Moriconi and Gable's Romeo and Juliet

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Northern Ballet Romeo and Juliet Sheffield Lyceum Theatre 4 April 2024 14:00

Northern Ballet has two fine productions of Romeo and Juliet in its repertoire.  One was created by Jean-Christophe Maillot which I reviewed in Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet - different but in a good way on 8 March 2015 and Romeo and Juliet after the Shrew on 15 Oct 2016.  The other was choreographed by Massimo Moricone and directed and devised by Christopher Gable.  Moricone and Gable's was premiered in 1992 to considerable critical acclaim but it had not been performed for many years.  It was revived in Leeds last month and is now on the second stage of a nationwide tour.  I watched the matinee performance of the ballet in Sheffield yesterday.

There are many different versions of Romeo and Juliet in the world's ballet companies Some like Lavrovsky's and MacMillan's follow Shakespeare quite closely.  Others like Pastor's and Sir Matthew Bourne's leave Shakespeare way behind.  Moricone and Gable's followed the play faithfully as can be seen from the "Romeo & Juliet Story" page on Northern Ballet's website but there were some original details that enhanced the understanding of the story.  In Juliet's bedroom, the nurse reminds Juliet that she is growing up by pointing to changes in her body.  In Act II Mercutio is provoked into challenging Tybalt because Tybalt drags a young woman by her hair.  I do not know whether those touches were suggested by the choreographer or director but Gable will have developed an intimate understanding of Romeo and Juliet from dancing the lead role with Lynn Seymour in MacMillan's work.  

Yesterday's cast included both premier dancers of the company as well as my first choices for the lead roles. When I had the opportunity to learn Juliet's dance at KNT's choreographic intensive in 2016, our teacher Jane Tucker, who had danced in  the same production of the ballet,  set the scene as follows:

"You are 12 years old. This is your first ball. You are so excited you can hardly contain yourself. All eyes are on you. You want everybody to be you."

I have seen many Juliets in my time including Fonteyn and Seymour and while they have dazzled me I have never been able to think of them as 12-year-olds.  Sarah Chun did remind me of that little girl bubbling with excitement and playfully teasing her nurse as she prepared for that first grown-up ball,  Similarly, Jonathan Hanks with his youthful features was ideally cast for Romeo.  In the play, those kids grow up almost overnight and so did Chun and Hanks in the ballet.  They are both remarkable dance actors.  I really warmed to them.  I see that in her bio Sarah Chun said that Juliet would be her dream role.  Yesterday, she lived that dream and she was brilliant.

An important role but one which is often discounted is the nurse or as we would describe her nowadays the nanny.  She appears in all three acts and she has to project all kinds of emotions from playfulness in the first bedroom scene and she romps around with her young charge to fear as she tries to protect Juliet from her grief-stricken and angry parents.   Her role was danced by Harriet Marden. She has been in the company for some time and I must have seen her countless times but this is the first time I have mentioned her in my reviews but I am sure it will not be the last. I shall now be looking out for her.  She showed considerable talent as a character dancer.  I loved the way she crossed herself before she grabbed Juliet's note from between the thighs of one of Romeo's buddies.

It was a treat to see Abigail Prudames, one of my favourite dancers in the company. I have watched her progress through the company's ranks with great satisfaction.  She danced Lady Capulet with exceptional energy and passion.  Her anger upon learning of Tybalt's death in his duel with Romeo was palpable.

Tybalt was danced by Joseph Taylor (another artist I have long admired) who portrayed his character perfectly.  Having met him in real life I know that he is anything but the privileged, headstrong, thuggish young blade who received his comeuppance after bullying young women and knifing Mercutio when he was off his guard but Taylor projected that character faultlessly,  He is a great dance-actor as well as a virtuoso.

One other artist who deserves special mention is Jun Ishi who danced Mercutio.   Again this is the first time that I have mentioned that artist in my reviews but it will not be the last as I shall follow his career with interest in the future.  The audience gasped with relief as he rose to his feet after the stabbing.  We relaxed as he took a swig from a bottle.  We despaired as he sank lifeless to the floor.

Everybody in the cast performed well and if I mentioned every member by name this review would resemble a telephone directory.  All I can do is to congratulate everyone in the show on a magnificent spectacle.

It was of course not just the dancers who made it a good show.  I have already mentioned Gable and Moricone but I should not forget John Longstaff  There were several details in the music which reinforced the story which I had not noticed in other productions.  I am not sure whether the peel of thunder immediately before the overture was part of the orchestration or Gable's direction.  I was a little discombobulated when I first heard it but it made perfect sense in the context of the hail storm at the end of Act II. 

I must also praise  Lez Brotherston's designs.   The opening scene featured a fragment of the maxim "Amor vincit omnia" which of course is the theme of the ballet.  Love did not quite conquer all from the point of view of the young lovers though maybe it did eventually in the embrace of Lords Capulet and Montague just before the curtain fell.   I learnt for the first time from the programme that many of the costumes from the original show had been destroyed or damaged in the flood.  I know that Peter Pan had been lost but I was not aware that Romeo and Juliet had also been affected.  It required a major effort to restore the ballet and it says a lot for a company that undertook that work.

I first got to know Northern Ballet Theatre when Christopher Gable danced with Moira Shearer in The Simple Man.  Some of my favourite works were created while Gable was the Artistic Director of the company and I have always regarded that time as a golden age,   It gives me great pleasure to see Romeo and Juliet again and I am very much looking forward to watching A Christmas Carol in November.

Nobody Dances The Sleeping Beauty better than the Birmingham Royal Ballet

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Birmingham Royal Ballet The Sleeping Beauty The Lowry 7 March 2024 18:39

Every March the Birmingham Royal Ballet visits The Lowry to perform one of its full-length works.  This year the company brought Sir Peter Wright's production of The Sleeping Beauty.  I had been looking forward to it very much.  I have seen many performances of that ballet by different companies over the years but none has danced it better than the Birmingham Royal Ballet.   It is not surprising that Sir Peter has been commissioned to create versions of that work for the Dutch National Ballet and the Hungarian Ballet.

I attended the evening performance on 7 March 2024.   As I had expected, the dancing, drama, music, sets and costumes were outstanding but I do have one criticism.   A performance of The Sleeping Beauty normally lasts three and a half hours with intervals between each of the Acts and between the Prologue and Act I.  Those intervals are there for a purpose.   They allow the audience to reflect on the dancing that they have just seen and, unless they already know the ballet backwards, prepare for the next Act by consulting the synopsis.  Intervals also provide opportunities to look out for friends and acquaintances, take a comfort break, grab some refreshments or just stretch pairs of legs.  The show that I attended was telescoped into 2 hours and 50 minutes with just 2 breaks of 15 minutes each.  Acts I and II, which are supposed to span 100 years in the story, were juxtaposed with just a 3-minute pause between them.  Those intervals were just not long enough to absorb and appreciate fully the cascade of colour, sound and movement.       

Happily, there was still plenty to enjoy.  The Sleeping Beauty is a contest between good and evil represented by the Lilac Fairy and Carabosse.  I know that Aurora and Florimund are supposed to be the leads and that their roles are always performed by principals but I have always found them two-dimensional.  The success of the ballet hinges on the performance of those two fairies.  If they fall flat then the ballet is nothing more than an endless string of divertissements,

By far the more interesting fairy is Carabosse as she arrives on a black conveyance surrounded by petty monsters on a peel of thunder following a flash of lightning.  In some productions, Carabosse is danced by a man but I sense an extra frisson when the role is danced by a woman.   The best Carabosse that I have ever seen was the great Dutch ballerina Igone de Jongh but Daria Stanciulescu was pretty good too. I felt her rage as she peevishly plucked the last remaining hair from Catalabutte's pate, 

But evil does not win completely because Carabosse's curse is mitigated by the Lilac Fairy.  She was danced by Eilis Small.  She has a demanding role because she is the only character that appears in every scene of the show.  She guides Florimund through the thicket to Aurora's bed, projecting goodness and calm, banishing Carabosse in a puff of smoke on the way. 

Though their characters may not be as interesting as Carabosse's or Lilac's,  Aurora and Florimund have the best choreography.   The grand pas de deux at their wedding requires considerable virtuosity.  Momoko Hirata and Max Maslen performed those lead roles with flair.   Perhaps the most demanding part of Aurora's role is the rose adagio in Act I where she has to pass gracefully between four suitors.   The sequence requires considerable poise and concentration but Hirata almost made it look easy.

The only parts of the choreography of The Sleeping Beauty that I have ever tried to learn are the fairy variations in the Prologue.  Each is very short but none is easy.  Isabella Howard, Rasanna Ely, Rachele Pizzillo, Reina Fuchigami, Sofia Liñares and Yu Kurihara danced the fairies of beauty, honour, modesty, song, temperament and joy respectively.  I learnt a lot from them.  They were a joy to watch.

Liñares and Pizzillo joined Enrique Bejarano Vidal and Shuailun Wu in the pas de quatre for Aurora's wedding.  I loved Gus Payne's cheeky Puss-in-Boots and Isabella Howard's coquettish White Cat. I must congratulate Riku Itu and Yaoqian Shang on their Bluebird pas de deux.  Itu started his career at Northern Ballet and it was good to see him again.  Tessa Hogge and Callum Findlay-White were an amusing Little Red Riding Hood and Woolf.

This production has been in the company's repertoire for nearly 40 years but it seems as fresh as ever. Philip Prowse's sets and costumes continue to awe.  Touches like the scattering of the stage with gold confetti continue to delight.  So, too, does the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. On 7 March it was conducted by  Paul Murphy.

The Sleeping Beauty itself occupies a special place in the history of British ballet as it was the first work to be performed by the Sadler's Wells Ballet at the Royal Opera House after the Second World War.  That show took place on 20 Feb 1946.  However, according to the Manchester Guardian review of that performance of 21 Feb 1946, it was not the first time that the company performed The Sleeping Beauty at Covent Garden.  The company danced The Sleeping Beauty there at a special performance for the state visit of the President of France in March 1939.   

As this review will appear early on Easter Day, I wish all my readers who observe the festival a Happy Easter and everyone in the UK a happy bank holiday weekend.

Powerhouse Ballet's First Class with Karen Lester-Sant since Lockdown

Powerhouse Ballet takes its name from the Coalition Government's proposal to rebalance the British economy by integrating and expanding the economic, social and cultural resources of the North of England, The company was always intended to be a Transpennine one and for the first two years our classes, workshops and other activities alternated between the studios of Northern Ballet School and Dance Studio Leeds. 

At some time during lockdown, there was a change of ownership at Northern Ballet School.  Its new management stopped letting its studios to members of the public.  We had to find a new venue in Northwest England as did the dance schools and teachers who also used to train and rehearse there.  We held classes in Bolton, Mold and Ballet Contours.   I am very grateful to all those studios for hosting us.

Last Summer Karen Lester-Sant, the Principal of KNT Danceworks, opened new studios at 114 Chapel Street.  I attended the pre-intermediate class there shortly after the studios opened.  I described the experience in My First Class in KNT's New Studios on 12 July 2023.  Karen has always been a great friend of our company.  She gave us our first opportunity to dance in public at KNT's 10th-anniversary gala in May 2019.  Before lockdown, she was also one of our most popular ballet mistresses.  She delivered a particularly memorable company class a few weeks later with the great David Plumpton as her accompanist.

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On 17 Feb 2024, Karen Lester-Sant gave us another memorable class in her new premises.  This class took place just a few days after my 75th birthday and I was particularly touched that many members travelled long distances to attend.   Joanna Goodman travelled all the way from London and Sarah Lambert drove up from Birmingham.  Several others came from York and Ripon.

Karen gave us a very thorough class as usual.   A brisk barre.  A beautiful adagio.  The usual centre exercises.   A joyous grand allegro to finish.  I did my best to keep up but age and infirmity have greatly reduced my capabilities.  However, the other members danced beautifully.

After class, we adjourned to the Black Lion  where we drank a toast to Po Ling Katherine Wong on her recent wedding and birthday and my dear friends and acquaintances kindly toasted me.  As you can see  from the photo I received a beautiful calendar, some lovely roses, excellent wine and a delicious birthday cake,

I was also given a card signed by members of the company which I shall keep forever -  just as I have kept similar mementoes from the cast members of La Sylphide, Giselle and Aria.   I am very grateful to the members of the company who have contributed many hours of their time to our classes, workshops, rehearsals and performances.  I hope they have enjoyed our activities as much as I did.

Next Saturday we welcome back Fiona Noonan.  She is another very popular teacher.  She trained in Brisbane and danced with the Queensland Ballet.  She stepped in at very short notice last January when the ballet mistress who was expected to take that class was indisposed.   Fiona gave us a very demanding but also very enjoyable class.

Fiona's class will take place at Dance Studio Leeds on 30 March 2024 between 14:00 and 15:30.  I shall be sponsoring the class also it is free for those who attend.   For those who do not know the studios they are in Mabgate Mill about a mile from Leeds Central Station and half a mile from the main bus station and Northern Ballet.  There are several bus routes from the city centre.   The nearest bus stop is "Lincon Green,"   Those coming by car can park free of charge in the mill yard.

Manon

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Royal Ballet Manon Royal Opera House Covent Garden, 2 March 2024 13:00

While watching Manon on Saturday I was struck by the similarities to MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet.   Not so much with the libretti perhaps though Manon loses Lescaut and Juliet loses Tybalt and both sets of lovers come to a sticky end.  The similarities I had in mind were the choreography with its spectacular duets including one around a bed and great sword fights.  Also, Nicholas Georgiadis created the sets and costumes for both ballets.

Although this was an original thought as far as I was concerned  I doubted that it was novel.   I ran a Google search on "similarities between MacMillan's Manon and Romeo & Juliet"  The only comparison that came to light was Robert Gottlieb's Manon and Romeo and Juliet.   Mr Gottlieb does not seem to have been at all impressed.  He described Manon as "a piece of junk" and complained that Romeo and Juliet was "tedious at times" though "relatively stage-worthy."  

Some pretty uncomplimentary things have been said about the ballet by such critics as Mary Clarke and Jane King but the public seem to like it.  It will celebrate its half-century in a few days and it has been performed by the world's leading ballet companies.  The House was packed to the gunwales on the afternoon of 2 March 2024 when I saw it.  Not a few patrons rose to their feet at the curtain call which does not happen for every show.   I agree that the leading characters, Manon, des Grieux, Lascaut and Monsieur GM are morally flawed and the story is pretty sordid but that did not make it a waste of the lovely Antoinette Sibley or any of her successors.

For those who do not know the ballet it is summarized on the Royal Opera House website.   It is based on the novel  Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux, et de Manon Lescaut by Antoine François Prévost which had already been dramatized, made into several films, at least one other ballet and Puccini's popular opera Manon Lescaut.  MacMillan did not adapt Puccini's score even though it would have been familiar to many members of his audience.  Instead, he commissioned Leighton Lucas to compile a score from Jules Massenet's collected works

The advertised dancers for the lead roles were to be Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae.  McRea was unavailable on Saturday so the role of des Grieux was danced by Ryoichi Hirano.  Lamb reminds me a little of Antoinette Sibley who first danced Manon and Hirano is the sort of chap who could be expected to handle the eye-catching lifts and fish dives with ease.   James Hay danced Lescaut, not an easy role as he had to project a range of emotions.  In one scene he is drunk manhandling his mistress Meaghan Grace Hinkis in one of the few comic scenes from the show. Shortly afterwards, he is dragged in chains and roughed up by Monsieur GM,   That role was danced by the venerable Christopher Saunders who has been dancing in the Royal Ballet for almost as long as I have been following it.

As for the creatives, Koen Kessels conducted the orchestra, Laura Morera staged the performance and Christopher Saunders was the rehearsal director.

I lost count of the number of curtain calls. Sarah Lamb received enough flowers to set up in business as a forest. There were also some for Hirano which would never have happened in Dame Anroinette's day, She used to select one of her choicest blooms and present it to her partner who would sniff the perfume in gratitude. In a reversal of the old tradition, Hirano presented one of his flowers to Lamb.

There are now two different versions of this ballet in this country: the Royal Ballet's version with Georgiadis's designs and English National's that I mentioned but did not review in French Revelation: "The Three Musketeers" on 9 Oct 2018. The main difference between the two is that ENB's came from Denmark and uses the designs of Mia Stensgaard.

Scottish Ballet's Cinders!

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Scottish Ballet Cinders Theatre Royal Newcastle, 10 Feb 2024, 14:30

Christopher Hampson created a beautiful version of Cinderella for the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2007 which he successfully transplanted to Scotland.  It was a profound and sensitive study of grief and recovery which I loved (see Scottish Ballet's Cinderella of 20 Dec 2015 and Hampson's Cinderella: Coming Up Roses 5 Feb 2019).  When I heard that Hampson had created a gender-reversal version of the ballet called Cinders bmy heart sank ecause I hate change for change's sake.  That's why I was less than enthusiastic about David Nixon's Swan Lake, Akram Khan's Giselle or even my beloved Scottish Ballet's Coppelia.

But sometimes a reworking of a well-known and well-loved ballet succeeds spectacularly.  David Dawson's Swan Lake is a case in point and Ted Brandsen's Coppelia is another.  I am relieved to say that Hampson has carried it off brilliantly with Cinders!.  I have to temper my enthusiasm with the caveat that I have only seen the version in which Cinders is danced by a woman, but I have sufficient confidence in Hampson's genius to look forward to the other version of his ballet when it is next on tour. 

On the train back to Huddersfield I reflected that Scottish Ballet has always innovated. It began with Mods and Rockers '63 to the Beatles' music in 1963.  As Scotland's classical dance company, Scottish Ballet might have been expected to include La Sylphide which is set in the Highlands into their repertoire.  And so they do in a sense though they locate it in the gents' loo of a Glasgow community centre rather than a castle and call it  (see Scottish Ballet's "Highland Fling" in Gurn and Effie Land 2 May 2018).  The company's founder, Peter Darrell is said to have inspired Sir Matthew Bourne who created Highland Fling.  Cinders! follows that tradition and I have no doubt that Darrell would have approved of Hampson's creation.

The synopsis of Cinders! is very different from that of Cinderella.  Gone are the Fairy Godmother, mice, the pumpkin coach, dressmaker, cobbler and dancing master.  There is no wicked stepmother as such because Cinderes's father dies in a fire but there is a new owner of her father's business called Mrs Thorne who performs a similar role.  She also has two unlikeable daughters called Morag and Flossie and a son called Tarquin.  The relationship between Cinders and Mrs Thorne is not clear but it is one of subordination. The prince has two friends who are dukes, one of whom takes a shine to one of Mrs Thorne's daughters and the other to Tarquin.

The simplification of the story has made way for some spectacular choreography.  Particularly impressive were two duets between Cinders danced by Gina Scott and the Prince danced by Evan Loudon.  One takes place at the ball and the other after they eventually find each other.  In both of those duets, there are spectacular fish dives.  I first noticed Loudon when he danced the Prologue in Emergence with Sophie Martin (see Scottish Ballet - Emergence and Mc14/22 11 June 2017).  Scott, however, was new to me and when I posted a comment about her performance on Facebook I learned that both she and I have studied with the same teacher.  That teacher remarked that Scott had some special magic I knew exactly what she teacher must have meant.  Scott must have shown remarkable promise as a student.   The reason I had not noticed  Scott before is that she joined the company only last year.   I shall certainly follow her career with interest in the future.

Other dancers who impressed me were Grace Horler who danced Mrs Thorne and Thomas Edwards who danced her son, Tarquin.  I had been a fan of Horler since 2017 when I saw her in Hansel and Gretel (see Hansel and Gretel in Newcastle - a bit like falling in love 4 Feb 2017).  I first noticed Edwards for his performance as Dr Coppelius.  I should add that everybody in the show danced  well and all deserve commendation.

This company had commissioned new sets and costumes from the young Welsh designer Elin Steele. She graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama only in 2018 and has already acquired an impressive portfolio.   Her costume for Cinders's entrance to the ball was dazzling.  Cinders was clad entirely in white.  She shed her veil to reveal a skirt in the colours of the prince's uniform.   The sets for the shop, ball and rose garden were ingenious and intricate.  The last scene with its Christmas tree uplifted the dancers and audience. 

I should mention Hayley Egan's video designs.  Her simulated newspaper headlines about the fire, survival of Cinders and Mrs Thorne's purchase of the haberdashery shop launched the story.  Her projections marked each change of scene,   

Credit is also due to Lawrie McLennan for his atmospheric lighting.

Cinders!  should be danced alongside Cinderella much in the way that the English National Ballet retains both Mary Skeaming; 's Giselle as well as Akram Khan's.  Both Cinders! and Cinderella have merit and each helps audiences to understand and appreciate the other.

Dutch National Ballet's "Giselle" in the Cinema

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Dutch National Ballet Giselle UK screening 21 Jan 2024  14:00

We do not get to see enough of the Dutch National Ballet in this country which is a shame for many reasons. It is one of the world's great companies and it is the company outside the Anglosphere that is most similar to the Royal Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet.  There are many links between the National Ballet and the two Royal Ballet companies  For example, Northern Ballet's new Director, Federico Bonelli, danced with the National Ballet between 1996 and 2003 and the Junior Company's Artistic Director, Ernst Meisner, trained at the Royal Ballet School and danced with the Royal Ballet for many years.  The links between the companies go back to at least 1940.  The Sadler's Wells Ballet was touring the Netherlands when it was invaded by enemy forces.

Yesterday's screening of Rachel Beaujean and Ricardo Bustamente's Giselle in the United Kingdom enabled British balletgoers who did not already know the company to see just how good it is.   The lead roles were danced by former Bolshoi principals Olga Smirnova and Jacopo Tissi, This was the first time that I had seen them.  Both impressed me considerably with their virtuosity. Smirnova's Giselle reminded me strongly of Osipova's, particularly in the scene when she is summoned from the tomb by Myrtha where she rotates with the speed and energy of a Catherine wheel.

Giorgi Potskhishvili was possibly the best Hilarion that I have ever seen.  His passion was palpable.  In this production, he pulls a knife on Albrecht which causes Albrecht to reach for where his sword should have been.  I had never seen that detail before and it explains a lot.  At a pre-performance talk when I saw the ballet in  Heerlen I put it to Beaujean that Hilarion had a rather raw deal in the story (see "Mooie!" 16 Nov 2018). "He may have been jealous, even a bit stupid," I argued, "but he was not the one to deceive two women. Did he really deserve to die?"  I don't think I would have asked that question had I seen Potskhishvili's performance then.

Myrthe was danced by Floortje Eimers whose career I have followed closely for the last 10 years.  Although it is not regarded as the leading female role I have often thought that it makes or breaks the ballet because it is Myrthe rather than Giselle who dominates the second act.  Eimers danced the role well and the second act was gripping.  Particularly the last scene before the bell struck when Tissi lay exhausted on the floor.

There were many other commendable performances but as the programme listed only the four leading roles, I can't remember exactly who danced what,  The only one I can remember is Sho Yamada in the Peasant Pas de Quatre.   The other three who danced with him merit congratulations but while I remember their faces I cannot remember their names,  Similarly, I should commend those who danced Moyna and Zulma.

One of the reasons why this production is so impressive is that the sets and costumes were designed by Toer van Schayk.  His name was not on the cinema programmes but it should have been because van Schayk is a genius.  He is as distinguished as a painter and sculptor as he is as a dancer and choreographer.  He has designed the sets for many shows of all kinds.   Often a set is lost on camera.  In this film, the high peaks and meandering valley in the first act and the mysterious and menacing forest in the second were captured faithfully,

The ballet was filmed by Pathé Live which used to present the Bolshoi.  I tended to prefer Pathé's transmissions to the Royal Opera House's largely because of the skills of its presenter, Katerina Novikova.  She could switch effortlessly from one language to another and she charmed her interviewees with her smile.  She never used an interpreter and translated their replies as soon as her interviewees stopped speaking.  Pathé did not introduce Giselle and there was no interval.   Instead, the ballet started promptly at 14:30 and continued without a break until the reverence.

That was a missed opportunity.  The company is used to giving pre-performance talks when on tour or in Amsterdam as I mentioned above.   I usually learn something new about a ballet even though the talks are given in Dutch.   The company always gives a good account of itself on World Ballet Day.   I would have enjoyed short interviews with Beaujean about the choreography, van Schayk about his designs and Smirnova, Tissi and Eimers on their characters.  

Giselle may be a very short ballet but it is too long to appreciate in one sitting.   The contrast between acts one and two also requires some time for adjustment.  In the theatre, the audience would have at least 20 minutes to grab a coffee, visit the loo, read the programme, purchase an Igone de Jongh or Michaela de Prince tee-shirt or some other merchandise and chat about the performance.  Cinema audiences need that break too especially if it is their first experience of ballet.   If the Dutch National Ballet ever contemplates another  screening I hope it will include breaks and interviews with the artists and creatives,

Shake Your Tutu

© 2023 Mark Gowland: all rights reserved Reproduced with kind permission of the owner

Northern Dance Academy Shake Your Tutu 10 Dec 2023 19:30 Creative Centre, York St John University

Northern Dance Academy is a dance school in York.  It offers a wide range of classes in many styles of dance to both adults and children.  Its classical ballet and lyrical teacher, Christie Barnes, is a founder member of Powerhouse Ballet.  Christie introduced me to Sarah Dickinson, the Director of the Northern Dance Academy.  She invited our company to dance the extract from La Sylphide that we had performed in Dance Studio Leeds's Celebration of Dance on 25 Nov 2023 in Shake Your Tutu, Northern Dance Academy's Christmas show.

The show took place in the Creative Centre of York St John University on 10 Dec 2023.  It is a magnificent auditorium with 170 seats, a massive stage, excellent acoustics and the latest sound, lighting and projection equipment.  I attended the technical rehearsal which was an opportunity to see the capabilities of that equipment in action.

The performance began at 19:30.  It consisted of the following pieces in two acts with a 20-minute interval:

Act I:

• Rogue Raimdrops by the NDA Adult Dance Company choreographed by Christie Barnes 
• Snowdrops by Christie Barnes and Soraya Noumen 
• Once Upon A December by the Adult Ballet Beginners choreographed by Esther Wilson 
• Running with the Wolves by Anjuli Trace 
• Inner Voice by Esther Wilson and Hortensia Szalay 
• Underneath the Christmas Tree by the Advanced Tap Class choreographed by Stacey Young
• L'Enfer by Vera van Cool and supporting dancers 
• Round Round by the Junior/Youth Contemporary class choreographed by Julia Pittock 
• Flores by the Lyrical troupe choreographed by Christie Barnes  

Act II

• When the Land Meets the Sea a film by the NDA Adult Dance Company choreographed by Christie Barnes and filmed and edited by Mark Gowland 
• I wish it could be Christmas Every Day by the Grade 3 Tap Class choreographed by Stacey Young
• O Holy Night by the Advanced Pointe dancers choreographed by Christie Barnes 
• Make Believe by Natasha Young 
• Hallelujah by the Advanced/Intermediate Ballet class choreographed by Christie Barnes 
• A Contemporary Christmas by the Youth Contemporary class choreographed by Julie Pittock
• La Sylphide by Powerhouse Ballet choreographed by August Bournonville, Marius Petipa and Jane Tucker and staged by Jane Tucker 
• Tough Lover by Amber Yeoman 
• Runaway by Christie Barnes and Julia Pittock, and 
• A Night at the Ball by the Adult Contemporary class choreographed by Julia Pittock.

I enjoyed all the pieces.  It was clear that a lot of work had been done for each and every one of them.  It was one of the best student shows that I have ever seen.  

However, there were some personal highlights  Snowdrops was enchanting.  Two young friends frolicked as if in a garden.  Just before the end, winter clothes appeared on stage which the dancers donned.  Their winsome wave as they left the stage was quite charming.  I liked Anjuli Trace's solo Running with the  Wolves and the duet Inner Voice Esther Wilson and Hortensia Szalay.  Anjuli and Esther are also members of Powerhouse Ballet.  The children and young women in Round Round were delightful. Especially the little boy and the girl who carried him on her back for a while.

The second act began with the film.  Christie has posted it to her Facebook feed.  It is set on one of the big wide  North Sea beaches.  It happened to be Fraisthorpe but it could have been Northumberland, Berwickshire or Fife.  Mark applied some very interesting camera techniques including mirroring. In Max Richter's In The Garden Christine chose the perfect score.  The scene was idyllic. The East Coast is not exactly known for its balmy weather.  Although probably unintended one of the artists was a black dog which made a couple of appearances.  The animal appeared to be dancing.   I was also delighted to recognize several members of Powerhouse Ballet in the film.   I hope our company can collaborate with Mark and Christie in making dance films in the future.

Although obviously not impartial I was bowled over by Powerhouse's performance of an extract of La Sylphide.  The scene was set in a forest after James has left his wedding guests to pursue a sylph who has vanished up a chimney with Effie's ring (see La Sylphide resource page).   He meets the sylphs and is quite overcome by them.  Frank Lee danced James and the syphs included several members of the Northern Dance Academy.  I had seen the company rehearse the scene many times.   Indeed, I had actually taken part in some of the rehearsals.  I had also seen their performances in Leeds.  This was by far their best yet.  They danced with energy, flair and passion.   I felt compelled to rise to my feet to bellow "bravi".   I have never been more proud of them.

I have to congratulate everyone involved in planning and participating in the show.  Particular credit belongs to Christie who directed and produced the show and choreographed and/or danced in many of the contributions.  There seems to be no end to her skills and talents.   She even found time to make sleeves and wings for our sylphs costumes.   Even attending class with her is a pleasure for she has the most infectious laugh and a very ready wit.   It has been great to work with her on La Sylphide and I look forward to doing so again very soon.