So I realise that I haven’t updated for a while about how my performing and suchlike is going – that’s because I’ve been so busy with it all! Since January I’ve learnt a Pas de Quatre completely, performed it twice, am currently learning two pieces and soon will hopefully be learning a few more (including some new choreography)! Phewf! So here’s a run down of what I’ve been up to!

Pas des Déesses

This was the first piece I learnt with the ballet group and I’ve performed it a couple of times now. It is a Pas de Quatre for one guy and three ‘goddesses’ fighting for his attention – sounds fun, right? There’s an opening segment where I promenade the three girls and do a couple of assisted pas de chats (one Russian, one normal). Then we each have a variation (mine includes lots of grand jetés en tournant) and a closing segment by which point my character still can’t seem to decide who to pick so just picks all three girls. Awesome!

Me and my three gorgeous partners in Pas des Déesses

We’ve performed it a couple of times now at some charity performances. The first was at a local hospital’s Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit and the second at a residential home for people with dementia and learning disabilities. Obviously neither had a dedicated space for ballet so we had to modify the choreography a little – the first had a huge column in the middle of the room (wouldn’t want to kick that!) and the second was a really small thin/long room (so I nearly kicked one of my ‘goddesses’!).

They both went really well though and I thoroughly enjoyed performing for an audience. The two groups seemed to really appreciate us dancing for them and we got lots of reaction. In fact, while at the first performances some of the dancers mentioned how last year one of the patients had smiled for the first time since their accident when they saw the group perform. Yet more proof how magical ballet is!

Coppélia – Wheat Pas de Deux

Then a few weeks ago we started a new piece – the wheat Pas de Deux section from Coppélia. I had been picked to be Franz, Laura (one of my ‘goddesses from the Pas des Déesses) would be Swanhilda and she would have 12 ‘friends’.

If any of you don’t know the story of Coppélia then you might be wondering what wheat has to do with ballet. In this segment Swanhilda is doing that well-known(?!) test of shaking a piece of wheat to see if her boyfriend is truly in love with her. If she hears a rattle, he’s faithful and her soulmate. If it doesn’t then he’s a cheating cad she should ditch at the earliest opportunity. Makes perfect sense, right?!

Megan Fairchild and Joaquin de Luz in the NYCB Coppelia Wheat Pas de Deux (Photo Credit: Paul Kolnik)

The choreography itself is really nice, set to the most gorgeous piece of music with a sublime solo violin line (see the embedded playlist near the end of this post). Whereas in Pas des Déesses the partnering mainly involved just arabesque pomenades (or attitude promenades if we don’t have much space!) this is ‘full-blown’ partnering. Starting with a one-arm attitude promenade it then has finger fouetté turns, penchées, a ‘high-five’ one handed penchée, assisted pirouettes and even a shoulder sit! And all while Swanhilda holds a piece of wheat in her hands – just to make our lives that little bit more difficult…

The shoulder sit in particular took a bit of practice. To start with, Laura didn’t really realise she had to jump as well as me lifting (she’s new to partnering too). With that sorted we were finding that although I could get her to shoulder level reasonably easily I couldn’t really get her ‘on’ my shoulder. We think we’ve sorted it out now, I was rising to early: I need to plié when I lift her but then wait to stand up until she is up there on my shoulder. It’s surprisingly hard to get the coordination right!

So the opening section is me and Swanhilda dancing together whilst her friends look on. After getting some very biased opinions from her friends, she decides that she can’t hear the wheat, throws it down at my feet and storms off stage. I pick up the wheat, give it a shake and hear a definite rattle (it’s been there all along I reckon) so run after her. Following this is a really nice section for Swanhilda’s friends, after which she re-enters with a bit of a chip on her shoulder which is a bugger for Franz but makes for some great dancing! I also watch on, taking the mick out of the girls at certain points and have a little solo for 8 bars where I’ve been told to fill it with “jumpy stuff”…

It’s a lovely little section and we’re hoping to put together a mini Coppélia suite – we’ve already got the Mazurkas, Swanhilda’s Act 1 variation, and a section between Swanhilda/Coppélia and Dr Coppélius.

Sleeping Beauty – Precious Stones Section

Another little ‘suite’ we’re putting together at the moment is the “Precious Stone Fairies” from Act III of Sleeping Beauty. It’s not always in every production (for example The Royal Ballet don’t have it but Paris Opera Ballet do and ABT used to) but it’s for four women representing different jewels and one guy who represents ‘gold’. As the dude I enter with Ms. Diamond, have a variation, a pas de deux section with Ms. Diamond then return back for the finale where I dance with all four women (woo!) including a highly amusing section where I ‘consider’ each one in turn, decide they’re not good enough and pretty much just chuck them to the side!

It’s all really fun but also really hard. We haven’t started any of the group bits but I’ve been working on my variation for a while now and it’s by far the toughest thing I’ve done in ballet. It’s a beasty 1:45 long and by about 30 seconds in I’m absolutely knackered! I’ve simplified things (toning down numbers of beats for the most part) but it still includes royales, entrechat trois’s, tour assemblés, grand fouettés followed immediately by adage fouettés, grand jetés en manége, grand saut de basques en manége and it finishes with a grand battement to á la seconde, brought in to a retiré then down to relevé fifth. I don’t even get to come down from relevé when the music stops!

It might sound like I’m complaining but I’m actually relishing the challenge. Without pushing myself I’ll never improve and I’ve now learnt the choreography I’m working on making it look good. I can mark the variation along to the music but can’t do it ‘properly’ at full-speed. Hopefully with lots of practice I’ll get there…

Here’s a clip of the closing segment of the Jewel Fairies from the POB version. Although Nureyev altered the choreography a little it’s still close to the original Petipa (I believe) and is close to what we’ll be doing. I’m looking forward to throwing those girls around!

Brand New Pas de Deux

Next up is something that’s rather exciting. Sat in the pub after ballet one week (a post-3-hour-class-and-rehearsal pint is possibly the best thing in the world, by the way!) one of the girls mentioned that she’d been planning on choreographing a new pas de deux (to some modern music) and wanted to know if would be interested in dancing it with her. So she wanted me to be part of creating a new piece? I think I might have scared her with how quickly I said yes!

We haven’t started working on it yet (been too busy with Coppélia and shows) but hopefully we’ll be starting soon. I’ve never seen the choreographic process ‘in action’, never mind being an actual part of it, so am really excited to see what it’ll be like. And by the end of it I’ll have another piece in my repertoire.

My own piece – Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony, Second Movement

Talking of choreography, I’ve been working on my own piece; working on it in my head at least. You’ll have probably noticed in recent blog posts and on twitter that I’m a little bit obsessed with Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony, in particular the Second Movement which is entitled “O land of gloom, O land of mist!”. It’s such an emotive piece of music and it is, in my eyes (or rather ears), crying out for some choreography.

As such, I’ve been working on some ideas and currently have some (theoretical) choreography to the last 4 minutes of the 11 minute long piece. It’s a Pas de Quatre for two couples: one relatively young and playful, the other older and more restrained. I’m unsure yet to the specifics but I think they represent the same people at different stages of their life. Walking through a wood they stop for a moment to rest and get swept up in some dance. As the piece concludes (the bit I’ve choreographed in my head) their love for one another overcomes them and they dance filled with passion, expressing their eternal devotion. Finally, they take each other’s hands and stroll off into the dusk, leaving the glade in stillness.

Or, at least, that’s the idea! Like I said, this is all theoretical and I haven’t actually worked with any dancers yet. I’m still waiting to hear back about the summer course I applied to, but it includes some choreography sessions so hopefully I will be able to work on it then. If not, I might bring it up with the ballet group and see if some other dancers would be willing to let try some parts out on them.

Coppélia – Wedding Pas de Deux

Maria Kochetkova and Gennadi Nedvigin in Balanchines Coppelia (San Francisco Ballet, Photo credit: Erik Tomasson)

I said earlier how we were building up a little Coppélia suite. Well a while back one of the dancers in the group asked if I’d be interested in doing the Coppélia Wedding Pas de Deux with her. I was a bit flabbergasted – why would she want to do it with me?! My technique is obviously not great and she is quite a bit better than me (a HUGE understatement). But she asked me anyway and I said I’d love to, as long as I’m good enough. As of yet we haven’t started working on it as we’ve both been busy learning other stuff.

Whereas the Wheat Pas de Deux is a couple of minutes of proper partnering, this is a full blown classical pas de deux. That means a full opening adage partnered section (with a gorgeous violin line accompanying throughout) followed by individual variations and a coda to top it all off. The girl who asked me is pretty damn amazing (she recently did a Kitri variation from Don Q that left me speechless) so I want to wait a little until I’m a bit better so I don’t look ridiculous next to her. It’s a little intimidating but hopefully in a little while I’ll be able to give it a go. I’ve been working on my Finis Jhung “Boy Ballet Dancer” DVD and covering some “guy moves” with the ex-Pro after class (my tours en l’air are currently at 1 and a half turns!) which is definitely helping.

I’ve embedded a playlist below that includes the music for both the Wheat Pas de Deux and Wedding Pas de Deux from Coppélia. I’m sure you’ll agree it really is stunning music – let’s hope I can do it justice!

Breaking News! Petruchka

While I was writing this post (literally!) I received an email from the ballet group saying I should start working on a new solo! It’s going to be a section from Petrushka which, as far as I know, is about a doll from a carnival show. Although he’s a puppet he also feels human emotions, is imprisoned between shows by his owner and is in love with a ballerina doll. Unsurprisingly for a ballet there is no happy ending, Petrushka gets killed by a rival lover of the ballerina and rises as a ghost to haunt his former owner until the end of his days. Happy stuff!

The music is by Stravinsky and I’m hoping to adapt some of the original Fokine choreography to make a nice little solo. Much like the doll in Coppélia there’ll be a bit of flexed feet and jerky movements to really get into the doll-feeling. Should be fun! Here’s a clip of the Bolshoi Academy doing the first scene from Petrushka:

That’s it! (I think…)

So that’s all what I’ve been up to! I’ve learnt one piece fully, performed it twice, am currently learning another two pieces, will hopefully be starting to learn another three pieces soon and might even do some of my own choreographing if I can find some time! On top of that, I’ve found another couple of local adult classes which brings my weekly tally up to five (my RAD Intermediate class, two before rehearsal with the ballet group and these two new ones). Oh, and I guess I shouldn’t forget the whole Computer Science PhD malarky… I like to keep myself busy

Are any of you readers performing? What pieces are you doing? Pop a message in the comments box below to let me know!

Until next time, keep dancing!

Dame Monica Mason is certainly ending her reign as Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet with a bang! She commissioned not one, but two brand new pieces for this Triple Bill (one by Liam Scarlett and the other by Wayne McGregor) and placed them alongside Wheeldon’s Polyphonia. I was fortunate enough to see this Triple Bill twice, on opening night and partway through the run. This way I also managed to see the two casts for Polyphonia and the Scarlett (the McGregor only had one cast).

The Royal Ballet Triple Bill as seen through various pictures in the program.

Polyphonia (choreography: Wheeldon, Music: Ligeti)

Opening Cast: Benjamin, Stix-Brunell, Choe, Mendizabal, Kish, Dyer, Campbell, Trzensimiech

It is astonishing to think that this piece came from Wheeldon when he was so young (it was premiered in 2001 at New York City Ballet) and shows his ‘plotless’ chops are just as strong (if not stronger) than the narrative ones he recently showed with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice has hints of Balanchine (notably in the White Rabbit solo and the Apollo pastiche at the Tea Party) but Polyphonia showed just how influenced Wheeldon was by the founder of NYCB.

The first cast showed off the young members of the company. Alexander Campbell and Dawid Trzensimiech seemed to have a lot of fun in their dazzling ‘Vivace Energico’ section together, showing off their skills. The pair always impress me in whatever roles they dance and I hope they get some big chances in the coming season. Beatriz Stix-Brunell showed us again (after her triumphant début in Alice) how she can command a stage.

My only query about the casting for the opening night was the pairing of Leanne Benjamin and Nehamiah Kish. Superb dancers individually, the minute Benjamin was dwarfed by the towering Kish to a slightly jarring extent.

A fascinating piece overall, building on classical foundations to produce a fresh and modern piece. Oh, and did anyone else spot the flamingos or the start of the caterpillar (minus belly rubs, thankfully) from Alice?

Alternate Cast: Lamb, Naghdi, Choe, Raine, Stepanek, Hay, Ondiviela, Trzensimiech

Lamb and Stepanek in Polyphonia (Photo credit: Dave Morgan for DanceTabs)

I much preferred the partnership of Sarah Lamb and Johannes Stepanek who danced the two pas de deuxs superbly. In the few pieces I’ve seen Lamb in, she always seems to bring out the athleticism of ballet which I thought really enhanced her sections. I’m not sure whether I’d be able to see past that athleticism in a more ‘traditional’ role but I really like it in the abstract pieces she’s been in.

Reprising his role from the first cast, Trzensimiech once again shone and Yasmine Naghdi (just an Artist like Stix-Brunell) handled her solo with aplomb. I have no doubt Wheeldon’s Polyphonia will be around for many years to come.

Sweet Violets (choreography: Scarlett, Music: Rachmaninoff)

Opening Cast: Kobborg, Cope, Soares, Bonelli, Cojocaru, Morera, Rojo, McRae

When I saw Scarlett’s Asphodel Meadows earlier in the season I was blown away; so much so that following the matinee I immediately purchased a ticket for the evening performance that same day. I was therefore excited to see Scarlett’s first foray into narrative ballet.

Inspired by the enigmatic Walter Sickert and his series of paintings ‘The Camden Town Murder’, Scarlett had set himself a tall order: recreate 19th Century London and tell a little-known story. Did he rise to the challenge? For me it was a near-resounding yes and, more importantly perhaps, he showed the potential to be one of the most exciting choreographers currently creating pieces.

Whilst not a perfect work, Scarlett has created a dark, tense and gripping short work set intimately with Rachmaninoff’s ‘Trio Élégiaque’; the music fitting so well that you could easily be mistaken into thinking the music had been commissioned specially for this piece.

Scarlett could hardly have gotten two more stellar casts to work with. The opening night featured an astonishing seven principals out of the eight named parts, with First Artist Leanne Cope sharing the stage with the big names listed above. Not only picking great dancers, but great actors too it seemed a shame that some characters got woefully short time in the spotlight. Kobborg played the role of Sickert and was the lynchpin that kept the drama and tension alive, especially in the final scene with Cojocaru and McRae.

Kobborg and Cojocaru in Sweet Violets (Photo Credit: Bill Cooper for The Guardian)

The great set (albeit a little too dark from the Amphitheatre) accompanied Scarlett’s choreographic voice. I agree with the comments that some pre-reading of the plot is beneficial and without it the plot may be unclear (for example who Christopher Saunders was playing – the Prime Minister – and why he was present). But I see a simple way to rectify this problem: extend it to full-length!

Alternate Cast: Gartside, Hinkis, Whitehead, Cervera, Morera, Cope, Nuñez, Campbell

Possibly because I already knew the general narrative of the piece, I was moved even more by Sweet Violets on a second viewing. I noticed more details, felt like the characters resonated more and appreciated Scarlett’s genius to a greater degree.

Bennet Gartside immersed himself into Sickert’s character, easily rising to the high bar that Kobborg had set. In particular, the final scene spoke of a man who had lost control of ‘something’ (in my eyes represented by Campbell’s character, ‘Jack’). There was a haunting look in his eyes, hinted during the preceding scene with Leanne Cope’s Annie (again, Cope showed a maturity betraying her years and rank). As expected, Nuñez was superlative as Sickert’s model Marie, her presence commanding your attention throughout her time on stage.

Sweet Violets had indeed matured on a second viewing and, on reflection, I think I preferred the alternate cast. With some burning simages (Sickert’s bloody handprint on the porcelin sink, the `backstage` view of the dance hall stage) Scarlett has evoked Victorian London perfectly.

I certainly hope Sweet Violets will be revived soon, and stay in the Royal Ballet repertory for many years. But, more than anything, I hope Scarlett gets a chance to extend the piece to full length: to talk more of Eddy and Annie’s relationship, allow for more solo scenes (with ‘Jack’ lurking in the dark perhaps) and to let us deeper into Sickert’s head and psyché. There are so many possiblities and I hope O’Hare lets Scarlett share his gift with us all in the coming years. I’m already excited to see Viscera, which Scarlett created for Miami City Ballet this year and will be in the upcoming Royal Ballet season. Below is a clip from “Royal Ballet Live” which shows Scarlett rehearsing Soares and Cope and lets us have a glimpse into his genius mind!

Carbon Life (choreography: McGregor, Music: Ronson et al)

Cast (for all performances): Bracher, Stix-Brunell, Calvert, Cowley, Cuthbertson, Dyer, Hamilton, Hirano, Kay, Lamb, mcRae, Nuñez, Naghdi, Ondiviela, Stepanek, Underwood, Watson, Watkins

Musicians: Ronson, Boy George, Fisher, Mosshart, Pierce, Wyatt, Cobain, Senti, Silver, Chetwood

And now for something completely different! A new work by Wayne McGregor in collaboration with musical polymath Mark Ronson and fashion designer Gareth Pugh (nope, never heard of him either but he’s supposedly a big deal!) it would be accompanied by a live band, singers and even a rapper. This was ballet like never before.

Cutbertson and Underwood in Carbon Life (Photo Credit: Bill Cooper)

The choreography was trademark McGregor – contortions, tic-like movements and sharp changes in position. But for me the most memorable and enjoyable segment was the most classical. When the lights turned on for the first time all 18 dancers were revealed in two flanks, organised by sex but dressed in similar clothing (small black boxer shorts and flesh tank tops for the ladies) with slicked back hair completing the androgynous look. As the band starts up (“Is anyone out there?”) the dancers move through a series of classical positions with speed and exactness. Working precisely with the strong beat of the music they are lika textbook demonstration of placement – an army of world-class dancers.On the other hand, there were sections of choreography that left me a little nonplussed – some rather obvious monkey-like loping around the stage for example.

The music was great – Ronson at his best – and the Royal Opera House was truly rocking, which suited McGregor. I’ve noticed that McGregor seems to choreograph to a ‘beat’ rather than the ‘music’, so the strong constant rhythms of the songs worked well. I was also shocked how well rap works alongside ballet! You can listen to one of the tracks (with Boy George on vocals) here:

Although androgynous, and sometimes obscured by Pugh’s bizarre costumes (not a fan of the weird pointe boots or dodecagonal tutus), there were certain dancers that stood out. Olivia Cowley may only be a First Artist but she strutted with confidence during her pas de deuxs with Ed Watson, and matched his fascinating body with he own amazing moves. McRae showed off his immense talent in a solo during the penultimate song and the trio of female principals: Cuthbertson, Lamba and Nuñez, showed just how spectacular they can be in any role they are given.

I rather doubt Carbon Life will be revived – I doubt they will be able to secure the musicians for another run and it would be nowhere near the same without the live music. This is a shame as, even with all its flaws, it was a hugely enjoyable and ‘fun’ piece. I think it is great that the Royal Opera House took a risk in staging something so different to the norm.

Summary

All in all, this was a fantastic triple bill. From the classicism (or rather neo-classicism I guess?) of Polyphonia to the high-drama and tension of Sweet Violets to the sheer overwhelming energy of Carbon Life this really did have it all. Personally my favourite piece was Sweet Violets by a mile (which is not to say the others were bad; far from it in fact!). The more I see of Scarlett’s work the more I want to see. He has a very exciting future ahead (his first full-length piece premiering next season in the Linbury) and I hope the Royal Ballet see sense and appoint him a Resident Choreographer before someone else snaps him up! (I’m looking at you Ms. Rojo…)

Unfortunately, due to my delayed review (I blame work and performing!) the run of the Triple Bill has just finished. But I am sure both Polyphonia and Sweet Violets will be revived very soon – and I’m hoping the Royal Opera House recorded Carbon Life to release on iTunes.

Did you see the triple bill? What did you think? Which of this triumvirate was your favourite? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time, keep dancing!

There’s one thing you can’t really have ballet without. Music.

Sure, there are times in ballets (especially more modern works) where there is a choreography section done to silence, but I can’t imagine a full-length three-act narrative ballet without a score, can you? Part of the magic for me (and what immediately identifies great dancers) is when choreography is danced not just alongside the music but with the music.

Thinking about this, I started to create a playlist of my favourite bits of music from ballets, calling it (the rather unimaginative name) “A Night at the Ballet”. But I am well aware of the fact that I haven’t seen nearly enough ballets for it to be even close to comprehensive, so I decided to get some help from my Twitter and Facebook followers! After a deluge of responses (helped along by a retweet by the Royal Opera House) my playlist started to take shape.

It was really interesting to see people’s choices, and even more so to see their reasons. Some picked pieces because of the music itself, whereas others seems to base their choices on the linked choreography too. There’s a load of replies on my Facebook Page if you want to have a read. I tried to keep my playlist from getting too big, so some tracks didn’t make it. But I’ve tried to include at least one choice from everyone!

So here it is (by the magic of Spotify)…

There isn’t really an order to the playlist, and it keeps growing and growing! I’ve opened with Serenade (in my opinion the most beautiful ballet music ever) and followed this by some fairly well-known pieces that were suggested (often multiple times): we’ve got a bit of Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Dying Swan and so on. As the playlist goes on you’ll find a few more ‘obscure’ pieces: bits of Prince of the Pagodas, Daphnis et Chloë, Danses à Grande Vitesse and others.

And then I’ve finished by cheating slightly… Sorry! The final track is the second movement of Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony. I’ve never seen a ballet choreographed to this symphony (although I think Peter Martin’s used it for a piece at NYCB in the early 80′s), but I’ve included it because whenever I hear it I think there should be choreography set to it. It is so emotive and passionate! In fact, I’ve already been working (in my head) on a Pas de Quatre to the final 4 minutes or so of this movement. I’ve applied to a summer intensive (keeping my fingers and fifth position crossed!) which includes a chance to work on choreography so I’m hoping to maybe expand it there (and who knows, if it goes well I could maybe get the ballet group in Bristol to perform it!).

Talking of choreography, when you listen to ballet music do you ‘see’ the choreography? I personally find it hard to disassociate memorable choreography with music – for example the transition from “Romeo’s Variation” to “Love Dance” in R&J balcony scene (that gorgeous moment when Juliet finishes her pirouette with a grande rond de jambe into arabesque). I also didn’t particularly enjoy listening to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring until I saw ENB perform MacMillan’s amazing choreography to it. Now the thought of their dancing makes me enjoy the music so much more.

But it doesn’t have to be set choreography: I talked to a friend at ballet this week who said whenever she listens to classical music she imagines dancing to it but not specific steps (more the general ‘lilt’ to the piece). Whereas her husband (a musician) listens more to little details in the piece, or a specific instrument in orchestral works.

So do you listen to music differently after seeing a ballet to it? What’s your favourite piece of ballet music? Did I miss it off my playlist? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time, keep dancing!

P.S. This whole post was inspired by me stumbling across this video. It’s of an elderly man in a care home who shows a remarkable increase in response after listening to his favourite music. It reminded me how important music can be. And on a related note, our ballet group performed at a local brain injury rehabilitation unit and it was amazing to see the reactions from the patients to the dance. Last year when the group had performed there, one of the patients had smiled for the first time in a year!

I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to see the Royal Ballet perform Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo & Juliet four times this season. I consider myself even luckier to have seen such stellar performances from some of the Royal Ballet’s best dancers. I saw three casts, watched from three different parts of the Royal Opera House, once in the cinema, saw twenty main characters die, heard goodness knows how many sword clashes, saw one sword snap mid-fight and cried more than a few (manly) tears.

I’ve never seen a single ballet so many times and I hadn’t planned on seeing Romeo & Juliet so much, but after the first performance I knew I needed to see more of this masterpiece. What came to surprise me however, was how differently each cast would interpret these characters, and how my various viewpoints would dictate my reactions and focus.

The first pair I saw perform the eponymous roles were Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg. A real-life couple and a pair of veritable superstars, this season was probably their final performances of Romeo & Juliet at the Royal Opera House. As such there was a bittersweet feel to their performances which heightened their connection to the audience, many of whom have seen the couple develop over their impressive careers. Cojocaru’s Juliet was young and impish, highlighting the extreme youth of the character in the first Act. Kobborg, on the other hand, seemed to give Romeo a hint of maturity, portraying a youth at the threshold of manhood. Needless to say, both were spectacular. Their balcony scene had me wiping away a tear or two before the first act had even finished. There was a particular moment in the final scene where Cojocaru’s Juliet tried to lift Kobborg’s late Romeo from the floor for a final dance. I imagine this image will stick with me for a very long time – her futile effort was one of the most heart-wrenching things I have seen on stage. This performance also featured the fantastic Bennet Gartside as Tybalt (a role I’d see him in thrice), pulling off pure-evil remarkably well and making me very excited for his Von Rothbart debut in October. His fight with Kobborg was actually terrifying (even from standing in the stalls circle) and I was worried someone would get hurt as the pair threw themselves completely into the situation. Valentino Zucchetti also gave a particularly assured turn as lead Mandolin player, finishing his first turn in high a la seconde with an absurd amount of control.

Cuthbertson and Bonelli in the Balcony Scene (Photo credit: Bill Cooper for the ROH)

I saw Lauren Cuthbertson and Federico Bonelli perform the ballet twice, once at the Royal Opera House (their first time performing the roles together) and once in a cinema at Bath as a worldwide live-relay. Cuthbertson was originally meant to be partnered by Sergei Polunin but, after his shock resignation, he was replaced by Bonelli. I went into their performance wondering how they would work together; the answer, it turns out, was some of the most electric chemistry I’ve seen on stage. Cuthbertson’s Juliet truly transformed through the ballet, visibly maturing and growing. Bonelli’s Romeo was bursting with energy and passion, adding an impulsiveness that makes you begin to understand his fierce retaliation to his friend’s death. Together, they just worked perfectly: when Cutbertson’s Juliet first lays eyes on Bonelli’s Romeo it makes you believe in love at first sight (even from the back row of the amphitheatre). Technically superb, the pair built on this with some of the best acting in the entire company to create something magical – I am excited to see their partnership develop through other roles (they are already cast for Swan Lake together in October and have danced Alice together thrice this season). This cast also featured my favourite Mercutio-Benvolio double act of Alexander Campbell and Dawid Trzensimiech. The Pas de Trois with Bonelli’s Romeo before the Capulet’s Ball was first-class and tight-knit followed by great solo’s later in Act I. In fact, Campbell’s Mercutio was the only one I saw which moved me when in the throes of death. I think they are two of the most exciting up-and-coming male dancers in the company and I look forward to seeing them develop and tackle larger roles in the near-future. Kristen McNally also deserves a mention for playing the Nurse perfectly, adding another great acting role to her, already fit-to-bursting, repertoire.

My third viewing was the same Cuthbertson/Bonelli cast, this time at my local Odeon with some ballet-newbie friends. I was skeptical of how the atmosphere of the ballet would transfer to the silver screen but, although I would perhaps have changed a couple of camera angles, I think it was overall a success. At times I didn’t like having my focus dictated (I missed the banter between Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio when they’re drinking wine at the market) but it allowed me to see some things I missed from the amphitheatre. It also showed just how fine the leading pair are as actors, not just dancers. At the end of Act III, Scene I, Juliet decides to go to the Friar to ask for the fateful potion. As she makes this decision she simply sits on the end of her bed while the orchestra plays. With a close-up shot of Cuthbertson’s face I could almost see her thoughts racing and the tumult of emotions going through her head. Then, a single tear dropped down her right cheek and I was sent reeling; Cuthbertson truly is a national treasure. I hope they release a DVD of this truly special performance; I know that if they do I will be first in line to buy it.

My final Romeo & Juliet was Ed Watson and Leanne Benjamin which I saw from the front row of the stalls (thanks to a rather amazing person – you know who you are!). I was pleasantly surprised to find that Watson and Benjamin produced such a different version of the roles. There was what I can only describe as a ‘sharpness’ to their movements which gave an urgency to the story. As if these young lovers were being swept up by events beyond their control. Watson showed that his acting is as good as his (ridiculously amazing) arabesques, his shock at killing Tybalt physically shaking him to his core. Benjamin must also have the Fountain of Youth hidden away in her dressing room, easily appearing the youngest on stage (and although I would never reveal a woman’s age, she is the longest serving principal at the Royal Ballet). We were spoilt by another fine Tybalt in Gary Avis and a particularly haunting Lady Capulet by Genesia Rosato. Thomas Whitehead’s Paris displayed more backbone than others’, seemingly close to striking Benjamin’s Juliet just before she agrees to marry him. I preferred this to the more-traditional submissive and accepting Paris and it made me less remorseful when he is killed by Romeo in the Capulet Crypt. Sitting in the front row was truly inspirational and I will be trying to channel what I saw in my upcoming classes (although I can only dream of having such superb technique!).

All in all, my Romeo & Juliet season has been an emotional rollercoaster taking me each time from pure joy and elation to the depths of emotion and heartbreak. MacMillan’s genius shines throughout the whole piece including the singularly beautiful Balcony Scene. I cannot think of another section of ballet that evokes such a response from me every time I view it. I think it would be my ‘dream’ piece to dance: Romeo’s variation is brimming with joy and hope, the transition into the partnering section (where Juliet finishes a pirouette by opening into an arabesque) is so beautiful and Romeo’s sequence of rises on his knees with Juliet overhead seems to perfectly express the feeling of love and its ability to make you float on air. If you’ve never seen this scene before then here’s a superb video of Miyako Yoshida and Steven McRae (watch out in particular for 4:05 and 6:15):

Romeo & Juliet is not programmed for next season (which is shaping up to be fantastic: including Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Onegin, Mayerling and some very exciting triple bills) but I will be getting my next major MacMillan-fix in a couple of months time with Prince of the Pagodas. Created on Darcey Bussell and Jonathan Cope I can barely contain my excitement at seeing Nunez/Kish and (a week later) Cuthbertson/Pennefather tackle this modern-day classic.

Did any of you catch Romeo & Juliet at the Royal Opera House this season? Any opinions on your favourite interpretations of the famous roles? Let me know in the comments box below!

Until next time, keep dancing!

P.S. As a special treat, here’s the balcony scene from the recent live-relay with Cuthbertson/Bonelli. I’m sure you’ll agree they are something truly special – sit back, enjoy and prepare to be moved:

Hey everyone!

I was honoured to be asked to write a couple of guest posts for A Younger Theatre in preparation for their Digital Takeover of the Royal Opera House on Thursday for Romeo & Juliet. The first was all about starting ballet at 23 and the second was about MacMillan’s choreography for Romeo & Juliet. I thought I’d share them here, or you can read the originals here and here.

Dave Tries Ballet: Taking the first steps into ballet as an adult

What makes a guy decide, at 23, to take a ballet class for the first time? A year-and-a-half later and I’m still struggling to find an answer. I was studying in the US and wanted a new challenge, something completely outside my comfort zone. Ballet sprang to mind from nowhere and I’m hugely grateful it did.

It’s not exactly easy to start ballet at such a late (relatively speaking) age. Most people taking adult classes have danced as a child, even if they haven’t taken a class in years. As well as not having this previous experience, I felt my presence was particularly distinctive as I was a guy in a female-dominated activity. I was lucky to find some ‘absolute beginner’ adult classes and approached them with more than a hint of trepidation. My teacher told me to just follow along and do my best. I relished the challenge and emerged from the class feeling as if I’d accomplished something (even if it was just a quarter-turn pirouette), and was eager to try more. Soon, I was taking five classes a week and travelling to New York at weekends to get my fix.

Me and my three gorgeous partners in Pas des Déesses

Obviously being a 24-year-old guy doing ballet is not ‘the norm’. It’s rare to see other guys dance and can be hard to find adult classes. In fact, one of my weekly classes is at a local dance school and mainly consists of teenage girls, which took a little getting used to! It’s certainly humbling when someone half your age is leagues ahead of you.

I think the most frustrating thing about starting dance as an adult is that, whilst your brain can visualise a certain movement, your body doesn’t necessarily respond how you want it to. Whilst our brains are more analytical than a child’s, this can be as detrimental as it is beneficial. I have teachers telling me to “just go for it” when attempting something difficult like triple pirouettes or tours en l’air (a male move involving turning full-circle whilst mid-air), but often my over-analytical brain tenses me up and hinders me. At times I wish I had the fearlessness that children have to try anything, not afraid to fail or fall.

One thing that people assume when I tell them that I dance is that I’m going to try to be a professional. I find this rather strange; playing tennis doesn’t imply you’re aiming for Wimbledon. That said, I am still serious about becoming the best dancer I can be. I currently take, on average, three or four classes a week and rent out a studio at least twice a week to practice. I also dance with a group of other recreational adult dancers (including some former professionals), which involves weekly repertoire sessions and performances.

There is also the male ballet stereotype to deal with: camp, effeminate and enjoys wearing tutus. This is, obviously, inaccurate and hasn’t stopped me doing ballet, as I think it is important to show the world that being masculine and dancing are not mutually exclusive. Great strides have been made by introducing high-profile male dancers into the media, such as with Billy Elliot and, more recently, Harry Judd’s victory on Strictly Come Dancing. Add to this the work of all-male companies such as BalletBoyz and it is becoming more socially acceptable for men to dance. Being an outnumbered guy has its perks too: the last piece I performed involved three gorgeous women fighting for my attention. It’s a hard life!

Since starting classes I’ve also started to watch more ballet. I appreciate seeing dance more now that I realise just how hard it is. A professional can make steps I can only dream of doing seem utterly effortless, which adds its own magic. We are very lucky in the UK to have some of the world’s greatest dance companies and, contrary to popular belief, it can be very affordable to see them. On top of youth discounts and promotions, there are shockingly cheap tickets up for grabs if you don’t mind standing or sitting (with binoculars) at the top of a theatre. For example, I recently saw the Royal Ballet in a matinee and evening performance, and the total cost for both tickets was £10. I don’t think I need to add that taking someone to a ballet is a distinctively romantic gesture!

I think what keeps me dancing is that ballet is so much more than just working through steps. It teaches you grace, posture and respect. It develops lean muscle, core strength and agility. But on top of all these things are the moments when everything comes together, when you stop concentrating on technique or extension and get lost in the moment. And when that happens it truly feels like you’re flying. Why not try it and see for yourself?

Dave Tries Ballet: MacMillan’s Choreography

One fundamental way in which ballet differs from other theatre is that, for a given ballet, there might exist many different versions of the choreography. This would be akin to having four different version of Hamlet, all with the same fundamental plot but differing dialogue.

Amongst the most popular interpretations of Romeo & Juliet (all set to Prokofiev’s magnificent score) are those by Cranko, Nureyev, Ashton and MacMillan. It is MacMillan’s version that the Royal Ballet currently performs and it is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. Premiering in 1965 with Fonteyn and Nureyev, it was an immediate success and has been performed countless times since, across the world.

Sir Kenneth MacMillan is one of the great British choreographers. Forging a letter of permission from his father, he joined the Royal Ballet School during the second world war and later performed with the company. He spent 15 years as Principal Choreographer and was Director of the company for seven years. I make no attempt to hide that I am a huge fan of MacMillan’s work. He choreographed some of the greatest full-length ballets: Romeo & Juliet, Manon, Prince of the Pagodas and others. He was as versatile as he was talented, producing comic, serious and abstract works.

Lauren Cuthbertson and Ed Watson in Romeo & Juliet (Photo Credit: ROH)

MacMillan’s genius is epitomised by his ability to make ballet seem completely natural. Take, for instance, the opening scene of Romeo & Juliet: the residents of Verona are attending the local market. As they wander, small groups break in sequences of steps as if it is a perfectly normal thing to do, before resuming their slow wander through the city with their wares. The following fight scene is a complex mixture of choreography and fencing, staying faithful to both. Later, MacMillan acknowledges the dance roots in sword fighting more overtly when Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio have a fake parry before entering the Capulets’ party. Conversely, the fateful confrontation between Mercutio, Tybalt and Romeo is much more violent.

Concluding Act I is the famous balcony pas de deux, often performed on its own as a gala piece. In flowing costumes, the star-crossed lovers move around the Capulets’ garden as if ethereal, expressing their love and devotion. The lyrical choreography here is some of MacMillan’s most beautiful work. There is one particular moment where Romeo drops to his knees and lifts Juliet above his head. As he raises and lowers his upper body, Juliet arches her back in perfect synchronisation. Every time I see it my breath catches; it is too stunning for words. Another trademark of MacMillan’s work is his ability to advance the story with every single step. In more ‘classical’ ballets (such as Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty) the story is told in segments of mime, interspersed with segments of dance. In MacMillan’s work he does away with the mime, relying on the dancing alone.

Early in Act III, Lord and Lady Capulet try to force Juliet to marry Paris and they share a courtship dance in the middle of her bedroom. Unlike the earlier passionate balcony and bedroom pas de deux with Romeo, Juliet is unresponsive to Paris’ partnering. She falls limp as he tries to earn her affection. In the middle of this sequence Juliet suddenly snaps her leg into a high arabesque (one leg lifted behind her) recoiling away from Paris. This defiant gesture reveals Juliet’s true feelings, a crack in her submissive façade. I cannot think how this level of complexity in Juliet’s character could be expressed with more traditional mime.

I saw Cuthbertson and Bonelli (the cast for the upcoming cinema-relay) last weekend and they gave a stellar performance. The pair exuded a completely believable and consuming chemistry. When Cuthbertson’s Juliet first looked upon her Romeo it made you believe in love at first sight and the final scene had me wiping away a tear or two. Dancers of the highest calibre, they brought the most out of this fantastic choreography for a truly memorable performance, reminding me just how special ballet can be. Bravo!

Hope you enjoyed reading them! Until next time, keep dancing!

If you follow me on twitter (and if you don’t, just click the little “Follow” button on the left there!) then you’ll know that I have been a bit stressed with work at the moment (which has resulted in a backlog of blog posts to write – the next few might be in a weird order while I finish them all!). Trying to write an academic paper in 10 days resulted in me getting minimal sleep and potentially having to miss a rather fantastic day of ballet I had planned in London. Well, luckily I managed to get enough work done beforehand to make the trip to the big city and I am so ridiculously glad I did!

So what was in store for me? Well first up was a workshop run by the BalletBoyz! This was a chance for adults with a minimum of 1 year’s training to take a class with the BalletBoyz Ballet Master, James, at Sadler’s Wells (where the Boyz would perform later that evening a similar programme to the one at Bath I saw). When I first heard about this I immediately emailed to register and so arrived at the Sadler’s Wells stage door at around 9:30am (we’ll not discuss the 5:30 wake up to get there from Bath in time).

Quickly getting changed I headed up to the Ashton studio – it’s an amazing space to dance in and I found myself wondering how many dancers had practiced there in the past. Talk about inspiring! James introduced himself and once everyone had arrived we started class. There was only 7 of us, which was great as it let James give out personal corrections, and for once the number of guys outweighed the number of girls! Most of the dancers had been dancing for many years (I think everyone except me had started at age 3 or 4!) so I felt a little out of my depth towards the end of center but I loved every second. I just hope James didn’t mind me being a little less experienced than everyone else!

The class itself was amazing and James was a truly superb teacher. All throughout he concentrated on keeping ‘natural alignment’ and making sure we were ‘dancing’ – not just doing the technique. This was emphasised when we did things like leaving the barre mid-combination to do an attitude balance and promenade before returning for a higher (russian style) attitude at the barre.

He also concentrated on the idea of ‘opposition’ and that the body works with opposing forces. This idea and image really spoke to me and although I couldn’t put the ideas into practice straight away (stupid body not doing what I tell it to) I felt more balanced and on my leg than probably ever before.

And then in the center there were some really cool combinations and one step in particular stuck out for me. It wasn’t complicated – a waltz into a coupé turn – but it was one of those moments where I truly felt I was ‘dancing’. One of those moments where I forgot about worrying about the steps or technique and could enjoy the feeling of moving through the space. One of the best feelings in the world!

So with the masterclass finishing it was a very quick rush to the Royal Opera House to watch Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg perform Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo & Juliet. This would be my first time seeing the Royal Ballet’s Romeo & Juliet, as well as my first time seeing the amazing Cojocaru and Kobborg. Needless to say they did not disappoint in the least! I can’t really put into words just how special the performance was, but here’s a selection of my tweets after the show.

Pass the tissues…

— DaveTriesBallet (@DaveTriesBallet) March 3, 2012

So Alina and @KOBBORG we’re just too perfect for words. Amazing.

— DaveTriesBallet (@DaveTriesBallet) March 3, 2012

To be honest, I had some years in my eyes by the end of Act I. The balcony scene was simply beautiful.

— DaveTriesBallet (@DaveTriesBallet) March 3, 2012

Ric was fantastically cheeky as Mercutio and @Bennet76 made a, frankly, terrifying Tybalt.

— DaveTriesBallet (@DaveTriesBallet) March 3, 2012

And I’ve never seen as ferocious a sword fight as between @KOBBORG and @Bennet76 – thought someone was going to get truly hurt!

— DaveTriesBallet (@DaveTriesBallet) March 3, 2012

Act III truly heartbreaking. Cojocaru and @KOBBORG were so absorbed in their roles their grief was palpable throughout the @RoyalOperaHouse

— DaveTriesBallet (@DaveTriesBallet) March 3, 2012

In particular, the moment Alina tried to lift @KOBBORG for a final dance was heart wrenching.

— DaveTriesBallet (@DaveTriesBallet) March 3, 2012

I’ve also got to say that the performance reminded me just how much of a genius MacMillan is. I think a true testament to his skill is how natural he makes dance seem, it’s truly amazing choreography (the balcony scene may be one of my favourite segments of a ballet ever).

Alas, after the end of Romeo & Juliet, still wiping a tear from my eye I had to do some work (in a nearby coffee shop). Somehow I was able to concentrate enough to get my proofreading done (although all the tweets reiterating how amazing everyone had found R&J kept distracting me!) and finally met up with @OperaAndMe for dinner before she headed to see the controversial new production of Rusalka at the Royal Opera House. If you are interested in opera then you should definitely check out her blog!

I was also headed back to the Royal Opera House, but this time downstairs to the Linbury theatre to see Ballet Black perform. First up was Together Alone, a new work (all the pieces were freshly choreographed) by the Royal Ballet’s Jonathan Watkins and skilfully danced by Sarah Kundi and Jazmon Voss. I loved the idea that a couple can never quite be truly together, which was represented by the fact that Kundi and Voss rarely touched each other throughout the piece, often coming close but not quite close enough.

Following this was a solo by Rambert’s Jon Goddard (who I saw when they toured to Bath) called Running Silent, danced by Kanika Carr. Although I’m not usually keen on contemporary pieces that concentrate on floor work I really enjoyed this piece. This may have been thanks to my elevated viewpoint (I wonder if those level with the stage saw much of the floor work) and the engaging performance by Carr. Described in the programme as choreographed for either a male or female, I would love to see the piece again performed by a man to see the contrast.

The final piece of the first half was Captured by Martin Lawrence. This piece for four dancers, set to a Shostakovich string quartet, was my personal highlight of the evening. It was intricate and emotionally complex, raising many questions about the relationships between the four dancers. In particular, Cira Robinson was a revelation – she exuded confidence and fire that was paired with some truly stunning lines. A delight to watch.

This made it even more galling to have to leave at the interval (thanks to engineering works on my trainline) and so miss Robinson as the lead in a new work by Christopher Hampson called Storyville. All reviews I have read confirm that it is a great piece and Robinson dances it with great skill.

So that was my amazing day in London! I wanted to write the post while it was still fresh in my mind, so my next post will (hopefully) be about my performance last week (spoiler: it was awesome!). The paper deadline is tomorrow so I’m hoping to get back on top of my blog posts once I’ve caught up on some sleep…

Until next time, keep dancing!

This time next week I’ll be warming up for my performance. “Eek!” doesn’t quite cover it…

I’m simultaneously really excited about it and also really nervous. The steps aren’t crazily complicated (but not exactly easy either) consisting mainly of grand jétes en tournant/tour jetés (depending if you’re UK/US taught) and the partnering mainly involves promenade arabesques. The problem really comes when I’m trying to nail the steps and look half-decent whilst doing them! Here’s my absolutely epic variation music though, it’s so cool I can’t help but be inspired when listening to it.

This week in class/rehearsal we ran through the whole piece (about 8 minutes) and one of the guys from the ballet group (who is an ex-professional and really cool guy) watched and gave us pointers. It was a little bit scary (although I guess next week I’ll be performing in front of a lot more people!), but he made some really useful observations.

My pointers can be summarised by him repeatedly telling me to act like I’m showing off my really big…, well, you get the idea! To phrase it in a more pre-watershed manner, he kept asking me to act confident and manly. As if I owned the stage. Problem is, that’s a lot harder than it sounds.

For a start I’m not a hugely confident guy. I can’t do a manly strut as if I own the place. I can’t put on that knowing smirk without looking like a demented chicken. And I definitely can’t do these things whilst also concentrating on not falling on my face.

Which has made me realise that ballet is about so much more than the steps. It made me appreciate just how astonishing it is to see dancers who completely inhabit roles and do so whilst dancing steps I can only dream of doing.

Things I need to work on include: walking (seriously!), arms in arabesque, my arms and back when landing tour jetés, my arms in sissonnes and my lifts in assisted pas de chats. There’s a whole other layer to work on above the basic movements and it can be a little intimidating. I’m only just getting to grips with the basic steps and it’s hard to concentrate on everything at once.

But I’ve got the studio booked for two hours today and again tomorrow so will be working hard on the variation this weekend and all next week. Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard but I’m determined to nail it! Bring on next week!

Until next time, keep dancing!

You’ve probably heard of the BalletBoyz. Two former leading dancers with The Royal Ballet, Michael Nunn and William Trevitt have spent the last ten years, in short, making ballet and dance be cool. To start, that was by their own performances, at the same time they started making documentaries which soon were broadcast on national TV. There was “Strictly Bolshoi” which followed Christopher Wheeldon as he choreographed a new piece for the Bolshoi, and there was “Royal Ballet in Cuba” following their historic tour to the country.  Then this Christmas there was “The Talent”, following the BalletBoyz’s latest venture.

Two years ago the pair decided to set up a new group of dancers and did something a bit risky – held open auditions. They let any guy aged 18-25 apply and watched them move rather than read CVs. The group would need to dance a range of contemporary styles so they needed ‘natural movers,’ which resulted in an eclectic mix of backgrounds from the classically trained to some with no formal dance training. In fact, only one of the eight dancers in the company had started dancing before the age of 16! This emphasises how important the other side of The Talent is – education. Running regular workshops while on tour and hosting a “BootCamp” in the summer they work hard to push boys “past common perceptions and engage with their imaginations”, great stuff!

Great to see such a full theatre for a Sunday night performance - I had a pretty amazing view of the stage!

Forming this group, the BalletBoyz started to put together pieces for them to perform. They adapted pieces that Trevitt and Nunn had performed themselves (for example Torsion), commissioned other pieces (such as Alpha) and even held ‘auditions’ for choreographers to work with The Talent (resulting in Void). The documentary also showed their trip to Ethiopa where they worked with Adugna Community Dance and Theatre Company to create a piece dancing with both able-bodied and disabled Ethiopian dancers. Truly inspiring stuff!

So I headed to the Theatre Royal in Bath with high expectations. I had seen some all-male pieces before (notably Folio by ARB and Men Y Men by ENB) but never an entire evening of such works. The program of the evening would feature three very distinct pieces: Torsion, Alpha and Void. Before I went to my seat though, I simply had to buy one of the coolest T-shirts around: “Real Men Wear Tights”! I know what I’ll be wearing to class this week…

Torsion (Choreography: Russell Maliphant, Music: Richard English)

First up was Torsion, originally choreographed for Trevitt and Nunn back in 2002 before being re-worked for The Talen in 2010. Opening with six dancers, each contained in their own box of light, the start concentrated mainly on the upper body with precise and intricate movements.

This was segued with a rather humorous soundbite into a pair of duets. The dancers were completely in synch with each other resulting in a delightfully smooth sequence. Starting with an almost teacher-pupil feel, one member of each duo put the other in successive poses. There was a fantastic floor solo by Taylor Benjamin which intruded on the pairs before he moved back off stage, after which it seemed the roles in each duo had reversed.

Following this was my personal highlight of the piece – an amazing solo by Leon Poulton. With definite balletic roots (such as a sequence in croisé fifth with almost tongue-in-cheek ecarté tendus) the solo morphed into contemporary style. Whilst hitting some stunning lines Poulton also showed skilled floor work, including an amazing sequence of turns en ménage.

The smoothness of Poulton’s solo contrasted the next duet which involved two dancers exerting opposing forces on each other. A masterclass in strength and balance work it was an impressive sequence, including a rather staying image of a back cambré lift resulting in a crucifix-like pose. As the other dancers rejoined the piece for the finale they showed perfect synchronicity in some challenging moves as the piece concluded. An awesome work!

My programme and ticket - that's the awesome throw in Alpha!

Alpha (Choreography: Paul Roberts, Music: Keaton Henson)

Before the next piece there was a small video segment projected onto a screen on the stage. Showing a snapshot of their rehearsals it was a great way to engage the audience during their set/costume change. It made me wonder why other dance companies don’t use this idea – sure it wouldn’t really work somewhere like the ROH, but would be perfect for someone like Rambert.

Alpha started with seven of the dancers in a tight circle, crouched together. One breaks from the circle and starts a reflective solo whilst the other guys remain motionless. Shelina Somani’s costumes were perfect for this piece, reminiscent of Shaolin monks. Indeed, the whole piece had an almost meditative feel, a lot maturer and deeper than I expected from a choreographer who’s CV consists mainly of working with chart musicians!

The music was simple and gorgeous, a recording of Henson playing guitar and singing. Thanks to the video intro it seems that Henson was there during the creation of the piece, playing live for the guys during rehearsals – something that surely made the choreography even more tailored to the music.

As for the dancing – it was simply beautiful. My particular favourite was a quartet danced to a piece of music with the line “Dear widow” in it (there wasn’t a music listing in the programme). There was just a fantastic flow to the whole piece.

The final scene seemed, to play on the monk theme some more, almost sacrificial. Miguel Esteves was lifted, turned and thrown about as if in ofference to some unnamed deity. There was also that amazing throw of him straight in the air that, deservedly, is used as The Talent’s promo shot.

The whole piece was simply sublime and immediately made me want to rewatch it as soon as it finished, a sign of a great piece.

Void (Choreography: Jarek Cemerek, Music: Ondrej Dedecek, Yoav and Ismael De Garay)

Void, the final piece of the evening, left me utterly speechless. Adrenalin-fueled, high-octane dance that was just unreal.

Opening with a video projected on a warehouse backdrop it followed the guys around city streets at night. Reminding me of Banksy and other street artists, this projection carried on playing as the dancers emerged, in hoodies and jeans. As the piece started in earnest I couldn’t help but think of it foreshadowing the summer riots and the anger that emerged from the youth of Britain during those times (this piece was premiered 6 months before the riots).

As the majority of dancers left the stage, Taylor Benjamin danced a mesmerising solo. As if being tailed by a gang he projected his unease and had me almost gasping as invisible punches and kicks landed on him. This violence continued into the next duet, a pair fighting with raw anger and testosterone. I have seen fight scenes in dance before, but never one that felt so ‘real’. I was amazed at how much control the pair must have had to execute the tense movements without injuring each other.

That was just the warm-up though, as suddenly the music changed and the company unleashed the most high-octane dance sequence I have ever seen. Literally throwing themselves at each other the group split into two factions at war. Their ferocity was palpable throughout the whole theatre. That being said, I couldn’t help but think how much fun the scene must be for the dancers!

If it's on a T-shirt you know it's true...

As the guys surrounded Miguel Esteves he danced a solo as they watched on from outside his spotlight. Almost as if dancing for his redemption he moved with an almost yearning to escape. The lights lowered and the finale began with the dancers in silhouette against a brightly lit backdrop. As the dancers moved in complete unison the piece rose to its finale, highlighting the strength of this small company.

As Void concluded a massive rush of applause rose for The Talent, along with a fair few whoops and whistles. Every single one deserved for the energetic and skilled performance they all gave.

So, in short, BalletBoyz: The Talent rocked it. They proved that dance can be masculine, cool and current. They also made me immediately check if I can make any of their performances at Sadler’s Wells in March. And tomorrow, when I’m in the studio practicing, I’m going to use them as inspiration to hold my head a little higher, add a little pride to my movement and testosterone to my steps. After all, “Real Men Wear Tights”.

Until next time, keep dancing!

It’s been a pretty eventful week for the Royal Ballet. First there were the National Dance Awards held on Monday, where the Royal Ballet’s Gary Avis won best classical male performance and Steven McRae won best male dancer. A huge congrats to the pair, and to all the nominees in some very strong fields for each award. The awards ceremony was a great celebration of the top dancers in the country, and was superbly covered with live-tweeting by the Ballet Bag ladies on behalf of the NDA twitter account.

Newly crowned "Best Male Dancer" Steven McRae in Kenneth MacMillan’s 'Concerto’ Photo credit: Johan Persson

Then on Tuesday afternoon, the Ukrainian Royal Ballet principal Sergei Polunin announced his immediate resignation from the company. The immediacy of his resignation has shocked the ballet world and there have been rumours flying around about what his plans are. Whatever his decision, I wish him all the luck in the world – I never got a chance to see him dance live (although I had tickets for three of his performances in the coming season!) but the recordings I have seen of him show enormous talent.

But amidst all that drama I had some excitement – my first trip back to the Royal Opera House since the middle of December (when I saw a breathtaking Sleeping Beauty danced by the ever-stunning Marianela Nuñez and Thiago Soares). I headed in to see Draft Works, a rather unique fixture in the Royal Ballet calendar.

Draft Works encourages dancers from the company (at any level, plus a couple from outside the company) to choreograph new pieces on other members of the company, which are then performed in the Linbury Theatre – the more intimate basement venue in the Opera House. Not only would I be attending the Draft Works performance, but also an Insiders event beforehand. Insiders is the name for ‘young friends’ of the Royal Opera House (to which my parents kindly got me a membership for Christmas) and there was to be a ‘mingling’ event at the ROH shop – with discounted products and a chance to meet some of the Royal Ballet Dancers. It was also a good excuse for a tweet-up with some awesome twitterers!

While at the Insiders event I was lucky enough to get to talk to Thomas Whitehead, a soloist at the Royal Ballet who I’ve enjoyed watching in the past for both his dancing and acting skills (most recently I thought he was great in Enigma Variations as W.M.B.). Tom had choreographed a piece for the evening and would also be performing in a piece by Kristen McNally. It was really inspiring to talk to him and hear a bit about how he had found his first go at choreographing. He’s a really nice guy and I’m honoured he spared the time to have a chat – thank you Tom!

So after a brief introduction by (the newly CBE-ed) Wayne McGregor it was on to the pieces!

First up was “At the River Styx” by Robert Binet (the Royal Ballet choreographic apprentice), danced by Yuhui Choe and Ricardo Cervera. Inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice it was a Pas de Deux with a hint at the story behind it (for example, Cervera constantly looked away from Choe to avoid condemning Eurydice to the underworld). A really nice piece with strong classical roots, it was danced beautifully. For me, it almost begged for a chance to develop and lengthen to really explore the story.

Next was “Feathers in your Head” by Ludovic Ondiviela, danced by Lauren Cuthbertson and Bennet Gartside. Inspired by his real life experience with people suffering from Alzheimer’s, Ondiviela created a surprisingly gritty piece. Cuthbertson and Gartside (my “Golden Tweeters”) were obviously superb, the piece showing off not only their technical, but also their acting prowess. Cuthbertson is one of the strongest actors in the whole company and as soon as the piece started she consumed the role, with a finger tapping tic and sudden changes in character (In a strange sort of way she reminded me of Alice Ripley in Next to Normal on Broadway – a huge compliment). As when I saw him with Tamara Rojo in Asphodel Meadows, Gartside showed how strong a partner he is, catching Cuthbertson with tenderness amidst her violent outbursts, whilst rising to Cuthbertson’s portrayal. A fantastic piece, brilliantly performed, that was one of my highlights of the night.

Next were two male solo pieces – “Gallardo” by Fernando Montaño (First Artist of the Royal Ballet) and “Overtone” by Declan Whitaker (a young trainee at the London Contemporary Dance School). Two very contrasting pieces that I enjoyed for very different reasons. Montaño’s piece was a cheeky, enticing solo suggesting a flirtatious encounter at a bar. Showing his Columbian and Cuban roots he hit some great lines and acted the piece with an almost tongue-in-cheek confidence. Whitaker’s piece was much more serious, and evoked a similar response to me that James Finnemore’s Patriot did at Cloud Dance Festival. It seemed to use his youth as inspiration but developed into a surprisingly mature piece. Certainly a piece pertinent to today’s ‘youth culture’ and a promising start for the young dancer.

Finishing the first half was “Lonesome Gun” by Kristen McNally, danced by Hayley Forskitt, Thomas Whitehead, Jacqueline Clark, Francesca Hayward, Sander Blommaert and Tristan Dyer. Dedicating the piece to her Nan (who recently passed away), McNally once again showcased her intelligent, humourous yet always insightful choreographic voice. Playing on the theme of Westerns she was one of the most confident choreographers of the night, not afraid to do as she pleased. Forskitt and Whitehead in particular really brought the piece alive with an engaging duet section in the middle of the work. A fine addition to her catalogue, I look forward to seeing more of McNally’s work in years to come.

Following the interval was “Within the Hours” by Érico Montes, danced by Camille Bracher, Celisa Diuana, Nathalie Harrison, Francesca Hayward, Pietra Mello-Pittman, Romany Pajdak and Demelza Parish. This piece used new music by Oliver Davies performed live, and the almost film score feel to it complemented Montes’ steps perfectly. With intelligent use of the seven dancers there were moments of interplay and distinction, all gloriously danced by the ladies. From my seat almost dead-center in the theatre I got a great view of some lovely tableaux Montes created with the girls, and I certainly would like to see the piece again.

Following Montes was “i lean & bob” by Thomas Whitehead, danced by Sian Murphy and Ryoichi Hirano. Starting, unconventially, with the dancers in the audience, the pair got some chuckles from the audience as Hirano was overcome by the music and Murphy ran after him in an embarassed frenzy. Emerging on stage in converse and “normal” clothes the two dancers embodied the music, the steps flowing with ease, while retaining a sense that this wasn’t an unnatural thing to do. In this sense it reminded me of Robbin’s NYC: Opus Jazz, and I could almost see the piece as a short film set in “normal” surroundings. I also wonder how much Whitehead’s work with Matthew Bourne (touring with Swan Lake) and Kristen McNally (tonight’s piece and last year’s “Don’t hate the player, hate the game”) helped him add that slight comedic twist. A great debut!

Next was “Grace” by Simon Rice, danced by Piedad Albarracinseiquer, Natalie Corne, Sara Pontessilva and Ivey Wawn. As an ex-Royal Ballet First Soloist I was surprised that Rice’s choreography was so far removed from the classical style. Bookended with silent segments, the piece was headed by the girl in red (I’m afraid I don’t know which dancer it was) who was certainly captivating to watch. Overall, however, this piece didn’t evoke anywhere near as strong a reaction in me like the others, although I could appreciate it’s design.

I was intrigued to see “Into the Woods” by Tamara Rojo, danced by Camille Bracher and José Martín. Her first piece choreographed on other dancers, Rojo had created an intense and smart pas de deux, chronicling what seemed to be an abusive relationship and exploring themes such as stockholm syndrome. Martín’s initial movements seemed tender but took a sinister tone as he got more agitated and there was the realisation that Bracher was tied to the chair on which Martín sat. I felt the rope was a brave and well executed device that later showed the turning of power as Bracher finished the piece by tying Martín to the selfsame chair. I loved the piece and there were a couple of bits that certainly seemed to have Rojo’s signature on them – a jabbing of Bracher’s foot towards Martín’s midriff springs to mind. A confident piece from a world-class dancer, here’s hoping Rojo continues to create in the future.

In the tradition of saving the best till last was “Brandenburg Divertissement” by Valentino Zucchetti, danced by Claire Calvert, Claudia Dean, Yasmine Naghdi, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, Alexander Campbell, Tristan Dyer, Kevin Emerton and Dawid Trzensimiech. One of the most ambitious pieces of the night in terms of scale, Zucchetti pulled it off with great aplomb. Staying true to the music (Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3) the choreography was very precise but still glimpses of character shone through (for instance the guys’ entering and watching with amusement as Trzensimiech chased after one of the girls). Danced superbly and with great precision, the mathematician side of me loved the fugue-like structure of certain parts whilst the dancer side of me was in awe of the guys’ jumps and girls’ turns. Zucchetti used the whole space and I could easily have seen the piece scaled up to a larger stage and venue. I wonder if we will get a chance to see his choreographic voice grow like Liam Scarlett’s has (who was in the audience).

So all in all I thoroughly enjoyed my evening – it is always exciting to see fresh choreography, and even more so when you have seen the creators perform and can catch glimpses of their character in the piece. Bravo to choreograpers and dancers alike. If you saw Draft Works this week I’d love to hear your thoughts – what were your favourite pieces? Just pop a comment on this post!

A painting of the original Pas de Déesses - that'll be me in the background!

So what about how my ballet is going? Well things are going very well at the moment! I have now learnt the Pas de Déesses with Ballet Bristol – the choreography is really lovely and I’m dancing it with three fantastic dancers. As there are three woman and only one guy, I’ve got to partner all of them in the opening segment with arabesque promenades and assisted grand pas de chats. My variation involves lots of big jumps (and thankfully no double pirouettes!) and back bends – I definitely have to make sure I’m warm before doing it! I’ve also been asked by one of the other dancers to work on the Coppélia Wedding Pas de Deux with her – it’s going to really stretch me, but she’s a fantastic dancer and I’m looking forward to the challenge. On top of all that, it looks like I might be going to a week-long summer intensive in Wales this August! Applications don’t open until March but I’ve spoken with the organisers (checking that I would be able to apply as an ‘older’ dancer) and they seem keen for me to apply. With this as inspiration I’m now dancing 6 days a week – although four of those are studio sessions on my own. As I mentioned to someone on twitter – I know I’ll never be a professional dancer but I just want to push myself to be the best dancer I can be.

So that’s all for now – I’m seeing BalletBoyz: The Talent on Sunday here in Bath, which I’m really excited about, so I’m sure it won’t be long until the next blog post…

Until next time, keep dancing!

Well 2012 has certainly started with a bang!

I posted earlier this week about my first class back, and my mini-masterclass on pirouettes. Well I didn’t want to let the awesome list of things to work on go to waste, so first thing on Wednesday morning I called into the Uni reception to book the studio. I’m really lucky that I’m able to use the studio (for free!) and, because it is out of term time, I managed to get it for every day this week. So Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and today (Sunday) I’ve been in the studio for a couple of hours.

It’s been really great for me, and I’ve definitely felt myself improve as the week has gone on. When there’s only you and the mirror it’s impossible to escape  your flaws. There’s no “I hope the teacher didn’t see that” or “I’ll just stand at the back out of everyone’s way”. It’s also been great being in there every day, building on the work from the days before. This has helped me really work on some of the key areas where I struggle. Mainly, those damn double pirouettes!

So I started working on the pointers I had been given. To start, that was to lengthen into the ground to feel secure when turning. I stood for a while in retiré and repeatedly rose to demi-pointe (by thinking of lengthening), trying to feel that security. Then I practiced singles, concentrating on remaining in position for as long as I could manage. Finally, I went for some doubles. And they weren’t too bad! I’ve still got lots to work on, but I’ve helped to eliminate my hop at the end of a turn, something that I think was a manifestation of my nerves. One thing I’m concentrating on now is keeping my elbows up mid-turn. Here’s a clip from Thursday and although much securer than my doubles used to be, you can see the exact moment my elbows drop - Pirouettes (sorry for the random Catherine Zeta Jones in the background – I was listening to A Little Night Music while practicing!).

And things got even more exciting this week, when I got an email last night about the performing group in Bristol I’m in. Our first performance of 2012 is at the end of February and the director wants be to be in the Pas de Déesses – Dance of the Goddesses. We’ll be dancing an adapted version of the Robert Joffrey ballet, which depicts three great ballerinas (Lucile Grahn, Fanny Cerrito, and Marie Taglioni) trying to get the attention of danseur Arthur St. Leon. Sounds a pretty good scenario to me! I’ve found a little clip on YouTube of some highlights:

With music by John Field it’s described as “a classical and gentle satire”. Obviously I won’t be doing the original choreography (I can’t do double tours, for one thing!) but I’ll be learning the adapted choreography over the next couple of weeks. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes (and maybe post a video!).

And as if this week couldn’t have gotten any more crazy, I found out on Wednesday that I’ll be heading to Canada to speak at a conference in June! So if anyone knows of any ballet classes in Halifax, Nova Scotia then please let me know! Also, I’m hoping to travel back via NYC to spend a few days. Hopefully I’ll be able to take class back at Princeton Ballet School and Joffrey Ballet School and see ABT/NYCB. Awesome!

So that’s been my crazy week – a pretty good start to 2012, I’d say! How’s your 2012 going?

Until next time, keep dancing!