EYB: The Sleeping Beauty

As mentioned before, I’m performing in the Stevenage EYB production of The Sleeping Beauty at the Gordon Craig Theatre 15-17th October. We had our first rehearsals this weekend, 2-8pm yesterday and 12-6pm today, pretty intense hours, but things are finally underway! Since the audition in June and casting day in July, it seemed like such a long wait, but it’s finally begun… I was a mix of excited/nervous yesterday as I really didn’t know what to expect schedule wise, but now after two days I have to say it’s actually less exhausting than I expected! I’m not saying it’s easy at all, but the sessions vary from 45 minutes to 1hr 30, and I was pretty much expecting them all to be 1hr+ with fewer breaks than we’re getting. Not that I’m complaining – or saying it’s a walk in the park!

We’re split into three groups for a warm up class at the beginning of each rehearsal after a meeting with parents. Class lasts for roughly 45 minutes, with a relatively long barre before moving into the centre for pirouettes, adage and allegro. It’s been so long since I had 45 minute classes it’s amazing how fast it goes!

Yesterday we then went straight in with an hour session en pointe learning the dance for Act 3. I’ve been cast as a Guest, there’s about 20 of us, the majority en pointe (including myself) and some on flat, who are basically the corps de ballet, so we’ll be on stage during all three acts for a lot of the time and hopefully have quite a bit to do.

After a costume fitting for the prologue we had another hour or so carrying on, and then at the end of the day we all come together in the main hall and perform the sections that have been learnt in the order of the ballet so that we get used to the sequence of everything and at the same time get to see what everyone else has done as well. Obviously in between all that we had a few breaks as well, varying from 1 hour to 15 minutes.

Today was similar, starting with class as normal and then recapped what we did yesterday before adding on. I have to say by the end of the first hour spent en pointe my feet are struggling a bit! I’ve been en pointe for about 3 years now, but I’m only used to spending half an hour a week doing syllabus exercises, the majority of which are at the barre which isn’t a whole lot of use now! I’m fairly confident my feet are going to get a lot stronger very quickly doing this! However, I’m yet to get a blister which is an amazing achievement, it’s just the throbbing pain on the tips of my big toes I’m dealing with.

Today we learnt the whole prologue as well which is almost the whole cast on stage together at the Christening.

So that’s the first weekend over! We don’t have another rehearsal until the 25th and then we’re straight in with Friday 4-8:30, Saturday 2-8:00, Sunday 12-6:00… wish my toes luck please. And my brain, for attempting to remember all the choreography during the 3 week break!! I can’t wait to go back already 🙂

Rambert Intensive: Final Thoughts|Dreams That Glitter

I’d like to begin by saying I miss being at Rambert already, it felt really weird not going back again yesterday, I think I’d just got used to the hectic nature of it all and travelling into London every day. It took me about an hour on the train but it was a direct route so it wasn’t too bad, luckily my station is right at the beginning of the line so I didn’t have to fight for a seat, getting a seat was more of a concern on the way home though when I just wanted to collapse! Commuting is kind of exhausting but I actually quite liked having that quiet time on the train at the beginning and end of the day.

Since this was only my second summer intensive I didn’t have a whole lot to compare it to, and the one I did last year was a youth one for ages 11-18 so had a very different feel to this one which was an adult course, there was a much wider range of ages as I think the youngest was 16, all the way up to 30+. It was interesting how different the tone was working with older people of different ages although we did quite similar things as to last year. First off, there’s  a lot less drama with adults I think; there’s no whiney 12 year olds!! I think with a group of adults as well there tends to be more barriers put up with ourselves as the older you get the more self conscious you are and you have more fear of trying new things and being around new people, whereas younger people generally adapt easily and are up for trying anything they seem to just throw themselves into it. I’m not saying no one had any confidence or anything because that’s not the case at all and there were some very talented dancers in the group but it’s just a completely different vibe to a group of young people.

Another difference is with the youth group, the majority of dancers participating are there because they want to become professional dancers and go into a performance career, and there can almost be a sense of competition. With this course however it was such a mix – there was some people already in dance training, some doing A Level, some there for pure enjoyment just dancing as a hobby, there because they just really love to dance. Some had little dance experience while others had years under their belt; it was a diverse group it was really nice to work with such a range of people and we all helped each other through it.

This brings me onto friendships… Most people’s main priority on the course was obviously to soak up as much information as possible, to work on themselves as dancers and performers and improve as much as possible in the short space of time. A few people knew each other before and came in groups and others knew no one and sort of kept to themselves. Back to the confidence thing, why are adults so much worse at making friends and putting themselves forward than kids? Between that and being exhausted and very concentrated on food during our breaks, everyone was generally quiet and didn’t talk to each other a whole lot really. It wasn’t until the last couple of days when we started talking more, so I guess if the intensive had been longer we would’ve made more significant friendships! It was still nice to get to know everyone though and we’ll keep in touch through Facebook.

As I mentioned before – there was two groups an Intermediate and Advanced; ultimately it was up to the individual which path they chose but the Advanced was generally dance graduates, professionals or those in full time training, and the Intermediate dancers had not been dancing so long, there more for pure enjoyment and for themselves than working towards a career in dance. As with anywhere there was a clear divide between the two groups and we didn’t really mingle between groups a lot but I did manage to talk briefly with a few of them and it was interesting to hear about the wide range of backgrounds the dancers came from. Had I chose the Advanced route I think I would definitely have found it challenging, the material they showed during the sharing looked absolutely amazing, however I don’t think I would’ve struggled so much I’d have changed groups, although a lot of the dancers in that group were very technical and expressive I think I would’ve learnt a lot being with them and would have enjoyed the challenge, maybe I’ll do that next time? I imagine each group of dancers would be different though in terms of standard.

To conclude, if you hadn’t gathered by now I had an absolutely wonderful time and would jump at the chance to do a course like this again. The level of training we received was brilliant and it was a privilege to have the chance to work with Rambert company members; truly learning from the best. It was tough at times and definitely a challenge but I’ve learnt so much – I really enjoyed having classes with a range of teachers as you get to experience the variety of teaching styles and each of them has a different vision of what they want you to get out of the experience.

Finally, here’s my list of tips to take with you to any intensive:

1. Be open to anything! The more open minded you are, the more you can learn and the more you’ll take away with you. Don’t be confined to what you’re used to and respect different people’s methods of doing things.
2. Eat little and often. It definitely took me a couple of days to gauge how much to eat so as to feel full fuelled but not like you’re going to throw up in the class after lunch! You have to eat properly, food that will give you energy. Most days I had: toast for breakfast, some fruit in the morning break, pasta/rice and salad at lunch, a cereal/protein bar and mixed nuts for afternoon break, and a good dinner when I got home.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or put yourself forward. If you don’t understand something, ask. If you missed part of the phrase, ask. If you have an injury and need another option, ask. This is so important! Don’t just skip over something if you don’t understand it, the teachers don’t mind you asking questions as they want you to succeed and understand everything.
4. Drink lots of water! If you’re dancing for hours at a time, keeping hydrated is super important otherwise you’re probably going to pass out or get a horrible headache. Drink lots!!
5. Get plenty of sleep. If you don’t get enough you will definitely feel it the next day when you’re trying your hardest not to yawn at the barre. Your body is being put under a lot of pressure and a lot of energy is required, you can’t do your best and get the most out of every class if you only had 4 hours sleep.
6. Look after your body! I highly recommend you get a foam roller or a massage ball or something similar. I used the foam roller every evening for about an hour when I got home and it made such a difference to how my body felt. Listen to your body and look after it to prevent injury. I also found an ice bath for my feet particularly soothing half way through the week. Hot/Cold showers also feel really good afterwards!

I think that’s about it…. I hope this post wasn’t too long/boring, I just wanted to share everything in one go. I’m not going to lie I’m quite impressed with myself for keeping up with these blog posts all week, it’s been a really nice way to document and evaluate everything! If anyone else has done a course at Rambert I’d love to hear about your experiences 🙂

Rambert Intensive: Day 5|Dreams That Glitter

Final day!!

We started with contemporary with Kate again this morning; it was nice to have her back, all the phrases came flooding back…kind of!! We did all the phrases we’d learnt with her on the right and left in smaller groups once we’d done some warm up exercises. Trying to get energy out of us was proving to be a bit tricky by this point of the week… but once we warmed up we got back into it I think! We then learnt another new phrase and did a mini task – to take 12 movements from anything we’d done in her classes over the week and put them together to make our own phrases in groups of 2 or 3 which we then performed to each other. Fantastic way to start the day!

After our break we had rehearsals for the sharing that was this afternoon. We had half an hour on each – both pieces of repertoire and then choreography. We recapped and cleaned everything and set formations and ran everything start to finish with a few minor changes here and there. Estela changed a bit of the piece so that I didn’t have to do the section that hurt my foot yesterday, even though it felt a lot better today she said it was better not to take the risk which was the best idea.

At lunch there was a few nerves going around in preparation for the sharing, I went over to the National Theatre area to meet my friend Willa who I met at Bluewater 2 years ago (!!) and it was so great to see her! Even if I was extremely gross and sweaty! It was again finding the challenge of eating enough to fill my stomach without feeling like I would throw up when I starting moving again, I think I’ve just about got the hang of it! Plenty of smaller snacks throughout the day works much better than trying to eat a ‘meal’ with only 1 hour off dancing.

So before the sharing began we had about half an hour to do some final preparations do everything one more time. We performed The Strange Charm of Mother Nature rep first, then Terra Incognita, and finally our choreography piece which has a really happy, chilled vibe and is just really about enjoying ourselves, the music was quite upbeat and fun as well, I certainly enjoyed it (I hope that came across). I wasn’t really nervous at all as it didn’t feel like a ‘show’ as such, it was just sharing what we’d been working on over the week and considering we’d achieved all of that in just a few days was enough of an accomplishment, it didn’t need to be perfect.

We then had the opportunity to watch the Advanced group’s work, which was absolutely amazing. I will have to try and look up which pieces they studied because I really liked the phrases they did, and they seemed to have put a lot more together than we did I think! There were a lot of dancers who were either in the middle of their training or had dance degrees etc in that group so the standard was pretty high, they all did really well. *claps*

So that’s it!! The week has gone so quickly and I think I’ve just got used to the routines of everything and settled in, I think today everyone started talking to each other a lot more and seemed more relaxed and like we knew each other. I didn’t even ache that much today! I could definitely get used to doing that all the time! And I definitely want to do more Rambert Intensives.

Tomorrow I think I’ll do a general review post of the whole course and everything I’ve learnt!

Rambert Intensive: Day 4|Dreams That Glitter

10:00-11:30 Contemporary

Today we did a different contemporary class with the teacher we’ve been having for Choreography – Estella. It was nice to do a different class and mix it up a bit, it’s interesting to see how many different directions a contemporary class can be taken in my different people. This was kind of more ‘traditional’ with some floor work to warm up the back and legs and then some phrases standing in the centre, some corner work and then finally we learnt a phrase which was to be added to our choreography piece.

11:45-1:15 Repertoire with Luke – Terra Incognita

We carried on with the repertoire from yesterday and it’s really intricate with lots of small details that make it look so much better when you get them spot on. We watched Luke perform the piece full speed and it’s literally like at least triple time to what we’ve been doing, it’s insane! It was really inspiring to see it done properly though and gave us a more of a clear idea of what we’re aiming for.

2:15-3:45 Choreography with Estella

Choreography was quite intense today, we finished our piece which is about 5 minutes, incorporating the new phrase from this morning and adding repetition and new formations/direction etc. It’s coming together quite nicely! I did something to my foot though, I think it came from doing lots of floor work in a crouch position and using my feet to push off of in a demi pointe position… I’ve iced it and hoping for the best – I want to be able to dance tomorrow!!

4:00-5:00 Ballet

So after the foot incident I probably should have taken it easy in ballet if done it at all, but me being me insisted on doing it in my pointe shoes. At that stage the actual pointing and flexing motion didn’t hurt at all, but it is a bit now, oops… I didn’t do any releves on pointe or anything just some balances at the barre mainly, but even doing tendus in pointe shoes works your feet so much harder than wearing soft ballet slippers. I really enjoyed the class though!

So tomorrow we have a contemporary class with Kate again, and then rehearsals for both pieces of rep (here’s hoping I can remember what we did at the beginning of the week!!) and the choreography, before our sharing with the advanced group – I can’t wait to see what they’ve been doing and the difference in standard between the two groups, I’m really interested in how much of a difference in ability there is. I can’t believe it’s the last day tomorrow already, it’s gone pretty quickly!!

Rambert Intensive: Day 3 |Dreams That Glitter

Day 3

This morning you could tell everyone was feeling it a bit at this stage! Especially if you’ve gone from not doing much at all the last few weeks or months to suddenly intensive training for 6 hours day, it puts a lot of pressure on the body. Tonight I came home and put my feet in an ice bath, stretched and used the foam roller for about an hour or so, hopefully that will do the trick and ease the aches and pains tomorrow…Still all good fun though!

10:00-11:30 – Contemporary with Kate Mummery

This class was pretty similar as the first two days again. We started off with a bit of a massage session in partners which warmed us up and relieved a bit of tight or stiffness and woke up our bodies, followed by a mini contemporary/yoga session. We then added onto the phrases we’ve already learnt which included more floor work (more bruises) which I enjoyed as if there’s one area I’m worse at it’s definitely floor work, just making it look smooth and effortless is not at all easy for me, especially when transferring the weight into the hands in various ways. I’m sure there was something else I was going to mention about this class but it’s getting late and my brain is totally frazzled – maybe it’ll come back to me!

11:45-13:15 – Repertoire with Luke Ahmet – Terra Incognita

We started learning some new rep today with a different teacher from the company from the last couple of days. It’s completely different from the last piece we learnt that was quite balletic, fluid and elegant, the phrases from Terra Incognita are more unusual and quirky. It was fun to pick up and we learnt so much in the session! We’ve already started putting it together as a piece which we will perform as a whole group at the end of the week, and we’re going to learn some more material and clean it up tomorrow.

14:15-15:45 – Choreography with Estela Merlos

We’ve got more of a piece coming together in this session now, the phrases are being performed by different groups within our group, and the piece starts with the structures we ‘built’ yesterday, with transitions added in – so it’s like a structure has been made and then we all crumble to the ground to represent a disaster, and then we rebuild into the next huge structure where we’re all relying on each other to stay up, then we crumble again and repeat, I think it looks quite effective. We’ve added some group work into it as well including some lifts which will look good in the end. One more rehearsal tomorrow and we should have a nice little piece to show!

16:00-17:00 – Ballet with Antonette Dayrit

We were also lucky enough to have a pianist for this class as well which is much nicer than doing the exercises to a CD like I’m used to. Not having a musician for class all the time makes you appreciate the experience a lot more when you get the chance though. The class was a general level as there was lots of mixed ability in our group, a few people never having done ballet before. I was a bit sceptical as to whether I’d have the energy for ballet at the end of the day, having finished off with a nice bit of relaxation the last couple of days, but I found that the hour actually went super fast and almost didn’t seem long enough. We did quite a long barre and then moved into the centre for an adage, centre practice, pirouettes, pirouettes from the corner, a couple of petit allegro exercises and a couple of allegros travelling across the room to the finish with. Tomorrow I’m going to attempt the class in my pointe shoes and see how that goes! I haven’t done a huge amount of pointe other than the Intermediate syllabus so I really want to work on strengthening my feet in them – English Youth Ballet is going to be a killer with all those long rehearsals en pointe I think.

Rambert Intensive: Day 2|Dreams That Glitter

Day 2

10:00-11:30 – Contemporary with Kate Mummery

We did a very similar class to yesterday, building on some of the exercises we did yesterday. We’re slowly adding in more Cunningham specific exercises, today we did pulses which is like sit ups but standing up. I found that really interesting, at first it just feels weird and like it’s not doing much, but once you get the correct range of movement and alignment you can really feel it working the abdominals. We did the phrase we did yesterday and worked it out on the left and then performed it in smaller groups which was nice to be able to use more of the space and to watch everyone else. Oh and I forgot to mention yesterday – we have a musician for this class who plays different rhythms on various instruments, it gives a different feel to the class and it’s refreshing to work in that way rather than with the same set music from an iPod.

11:45-13:15 – Repertoire with Hannah Rudd – The Strange Charm of Mother Nature

We learnt another phrase from this piece which I really liked as well, so once we’d learnt that we recapped the phrases we did yesterday and then got into groups (there’s quite a wide range of ability within the group so the groups we got into were kind of based on how well people were picking it up so we could go at a speed we were most comfortable with) and in those smaller groups we got into formations and went from one phrase to the next, almost like putting together a mini piece. This is what we’ll be performing in the sharing on Friday.

14:15-15:45 – Choreography with Estela Merlos

I have so many bruises from this session! Floor work is the enemy. We started off with a bit of partner work and went into some contact improvisation playing around with counter balances. We then took this on a larger scale and created three big structures including everyone in the group, using each other to balance in a variety of different positions on different levels. We then recapped the phrases we did yesterday and then learnt a new phrase which again included floor work, and it’s quite fast! I’m enjoying it though. I always find this session the hardest as it’s the one after lunch, so I’ve just sat down for an hour, eaten and seized up!

16:00-17:00 – Yoga/Pilates

This was more yoga than yesterday, it was challenging but much more of a steady pace compared to yesterday, and had a lot more stretching which was lovely. We did a section of passive stretching in partners, it’s amazing the difference it makes having someone apply pressure to parts of your body and the effect that has on the stretch you’re doing, it feels wonderful! We finished off with a relaxation session which was much needed. After two days of finishing with a relatively gentle session, I think finishing off the day with ballet tomorrow and Thursday is going to a be a bit of a shock to the system!

So that’s two days down, three to go! I’m covered in bruises and ache a little, I came home today and made friends with the foam roller (if you don’t have one, you need one – I have this one and this one). We’re doing a different piece of repertoire tomorrow so will be nice to mix things up a bit! Here’s hoping I don’t forget everything we’ve learnt from today…

Rambert Intensive: Day 1|Dreams That Glitter

So this week I’m doing a 5 day intensive at Rambert! I’m going to attempt to write a post about each day, so here goes. It’s an adult course and it’s split into two groups: Intermediate and Advanced, I’m doing the Intermediate. I’d never been to the studios before today and would just like to mention how lovely they are! They’re all wonderfully lit by natural light, high ceilings and lovely flooring, really nice to dance in!

10:00-11:30 – Contemporary with Kate Mummery

The day started with a Cunningham based contemporary class, which was a bit different to what I’ve done before but followed the regular structure of a technique class working through a series of exercises using more of the body and travelling more, working into the floor as we got warmer, eventually learning a short phrase which I think we’re building onto/adapting as the week goes on.

11:45-13:15 – Repertoire with Hannah Rudd – The Strange Charm of Mother Nature

I really enjoyed this session; I think it was my favourite of the day. I couldn’t find a link on YouTube for the rep but I might not have been looking hard enough so I totally recommend you give it a search! We were shown a clip from the work and then we learnt three phrases, which I really liked. They were quite technical and we didn’t dance them at full speed (the whole piece shifts a lot, and the music is fairly abstract but all of the movement is very speedy), I particularly enjoyed the balletic style to some of the movements. We performed them in smaller groups at the end and went from one phrase to the next continuously which was nice, and were given plenty of opportunity to go through all the details and ask questions as we went along which was really helpful, the class wasn’t too fast paced but I feel like we achieved quite a lot over the hour and a half.

14:15-15:45 – Choreography with Estela Merlos

I didn’t know what to expect from this class; whether we’d be taught more choreography or have to make up our own or whether it would be like improvisation. We did a simple warm up and then learnt a short phrase which mainly consisted of arm gestures, it was really specific and the movements had to be exactly on the counts, which isn’t always the case with contemporary dance. We then learnt a development of this phrase which contained the same movements but made them bigger and travelled more in the space, adding in more leg movements. Finally we learnt a third phrase based on the idea of falling so used a lot more floor work, which was really interesting, a lot of the moves I hadn’t done before and wouldn’t have thought of using them in my own choreography but is something I probably will  now incorporate in the future. These three phrases are being put together to form a piece which we are working towards for the end of the week, when we will have a sharing with the Advanced group so we can see what everyone’s been up to!

16:00-17:00 – Yoga/Pilates

This was a really nice class to finish off the day with. I think there was a bit more yoga than pilates, and I didn’t really know what to expect, I think a lot of people assumed that it would be the ‘easy’ class because Pilates and Yoga seem to be associated with older people I’ve realised? But I think some of the exercises were challenging, particularly the speed of the yoga flows we were doing. At the end of the day it’s quite easy to just want to curl up on the mat and have a nap! I do quite a lot of Pilates as my mum actually teaches it, and I wondered if there was going to be a difference between ‘general public pilates’ and ‘dancer pilates’ and there wasn’t really.

I think that’s it for today! I have also purchased the new Rambert t-shirt and hoodie which are both really lovely and soft. I have a similar day tomorrow so hopefully I’ll remember to post about it…

Review: La Sylphide|Dreams That Glitter

On Thursday I went to the evening performance of Australia’s Queensland Ballet’s production of La Sylphyide at London Coliseum, which only lasted from 4-8 August! My friend Sophie won a pair of tickets from Dancing Times and invited me to accompany her which I was very excited about. We had no idea where our seats would be until we collected the tickets from the box office and were delighted to find we were Row C in the stalls – an amazing view and definitely a lot closer than I’d ever sat in the Coliseum previously. The last time I was there was when me and Sophie met for the first time and took part in the English National Ballet’s Swan Lake workshop on stage, which was a wonderful experience (I’m patiently waiting for the next one).

The cast isn’t huge, consisiting of:

The Sylphide – Sarah Thompson

James – Luke Schaufuss

Madge – Greg Horsman

Gurn – Vito Bernasconi

Effie – Mia Heathcote

Anne – Mary Li

Lead Sylph –Lisa Edwards

These are the main characters; there is also a group of witches, ‘2 lads’ and the pas de huit.

The story follows the tragic tale of impossible love, between a Scottsman James who is awoken the night before his wedding by a beautifully captivating sylph, who steals him away and leads him into a forest where he chases the idea of her having abandoned his fiancé. Of course it’s just not that easy…

The elegance of the Sylph’s opening solo was performed beautifully by Sarah Thompson as she filled the stage with a series of tiny neat courus and all of her movements had a floaty, fairy-like sense to them, almost presenting a dream like orb around the character of the enchanting Sylphide who will go onto entice James on the eve of his wedding to Effie.

The entire first act was danced in a Scottish manor house clearly indicated by the use of the set. I was very impressed with the amount of batterie included in the choreography, it was inspiring to see such intricate footwork and carefully thought out patterns. The Scottish national dances were portrayed well by the cast, enhanced by the excessive use of tartan costumes! I’d like to give a special mention to the children in the cast – it took me a while to notice them as they blended into the corps so well, they coped so well with the demanding steps. I thought there was a perfect balance between classical ballet and Scottish folk dance throughout the performance.

The second act was set in a mysterious, magical woodland glade where the Sylph had lead James away from his wedding festivities back at the manor. This is where the tragedy unfolds with help from Madge the witch, wonderfully acted by Greg Horsman.

Although some reviews I’ve read state otherwise, I felt very much transported by the company’s production of this classic tale, but perhaps this is because I had nothing to compare it to? Either way, the ballet is now up there with my favourites and wouldn’t hesitate to see it again given the chance.

I think you should all now go and have a read of Sophie’s review of our evening as well, which you can find here: http://ballerinadreamsdancediary.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

Review: Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man|Dreams That Glitter

The Car Man – Matthew Bourne – New Adventures – Sadlers Wells – 2nd August 2015

Cast List

Last Sunday I went to see Matthew Bourne’s production of The Car Man at Sadler’s Wells. I went with a friend and we got the tickets fairly last minute, we took a bit of a risk opting for the cheapest seats going, but I have to say first of all I was very impressed with our view from the back of the second circle! So basically, don’t be put off by going to theatre because you can’t afford £50 tickets. 😉

Inspiration for The Car Man came from Bizet’s Carmen and the 40s film The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Matthew Bourne has a reputation for producing insanely creative, imaginative works from classic pieces; others include Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker. The main themes of the show are lust, passion and revenge, all of which are associated with the original story of Carmen, however Bourne’s production is different and refreshing.

The show debuted in 2000, was revived in 2007 and has now returned for its third run.

I’m not going to lie, I’d never heard of the show before but when I saw the trailer a few months ago I knew I wanted to see it.

Not being at all familiar with the story line of Carmen and knowing basically nothing about The Car Man other than recognising some of the music (which I absolutely love, by the way), I have to say I found the first act a little difficult to follow, I think this also had to do with the fact that it wasn’t always 100% clear who the characters were due to being so far away from the stage. After quickly googling a synopsis in the interval it all made a bit more sense and the second act was easier to follow the plot.

The dance style was very different to what you’ve seen in Nutcracker and Swan Lake, it had much more of a contemporary feel with less emphasis on traditional ballet as some of his other works, this suited the score and the themes of the show. I think not being constrained to a classical ballet work as he has been before gave him more freedom with the choreography and ability to add in more flavours and styles rather than sticking to tradition (not that I’d call Bourne’s production of Swan Lake exactly traditional – but you know what I mean).

The set design and general vibe of the performance almost reminded me of West Side Story, I think that comes from it also being set in 1960s America.

The show was able to take the audience through a range of emotions from the powerful, masculine opening to a tender, elegant prison solo in the second Act by Angelo, one of the highlights of the show for me definitely. I was also impressed by the sensual, erotic dances that featured throughout – everything that unfolded on stage was exciting and thrilling from sex to violence and murder.

The show was recorded last week and has been aired on Sky Arts, a repeat is being shown tomorrow at 2pm I think if you happen to be able to catch it! There’s also two more days of shows remaining so if you can get tickets I totally recommend it.

You can find the trailer and more reviews on the Sadler’s Wells website here: http://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2015/matthew-bournes-the-car-man/

CAT Scheme Experience|Dreams That Glitter

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know I had my first CAT audition in 2013, for the London CAT scheme. That, of course was unsuccessful and I then auditioned for the Hertfordshire Satellite CAT Scheme in November 2013, which was another unsuccessful occasion… from that audition though, I was invited to attend Propagator Youth Dance Company at Hot House Dance, which I did for about a year and my technique improved pretty quickly, boosting my confidence as the weeks went by.

I auditioned for the London CAT Scheme again last year, and ended up with yet another rejection. However, I continued my training at Hot House Dance every week as well as my ballet classes and hours of dance at school. The Hertfordshire CAT audition came around again pretty quickly and I eventually decided to go for it again with a considerable amount of persuasion… and I was accepted! As of Saturday 1^st August 2015, I have completed the Hertfordshire CAT Satellite Scheme. I auditioned in December last year and attended weekly technique classes/rehearsals since January, and we had our last official rehearsal as a group on Thursday.

I’d like to begin my addressing the fact that the Satellite courses seemed to be looked down on and not as worthy, but I’d just like to share my experiences from the course and why I think they should be treated as equal achievements…

Over the duration of the course, I’d say without a doubt my contemporary technique has improved massively and my understanding of the technique has developed significantly. I would definitely recommend the course to any budding dancers! I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the course and have seen improvements not just in my general technique but other specific areas such as fitness, flexibility, ability to pick up and learn new phrases efficiently, self esteem/confidence and creativity. I think the course has definitely influenced my decision and desire to want to continue dancing and want to apply for vocational training.

On Saturday we had our final performance at the CAT Summer Show at The Place in London, aka the home of contemporary dance in the UK. We were one of the few CAT Satellite schemes that there are based around the country and performed alongside the London CAT scheme who performed pieces choreographed by various choreographers that they had the chance to work with. We rehearsed all day and had two separate performances, at which there were supposedly a few VIPs… It was a wonderful opportunity to perform in such a prestigious location!