Michelle_Richer

Hi Balletdude Promenades on demi-pointe is possible if you are selective on which type you use. I am re-choreographing the Nutcracker Grand Pas-de-deux to be performed at a Christmas dance party by me and my boyfriend Adrian. I might add Adrian is NOT a ballet dancer but is a very willing ballet scare crow, however the beginning sequence with turning me through attitude and then promenading me is now no problem to him, in fact the promenade support is now quite good. Single supported and double supported hands seem to work ok, however waist supported does not. His is inclined to drag me off balance as friction on demi-pointe seems to be very significant. However for the time being we haven’t had any PDD training as a couple, although I have danced parts of PDD’s at some workshops but not very much. A couple of weeks ago I was at Ballet West in Scotland doing some one-to-one rep, my teacher did offer to do some PDD coaching as she knows my intentions, but I didn’t want to frighten Adrian off, although I do admire his courage for trying, however I will use one of my local rep coaches to help with some of the trickier stuff as Adrian knows them. I have also told my Ballet West teacher I WILL be bringing him back with me next year for some PDD coaching. Adrian met my teacher Gillian as I twisted his arm to accompany me one evening to Ballet West’s Adult ballet fitness class.

Hi BalletSarah777, welcome to the forum from me too Yes I think you are right, I'm virtually on a continuous intensive anyway with two repertoire coaches to see every week. I know there was a girl called Alex that did LAB but I'm trying to picture you at the workshop.. .

Hi Kate_N If I can just come back one a few comments you have made towards me: Firstly “ I'm a bit puzzled about a desire to learn the exact repertoire before attending a workshop”, for me that’s logical to fully understand the objective and execute it as efficiently as one can. Secondly “I've long been taught that, as a dancer, you need to be prepared to change the way you do things for a specific teacher or choreographer.” Although this is true, it is also quite inefficient. I know from experience of myself and fellow dancers, when we have spent weeks rehearsing a piece and the chorography gets changed, its far more difficult to replace that existing body memory that to learn something from scratch. But in reality it does happen and there are no easy answers. Thirdly: “I think maybe, Michelle, that you're quite new to ballet & the theatre/performing arts more generally? I was literally brought up in the theatre, so it's interesting to see the responses of a newcomer to my world “. I guess that is true as I did not do ballet as a child or in my younger years, However I do think that also gives me the advantage of not having the same teacher child depenancy that may persist from childhood. I think my mindset is probably quite different to your own, it does have quite a business bias and I do not not see that as a mutually exclusive attribute to the arts world. If Im going to class or rehearsal I want to know what I am going to get out of it and does it broadly meet my objectives. Especially as my objective are performance based even though there is no financial reward. Much of my relationships with ballet teachers seems to be quite different to your own, in that Im talking about my repertoire coaches. Generally for the first session the major part of the time is spent in roll reversal. Im teaching and correcting the teacher until she is fully familiar with the rep, then we can get into detail and artistic interpretation, there is no lack of respect or embarresment by either party and the relationship developed out of that is extremely close. I have two different rep coaches I use every week and this works well with both, it wasn’t specifically planned that way but evolved and we are all compfortable with it. Hi Terpsichore The KNT Giselle workshop was OK, I enjoyed the series of pieces incorperating the “Dance of the Willis” from act 2. We also did Giselle’s solo from Act 1. which was somewhat simplified, that I did for the workshop but tried desperately not to take it in my long term memory. I will reburn the original Bolshoi / RB version into the body next week, it was one of the pieces I did at Ballet West. The three days at Ballet West went exceptionally well with a very strong bias on performance presentation. Just before I left Gillian asked if she could come and see me perform at the Bloomsbury next year if she can make it. Then I will really really have to clean my act up. I have already book a week of rep coaching with her for next year,

No I sometimes wish i was., we are doing something from Le Corsaire tomorrow.

First day a ballet west working on Sugar Plum Fairy variation, absolutely fantastic.

Hi Terpsichore I will certainly pass your regards on, she is my one-to-one rep coach this time, a really wonderful lady. Yes I may even get to do your show again next year. LABs show date is the 17th July next time, your is usually the first week in July, I'm just hoping I can persuade my other group to avoid your date. Anyway I need to check the feasibility of that journey out again as I have two classes at English National Ballet the night before and don't get home while 1am Tuesday morning. I will check that out at least once before Christmas. Hope to see you then.

Wow that’s a bit strong, essentially what has happened has been the result of information about the course arriving far too late, but that’s done now and I've move on as there is no point in raking over the coals. Of course I will treat everyone with respect I have never done otherwise but I do believe in plain speaking and influencing changes where possible. I certainly echo LinMM comment, the vast majority of workshops/intensives do not insist on a strict dress code, it usually optional. Even LAB only recommended practice classical tutu base, or romantic tutu skirts dependant upon what the course was. You will not be removed from the course if you don’t have one. I know on the Don Q Intensive that both Balletrocks1 and I attended, I was ask if I would dress down my tutu with a black T shirt, I did, similarly I had a Kiti tutu with me but it was decided those that had Red Leo’s and Black Skirt with them, should wear them for that piece. I did, especially as we were dancing Kitri’s solo as a small group piece. I certainly didn’t through a wobbly because I couldn’t wear a tutu. My last Swan Lake workshop with Dance Alive London, In the morning we did the RB version of the Pas de Trios from Act 1, I did that in an appropriate Tutu. In the afternoon we did the ABT version of the Black Swan solo and a simplified version of the Black Swan Coda, as I was a little late back from lunch (naughty me, looking at out first tutors new baby) , I didn’t have time to put my Black Swan tutu on, and did it like everyone else in a leo. At the end of class our second teacher wanted to know why I hadn’t warn it. Oh poo you cant please everyone. On the positive side when you are doing LAB rehearsals with a male partner, as me and two other girls were, I nearly always had my Le Corsaire tutu with me. In that context its essential as the guy has to allow more room for holding the and supporting his lady, furthermore distance has to be increased between dancers to allow for the classical tutu skirts, its also worth pointing out that a classical pancake skirt can be quite sharp when another dancer accidentally brushes her hand against anothers skirt. This is only gained from experience. But hayho we are not allowed to use them a KNT this time, so I will just have to do the Dance of the Willis from Act2 of Giselle as one of the Dark Angels of Manchester like everyone else in black and enjoy it. I may not come back on this thread for a while as I have to be on the road tomorrow Sunday, between 4 and 5 am for the 425mile car journey to Scotland and not sure if we will have internet access. Anyway good luck to those doing Swan Lake. As for those doing Giselle, please make yourself known, it will be good to put a face to those that I have enjoyed a good tussle with.

Hi Balletrocks1 Clearly I have a different agenda for the requirements of a repertoire workshop from you and your friends. Simply from my part it was a mistake as I had selected it prematurely on too little information as I always try and operate in a structured way with unnecessary challenges and unplanned surprises. For me its about dancing and living the roll and not about competing against others. After receiving the KNT info pack I seriously did consider dropping the course, I did not sleep at all that night while thinking about it. I had paid the course fees in full, and it was unlikely I would get it reimbursed; the hotel was also book in Manchester for that period. Also and my stay with BalletWest had also been rearrange to accommodate the KNT workshop and I really didn’t want to upset the wonderful relationship with them by asking if they could extend it again. At the end of the day I WILL BE THERE and take away what I can. Going forward, if the KNT general policy remains the same, then I will NOT be attending their workshops in future. Should it change to be compatible with my requirements, then most definite I will. Thanks for the Info on the evening classes that are running next week, but sorry I cant make the Thursday, I will already be doing an evening class with BalletWest after one of my one-to-one rep sessions, also my boyfriend Adrian is with me during that week and he will see so little of me bless him. Furthermore I still need to preserve my ankles against overuse which they are susceptible too.

Wow what a response: Firstly the dress code for Giselle of a Black Leo and black skirt or some other colour leo with black T shirt. We are also to bring Pink / Flesh tights and Black ones too, as the colour will be decided on the day. The same is true for Swan Lake which I am not doing with the exception of a white leo. I just cant imagine black tights for these rolls. As there is such a response from poster on this thread in favour of the black ballet where. Please take a look at this Swan Lake workshop I attended last year, THIS IS HOW I THINK IT SHOULD BE DONE. Had I seen the costume requirements and understood there would be no proper details of the choreography being taught. I never would have applied, after all I had cut a week at Ballet West short, working one-to-one on my own repertoire. There has also been a lot of pussy footing around about knowing detail in advance and using Youtube clips. I am not saying each and every step has to be an absolute replica, but the structure of the piece has to be reasonably authentic and recognisable. In any case if I find something I want to take away and further develop, it will get changed in something I feel is more pleasing to the eye, and it may be a hybrid version derived from two or more artists or a little bit of home grow creativity added, the important thing for me it, I’m driving it. It’s also worth saying, I work with video extracts of choreography all the time. I have two repertoire coaches at different studios I see every week, which is backed up by multiple hiring of studios and hall for on going practice. This is not something I’m playing at. 2Dancersmum: Thank you for the Salsa info CrystalBallet: Thank you for your comments

Well I guess I have a completely different mindset, to the rest of you girls, If I’m spending hard ernt money, I expect to get a product that complies to a proper description, in simple terms it must do what it says on the tin . That was an essential part of my working life as head of a design department, so in this I have a very proactive mindset with expectations and surprises don’t feature in it in a positive way. Firstly I booked the Giselle workshop after Karen Sant had provided me with the scenes being covered from Jane Tucker. I must say this was done in a very timely manor an impressed me. Secondly after looking at the Scenes, Giselle Solo from act 1 has some differences but has a lot of commonality in its structures and I know Natalia Osipover’s version reasonably well, even her latest with RB has very little change. The Peasant PDD solo is the most difficult to second guess, first I have found two entirely different pieces of music used for this one and quite a wide range different choreography to the same music. In the past I have always regarded Act2 as dreary, mainly because of the low lighting for the grave side scene, and for some reason I never really actively listen to the music particularly the Dance of the Willis. After hearing that I fell in love with the music. In general the is quite a lot of commonality in the choreography from the different companies. I’m at least looking at it, as I cannot afford to learn something prior, only to unlearn it on the to relearn a different version, I’ve been there too many times before. With at least the basic scene info in place with an expectation of further detail, I checked I could reschedule my time at Ballet West, they confirmed and I booked and paid in full for this Intensive. Without that info in place, I would not have given this Intensive a second glance. As for the future, well that’s left to Karen and Jane, I won’t try and second guess their ongoing policy until they have gone through their own learning process or running this type of Intensive. If it’s a rigid non disclosure of the basic choreography source, then its off my to do list. Hi Youngatheart If I can take some of your comments: You have used the word “Exact Detail”, I can help think that is somewhat misleading, I would expect the basic structure of the scene to comply but some step types may be modified to suit the dancers limitation, there Im not specifically talking experience as this may well be physical. In any case many of us do not, or do not dance sufficiently well of point to do all of the choreography justice. Second para: by providing the info for those of us that want to work at it in preparation, is in no way detrimental to those that don’t. As for everyone starting from scratch, firstly this isn’t a contest or a race. Secondly, life isn’t like that, some may have danced scenes from Giselle before, as I have done. As for taking it away, I’m already doing the Dance of the Willis for one of My Christmas Shows but I don’t as yet know what version, the other with the LAB group is also from Giselle but I don’t know what we are covering until we go back in September. Ultimately I will re-choreography that music into a solo, it just to beautiful to leave alone. Third para: I would agree in principle from a “what if” point of view, but that would be so unprofessional to be blatant bad manners and is extremely unlikely. In any case if you are one of the more experienced ones, should you not be helping the others less fortunate than yourself, so being an asset rather that a liability. The sort of thing that comes to mind, is doing a short sequence across the room in pairs, and sometimes there is a lone dancer who may feeling very uncomfortable on their, shouldn’t a more experienced dancer partner them so at least that have someone to follow. Last para: You are absolutely right “It is the way I want them done”, but more importantly its not at the detriment of those that don’t want to used it and in get the opportunity to prance around pretending to be Darcey Bussell, each to there own, there is room for us all. Hi Moomin For me it not about being challenged, it all challenging, I want to dance it, not just try and remember the steps in short term memory and muddle through it. I know the time it takes through rehearsals at LAB to learn and dance a scene and the difficulties we all have. LinMM will know this as we are both part of LABs company of dancer. Info pack arrived at 1.27 am Thursday morning, what to wear seem totally inappropriate for Giselle, Black Leo and Black Skirt, dancers to decide if black or pink ballet tights. I cant help think this is just awful, I know I’m more fortunate than most as I generally have professional ballet costumes for most leading rolls and I have these already packed with the three tutu's I'm using at Ballet West If one knows what to bring well in advance then your intensive may well look like the Swan Lake we did with LAB at the Royal Ballet School last year. Hi LinMM Firstly this Giselle Workshop is labelled as “Advanced” Secondly “Franziska” on her repertoire workshop usually issues Youtube clips of the choreograph, together with some degree of step description. I really like those workshop as she usually takes some of the more challenging pieces. The idea of a dual standard group dancing to the same music is a good one and many teachers use it, I personally this it works better with self selection which is of the process. However especially with LAB dancers are grouped in a similar but by the teacher, but that can in some instances work against you. I remember at the LAB Swan Lake Intensive we were all learning the opening for ACT4, it’s a very long piece and we learnt in three sections totally disjointed. The really was a nice piece with beautiful haunting music, quite late on all three pieces were put together, many dancers had trouble remembering all of the centre piece, although originally everyone was able to dance it. Admittedly she ask the class if they wanted it simplified, most agreed with her, for me I thought the question was asked to prematurely and I was really disappointed to have lost that choreography. Finally Off Topic slightly: Firstly I'm taking my boyfriend with me to Scotland and Manchester, does the performance allow a friends and family audience? Does anyone know of venues in Manchester where I can take my boyfriend Salsa dancing in the evening?

Hi BalletRocks1 The issue of the “Thank you”, is really a non-event, more importantly the lack of information. It was only the fact that Karen had got me the scene’s we were covering in the Giselle Intensive that I decided to apply, without that, there is no way I would have considered it. I see from your post #1658 that you did the LAB intensive "Don Q" and the year before. The year before was Swan Lake, I did that too. The Information that was released included the video clip of the Royal Ballet performing “Waltz of the Swans” from Act 2, the info also recommended romantic tutu with white leotards. That is the way things should be done, admittedly these days LAB no longer produces the same degree of information, neither does the RAD, so I have for the most part dropped their Repertoire Workshop/Intensives for those organisations that do. As this appears to be the first time KNT has run such an intensive I will put this episode down to the learning process of organising such an event, and hope future Intensives will be properly organised in well in advance of the course dates. However I have emailed Jane Tucker direct, but to be honest it’s virtually too late now to do any degree of preparation as I’m on my last run-up for prep for Ballet West which takes priority. As for what to bring, I’m pretty well covered for most things, including both costumes for this Intensive. Strangely enough on Friday I did a double session at one of the Studio’s I hire, last thing I ran through Giselle’s solo from Act 1 in full costume, when I finished the door opens into a changing / rest area which also open into a larger studio. That studio was being used for a Musical Theatre Summer school for youngster, the changing area was full of them and I guess one chaperone teacher, one of the little girls see me in costume and ask if I was Snow White, she was so sweet it almost bought a tear to my eye. For anyone who is doing the Giselle Intensive this is what we are supposed to be covering: main solo from act one peasant pas de deux solo (and maybe some peasant dances depending on time) main willies dance from act two I must say, I have fell in love with music from Dance of the Willis, it just grows on you.

Hi BalletRocks1 Thanks for the info on the road closures, hopefully we will have internet access at the Hotel in Oban and able to check those road closures. Traffic should be light by the time we arrive. My boyfriend may be with me if he can get the time off work, but we wont know until the 10th, if so he can navigate. I got an email today from Karen Sant which literally said “Thank you”, only two words for my email confirming bank transfer done and a PDF of he signed registration form. I wonder do you know what you are doing for your Swan Lake Workshop? I note in your post #1666 you made the comment “We're working on creating a pack of further information which will hopefully be sent out soon” Does this mean you work for KNT ? As for what to wear/bring, I’m not too worried about that as I’ve sufficient ballet wear to cover the roll of Giselle and the roll of the Willis. What is important is advance detail of Rep being covered particularly the Peasant PDD solo. Firstly there is two completely different pieces of music used for that one, also even with the same piece of music almost each artist dances it somewhat differently. At least as far as I’m aware the Dance of the Willis use the same pieces of music, but again each company dances it differently. The clip I have for this one is quite long , just under 9 minutes, however a music track I have for “Dance of the Willis” is only 2.40minute which appears half way through the video clip. Also with either piece our teacher could drastically alter or simplify it so the variation becomes inspired from the scenes we are covering.

Hi BalletRocks1 I will be travelling by car as I’m travelling down from Ballet West in the highlands of Scotland on Wednesday night. That school is a bit out of the way, near a small Scottish village called Taynuilt in Argyle. Unfortunately this time the usual hotel I stay at, was fully booked so I’m staying in Oban approximately 10 miles from Ballet West, further more I have a number of tutu’s with me for the different solo’s I’m being coached for, so a car is virtually essential for the amount of luggage I have and transport to and from this remote location. While I’m in Manchester I’m booked in the Ibis at the Junction of Princess street and Charles street, according to one of there staff on the phone, there is a multi-storey car park almost opposite which is £10.00 a day, that will do me and I can leave it there. The Ibis seems to be quite close to the Dancehouse too. Thanks for the other answers too, they are most helpful.

Hi BalletRocks1 I as I mentioned in my last post, this studio is a first for me, I have not danced in Manchester before, so its true I didn’t know what to expect. I have danced in some wonderful studios, like we both did at the Royal Ballet School for last years LAB Intensives, and of course my own regular classes at ENB which has a wonderful upper studio, no so keen on the lower one as it has quite a sticky floor. To some not so nice, not very well maintained studios. However I have found getting responses about the course from KNT to be somewhat slow and disappointing, but in the ballet world I’m beginning to think that is part of its culture. Have you done any intensive at KNT before ?, if so, perhaps you can shed some light on these questions: Can I assume the Intensive is being conducted on demi-pointe? Is music via recordings or on-site pianist? Is there food available and a dining area on site? Is there drinking water available in the studio. Is there car parking spaces available on site? Is videoing of rehearsals permitted during the course, in order that one can become more familiar with the rep off site? Is the end of course performance being videoed as a memento for the participants of the course? Is there any costume requirements (advisory or mandatory) particularly for the end of course performance. Is there any social get together after class for dancers of the intensive to get to know each other? Any way it will be nice to see you again BalletRocks1, its always nice to meet a familiar face, I just hope I can keep awake on the first day after travelling down from the Scottish Highlands the previous night after an Intensive 3 days of one-to-one at Ballet West.

That right, but the Intensives are held at The Dancehouse Theatre, Oxford Rd Manchester. But I have no idea what the venue is like, ballet at Manchester is a first for me, the closest I've been to that is BRB.

Hi Lin You may be right about LP joking although at the time it did seem like a serious comment but practically that variation would only be danced by one group, but our short was made up several groups and we all can’t do it. For me I wouldn’t really want to do that version, I do like Choe’s beginning, and I had rather we used her port de bras and not that which we were taught. Most of Choe’s version is nice but I prefer the springy turns used by Mariinsky and Kirov, but I would retain Choe’s last two steps for the full down pose . I love your analogy of a flapping chicken, that really made me laugh. I enjoyed the short but I would have enjoyed it more if I had known what version we were dancing on week one, anyway it gave my Bluebird tutu an airing. On the upside I got to learn two versions for that solo. I’ve booked the KNT Danceworks "Giselle Intensive" in Manchester which could be useful as LAB and my other performing group are both doing Giselle for their Christmas shows. As the Giselle Intensive is only three days Thurs Fri and Sat. Mon to Wednesday I’m now with Ballet West in Scotland working on my own rep.

I have managed to get an indication of what rep is being taught on the KNT Danceworks “Giselle Intensive” main solo from act one peasant pas de deux solo (and maybe some peasant dances depending on time) main willies dance from act two I’m hoping I can free the Intensive dates off from my trip to Ballet West in Scotlan and reschedule it for a week or so later. The Blue Bird Summer Short at LAB went much better on the second session we did on Tuesday, at least this time I knew the rep we were doing. Although it was very similar to the video on my previous posting, the very beginning through prep was different, also our recording was much softer on the intro which didn’t exactly make it easy, but everyone had their wings (arms) flapping by the end of the intro. I guess for me I got two for the price of one as I leant the Russian style first for this variation. At least my Blue Bird tutu got an airing. I’m now re-choreographing my own version of Blue Bird which will be a hybrid of at least three and will also contain some of my own content, its now in the melting pot. We had an additional girl join this course, giving us six girls. Although we danced this mainly one at a time, everyone got an applause from the rest of the class which was very encouraging but at the very end we did it as a group piece, two lines of three girls as it was suggested that this may be used in our LAB Christmas performance although the main theme will be Giselle.

The KNT Danceworks Summer Intensive for Giselle still has some places available, the maximum for this workshop is 30 but when I spoke to them there was only 20 places filled. I am waiting on detail of rep being covered and my dates in August for my week at Ballet West to see if it’s feasible. Tuesday night was our LAB Summer Short on the Blue Bird Solo, it was quite a small class, only 5 girls including me an LinM and one guy for the male solo. The same teacher taught both solo’s. For me it wasn’t quite the solo I was expecting, so going was quite tough. The version I learnt was the one that virtually commences with 6 arabesques with up to 3 different arm positions and ends with a series of a sort of jumping soft chaine turns. That version is quite generic with a few minor changes between companies. The version we learn is extremely similar to Yuhui Choe of Balletoman, with a couple of minor differences and is considerably faster (54 seconds) than the one I had learnt (104 seconds). However there is an even faster version at about 46 seconds which is an old Royal Ballet version by Antoinette Sibley. Fortunately the Summer Short is in two part, so better luck next week. I have already practiced it down my local hall now I have virtually broken the body memory link with the older version, and have some additional coaching booked for Friday to tidy things up.

Hi Triphazaed The one in the user pic is my Odette tutu from Swan Lake, I have a number of tutu's for most leading rolls and it was the one I was allowed to used for Don Q, provided I dressed it down. But on LAB rehearsals I use what is appropriate to the character roll we are dancing, usually quite close to Bolshoi’s costumes for that roll. For LAB dress rehearsal then I will follow LABs guidance for our particular corps de ballet costumes which is only fair. Hi Terpsichore Good luck with your Swan Lake Workshop, you will have to tell us all about it afterwards. If there is still a place for the Giselle Workshop I may well consider it, however I had an email from Ballet West in Scotland this morning. It now looks as if my visit will be after the 8th August then I will spend a whole week with them. They now have my list of the rep they will be coaching me on, so I may not be able to attend the Giselle Workshop in Manchester after all. I’m waiting on actual dates, hopefully I will get tem next week. Hi Lin Yes I will be doing Blue Bird on Tuesday, I’ve danced through a generic version and I must confess its growing on me. At first I wasn't very keen, but now I quite like it. Lisa is teaching it, I did get a chance to ask her what version we were doing, she was a bit vague but suggested it may be from either RB or ENB. The only RB clip I found was quite old and extremely fast, so I thought that one was unlikely, whatever it will be fun. Needless to say I will be in blue. If you want to meet up for a coffee/meal prior to doing the short at the Place studio, do let me know.

Hi Triphazard The tutu.s for LAB whilst desirable are not compulsory, however if you intend doing a number of them then I think it would be very wise. But if it’s a one-off to try and see, you won’t be the only one without a tutu. As Lin said it’s most likely to be a romantic tutu usually with a while leotard. For me I’m usually the one that’s different with a full professional tutu and sometimes I’m asked to dress it down with a plain T shirt on the top. That certainly happened with Don Quixote as I took two tutu’s along for that one, but I was not allowed to wear my red and black Kitri tutu for that course. I haven’t done any of LAB’s intensives this year, but I did do the very first Swan Lake in 2013, then Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote and Swan Lake in 2014. Hi Bellini Pointe I’ve just contacted KNT Danceworks for info on their Three Day Giselle Workshop you mentioned in post # 1639, I’m interested to how they will respond assuming places are still available. I have virtually fallen out with LAB and the Royal Academy of Dance through not publishing details of the repertoire (scenes) being taught. Consequently I have move to private rep coaching with two private coaches every week.

Hi Lin You will find it on Facebook under the Community site rather than the closed group, it just underneath your own posting. Yes I agree it was a very long day, I’m not sure how much sleep I had the night before but it couldn’t have been much more the two or three hours and we had heavy thundering and downpour for most of the early hours, then to last out until two am Sunday morning was pushing things just a bit too far. How is your ankle now, was that just those satin ballet slippers? I think that a fantastic picture of you in your tutu, it’s a really nice pose well done.

Hi Terpsichore Very well done to you and your girls of Northern. I was sorry to read “Annemarie told us that there was some doubt as to whether we could run a show next year because there will not be time for a choreography class” , as I have a date for LABs GALA 2016 for the 17th July next year. I was hoping to join your ladies again on stage. Our day was quite tiring, we had to be at our first studio for 9.15 am, for a warm-up barre and centre at 9.30 which meant I was up at 4.15am, as I live approximately a 100 miles from London. Unfortunately in the early hours we also had a nasty thunderstone so I didn’t get a lot of sleep. Our last show finished at around 9.45pm. Although I had intended to stay for a drink, when I was getting changed I could find the shoes I had put out to go with a dress I had intended to wear. So I just had to wear my travel day clothes which spoilt it in a way. I met my boyfriend Adrian near the bar apparently you couldn’t get near it so we soon left. We were delayed on the train journey back and finally went to bed at 2am Sunday morning and I was really shattered. Although there was an opportunity to go along to the Yorkshire Dance Centre, almost adjacent to Northern Ballet in Leed for an audition workshop, I knew I would be too tired even for me, so I did decline that one. Never the less I would have liked the opportunity to perform in Bradford in November as it wouldn’t clash with my Christmas shows. I was still tired on the Monday as I fell asleep on the train to London for my ENB classes, although I had done two rep sessions that morning. When I arrived at ENB our teacher was absent apparently he had booked the day off as he was involved in some exam assessment but the person in charge of allocating teachers was un aware of this. the first (Advance) class, about half of the dancers left and went home, one of the girls took the lead and suggested some of our teacher movement at the barre as we had a pianist, the rest of us chipped with other suggestions in to keep it going. This carried on all the way through bar and centre. The only caution that came was from the pianist to keep the tempo is things slow so no one gets accidentally injured. Although it was class by consensus, it really was worth while, at the end I said a very big thank you to the girl that took the lead and gave her a hug, I think she was near to tears bless her, everyone gave her a clap in appreciation. For the second class we were offered joining the Advance Pro class, that sounded awesome. Then one of the organisers on reception suggested to the teacher it be scaled down to the intermediates which are in the second class on a Monday. I then decided not to stay and get an earlier night.

Thanks Rosy I will.

Wow I didn’t spot this one. Hi Rosy, can you tell me a little bit about this event even though I couldn’t possibly make it on Sunday as I will be performing at our own LAB Gala at the Bloomsbury on Saturday with a full day committed to it from 9.15am until 9.45pm with a brief break around 6pm between shows, which means I will arrive home in the early hours of Sunday morning. I see from Facebook the Audition Workshop is for 6+year olds, does that include adults?. What is the location, day of the week and time of the rehearsals ?. What pieces are to be performed at the Gala, are they from the classics, inspired by the classics or home grown choreography?. What is the likely duration of the Gala and how many performances do you intend to do on the day?. Are you able to give an indication of the running order, or is that too presumptuous. Thank you.

Hi Kate Just for the record it was nothing to do with the closed group / waiting list, if it were I would definitely be rejected as I would be travelling around 400 miles to rehearsal every week. My only interest was the opportunity to perform at 4 different venues in Scotland. I make no bones about it, if I could squeeeeze it in, and the rep was agreeable, then I would look for cost effective ways to make the trips viable. After all for several months last year every Tuesday I used to do a 500 mile round trip with Class at Northern Ballet in Leeds, followed by rehearsal, then down to London for a one-to-one rep session at Shoreditch, followed by two classes at English National Ballet. My comment was purely about "not getting back to me". Sadly this isn’t something that is particularly unique to the ballet industry but is quite common in our culture generally. It saddens me that when I request something I have little faith anything will come of it without chasing. Only today I had to chase an application at my bank for setting up a trust account which had been with the bank for over a month, as a result of the chasing,that is now moving. As for cutting Scottish Ballet some slack after three weeks, I simply don’t think its going to happen, do you?. I’m not one to watch paint dry and will simply move on with my own thoughts as stated on this type of behaviour.