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Rothbart!

by David Wilson on April 14, 2013

It’s all over. Last Saturday I danced Rothbart in Swan Lake for two performances and I’m still on cloud nine from it. Here’s a round up of the last few weeks: 3 weeks to go With less than a month to go, rehearsals were in full swing. Alongside two class/rehearsals during the week, Saturdays now [...]

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New Kinds of Narrative

by David Wilson on April 1, 2013

Sat watching the live cinema relay of Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, I was struck by how different a piece it is compared to, say, Swan Lake or Giselle. This is not just because of the different subject matter (no-one in Alice dies for a start!) but is, I feel, due to a completely [...]

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DaveTriesBallet’s Guide To Seeing A Ballet (Updated!)

by David Wilson March 11, 2013

I recently hosted a “Ballet… Not What You Think!” screening of free ballet at my University to try and dispel a few ballet myths. Coincidentally, this was on the same day as the Royal Opera House hosted a live debate entitled Are opera and ballet elitist?. This prompted me to look back at my post [...]

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DaveTriesBallet’s Guide to Stretching

by David Wilson March 2, 2013

I often get emails and tweets asking for suggestions about stretching. I want to start by pointing out that I am no expert. Nowhere near. I don’t have any sort of medical or physiological training and can’t do the splits or a six o’clock penchee. But when I started ballet I couldn’t touch my toes [...]

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Becoming Rothbart

by David Wilson February 16, 2013

My life is currently fully immersed in Swan Lake. As I mentioned in my Review of the Year, the Russian Youth Ballet Company and Ballet School I dance with are putting on Swan Lake (based mainly off the Mariinsky version). Just before Christmas I was rather shocked, and very pleased, to find out that I’d [...]

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DTB Review: MoveDancewear Unitard

by David Wilson February 2, 2013

A staple of any dancer’s dance bag is a plain unitard – practical, unobtrusive and well-fitting. Another one has appeared on the market so here is my review: The facts: I’ve been hunting for the perfect unitard for guys for a while now. MoveDancewear’s new capped unitard isn’t quite perfect, but pretty close! What I [...]

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Cranko’s Onegin

by David Wilson January 31, 2013

I recently saw Cranko’s Onegin for the first time and discovered what a superb ballet it is. Seeing it twice in one day with the Royal Ballet I was prompted to immediately purchase the original Pushkin verse-novel (as translated by Stanley Mitchell in the Penguin Classics volume) which I quickly devoured – a truly fascinating [...]

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DaveTries…Opera?!

by David Wilson January 7, 2013

As you may know, I am a Royal Opera House Student Ambassador. I went into this role knowing a fair bit about ballet but being a little inexperienced with respect to opera. I’m not completely oblivious – I’ve seen a handful of operas in the past and have sung in a chorus for oratorios and [...]

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Reflecting on 2012

by David Wilson January 6, 2013

This year has been a bit of a rollercoaster for my ballet journey, but thankfully there have been a lot more highs than there have been lows. It was only whilst talking to a childhood friend over Christmas that I started to grasp how much has happened over the last twelve months, and how it [...]

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The 2012 DaveTriesBallet Awards!

by David Wilson December 30, 2012

You may remember the DTB Awards last year – a fun way for me to recollect the year and share the highlights. I thought I’d try and make these an annual event and so with great pleasure I give you… The DaveTriesBallet Awards 2012! PERFORMANCE AWARDS Favourite On-Stage Couple WINNER: Lauren Cuthbertson & Federico Bonelli [...]

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