted by my associations with Pavlova and my mother's story but most sprung from Torres's dancing. And when the auditorium exploded with applause at the end of his piece I felt sure it was the latter.

My third highlight was Jonathan Watkins's A Northern Trilogy. Do watch his video for so long as it remains on YouTube. He set three ballets to Stanley Holloway's monologues - Yorkshire Pudding, One Each a Piece All Round and The Lion and Albert. For this Leeds audience it was mother's milk and it was for me too because I had heard those monologues from both parents while growing up in Surrey. Neither my Yorkshire mother nor my Lancashire father ever allowed me to forget that I had been born in Manchester and if ever I inserted an "r" into "grass" or "bath" I was met with a contemptuous "Oh you cockney clod." Bateman, Blow and Leebolt were beautiful (especially the angel). Lee-Baker made a great Albert and Poeung can do no wrong in my book. I think I liked Yorkshire Pudding best. 
As this post is already long I will try to canter through the rest but I must say a few words about Kenneth Tindall and Xander Parish.

Tindall is one of the best young choreographers we have and I love everything he has created including the ballet we saw last night. His work appeals to the brain as well as the heart. We Never Said depicts two mannequins in jeans and jackets who come to life to music by The XX, In the programme notes Tindall quotes an anonymous poem:
"My love for you is statuesque, come let us dance like we're made of stone."
Batley and Leebolt were magnificent. As it happens I met Tindall in the foyer before the show and he said a few words about his plans which are exciting. I shall be featuring him and his work later this year.

Now for Xander Parish's performance. It is always a thrill to see him. He and his sister shone in 2007 and he also shone last night but I do wish he had been given something like Balanchine's Apollo in which role he dazzled London last year. Now don't get me wrong. I had seen Daniel Montero of the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company dance Ballet 101 in Amsterdam and London and I like it very much. Parish performed it beautifully though it ended with him flat on his back from his exertions rather than in little pieces as in the Dutch version. But having seen Parish's Romeo I wanted more. So I guess I must save my kopeks and go to Russia after all.

I'm afraid I won't do justice to the rest in this post but hopefully others will follow. Nixon's Sapphire showed off our excellent young men. Lean, sleek and muscular like greyhounds. Do watch this YouTube video. De Andrade's A Fatal Kiss reminded me of Tango and Buenos Aires and the novels of Luis Borges. Shift was Bruce at his best. Jones and Bull were magnificent. Australians are perfectionists as I know from personal experience having been taught by one. It was great to see a bit more of Gatsby again both the Charleston and the pas de deux. Little Monsters to the music of Elvis Presely oozed sexiness and menace. Blow's Juliet wowed me last Saturday and now I am yet another of her devoted fans. And having seen just a little of Neumeier's The Nutcracker and Trusch I want to see more.

There is just one thing that worried me about last night and that is that there were empty seats even in the front stalls. A friend managed to get a good seat at a good price towards the rear of the stalls a few hours before the show. in his speech before the show Nixon mentioned that all the shows in London are fully booked whereas yesterday's gala and next week's Wuthering Heights are certainly not. Had the gala taken place at The Wells, The Coliseum or even The Albert Hall it would have been sold out for months. It makes me wonder for how much longer Northern Ballet can afford to remain Northern?

[capybara]

 

There is just one thing that worried me about last night and that is that there were empty seats even in the front stalls.

 

Thank you for your lovely review, Terpsichore. I am not surprised that you felt that seeing Klimentova and Muntagirov dance together was very special and worth the ticket price alone.

 

However, your mention of empty seats surprises me. I had looked for seats and none were available in the front of the stalls at all. So what happened?

[Jan McNulty]

There's a lovely interview with David Nixon in the Yorkshire Post:

 

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/yorkshire-living/arts/theatre-and-tv/dancing-to-music-of-time-1-7148209

[JoJo]

I treated my Mum, a massive Northern Ballet fan, for Mothers' Day. It was a really lovely evening!

 

My favourites were Daria and Vadim - such a lovely and special treat. My daughter will be attending Daria's masterclasses in Prague again this Summer and she speaks very highly of her as a person and a dancer, as a result of meeting her and being trained by her (and Vadim) at the masterclasses!

 

I also agree, Terpsichore, A Northern Trilogy was lovely - innovative, inventive and humorous - Yorkshire Pudding was my favourite too. And I also loved We Never Said - performed so beautifully!

 

I attended the 40th anniversary gala five years ago - and was impressed then, and also last night, by the amazingly articulate David Nixon, introducing the audience to the programme.

 

I was also sat at the front in the stalls and didn't see any empty seats!? I thought there was a lovely atmosphere and a real buzz with the audience clearly appreciative of wonderful array of dancers and choreographers on show.

[Don Q Fan]

Thanks for the great reviews, I too would have loved to see Daria and Vadim in the SL pdd.  

 

On Ballet 101 I asked Xander Parish last week after the Russian Icons if he does dance the part with the broken mannequin (as I have seen it done with this in Berlin) and he informed me that he does normally but that he was unable to bring the mannequin with him on this trip due to airport security, hence him lying on his back at the end instead - somehow not quite the same effect as when done with the mannequin.  Pity no other mannequin could be found locally either in London or Leeds really.

[Terpsichore]

Thank you for your lovely review, Terpsichore. I am not surprised that you felt that seeing Klimentova and Muntagirov dance together was very special and worth the ticket price alone.

 

However, your mention of empty seats surprises me. I had looked for seats and none were available in the front of the stalls at all. So what happened?

 

I do wish you could have come capybara. Had you rung yesterday morning I'm sure the box office would have found some good seats for you.

 

Yes, seeing Klimentova's reunion with Muntagirov was the highlight for me but there were plenty of other good things to see: Torres's Dying Swan and Northern Trilogy for a start plus the new Tindall and Parish is always a delight to watch.

 

I don't know what happened to the ticketing. I was in the middle of the third row from the stage which is a bit too close for me but it was OK. Janet McNulty was 2 rows in front of me. I counted 4 seats in the row between Janet and me. In the row where my friend Gita was sitting which was not far behind me there was a wide choice of seats. We got her in for a very substantial discount - nearly half price - just a few hours before the show.  

 

It could be that the seats were block booked by someone and released on the day. It could also be that the occupants had to travel and were held up by an accident on the M1 or delays on the railway. That has happened to me more than once when I have been travelling to Covent Garden or other theatres in London. Also the weather in Yorkshire has been a bit chilly. We actually had an inch or two of snow on Friday morning in Holmfirth. That may have deterred some folk.

[aileen]

I wonder whether some seats were reserved for donors who didn't turn up. Alternatively, 'ordinary' audience members may have had to cancel at short notice. I think that the ROH is one of the few venues that does returns. Most venues don't bother; they have received the money and have no incentive to organise returns.

[LinMM]

I didn't realise that not all theatres do returns. This seems a shame with a bigger theatre like the one in Leeds

 

Looks like a great gala guess will have to wait for the 50th now!

[Jan McNulty]

Well Northern Ballet, as I said earlier, certainly know how to party!

 

The evening opened with the orchestra playing the overture from Ruslan and Ludmila and jolly fine they sounded too, in both that piece and throughout the evening.  Then we went straight into Sapphire, choreographed by David Nixon to show off the younger male contingent in the company.  The piece looked as thought it was starting with a class and got more and more virtuoso as it went along.  It certainly showed off the talented young men of the company and the audience was suitably appreciative!  It is most certainly worthy of more outings…

 

Then David Nixon made a short speech explaining that the gala was not only about celebrating 45 years of Northern Ballet but also about looking to the future.  He told us who the guest artists were and what we could expect.

 

Ballet Master Daniel de Andrade created Fatal Kiss on Lucia Solari and Javier Torres to Autumn from Piazzola's Four Seasons.  According to the programme note this duet is about a man meeting his death in the form of a final kiss.  I loved the Argentine Tango feeling to the choreography and Lucia and Javier had such a great rapport that the stage was on the verge of spontaneous combustion!  The dancers were accompanied live on stage by Susan Urschitz (violin), Sasha Volpov (cello) and Andrew Dunlop (piano).  This piece must surely have a life beyond this gala!

 

The musicians stayed on stage to accompany the first guests of the evening.  Phoenix Dance Theatre performed Christopher Bruce’s Shift, which could be interpreted as factory workers and their lives.  It contains all Mr Bruce’s signature moves and Phoenix looked absolutely terrific.  It was good to see ex-NB favourite Ben Mitchell looking as wonderful as ever.

 

Jonathan Watkins is choreographing 1984 for Northern Ballet in the Autumn so I was really interested to see his Northern Trilogy performed to three monologues recited by Stanley Holloway.  His choreography was lyrical and gorgeous and very witty.  His movements really fitted in with lilt of the monologues and he brought the expressiveness out of Northern Ballet’s dancers that we have become used to.  I do hope we get an opportunity to see this quirky, fun piece again before too long.

 

Next up was Javier Torres dancing Michel Descombey’s Dying Swan.  His was a very powerful and moving performance.  Javier’s arms were just amazing.  I have seen this piece on YouTube and am so glad I have now seen it live and so beautifully performed by Javier.

 

The first half of the evening, which seemed to have absolutely flown by, ended with a duet from Alexei Ratmansky’s Cinderella performed by Lana Jones and Adam Bull of Australian Ballet.  It was lovely!

 

After the interval Martha Leebolt and Toby Batley treated us to the Act 1 duet from Gatsby.  They have such a wonderful on-stage rapport that they are always a joy to watch.  It was a super way to start Act 2.  BTW if anyone wants to see Gatsby at the Wells but hasn’t booked I’m very much afraid you will be looking for returns!  Great news for Northern Ballet!

 

This led on to Little Monsters choreographed by Demis Volpi and danced to the music of Elvis Presley.  This quirky and original piece is featuring as part of the mixed programme in May.  Dreda Blow and Joseph Taylor were magnificent in this and I am looking forward to seeing it again.

 

Next up Lucia Solari and Alexandr Trusch (from Hamburg Ballet) performed the gpdd from John Neumeier’s Nutcracker.  They looked fabulous together and Lucia was every inch the classical ballerina showing her versatility.

 

Kenneth Tindall’s latest work We never said is a sensuous, sinuous duet for Martha and Toby.  They were wearing very slinky costumes by Diesel and it made me think that Diesel could do no better than use Martha and Toby in this piece for their next advertising campaign.  As I said earlier Martha and Toby have a magical on stage partnership and this piece set the stage alight.  A real highlight and, again, something I want to see again soon!

 

Xander Parish performed Ballet 101 which was enormous fun.  It started off with a voice explaining the ballet positions and then repeating this with the dancer performing them (all 100 of them!!).  It got more and more frenetic and funny as it went along.  Xander has terrific stage presence and looked as though he was having a ball performing this piece.

 

Next we had such a treat – Daria Klimentova and Vadim Muntagirov performing the White Swan adagio from Swan Lake.  There is a completeness about them when they dance together that is a real privilege to watch.  It was sublime.

 

Then on to the finale – an extended Charleston section from Gatsby and oh did Northern’s dancers look like they were having a ball!  It was terrific fun to watch and I never wanted it to end.  It was a brilliant way to end the evening!

 

One of the nicest things about this gala was that it was a real celebration of Northern Ballet’s present and future and it was great to see the dancers performing new and exciting works that took them out of their comfort zone.  The future is looking great….  The only trouble is that I want them to perform this gala all over again … NOW!!!

 

Just to say that I didn’t notice anything other than the odd empty seat and perhaps a block could have been released by a group booking.  The audience was most appreciative and the front row (and I’m sure many people behind us) were all on their feet cheering at the end.  Unlike Terpsichore I saw a lot of NB regulars whom I know.

[Jan McNulty]

Northern Ballet has published a photo gallery from the gala, taken by Emma Kuldhaur (editor of Dance Europe):

 

http://northernballet.com/?q=sapphire-gala-photo-gallery