Too Late To Dance?

Too Late To Dance?For new starters of dance, or those who are contemplating it, a common question is a simple one: is it too late to dance?

It is never too late to dance! The practice of dance and dance classes can be done at any age or any time. Categorised by both style and ability, first dance classes needn’t be daunting and can be initiated at any age. Recently the BBC reported a story of older dance learners and an increase in the number of people taking up dance lessons. Scottish Ballet’s Regenerate classes for older moves, for example, were spotlighted, demonstrating the unity and sheer enjoyment behind the ballet barre for all the participants.

Younger dancers ask this question too, however, but geared towards a timescale of dancing professionally, and whether it is too late to attempt this. It is not too late to begin to dance as a teenager and go on to become a professional performer, rather than hold dance as a pastime. Many dancers have done this as older students, such as modern dance pioneer Martha Graham and choreographic guru Matthew Bourne. It is neither impossible to secure dance as a primary occupation at 30 or 40: age has minimal impact on a struggle to ‘make it’.

Dance is definitely a choice; personal and general obstacles may mean some lovers of dance may choose not to pursue a career in dance, in any form, but this is entirely unrelated to age. You must have sufficient knowledge to reasonably choose to continue through obstacles towards a career in dance, or to take on another lifestyle choice. There are no right or wrong choices, and the latter does not mean that dance is no longer a part of your life, just not your primary occupation. Similarly, if you do choose pursue a dance career, it may still evolve into another avenue which is just as fulfilling.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

NYCD To Work With Akram Khan

National Youth Dance CompanyThe National Youth Dance Company is an exciting new company, as part of Sadler’s Wells, that aims to create and perform innovative and influential youth dance. It has announced that it will be working with Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist and acclaimed choreographer Akram Khan as next guest Artistic Director. Following the company’s work with similarly celebrated choreographer Jasmin Vardimon, 30 new members will joining the current company to present a new work specifically created for NYDC; the piece will receive its world premiere on 16 April 2014 at Sadler’s Wells. The new work will be performed as part of a double bill that will feature a reworked excerpt of Khan’s Vertical Road.

The newly recruited members were selected from sixteen workshops held in 9 different regions across the country, resulting in 20 male and 10 female dancers aged 15 – 19 gaining the privilege to work with award-winning dancer and choreographer Khan. Khan thoroughly enjoys working with young people with passion and ambition. He believes, and rightly so, that the positive role of the arts in our society is fundamental in providing young people with the skills they need to succeed in any walk of life. NYDC is a fantastic opportunity to nurture the next generation of artists and inspire a host of young people to get involved with dance.

Since its inception in 2012 NYDC has seen over 500 young dancers attend 27 workshops across England. Over June and July 2013 NYDC took part in nine performances seen by over 5,000 people in a range of venues, from large scale theatres to site specific outdoor stages, in locations stretching from London to Leeds, Bristol to Kent. Having set a very high standard with their sold out debut performance of Jasmin Vardimon’s (in between), the young dancers of NYDC have shown that they can hold their own alongside established companies on the main stage at Sadler’s Wells.

Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists today. In just over a decade he has created a body of work that has contributed significantly to the cultural arts in the UK and abroad and his reputation has gained from his imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions such as DESH, Vertical Road, Gnosis and zero degrees.

Ben Tackles Ballet For Strictly

Ben CohenOne of the nations favourite evening entertainment television shows, Strictly Come Dancing, has already gone through the usual set of harsh critiques, soft touches and goodbyes for its contestants. Ex-prima ballerina Darcey Bussell – and President of the Royal Academy of Dance – is back on the hit show for a second series as judge, bringing a feminine and arguably more human touch to the panel, and that is discounting her more effeminate male counterparts!

Aside from the usual waltzing, jiving and cha-cha-ing, contestants have already found themselves subject to extra training. Former rugby star Ben Cohen has found himself at the ballet barre, having been sent to ballet lessons as part of last week’s training for Strictly. Cohen is one of the bulkier contestants, implying he must work doubly hard to achieve the expected lines and performance quality.

Cohen’s professional partner Kristina Rihanoff had previously voiced her concerns about how much weight training he had been doing, leaving him much too stiff and bulky for dancing. As a result Cohen has been attending ballet lessons in an attempt to make him more nimble. Cohen freely admits his lack of good posture, aiming to improve this, along with his overall dancing appearance.

It is hoped that Cohen’s ballet lesson stint lasted him through to his next performance, a waltz to What The World Needs Now – however in order to prolong the result of ballet Cohen must embark on a much longer commitment to ballet classes, rather than just those required by the cameras and public relations for the show itself. Cohen has commented on his extra stretch and improved poise for his waltz, ready for former Royal Ballet principal dancer Bussell’s eagle eye.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Camilla Sacre-Dallerup: A Strictly Sensation

Camilla Sacre-DallerupDanish born Camilla Sacre-Dallerup moved to England 18 years ago; she had a long, successful career as a top professional ballroom dancer before she became a regular on British TV screens.

Camilla rose to fame as Strictly Come Dancing’s most successful female professional dancer. In 2008, after six series she won the trophy and decided to move onto other challenges. Camilla’s most recent venture has been touring the UK in the hugely successful Calendar Girls.

Camilla has always been passionate about mind and body harmony which has led to two fitness DVDs and a regular column in Bodyfit magazine. Camilla has run her own business for 12 years which includes professional dance shows, team building and a recently launched business www.camillasacredallerup.com, dedicated to corporate motivational speaking and coaching. Camilla is confident that a positive mindset has made a huge difference in her successful career and she is currently working on her first motivational book.

Camilla plans to share some simple tools to help others find inner peace and calm and to be content with who they are, as well as set goals and make a plan of action to make their dreams come true at this year’s Mind, Body, Soul Experience Exhibition at London’s Olympia on 25, 26 and 27 October.

The exhibition runs parallel to the Yoga Show. This year visitors to the Mind Body Soul Experience will also have the opportunity to enter the OM Yoga Show for free as the two shows are being held at the same time in adjoining Olympia Halls, and the exhibition can be entered with one Yoga Show ticket.

Camilla is hoping that by sharing her journey she will inspire others to follow their dreams too, so come and meet her at this year’s Mind Body Soul Experience.

 

 

When did you begin dancing, and why?

My mum brought me along to a dance school called Lilli Nicolaisen dance and performing arts school when I was two and a half years old in Aalborg Denmark, and I have pretty much danced ever since. She thought it would be a good way to learn to interact with other children and to gain confidence.

What were your early years of dancing and training like?

I loved performing, I did all types of dancing from tap to ballet and ballroom. I had a little boy I danced with from the beginning, continuing for seven years. I loved it, I wish it would have been all day long and not just after school. We danced, sang and did drama too.

How long have you been choreographing?

I have always found coming up with steps for myself interesting and then it naturally progressed to choreographing whole routines and especially on Strictly Come Dancing. It was exciting to come up with new ideas each week, and even for the professionals and the big numbers for the Strictly tour.

What is a typical day like now?

Well, now I do so many different things like for example I have just toured with the play Calendar Girls for two years, acting rather than dancing, I run my own motivational coaching and speaking business – www.camillasacredallerup.com – and right this moment dancing is at the forefront of my life again as I’m working on this year’s Strictly as an Assistant Choreographer. I’m so grateful to have grown up in the world of dance, it has prepared me well for life. You learn to have confidence, tenacity, and to be disciplined in what you do: these skills are valuable skills in whatever you do in life.

Do you still take classes?

I have always kept a foot in the door. I still perform sometimes with my professional partner Ian Waite and I still teach. I watch videos and talk to colleges about new trends. At this stage in my life though I’m fascinated by helping preparing students mentally for auditions, shows and competitions.

How do you keep on top of your technique?

I still do basic technique work exercising often on my own or with students, and yoga helps my core stay strong.

What do you like best about choreographing and performing?

I just love connecting with an audience whether it’s dancing, speaking or acting. To make other people connect with emotions through your performance or choreography is the most wonderful feeling.

What inspired your interest in the Yoga Show?

I believe in mind and body harmony, when I have that I perform at my best. I do my speaking now to inspire others to follow their dreams by sharing how I have achieved my goals, and how to focus on finding confidence and happiness within.

What advice would you give to someone aspiring to be part of the performing arts/dance world?

Whatever you do in life, choose the thing you have a burning desire and most passion for, that way you will never feel like its work even when you are working hard. Always commit 100%. Take rejection as just a hurdle you have to jump to get to where you want to go. I know it can be hard at times, but the best advice ever given to me is from my Mum, you probably know it. She said, “Camilla, when you get knocked down, just get back up, dust yourself off and carry on. Never let anyone tell you it’s not possible, how would they know, they are not you!”

What would you say is the best part about dance and movement for you?

It engages the mind as well as the body and you feel completely immersed in the present, it’s almost like meditating. When the body and the music are in harmony it’s amazing.

Tell us something about yourself we may not expect…

I threw my dance shoes in the bin at 19 and said I never wanted to dance again and took two years off from it.

What’s next for you?

When I finish Strictly I’m off to do Panto at Bridlington playing the Fairy Godmother which I’m really excited about. I also hope to finish writing my own motivational book, Dream, Act, Believe = Succeed.

Free Events From Rambert On The South Bank

Rambert Dance Company LogoRambert is set to move to its new purpose-built home on the South Bank later this year and joining with music, film, theatre and the visual arts at what will be London’s cultural hub.

To celebrate this the Company will be hosting a series of events showcasing all that Rambert does, connecting people with leading industry professionals from Monday 2 – Saturday 14 December, when Rambert will be inviting the public to explore the state-of-the-art facilities. Visitors will be able to tour the building, watch rehearsals for upcoming performances, observe Rambert’s world class dancers at work in their daily technique class and take part in classes. Workshops will be on offer for people of all ages, experienced dancers and those who are completely new to dance.

The two week programme also includes performances of Artistic Director Mark Baldwin’s The Rite of Spring by the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, concerts by the Rambert Orchestra, and Vintage Rambert, a cross-arts performance piece created in response to Rambert’s Archive by young people aged 16-25. The choreographic process of Baldwin will also be demonstrated as he creates new work in the studio.

The new building project has been over twelve years in development, with construction beginning in November 2011. The site was made available to Rambert by Coin Street Community Builders, one of the UK’s leading social enterprises, in return for a commitment to lead a significant community dance programme in the local area and for the rent of one pair of ballet shoes per year.

All programme events are free, but booking is essential as capacity is limited. They can be viewed online at www.rambert.org.uk/rambert_moves. To book a place on any Rambert Moves event please email [email protected].

Moving and Experiencing: Somatics In Theory And Practice

University Of ChichesterThe University of Chichester, renowned for its dance course, is holding a day of talks, workshops and performances on 9 November, named Moving and Experiencing: Somatics in theory and practice.

Somatic practice in relation to dance is an alternative movement method to rigorous techniques studied in order to both oppose and balance these. Techniques such as Release, the Feldenkrais method and alternatives such as Tai Chi all promote a very different approach to dance and the body-mind connection, emphasising this use of the body as the basis for movement.

The day promises to bring together a range of professionals working in the field of somatic practice and arts-making in a series of research events to deepen knowledge and practice, enabling new possibilities. There will also be taster workshops, new dance performance research and a keynote talk for somatic practices. Each workshop will be an introduction to a particular way of a working, facilitating a deep and embodied awareness of the connections embedded in these practices.

For dance artists working in any aspect of the dance industry, the day is hoped to give way to deeper understandings amongst the respective somatic practices as well as providing a meaningful experience. The day’s practitioners will make an initial offering to a further enquiry into the depth and breadth of dance and somatic practices both in and beyond Higher Education. Those involved include Professor Jane Bacon, University of Chichester, Linda Hartley, Institute of Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy, Sharna Travers Smith, University of Chichester (Body-Mind Centering), Dr Jill Hayes, University of Chichester, (Dance Movement Psychotherapy) and Amanda Williamson, Visiting Fellow, University of Chichester (Mystical/Spiritual in Somatic Practices).

It is hoped that the University of Chichester will run a series of events similar to this.

Extension To Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Charlie And The Chocolate FactoryAs perhaps the most sugar-filled delight of London’s West End, the reasonably new production of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory has recently announced that it will continue to run at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane until November 2014. The extension to this mouth-watering musical will come as great news to many theatregoers who will have even more chance to see this production of one of Roald Dahl’s greatest tales.

Sam Mendes’s production of the Willy Wonka classic has been running at the Theatre Royal since May 2013. It tells the tale of a young boy, Charlie Bucket, who discovers a golden ticket and consequently wins the chance to peek inside an ambiguous and intriguing chocolate factory along with a group of other children. Dahl’s much-loved tale, and now the musical too, is a delectable mix of spectacular visuals and comical moments of the other owners of the hugely sought after golden tickets meeting a sticky end, leaving Charlie as the winner.

The production has now welcomed almost 300,000 audience members and the extension of the run now means that there are now 400,000 more golden tickets available for the hit production. Full of Oompa-Loompas, dancing squirrels and mouth-watering treats, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory has delighted many audiences and will continue to do so in this slick and delicious take of the tale, and retaining Dahl’s magic touches and wicked humour.

The show has since released an official cast album featuring each of the musical’s tracks, from Must Be Believed To Be Seen to Pure Imagination, allowing audiences to take home the sounds of Wonka’s fantastical world of delights. This features the show’s stars such as Olivier Award winner Douglas Hodge as the mysterious chocolate factory owner, Nigel Planer, Clive Carter, Jasna Ivir, Paul J Medford, Iris Roberts, Billy Boyle, Alex Clatworthy, Roni Page, Myra Sands and Jack Shalloo.

Next Steps For Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures

Matthew Bourne's New AdventuresOne of the most defining choreographers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Matthew Bourne, has revealed his plans to revive his classic productions of The Car Man and Edward Scissorhands. This is addition to opening a new, dedicated rehearsal and studio space for his company New Adventures which currently resides at Sadler’s Wells. This would give the company the opportunity to do much more with their resources, a plan which is hoped to be in place within two years.

As a choreographer who is renowned for his ability to reinvent well-known classics such as his Tchaikovsky trilogy – Nutcracker!, The Sleeping Beauty and the all-male Swan Lake – Bourne is famous for his story-telling. In reviving two more of his older pieces, following his 25th celebrations and the revivals of his very first pieces, Bourne will be able to appeal strongly to young audiences and perhaps even those new to dance in search of alternative productions.

Bourne has been noted to have said that his New Adventures company is also about to enter a period of development and growth over the next two years, which will include the revivals of crowd-pleasing hit shows alongside new large and medium-scale projects. With both The Car Man and Edward Scissorhands, Bourne hopes to excite young people about dance, supporting the fact a recent article online recently claimed that young boys would rather become dancers than take on a role such as a fireman.

Another exciting venture to look forward to for Bourne and New Adventures is as well as rehearsing and workshopping their own shows, Bourne has said a new, potential premises would allow New Adventures to work with emerging choreographers and expand its dance influence considerably. If 2013 wasn’t busy enough for the company, New Adventures is also preparing to launch tours of three shows – Swan Lake, Lord of the Flies and Sleeping Beauty, featuring more than 70 dancers.

Mark Bruce’s Dracula At Wilton’s Music Hall

Mark Bruce Company - DraculaWilton’s Music Hall is the oldest surviving Victorian music hall in London. Set down a little alley in east London, Wilton’s is just a little door in the wall, but step inside and you are greeted with a step back into the capital’s history. Wilton’s Music Hall is a grade II listed building, now a more general-purpose performance space for original theatre.

Wilton’s was the choice venue for the Mark Bruce Company’s production of Dracula, touring the UK throughout October. First published in 1897, Dracula is a gothic Victorian tale of unsettling happenings surrounding the existence of Count Dracula, fitting for the music hall. For the Mark Bruce Company,Dracula was superbly danced by ex-Rambert dancer Jonathan Goddard, now part of the Goddard-Nixon pairing and the New Movement Collective.

Goddard ripped his way through the role, portraying the Count as a desperate and lonely sufferer, smothered constantly by three vampire brides. For Bruce his stories are usually ones of psychological intrigue, managing to get under the skin of his audiences and disturb their preconceptions. For his tour of Dracula, Bruce succeeded again through various uses of stereotypical vampire imagery, made literal by employing garlic, crosses and stakes through the heart to extinguish one, yet all led the audience to the bigger picture of both Victorian society and and the preconceptions of such gothic goings-on.

The company of dancers were a credit to Bruce, thoroughly convincing in emotional, and at times psychotic, performances, as humans, animals and vampires. As a dance production, Dracula was a success, with a group of scores that merged perfectly with Bruce’s apt movement vocabulary. Goddard was transformed into a mostly human Dracula, and back again to his immortal form, constantly running, and running on emptiness.

UK Theatre Awards Nominees

UK Theatre AwardsThe shortlist of nominees for the UK Theatre Awards were recently announced on 3 October, the annual awards ceremony that is run by UK-wide body the Theatrical Management Association. There are many productions yet to grace the UK’s stages which could contend for the short list and then the awards themselves.

Productions already in process in theatre up and down the country are also in the running, including National Theatre of Scotland’s stage adaptation of cult vampire movie Let The Right One In and Tom Wells’ Jumpers For Goalposts, which play at the Royal Court and Bush theatres this winter for Best Design and Best New Play respectively. Sheffield Theatre’s new production of The Full Monty, which opens at London’s Noël Coward theatre in the spring, is also up for a prize celebrating the best UK theatre has to offer, in the Best Touring Production category.

Shows that have already wowed London audiences, including My Perfect Mind (Young Vic), Glasgow Girls (Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Butterfly Lion, Mister Holgado (both Unicorn theatre), Rutherford & Son (St James theatre) Deca Dance and The Great Gatsby (both Sadler’s Wells), are also in the running to take home prizes.

The nominees for one final category are yet to be announced, with voting closing last week. The My Theatre Matters! UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre Award is being voted for by the public via the Classic FM website with audiences supporting their favourite theatre before the shortlist is announced. The winners will be announced at an exclusive lunchtime ceremony held at the Guildhall on Sunday 20 October.

It consequently appears to have been a year of great achievement for theatre throughout the UK, demonstrated by the range of nominations celebrating both on and off-stage skill.