Jessica Wilson – Page 132 – Dance Direct Blog. News, Reviews & Advice About Dance

Fit to Dance?

Dance Fitness

Dancers are renowned for their slick technique, exquisite muscle tone and fantastic ability to perform convincingly in front of an audience. Particularly for ballet and contemporary dancers, they are used to the demand of lengthy and extensive choreographed pieces which can last for any given length of time! As a result, their aerobic fitness levels must be adequate to deal with these demands and work the body effectively through the performance.

Despite the high levels of fitness required by dance, most dance techniques require short bursts of energy, rather than prolonged ones: a sprinter in comparison to a marathon runner. By default this means that dancers will perform anaerobically, meaning the oxygen used in an aerobic sense is not transferred to the muscles and red blood cells, dancers are dancing on reserves.

In addition to this, dancers are becoming increasingly aware that they are only fit to dance, rather than fit to run long distances, for example. Many dance companies now complement their dancers training with body conditioning and alternative fitness classes, even encouraging the dancers to use a gym to build up cardiovascular fitness. Although dancers are described as being “fit” in their ability to dance through incredibly long days and strenuous performances, it seems they are now required to ensure they are fit and versatile, able to cope with extreme demands and engage as “artistic athletes”.

There is consequently much debate as to whether dance is an art, a sport, or even a combination of the two. Naturally dancers will argue that dance is not a sport, due to the aesthetic demands and specific artistic performance quality which is lacking from sport. However it is a disservice not to refer to dancers as athletes in their ability to soar above the stage and perform great works, and as Albert Einstein and Martha Graham separately declared, they are ‘athletes of God’.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Dreaded DOMS

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness DOMS: a common ailment for dancers, athletes and sports players. As much as it is common, the meaning of the each letter and its cause is not often known, especially by those who are younger and just beginning to train harder in their chosen area.

For dancers, the beginning of the attempt to pursue a performance career can start very young, throughout teens or perhaps post-20 years old. However, in deciding in this goal, dancers are inspired to push their bodies harder, take more class and learn new things. DOMS then come into play. Also known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, DOMS occur when muscles have been used to a greater extent than they are day to day. For example, DOMS are most likely to occur in the new academic year when the body has not been used as much throughout the summer.

Dancers are likely to feel varying degrees of stiffness in their muscles during DOMS, usually in their quads and hamstrings which are worked hard in all dance techniques. The following morning it may be a struggle to get out of bed and even walk down stairs, depending on the extent of the DOMS. Some dancers may not even feel their DOMS the next day – being delayed the soreness may come into play 24-72 hours later and may be a complete surprise with the stiffness of the muscles seemingly coming from nowhere.

For many dance students in higher or vocational education, DOMS are a regular part of life. Long days mean that the students must get up and train again the next day, working through the stiffness and discomfort knowing they will usually wake up with DOMS again the next day. However a high protein diet rich with nutrients can help to work against DOMS, repairing the muscles tears and making them stronger.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Olivier Awards 2014

2014 Olivier Awards The Olivier Awards, the iconic award event which took place earlier this year, is due to take place on Sunday 13 April 2014 with MasterCard. The coveted statuettes – as well as one new award – will be awarded to the very best productions, performers and creatives in London’s Theatreland. Many may argue that the UK’s capital is the best in the world in terms of theatre, but with New York’s Broadway as a prime contender it’s a close call!

The Olivier Awards ceremony is the most highly anticipated event in London’s theatre awards calendar. In 2014 the event will be held again in the iconic Royal Opera House for the third year running. It was announced than the 2014 Olivier Awards will see the introduction of a new award category, Outstanding Achievement In Music, in which the composition of original music for plays, orchestration, and musical supervision/direction will be recognised.

With the Awards taking place earlier in the year than 2013, the 2014 ceremony enables shows opening up to 25 February to be eligible for one of the prizes. Other information about the 2014 Olivier Awards will be revealed early in the new year, however it is hoped that the 2014 event will still contain performances, loyalty and celebration.

In 2013 each musical which was nominated for the Best New Musical Award put on a show-stopping performance to support their nomination for the star-studded award. Other highlights from the 2013 event of particular noted were performances by former Wicked star Idina Menzel and her Glee co-star Matthew Morrison, guest appearances from current West End stars Daniel Radcliffe and Kim Cattrall and the free Covent Garden Piazza extension of celebration.

Body Conditioning: A Lifetime Of Habit

Body Conditioning for Dancers Many dance students who are getting ready to commence their vocational training at performing arts institutes will also be introduced to the term ‘body conditioning’. It is something that all dancers are aware of as a means to improve their technique and overall presence in the performance space, and many continue working on their body conditioning for years on end.

In general terms body conditioning will see dancers work to tone and sculpt their muscles aside from their technique classes, in areas such as Pilates, yoga and classes which purely focus on stretching. Other ways of carrying out body conditioning may include muscle toning or building exercises with weights or in a gym, such as for their abdominals, glutes or hamstrings.

Lots of preparation of body conditioning is done throughout rehearsals too, making sure the body is ready for what the choreography and performances require from the dancer. Body conditioning ensures dancers have enough strength and stamina to complete the task ahead to best of their technical and performance ability, such as staying ‘on your leg’ in turns and balances, making sure the performance is as successful as the rehearsal period.

In this sense, body and core conditioning is a hugely important part of the rehearsals and off-stage preparations. If the body’s strong and able, executing the choreography is wholly easier. Many dancers undertake conditioning exercises in order to define their muscles further however the most important part of body conditioning is ensuring the body is healthy, strong and ready for the demands made on it. This then gives way to the creation and sustaining of an illusion on stage in which the body performs something so far removed – in terms of ability and physicality – from the audience. The body and muscles are used efficiently as a strong base to perform the movement from.

Image courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons.

The Art Of The Circus

LIMBO

LIMBO, as part of the London Wonderground festival at the Southbank Centre, is just one example of circus shows, and is in itself a dazzling feast. Full of fire, contortion, aerial work, tap dancing and jazzy interludes breaking up the action, the show is made up of performers from all corners of the world, including Canada, France, the United States and Russia. Cirque due Soleil is another outlandish performance of this type, the multifaceted creative performance which includes the beautiful, the daring and the innovative in terms of ‘circus’.

In each of Cirque du Soleil’s shows, or any other of this type for example, each performer is talent heavy. It is clear that the shows’ directors look to achieve eclectic individualism through multi-talented performers who bring something different to each performance, speaking to each member of the audience. For LIMBO, the performers brought a certain sexiness and edginess to the stage. They worked closely alongside each other with a delicate chemistry resulting in an intimate evening in an eclectic pop-up circus space.

Heather Holliday shone as a vintage beauty who pouted her way through the chaos to later swallow 2 swords and ignite her tattooed thighs before eating the fire and smoking the flames. Evelynne Allard, as an aerial specialist who has also appeared in Cirque du Soleil, wowed in her hoop performance metres above the stage space and added much humour to the interludes between the main performance. Superb talent came in the form of a tap dancing, tumbling trio which revolved between four dancers. The males turned their hands to both skill and performance, concluding the show as an undiscovered mesh of talent and performative illusion, deserved of more recognition.

The Yorkshire Ballet Summer School’s Gala

The Yorkshire Ballet Summer School’s 40th anniversary will be celebrated this year in a gala organised by Anthony Dowell and the actor Derek Jacobi. The gala will be held at national dance house Sadler’s Wells, London, on 29 September, marking the journey from strength to strength of the summer school and its staff.

The Yorkshire Ballet Summer School began as the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars in a church hall, taught by ex-Royal Ballet dancer and teacher David Gayle. The seminars were devised in order to provide young local dancers with an introduction to the professional ballet world, enabling them to learn about opportunities and meet other artists.

The success of the seminars meant they evolved to form a residential ballet course, with the first masterclass taught by Alicia Markova. 2005 saw Marguerite Porter take over the directorship reins of the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School, who began teaching at the course in 1990.

Kevin O’Hare has spoken of his support for the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School: ‘It was such a huge inspiration for me attending the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars and added so much to my training and knowledge of what it would be like to become a professional ballet dancer. When I look back at all the amazing teachers who taught me I feel so lucky to have had that experience while growing up in Yorkshire and I am so glad the seminars continue to thrive and inspire a new generation of dancers.’

This year the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School of more than 180 students will be held at York St John university, boasting course faculty including Anthony Dowell and David Pickering. In terms of the gala, directed by Richard Clifford, the event will include guest stars such as dancers from The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet, Wayne Sleep and the BalletBoyz. Actors Imelda Staunton, Jim Carter and Samantha Bond will also be in attendance.

Tickets cost £12-£85 and are available from Sadler’s Wells.

Game Changers

Sky Sports has recently launched an initiative to get more children involved in sport by launching ‘Sky Sports Game Changers’ on Saturday mornings. An both an incentive and an inspiration, the show will feature regular appearances from a host of sports stars and Sky Ambassadors including David Beckham and Jessica Ennis-Hill to persuade children to get active and get involved.

The show also sees Olympic medallist and 2012 Strictly Come Dancing winner Louis Smith MBE learning a new skill: classical ballet. As the first of its kind, Game Changers followed Smith in his attempt to hone the pliés, jetés and even a small performance as part of his challenge, broadcast on Saturday 24 August.

The series began with a live skills session from Sky Sports Living for Sport mentor and inline skating world champion Jenna Downing. As well as live studio skills sessions that get the young audience involved, the sports stars will visit schools and sports clubs. The shows will be supported by downloadable Skill Sheets available from the Game Changers website to help young people learn the basics of a new sport.

Broadcast live in front of a live studio audience of young people, the shows are presented by Olympic Gold medallist Darren Campbell and Di Dougherty with Paralympic wheelchair rugby captain Steve Brown among the show’s reporters. Game Changers will draw on the expertise of many of the 75 athlete mentors who are part of Sky Sports Living for Sport, the free initiative that uses sports skills to inspire young people in a third of all UK secondary schools. Alongside Sky Sports Living for Sport, Sky Ride and the Sky Sports Scholarships scheme, Game Changers is another demonstration of commitment to all levels of sport following the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The King’s Head Theatre Vs. Russian law

The Kings Head Theatre What with funding news, openings of shows, closing shows, pay and tragic passings of life, theatre is never far from reported news. In a more political stance, the King’s Head Theatre in Islington has responded to Russia’s anti-gay laws in a reaction to the escalating violence and oppression towards gay Russians after Putin’s anti-gay legislation and the current high-profile debate over the Sochi 2014 Olympics.

Many aspects of theatreland have spread into the political and social spectrum, making their views known either directly or indirectly. For the King’s Head Theatre this will be the first verbatim account in response to Putin. In order to do this the King’s Head Theatre has commissioned a rapid-response protest piece to help raise the public’s perspective of the situation as a humanitarian issue that needs to be urgently addressed. Gay activist Russians have been viciously attacked and prosecuted for “spreading homosexual propaganda”, homophobic murders are on the increase and gay parents are fleeing their homeland for fear of having their children taken away from them, the new laws affecting individuals across the board.

Sochi 2014 provides an invaluable opportunity to focus on Russia’s attitude towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. These voices will be heard on stage for the first time to make a stand for those who endure oppression on a daily basis, and raise important questions, such as what will other countries do about this dated and incomprehensible attitude, and what will happen if we do nothing.

Behind Sochi 2014 is playwright Tess Berry-Hart who is an experienced verbatim theatre writer, using Russians’ stories to increase public awareness in the UK. The piece will be interspersed with media coverage, debate over solutions and extracts from the Olympic charter which show the flagrant violations of the Olympic spirit by Putin’s regime, harnessing the power of theatre as a political vehicle to demand change.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Parallel World Of Musical Theatre

Theatre Tickets Whilst the musical theatre sector of the performing arts industry is by no means its ultimate defining feature, it arguably contains as many strong messages about society as contemporary dance, for example, commenting on the reality of today and issues that weave themselves through life. To take a few examples, many musical theatre productions emit a statement in its own right.

Rent the musical is a social statement, a group of friends living in the East Village of New York City, discovering the beauty of falling in love, finding your voice and living for the day under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. Rent has won the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a pop cultural musical phenomenon which explicitly explores the tragic illness first-hand and the consequences involved for all.

In terms of politics, the recently opened The Sound of Music at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre tells the story of a nun-turned-governess and seven children dancing and singing through the Second World War in Nazi Germany. When the Nazis put pressure on the children’s father, Captain Von Trapp, to join the political party, there is a narrow escape to the neutral Austria over the mountains.

West Side Story is arguably the most iconic musical of the twentieth century, led by its narrative; it’s timeless message still applicable to audiences today in its depiction of racial prejudice and social division. The tragic tale of corruption and violence has echoes of the twenty-first century, with gangs fighting to remain on top in the face of life itself. Hairspray echoes these racial divides in 1960s America, with a small girl and her big voice fighting to ascend the struggles and become a star on a previously segregated TV show.

With other statements, such as the religious from the cult phenomenon The Book of Mormon and the political during the French Revolution for Les Misérables, musical theatre has much to answer for in the provision of meaningful entertainment.

Laine Theatre Arts: Funding Trouble

Students at the prestigious musical theatre college Laine Theatre Arts have had a blow ahead of the new academic year. Epsom and Ewell Council, the area in which the college is situated, has withdrawn housing benefits which many of the student receive.

As an institution of further education, Laine Theatre Arts students were entitled to the benefits in order to subsidise their tuition fees and rent, however September may see many students unable to pay their rent to stay in Epsom and attend college.

Laine Theatre Arts is now deemed a provider of higher education, alongside universities and similar institutions, awarding its graduates with a diploma. This would presumably make the college eligible to receive student loans for the hefty tuition fees which are charged by most performing arts colleges, yet this is not the case. With no access to housing benefits or loans for fees which may see many parents remortgage their houses to pay up, for example, Laine Theatre Arts students are in a rather unfortunate position.

In the wake of cuts to arts funding and speculation as to the survival rate of many West End shows, theatre and dance organisations and providers of performing arts training, it is becoming increasingly clear that the arts are being brushed to one side, devalued by the lack of investment and support from funders. Just last week there was musings in The Stage online as to what would happen if the Royal Opera House was to lose its funding. Whilst the venue is not every audience’s choice for the arts, it would be a great pillar lost in the upholding of the arts and what value they stand for.

Unfortunately there does not appear to be a clear step forward in terms of funding for the arts, but in the short term it is hoped that the students of Laine Theatre Arts will be eligible to apply for student loans to aid their studies.