World Ballet Day

If you missed the World Ballet Day live stream you can watch some of the highlights on Youtube. Here is a selection of videos. (If anyone finds the video of the San Francisco Ballet rehearsing William Forsyth please let me know - it was so good!)

Highlights from the Australian Ballet

The Bolshoi Ballet in full

The Royal Ballet



Highlights from the Canadian National Ballet

Insights: Ballet Evolved

A few months ago, I posted a video of the Royal Ballet's Insight series called "Ballet Evolved". Today, I got to attend the actual event in the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio. The event comprised a lecture with demonstrations by members of the Royal Ballet, which helped to illustrate the points being made. The lecture was given by Ursula Hageli, a former ballerina and now ballet mistress with the Royal Ballet. She has been running the Ballet Evolved series for a few years now. She was also joined by Dr Giannandrea Poesic, a ballet historian and lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire. 

The theme of the lecture was the ballet class and how it evolved over the last four centuries. According to Hageli, the ballet class is the most important part of a dancers day: it is where dancers warm up, strengthen and generally prepare their bodies for all to come. Dancers attend class every day. As ballet itself evolved (more turnout, higher arabesques, more complicated spins, point shoes), class, too, evolved to ensure dancers were equipped with the necessary skills. For example, Marie Taglioni was the first ballerina to go en pointe, but this was before the invention of point shoes. Thus, this required an immense amount of ankle strength! (Interestingly, point work, though first introduced in France, really took off in Italy because it was where, thanks to the shoes makers Italy is generally so famous for, the point shoe was developed!)

The evolution of ballet was demonstrated by dancers of the Royal Ballet, among them Gemma Pitchley-Gale, who was wearing bloomers under her knee length tutu - part of the 18th century ballet uniform, designed to maintain the ballerina's modesty by not revealing too much leg! Also, the lovely Fumi Kaneko, for whom today was the first time performing in front of an audience after returning from injury. And Marcelino Sambe, who, in addition to being a great dancer, is hilarious! It was really nice to get to see the dancers personalities come through!

Ballet Evolved was interesting, informative and entertaining ,and I shall definitely attend the next event! The event was filmed, and videos should be going up on Youtube soon. I will post them here when they become available. 

The Guardian: Will they make it to the Royal Ballet?

Just found this very interesting article about life at White Lodge, and more generally, the state of British ballet.

Discover Ballet: A day in the life of a ballerina

I never get bored of watching this video from the Royal Ballet archives of Yuhui Choe taking us through her day.

Insights: The Royal Ballet in Class

Today I got to watch members of the Royal Ballet in class! This open class was part of the Royal Opera House's Insights series, and there will be similar events occurring throughout the year. I think it's really wonderful how actively the Royal Opera House pursues audience outreach. 

I went to the class expecting mostly members of the corps the ballet to be there and was completely blown away to see Sarah Lamb, Steven McRae, Thiago Soares, Federico Bonelli, Akane, Takada, Eric Underwood, Yuhui Choe, Ryoichi Hirano and Claire Calvert all there, sitting under the barres warming up! They were dressed in layers of tights, leggings, leg warmers and jumpers, surrounded by yoga mats, leg rollers and thera-bands, stretching and chatting amongst each other. It was so great to see how the dancers socialise with each other. The atmosphere felt pleasant.

It was really interesting seeing how ballet dancers start their day. The class was structured like a typical ballet class, starting at the barre and progressing to the centre. The dancers shed layers of clothing as the class progressed (it got pretty warm in the studio even for the audience), and the girls started in flat and changed into point shoes for the centre. All the key exercises were covered from plies and tendus, to pirouettes and jumps. The class was given by Olga Everinoff, who demonstrated the exercises and walked around the room giving corrections in a clear but kind manner. It was obvious from the way the dancers acknowledged her when they left the class that she is well liked.

We were told that after class, which lasts 75 minutes, the dancers go on to rehearsals. Class starts at 10.30 and rehearsals go on to 17.30 on performance nights or 18.30 when there is no performance. They do this six days a week. It's absolutely incredible. 

World Ballet Day

Happy World Ballet Day! The Royal Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada and San Francisco Ballet are streaming live to YouTube from their rehearsal studios for 24 hours! You can watch the live stream here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsLCbeXaztg

Teen Vogue's Strictly Ballet

I love Teen Vogue's Strictly Ballet mini series about the School of American Ballet! It follows six students, aged 14-18, pursuing their dream to become professional ballet dancers. 

Episode 1

You can watch other episodes here: http://video.teenvogue.com/series/strictly-ballet

Backstage with the Dancers of the Royal Ballet

I'm not generally an avid reader of the Daily Mail, but this article that goes backstage with some of the dancers of the Royal Ballet is very interesting!

Claudia Dean and Marcelino Sambe
of the Royal Ballet
©Joe Plimmer

What do Royal Ballet Dancers do on their Summer Break?

If you ever wondered what ballet dancers get up to over the summer break, this article is for you!

A day in the life: Romany Pajdak, Royal Ballet Dancer

If you've ever wondered what the typical schedule of a ballet dancer is like, this interview with Romany Pajdak is for you! 

Insights: Ballet Evolved

Ballet Evolved is a feature by the Royal Ballet, which gives insights into the evolution of ballet over the last four centuries. It's split into seven parts:

Part 1 - The first four centuries

Part 2 - Marie Taglioni 1804-1884

Part 3 - Fanny Elssler 1810-1884

Part 4 - Anna Pavlova 1881-1931

Part 5 - Alicia Markova 1910-2004

Part 6 - Pierina Legnani 1863-1923
Part 7 - August Bournonville 1805-1879 

You can watch all parts here:

How much do ballet dancers earn?

I have always wondered how much ballet dancers earn. This Guardian article sheds some light on the question.

Baileys Christmas Commercial 2013

I love Baileys' new Christmas commercial! It features Steven McRae and Thiago Soares from the Royal ballet and Iana Salenko from the Berlin Staatsballet, and was choreographed by Benjamin Millepied.

Watch the commercial:

Watch the making of video:

A Place to Dance - Royal Ballet School Documentary

A Place to Dance is a 1991 documentary about the Royal Ballet School. Watch closely and you will catch a glimpse of Edward Watson!

Watch the documentary: