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JaneD

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Everything posted by JaneD

  1. Philip Pullman is certainly, to my mind, teenage rather than children's literature. The Doomspell Trilogy by Cliff McNish. A little like Pullman, only much less gory (although still sufficiently scary) The Narnia series by C S Lewis. Classics. Dated in places, but I suppose that tells you of the time they were written as well as the fantasy kingdom of Narnia. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. One of the most beautifully desolate books I have ever read (re-read, read in French, ...)
  2. I understood that "Spandau ballet" was the term used for the movements of the guards as they escorted prisoners across the courtyard of Spandau castle to their executions. Jane
  3. Another ex-RB, but not as famous. Simon Horrill - simple-minded beggar in Manon who stroked the velvet cloaks as he put his thumb in his mouth, getting extremely sticky finishing off the cake crumbs in A Wedding Bouquet (almost upstaging Jenny Penney in her drunken solo) and - as seen on the Nutracker video - the only messenger who actually took the trouble to redden his nose and cheeks before delivering the abgel from Drosselmeyer's workshop. Jane
  4. This is Hallowe'en, so either one of the punks from Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus, or one of the Royal party-goers from AMP's Swan Lake - specifically the one with the long red heir worn down when everyone else's was up, in a short dress when everyone else wore long, and who behaved "inappropriately" with any and all male staff and guests. That role always reminded me of someone ..... Jane
  5. Alexandra I have no connection at all with the company. You may recall from my earlier posts that Stephen Sheriff was among my favourite RB dancers of the 1980's; a year or so ago I did a quick internet search to see what he was doing these days, and found that he was a guest teacher for Ballet Black, and might choreograph for them. I've been keeping an eye on their website ever since, and got my chance to see his work for the first time on Tuesday. I admit I was anxious in case I really didn't think much of it, but need not have been. I put the information up because I thought others in London might like to see a "new" company, and those further afield might be interested in what purports to be Britain's first ever black/Asian company. The Box Office information was 1) so that people could 'phone to see if tickets were available before heading out to Holborn, and 2) to reassure them that tickets were reasonably priced. Jane P.S. As to what prompted me to take a look on the internet, I had a new boss in July last year, who was not long back in London after three years working on Grand Turk. The moment I heard this, I could see the opening words of Sheriff's programme notes that I haven't seen for 15 years - "Stephen Sheriff was born in the Turks and Caicos Islands ...". So you can blame my boss for all of this.
  6. I've put a review of last night's performance (works by Denzil Bailey, Stephen Sheriff, Patrick Lewis and Cassa Pancho) in General Discussion/Recent performances. Jane
  7. Ballet Black is a classical ballet company set up to showcase and develop the skills of black and Asian dancers within the UK. The company currenty has six dancers - Cassa Pancho is the Director, and has choreographed for the Royal Academy of Dance and Kent Youth Ballet; Denzil Bailey (ex London City Ballet, English National Ballet, etc.) is Ballet Master, and they are joined by Celia Grannum, Jake Nwogu, Silvestre Sanches and Florence Kollie. The company are performing a programme of four original neoclassical works at the Cochrane Theatre, Southampton Row, for two nights. Three of these pieces are performed to live music, with the musicians on stage. The first piece on the programme is "A New Beginning", choreographed by Denzil Bailey to music written and performed by Celloman (Ivan Hussey, Oli Savill and Sami Bishai). Using the whole company to intoxicating South American rhythms, this was an excellent opener. Costumed in earth and fire tones of orange, cream and brown, the first part (against a fiery backdrop) was vibrant and exciting, picking up the rhythms yet staying firmly grounded in the classical vocabulary - no gymnastic or other tricks. Celia Grannum stood out (against a strong company) for her fire and sheer enjoyment of the piece. A tall, passionate dancer, trained at New York University's Tish School of the Arts, she blazed her way through a pas de deux with Silvestre Sanchez (well partenered, despite her height) and solo that raised my pulse. The only moments that, for me, didn't quite fit were the vituoso sections towrads the end of the first part for Florence Kollie and the two men (Sanchez and Nwogu), which didn't seem in keeping with the Latin style. A lighting change, and change of backlighting to a picture of the earth from space seemed for a few moments to cool the pace as Cassa Pancho and the men moved into the fluid, lyrical second part, but the underlying South American feel bubbled back to the surface as the whole company came together in a wonderful example of unified work, building and developing both the choreography and the dancers until its sudden end. It left me wanting more. The second piece was "Elégie", choreographed by Stephen Sheriff to Poulenc's Elégie for horn and piano. Blueish grey costumes overlaying red, with stronger smudges of red in places hinted at mortal wounds; this was a serious piece, yet not morbid. Sheriff lists MacMillan among his inspirations, and I could see touches of this, but where MacMillan would have had the bitterness of the victim, Sheriff showed the strength of a life lived despite everything. From a start that mixed flurried movement with sudden momentary pauses, the five dancers (without Pancho) moved through a variety of combinations, yet all the time maintaining the appearance of an ensemble. Bursts of energy from the three men melted into strong moments for all five, and a serene solo for Florence Kollie. Kollie is 18, but danced here with a maturity that belied her age (she's also just passed five A-levels, and is now studying Politics and East European Studies at University College as well as dancing with Ballet Black - wow!). Towards the end, the piece became almost joyous, uplifting - I was reminded of Requiem (about the least cynical MacMillan I've seen). Just one small criticism of the piece, which may have been the result of where I was sitting (just about stage level); at the end, each of the dancers removed a piece of their costume - sleeves for the men, overskirts for the women - and left them lying on the stage. From what I could see, these were lined in red so, from a higher angle, they may have formed a pool of "blood" left on the empty stage, but the motion to remove them seemed hurried and anxious, and disturbed (for me) the tranquility of the piece. No matter, this is a work I want to see again. After the interval, the third work was "Pas de Trois" choreographed by Patrick Lewis to music by Ponchielli. (this was the piece danced to recorded music. The dancers were Florence Kollie and Denzil Bailey. And a chair. I'm not going to say what the music actually is in case some people are planning to go to tonight's performance, but suffice to say it's familiar! This was the comedic piece of the night, this time making full use of Kollie's youth. Dressed in a red tutu, laced at the back in lime green, and in lime green pointe shoes, Kollie restlessly fidgetted and wriggled like a child hearing the music and impatient to dance, before launching herself, and the chair, into bursts of activity, mostly accompanied by an enormous grin. Bailey entered, at first looking entertained by what was going on. Then came the pas de trois (daughter and indulgent father?), which had some variations I hadn't seen before. A fast and furious solo for Bailey brought the resemblence to "The Concert" closer to mind (Michael Colman's butterfly hunting escapades), which wasn't necessarily a good thing; using a full cast, "The Concert" could bring different characters to the fore without confusion but, using only two dancers, "Pas de Trois" blurred at the edges - while Kollie maintained the role of the impulsive child, Bailey's role didn't hold together. However, it showed that the company can tackle comedy, and was extremely popular with the audience. Which leads me to something else - if Ballet Black promotes black and Asian dancers, is their audience different from the standard London audience? If so, and pieces like "Pas de Trois" are popular and make the whole evening more accessible to otherwise non-ballet goers, then I guess I'm not going to ctriticise it too much. The final work in the programme was "The Boogaloo Rooms", choreographed to three Count Basie songs by Cassa Pancho. It's difficult to match classical style to classic jazz, and it didn't entirely come off here - at times the movements looked far too controlled for the music. The third song kicked off with Jake Nwogu and Silvestre Sanchez in jazz mode, which hit squarely on the right note - if not for the flashes of flouresent colour against the otherwise black costumes this could have been 1940's musical spectacular. The mood held when the two girls (Grannum and Kollie) joined in, and brought the evening to a rousing end. I hadn't seen Ballet Black before, but will be keeping an eye out for future performances. I've you're in London and are free at 8.00 this evening, I'd strongly advise you to go and see them. The Box Office number is 020 7269 1606, and tickets are £12 (concessions £6). Jane
  8. Attention all Londoners Ballet Black are giving two performances at the Cochrane Theatre, Southampton Row, tonight and tomorrow (28th and 29th October). Theses are among the first performances by the company, which was set up in 2001 to develop and showcase the talents of black and Asian dancers in the UK. The company will be presenting works by Denzil Bailey, Patrick Lewis, Cassa Panco and Stephen Sheriff. Tickets ar £12 (concessions £6), and are still available from the Box Office on 020 7269 1606. Tonight's performance begins at 8.00 p.m. Jane
  9. I was taught this (in a Cecchetti school) as entrechat quatre royale, although when we were talking through enchainements in rhythm with the music it was sometimes referred to as a "beaten change". Jane
  10. Claude Lelouch's "Les Uns et les Autres" has a pretty-near complete "Boléro" towards the end - can't remember which company, as it's easily 15 years since I've seen it. The film is in English, German and French, if I remember correctly, and starts Geraldine Chaplin and Jorge Donn, among others. Damn, having just remembered it, I'll have to go find it on e-bay!
  11. Alexandra Was it Noel Coward who described the English and Americans as two peoples divided by a common language? I think that it's best to find out what's the accepted pronounciation in your home country - for example, there's a certain painter that the English call Van Goff, the Americas Van Go and the Dutch Fon Hoh, with a gutteral H at both ends! Personally, I always get into trouble with the word sorbet which, being Arabic in derivation rather than French, should be pronounced the same way a sherbet - but if you don't ask for sorbay, the waiter thinks you're ignorant. Jane
  12. Although we've had quite a few Royal Ballet names up here, no-one has mentioned the lovely, intelligent and graceful Ravenna Tucker. Certainly my favourite of that era (1980s). Jane
  13. Tango The information Kate has given is spot on, but if you have any problems I may be able to help you with contact details of named UK Visa contacts in the US - just let me know where you are and I'll see what I can do. If all else fails, get to the Visa Office in Croydon, south London as soon after arrival as possible and queue! My Japanese student hairdresser tells me he started queueing at 5 a.m. ....... Jane
  14. Michael Batchelor, ex-Royal Ballet and Sadler's Wells Royal Ballets had retired and was enjoying the first year of a university degree course (archeology?) when he died of AIDS. A wonderful dancer, and a kind and gentle man. Jane
  15. JaneD

    Carlos Acosta

    A documentary on BBC1 last night explained that his father thought he was getting into trouble, and a neighbour said her two children were at ballet school, so they could go together if Carlos was enrolled. He started skipping school when his mother was ill and his father in prison, but his father later begged them to take him back. A good, if worrying, programme. I ended up with the impression that he didn't belong anywhere, and saw himself with nothing more to achieve in the field of ballet. His closing remarks were about possibly looking for acting roles, or even singing. Jane
  16. Unfortunately both Batchelor and Freeman are deceased. I attended a very moving memorial service for Micahel Batchelor at St Paul's Cover Garden over ten years ago; Mark Freeman was more recent, but still quite a few years ago.
  17. Grace I always found Bruce Sansom a little bland. He was a clean dancer, with good technique and a decent amount of style - pleasnt to watch - but I could never see any real character to him. Mark Freeman wasn't always neat, but he had a presence that came over the footlights. On one occasion he was the wolf in the Red Riding Hood divertissement - full head mask and no programme credit - but there was something about his bearing and presence which told me who it was; he was surprised that he could be recognised. A bit intense at times, but I was always aware he was on stage, which never reached me with Sansom, Must say that I never liked Agon until I saw Freeman in one of the solo roles, and suddenly realised what it SHOULD look like - the only person on that stage who didn't look almost apologetic for attempting that style. I can see what you mean about Broomhead being OTT at times - the "labrador puppy" performance was one of those. You must have been too late in London for Varii Capricci, which was OTT in the extreme, and Broomhead (one of the four males) seemed to lap it up. There were times when he pushed to far on stage - I can remember more than once hearing his calf smack against his head on cabrioles - but I'd rather that than too little effort. From what you say about the time of your arrival in London, you must only have caught the end of his time with RB, and his last year was not his best. Stephen Jefferies. I agree - a good technique, very dependable, and a pleasure to watch. The first four or five times I saw Wayne Eagling I had actually biought tickets for Dowelll, so he started out as a disappointment to me but, as you say, on the right night he could be brilliant. I never really liked Julian Hosking, although I can't say why - even now his name or picture provokes a slight reaction, and it must be 15-20 years. Ashley Page - the difinitive Prodigal Son, but not the right personality for the the bulk of the RB repertoire at the time. Returning to Sheriff - best memories include Puck climbing half way up the set before launching into a solo of dazzling turns, brushing the bushes on both sides of the stage, to be followed by Dowell as Oberon with a look on his face that he did NOT want to follow that; Swan Lake pdq when he and Broomhead made their entrances from opposite corners at incredible speed and ended up posed centre stage about an inch apart (that performance got a standing ovation in Hong Kong); Neapolitan dance so fast and furious that it left me out of breath watching; Varii Capricci when he was the only one of the four males who avoided looking camp despite the cotume; Two Pigeons in which he was both passionate and vulnerable to the extreme. Also - with Dance Advance - in Sea of Troubles - a very powerful performance. Jane
  18. Grace You wrote: but my personal favourite: bruce sansom, the purest purist. ;) also jonathan cope. the AB's greg horsman, i have only seen on video - but: what a technician - and i mean that in the nicest possible way - a lovely gentlemanly style, not unlike sansom's (but a touch more macho). Both of the above came out of the Royal Ballet School in the mid-late 1970's, and their style is what you could expect to see in the RB through until the mid 1980's when the company stopped drawing exclusively from the school. Cope and Sansom must have been within a year or so (if that) of Stephen Sheriff at school, and I was watching them at the same time as Sheriff, Batchelor and Broomhead (see my posting above). At the time I preferred Sansom to Cope, but I stick with my original list. I'll check through the RB videos frpm that era to see who was dancing what role in them. If I remember correctly, Stephen Sheriff was down for Mercutio on the night it was to be recorded, but was replaced by Mark Freeman at short notice (after Sheriff handed in his resignation, but before he left). Freeman (died a few years back) came above Sansom on my list, but didn't make my top three. ******************* Saw Baryshnikov as Romeo a few times and, at first, I couldn't think what his performance reminded me of. Then I overhead someone say "He always reminds me of Jimmy Cagney running up and down those steps" - he was right. Jane
  19. Favourite of all time - Stephen Sheriff. He was an amazing all-rounder, equally impressive in demi-charactère, classical and modern. A strong technique, intelligence, humour, and eagerness in his dancing. His Puck in "the Dream" was dazzling, and his "Two Pigeons" almost brought me to tears. One of the greatest regrets of my life is missing his Bluebird. he could act, too. He never quite achieved what he ought - I had the feeling that he held back just a fraction when he had a chance of a major success, although he certainly took risks in what he did. He had a wonderful broad smile as well - and clearly loved his dancing. I understand he's doing some teaching now, but if anyone knows any more, I'd love to hear. The first dancer who really excited me was Richard Slaughter, who I first saw with Ballet for All. He took risks in his dancing that almost brought the house down - but carried them off. He disappeared for a while, then resurfaced with London City Ballet, where he was still literally breathtaking. Coming up a few years after Sheriff - and, I think, something of a protegé - was Phillip Broomhead. For purely classical roles he was my favourite (Sheriff lacked a bit of height) - wonderful lines, good technique, honest, always gave his best, although in his early days his partnering was a little suspect and his acting ... well ... no better than average (I may still have a review of his Prince in "Sleeping Beauty" which describes him as resembling a labrador puppy). He stayed in London a year too long - his dancing started to stagnate in his last season and I was happy (for him) to hear he was going. I'd love to see him again; the reviews I've read indicate he's developed the strength and depth he promised. Talking of acting - Michael Batchelor. The biggest ham of all! But a joy to watch, with elegance in every move, and a technique that was always spot on. Another one who came over the footlights as intelligent, honest and deeply in love with his art, as well as having a conscience off-stage. Sadly missed. From London Festival Ballet - briefly, and a victim of the Schaufuss era I think - Raffaele Paganini. Another one who could turn on the fireworks, and always seemed to want to give his very best to his audience. Not only does this list reveal my age, but I've realised it seems to infer a preference for left-footers. Is there something in that? Jane
  20. Do any of you have favourite mis-prints that have appeared in programmes, reviews, etc.? I have a Kirov programme that explains in the plot of "Fountains of the Bakziserai" that " ... the sultan is in hove with Maria". Hove is a small town just outside Brighton on the south coast of England - the type of place people used to go for an illicit weekend. However, my favourite was the tabloid gossip column, referring to Derek Deane (at the time a Royal Ballet dancer, and later director of English National Ballet) which stated "Mr Deane (31) is a principal danger of the Royal Ballet". They are out there - what have you seen? Jane
  21. All the Narnia books, with either Prince Caspian or The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe as favourite. Jane Eyre (read when I was ten - the only "adult" book in my primary school library). Biographies of composers. Nevil Shute (!) - read about half a dozen of them on holiday when I was ten/11. Lord of the Rings (summer holiday before I started secondary school, so ten again), followed by The Hobbit in school a year later. A wonderful book called "After Bath" that my mother read to us sitting on a harbour wall in Brittany, France when I was four, and I read for myself a few years later - don't know who it was by, and it's disappeared from my parents' house. Astérix (from which I learnt most of my early French) Treasury of Golden Verse A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A Kid for Two Farthings, and the like (my mother's old Book Club editions). Also Bonjour Tristesse (Francoise Sagan - must have been about 12 by then). Le Petit Prince - about 12 I guess, although I think it was read to me when I was yonger. Isaac Asimov - again around nine or ten, I guess. Evelyn Waugh - around 13? And - as a grown up child - I have recently discovered the Redwall books and am loving every minute of them, although they will have to go on hold on 21 June - Harry Potter 5!
  22. JaneD

    a ballerina

    He was indeed! And it's his birthday today! He was also the onlyt messenger in RB's Nutcracker who took care to redden his cheeks and nose for his arrival scene - he had been out in the cold, after all.
  23. JaneD

    a ballerina

    Do you know I'd quite forgotten Alessandra Ferri? Amazing the tricks the mind can play ...... And now, all I can think of is "Okay, you can lift me now" spoken to one of a chain of partners. Have just come back from a jazz dance class, taught by one of the same generation of RB dancers, Simon Horrill - an extremely dependable first peasant, superbly half-witted urchin in Manon (I can still see him stroking the fur trim of the cloaks), and delightfully sticky in A Wedding Bouquet after finishing all the cake crumbs on the guests' plates.
  24. JaneD

    a ballerina

    The Birmingham Royal Ballet used to be based in London at Sadlers Wells, and was known as the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet - it was, and still is - a sister company of the Royal Ballet. While it was in London, it was seen as the "Second" company, but the move to Birmingham (possibly 15 years ago?) has put that right. Ravennas Tucker was originally with the Royal Ballet, where she was a great favourite with the audience, and rightly so. She came across as a very intelligent dancer, with a strong technique, but not flshy. When the Sadlers Wells company moved to Birmingham, she sitched to go with them as an experienced principal. She is bound to be on some of the classic Royal Ballet videos from the late 80's/early 90's (Fille mal Gardée, Romeo and Juliet, etc.), where she was the same generation as Fiona Chadwick, Karen Paisey, Genesia Rosato, Angela Cox (became Angela DeMello), and Sharon McGorian (became Elizabeth McGorian. Males of the same era were Michael Batchelor (much missed), David Peden, Guy Niblett, Stephen Sheriff, Julian Hosking, Philip Broomhead and the young Jonathan Cope.
  25. BW I have to admit I've only seen three quarters of Mayerling! Definitely not my favourite ballet. Jane
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