News: Romeo and Juliet rehearsal to be live-streamed on 11 September 2015

If you didn't manage to get tickets to this Royal Ballet's Insight event you can watch it live on YouTube. More information available here.

Tickets for these events always sell out so quickly, so I think it's really great the ROH is trying to make these events more accessible!

Ballet Dressed Up and the Deloitte Ignite Festival 2015

Every year, the Royal Opera House kicks of the new season by throwing open its doors to the public for a month of (mostly) free events and activities for the whole family – known as the Deloitte Ignite festival.  I attended the festival on Sunday, September 6^th.  There was plenty to see and do, from performances in the Covent Garden piazza (including one man with a piano mounted on a four-wheeled bicycling negotiating the cobble stones of Covent Garden market while playing perfectly syncopated rag time – it was amazing!), to festival food, to an opera karaoke booth.

But my favourite event was undoubtedly “Ballet dressed-up”. At this event in the Paul Hamlyn Hall David Donnelly and Hannah Grennell, to amazing artists from the Royal Ballet, performed a short piece choreographed by Hubert Essakow, inspired by the story of Romeo and Juliette.
 

David Donnelly and Hannah Grennell
of the Royal Ballet

They first performed the piece wearing simple, dark coloured training gear. They then performed the piece again several times, each time wearing a different costume. The costumes ranged from the period costumes worn in MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliette, to contemporary jeans cut-offs matched with heavy boots, to sheep costumes. Each time the audience was asked to describe how the performance was perceived by them, and each time the dancers described how the costume impacted the way the danced. It was very interesting! 



David Donnelly and Hannah Grennell
of the Royal Ballet

One of my favourite iterations was the performance in which the two dancers were connected by a pair of extended double-ended tights, with one end worn over each their heads. Every time they moved apart, they were drawn back together by the elastic material of the tights.  One audience member observed that this could represent the struggle Romeo and Juliette had to go through to be together. Another audience member, aged roughly eight, observed that it involved a lot of team work. :)

I was also really enjoyed the performance in which the dancers wore Eastern inspired costumes that involved long pieces of fabric tied around their wastes. The dancers were forced to swirl the fabric around in order to not to become entangled in it, creating beautiful shapes in the process. I was also very impressed by Hanna’s slightly deranged performance wearing a blood stained shirt (fake blood, we were reassured) and one red high heel - she using the other to stab herself with.

David Donnelly and Hannah Grennell
of the Royal Ballet

The finale involved a pair of costumes that had masses of balloons attached to them. Even the dancers could hide a giggle as David tried to turn Hanna under his arm while trying to manoeuvre around the balloons.

All in all it was a very interesting and entertaining event. The Deloitte Ignite festival will continue until the end of the month, and I highly recommend trying to catch on of the events. More details can be found here.

Sergei Polunin

In June 2010, at the age of only 19, Sergei Polunin became the Royal Ballet's youngest ever principal dancer. Two year later, he shocked the ballet world by resigning the Royal Ballet with immediate effect. Here are a few of the things he's gotten up to since:

Elena Gibson - a ballerina turned pole dancer

Elena Gibson was a ballerina with the Canadian National ballet until an accident ended her career. The process of rehabilitation lead her to pole dancing. Now she is one of the world's leading pole dancers and has her own school in London. This short video tells her story. It also shows just how beautiful pole dancing can be. I love it! 

An American in Paris, December 6th, 2014, Theatre de Chatelet

I'm not a fan of musicals, but if Christopher Wheeldon decides to direct one, I WILL get on the Eurostar to Paris to see it.

 

An American in Paris is Wheeldon's first foray into the realm of musicals. The plot is based on the 1951 musical film, but the choreography is new. Wheeldon cast two ballet dancers (Leanne Cope, first artist of the Royal Ballet, and Robert Fairchild, principle dancer at New York City Ballet) in the lead roles.

 

The strength of this musical was always going to be in the ballet. In fact, the other elements are on the weak side. The plot is a standard love triangle set in post WW2 Paris. There's light humour and a gentle attempt at a deeper message about personal courage.  The singing is so-so. The fake French accents are atrocious. (However, the fact that two ballet dancers, on top of being immensely talented dancers, can sing and act at all is pretty impressive.)

But the ballet element is beautiful. My favourite scene is when Lise auditions to be part of a ballet. She stands at the back of the room, performing the same steps as the other dancers, but gradually makes small changes until the steps are completely her own, and the audience is left without a doubt that she is a very special dancer. Her style is reminiscent of the Diaghilev era. In fact, the whole musical has a very stylish art deco feel to it.

 

Another great scene is the ballet within the ballet. In a feat of clever stage design, the backdrop - a red velvet curtain identical to the house curtain - opens to reveal conductor and audience within the ballet. We watch the audience watch the ballet.

 

The ballet within the ballet is Wheeldon doing what he does best. Personally, I would prefer if Wheeldon would stick to pure ballet - not because this musical wasn't good, but because Wheeldon is too good at making ballets to not make them! However, I'm guessing the people of Paris, who received An American in Paris with standing ovations, will not agree with me.

 

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

Taylor Swift - Shake It Off

I love Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off" video, not least because of the ballet scenes. Here are some out-takes.

My Royal Ballet 2013/14 Season in Review

This season was the first time I managed to catch, in some form or another, every production of the Royal Ballet on the main stage, as well as a handful in the Linbury Studio Theatre. The discovery that it is actually possible to get reasonably priced tickets, as well as Live Cinema screenings and Sky Arts 2 made it possible. I loved every moment, and it's pretty hard to pick my favorites. Nevertheless, looking back over the year, there are certainly some productions that stand out in my memory.

My favorite full length production was without a doubt Christopher Wheeldon's The Winter's Tale. In fact, this season was the season I really discovered Christopher Wheeldon for myself. He has an incredible ability to make ballets that feel contemporary without distorting the art form beyond recognition. 

I also really enjoyed Giselle and was lucky enough to catch two performances, one in house with Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae, the other at the cinema with Natalia Osipova and Carlos Acosta. Seeing the same production twice with different casts was a really insightful experience for me. But my favourite casting throughout the whole season has consistently been Sarah Lamb with Steven McRae. 

Sarah Lamb in Jewels© ROH

Over Christmas I saw both the Nutcracker and Jewels. I love the tradition of going to the ballet for Christmas, and both of these productions put me in a real Christmas spirit. (I'm quite sad the Royal Ballet won't be doing the Nutcracker next season!) 

Triple Bills are always my favorite because one gets to see a variety of works. This season the Royal Ballet did four incredible triple bills. My top picks were 

Melissa Hamilton and Gary Avis
in DGV © ROH

- the Rite of Spring, which 100 years on from it's world premier still feels ahead of its time;

- Steven McRae in Rhapsody - I will never forget those incredible jumps that made the entire audience gasp;

- Gloria, with the beautiful Melissa Hamilton;

- Serenade, which I'd actually seen performed by the Boston Ballet when they visited London last year, but loved even more this time;

- and Christopher Wheeldon's DGV - LOVED IT!!! 

The biggest disappointment was probably Wayne McGregor's Tetractys. I loved everything he did up until then, especially Infra, Chroma and Raven Girl. But Tetractys felt a bit bland. Still, I was glad I got to see it after some shows had to be cancelled due to Natalia Osipova sustaining a concussion during a performance! 

I always love going to the Linbury Studio because the productions tend to be more experimental. Liam Scarlett's Hansel and Gretel was definitely the most disturbing thing I saw at the Royal Ballet this season. Liam Scarlett has a really talent for telling dramatic stories through choreography. I am really looking forward to his new ballet, The Age of Anxiety, next season!

Northern Ballet dancers in Luminous Juncture
Emma Kauldhar

Other Linbury highlights included the Northern Ballet, especially Kenneth Tindall's Luminous Juncture, and Mayuri Boonham's The Human Edge, which she choreographed for Yuhui Choe and Kentra Kura. I also loved Draft Works, which I intend to make a regular fixture in my calendar!

Finally, an absolute highlight was getting to meet Edward Watson at a signing of his new DVD The Metamorphosis.

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

Draft Works, ROH, June 4th 2014

Last week, I attended ROH's Draft Works for the first time. Draft Works is an evening of choreography by dancers of the Royal Ballet. It is annual event that has been happening regularly for a few years now.  

David Donnelly 
in Aakash Odedra's 'Untitled',
ROH/Tristram Kenton, 2014

For many of the dancers it was their first time choreographing, and, with an eye on the Deloitte Ignite festival, many are hoping to expand their work into something bigger. All the pieces of the evening were created outside the Royal Ballet's regular schedule, and choreographers and dancers gave up their free time to put the evening together. The nine pieces performed that evening were refreshingly varied. Works that stood out for me were Sander Bloomaert's choreography inspired by his previous collaboration with ice skaters, Kirsten McNalley's twisted 1950s Stepford Wives scenario, and Ludovic Ondiviela's work inspired by a schizophrenic photographer. 

Tara-Brigitte Bhavani and Romany Pajdak
in Ludovic Ondiviela’s Untitled,
ROH / Tristram Kenton, 2014

Hosted in ROH's smaller Linbury studio theatre, the evening had an intimate feel. It was curated by resident choreographer Wayne McGregor and each piece was introduced by the choreographer. During the interval and at the end of the evening, the audience was encouraged to approach them in the bar and share their impressions. (Also, on an excited side note, I saw Monica Mason in the audience!). 

Sander Blommaert’s Les Deux, Comme Un,
ROH / Tristram Kenton, 2014

But most importantly, the evening represented an opportunity to see dancers from the corps de ballet up close. I was particularly impressed by David Donnelly's one man performance of Erico Montes' Prometheus. But more generally, there is some serious talent in the ranks of the Royal Ballet!

Danse a Grand Vitesse

Since seeing Danse a Grand Vitess at the Royal Opera last week, I can't get Michael Nyman's incredible score out of my head!

Claudia Dean to leave the Royal Ballet

I'm so sad to hear that Claudia Dean is leaving the Royal Ballet! She was absolutely fantastic as the Chosen Maiden in the Rite of Spring and as the Queen of the Wilis in Giselle, and I had her on my list of dancers to watch. I wish her all the best for her future! I hope she will keep up her endearing tweets and let us know what is going on in her life! 

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

The Metamorphosis

I missed The Metamorphosis when it was performed at the Royal Opera House in early 2013. Luckily, it is now on DVD! 

John Ross ©

The Metamorphosis was performed in the Linbury Studio Theatre, it's venue for more experimental work, it seems. Arthur Pita's The Metamorphosis definitely falls into this category. 

Based on Franz Kafka's unsettling tale about Gregor Samsa, who awakes one morning to find himself "transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin", it is probably the most nauseating thing I have ever seen in dance (and I mean this as a compliment). 

Edward Watson's portrayal of this monstrous vermin is pure genius. As in Kafka's novella, we find him lying in his bed, tense limbs stretched upwards, fingers and toes wriggling like feelers. Like an insect trapped on its back, he struggles to turn over, twisting and writhing in a way that resembles nothing human. He crawls to the end of the bed and vomits a black liquid onto the floor. Then, hearing knocks at his door, he drags himself across the room, spreading the black liquid across its surfaces. By the end of this ballet, the entire stage will be transformed from a blindingly clean white to a brown, slippery mess.

John Ross ©

In scenes that closely follow the original story, we see Gregor face his family, his boss and various other characters. For me, these encounters are interesting only in so far as they allow Watson to develop the character of Gregor. While an attempt was made to give depth to the other characters, they are just not that interesting.

Watson evolves his character from from frightened, to curious, to self-loathing. In a particularly nightmarish scene (and the only departure from Kafka's original story), three monstrous insects covered from head to toe in a black liquid (treacle actually) crawl over the walls into Gregor's room and writhe across the floor. The scene marks a turning point in the plot, after which it becomes clear that there is no going back for Gregor. All the while, looking into his eyes, we truly believe he is a human trapped in an insect's body. When, in the end, he throws himself out of his window, we feel truly sorry for him. I can see why critics call Watson one of the most exciting dancers working in Britain today!

©Tristram Kenton

Arthur Pita's The Metamorphosis is a fantastic adaptation of Kafka's work. Personally, I found watching it even more engaging that reading it. It is a testament to power of dance to express deep and complicated emotions. 



 

Royal Ballet Tumblr

Just discovered this fantastic (fanmade) Tumblr account dedicated to the Royal Ballet. There are some great pictures! Like this one of Yuhui Choe and Matt Golding in 2002 and 2014.