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The U.Dance Awards!

U.Dance 2014 Youth Dance England, the national organisation passionate about advocating dance for young people, wants to champion the great work that goes on around the country to provide performance opportunities for children and young people. U.Dance is the primary vehicle for doing so and will take place this summer. The nationwide programme will support the people who organise youth dance performances, whilst also raising awareness of the wonderful events across the wider dance sector and beyond.

U.Dance consists of a registration scheme, which fits within a national performance framework aiming to provide dance performance opportunities for every child and young person in England. For 2014 there are three awards to be won as part of the scheme: to be in with the chance of winning the first 2 awards, YDE are inviting everyone who registers their event to upload film footage of their favourite dance pieces from their show to YouTube under one of two categories:

Outstanding Choreography, for pieces that aim high with the choreographic content of their piece, that are innovative and inspiring, and that challenge the audience through the ideas they embody; or Excellent Performance, for pieces where the performers really shine and show their passion and enthusiasm for dance through their energy and focus. A winner will be chosen for each category and the two winners will each be presented with a U.Dance Award trophy. Their film will then be profiled on the U.Dance website.

The third award will be for Biggest U.Dance Performance which will be given directly to the U.Dance Champion who registers the event involving the largest number of people! (To be in with a chance of winning this trophy you must make sure that you submit the number of performers and audience members to YDE when prompted after your event.

Get dancing!

Bourne’s Lord Of The Flies

Matthew Bourne's NEW ADVENTURES Lord Of The Flies Matthew Bourne’s NEW ADVENTURES has announced the casting for its next dance theatre production, Lord of the Flies, based on William Golding’s classic novel. The production will be choreographed by Scott Ambler, and adapted and directed by both Matthew Bourne and Scott Ambler.

Matthew Bourne’s NEW ADVENTURES has produced some of the most successful dance theatre productions of the last 25 years including the Tchaikovsky classics Swan Lake, Nutcracker!, and last year’s sell out hit Sleeping Beauty, as well as other re-imaginings of classical ballet productions such as Cinderella, Highland Fling (La Sylphide) and the more modern Edward Scissorhands.

For Lord of the Flies the company brings a thrilling new dance production to the stage, with casting seeing a number of young males creating the roles of the male protagonists of the tale. The action will not take place on a deserted island but in a deserted theatre: a group of schoolboys find themselves abandoned. With no adults around they start to make their own rules and create their own civilisation, before order breaks down and the story builds to an electrifying climax. Bourne is renowned for his cinematic and enigmatic work, so much is anticipated from this savage, animalistic tale.

With a cast of New Adventures dancers and remarkable young talent from across the UK, Golding’s legendary characters of the novel are brought to life with raw energy, emotional intensity and breathtaking performances. Chilling, beautiful and hugely entertaining, Lord of the Flies will enthrall Bourne fans and inspire a generation of new audiences.

The production’s choreography will be installed by the Olivier Award-nominated Ambler, with set and costume design by Olivier Award-winner Lez Brotherston, music by Terry Davies, lighting design by Chris Davey, sound design by Paul Groothuis, adapted and directed by Olivier and Tony award-winner Bourne in association with Ambler.

Open House For Northern Ballet And Phoenix Dance Theatre

Northern Ballet & Phoenix Dance Theatre Audiences can have the unique chance to go behind the scenes at two large UK dance companies on 15 February in an event called Open House. Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre are opening their doors to the public for people to take a look at what life is like behind-the-scenes in their multi-award winning building. Open House 2014 is a day of free events, which will run at the companies’ home in Leeds.

There will be plenty of activities for all the family to find out more about the professional dance companies. Visitors can sample an array of Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre’s dancing treats such as open rehearsals and company class, an insight into the creativity of the wardrobe department as well as craft activities, storytelling and face painting for younger dance fans. There is fun for everyone at Open House, from enthusiasts to novices. There are even taster classes on offer for the very young to the over 55’s, and workshops for those with physical disabilities and additional needs.

Open House is a fantastic opportunity to find out more about dance: the event has something for everyone whether you want to take part, are looking to gain an insight into the work of a professional dance company, or hoping to forge a career in dance and looking for some advice. Open House 2014 will be the third year that Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre have opened their home to the public. All events are free although some will require pre-booking through the website.

The event is a rare chance to glimpse at a working dance company in their own home with a wide variety of activities to take part in, so take the whole family!

The 14th National Dance Awards

2014 National Dance Awards Critics' Circle The Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards for 2013 took place at The Place’s Robin Howard Dance Theatre on 27 January 2014. A prestigious event for acknowledging dance talent, the awards recognise an array of talents throughout the previous year.

The awards are decided by the 60 members of the Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle after an extensive round of nominations and voting. To be eligible, performances had to be given in the UK between 1 September 2012 and 31 August 2013. The awards were hosted by former NDA winner, Tommy Franzèn, and Bennet Gartside of The Royal Ballet.

CRITICS’ CIRCLE NATIONAL DANCE AWARDS WINNERS 2013

BEST CLASSICAL CHOREOGRAPHY
Christopher Wheeldon for Aeternum by The Royal Ballet

BEST MODERN CHOREOGRAPHY
Russell Maliphant for Fallen by BalletBoyz® The TALENT

OUTSTANDING MALE PERFORMANCE (CLASSICAL)
Nicolas Le Riche for Le Jeune Homme et la Mort / English National Ballet

DANCERS PRO AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING MODERN PERFORMANCE (FEMALE)
Julie Cunningham for New Works 2012 / Michael Clark Company

OUTSTANDING FEMALE PERFORMANCE (CLASSICAL)
Yuan Yuan Tan for RAkU / San Francisco Ballet

DANCERS PRO AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING MODERN PERFORMANCE (MALE)
Paul White for The Oracle / Meryl Tankard

JANE ATTENBOROUGH DANCE UK INDUSTRY AWARD
Amanda Chinn, General Manager of Scottish Dance Theatre

GRISHKO AWARD FOR BEST INDEPENDENT COMPANY
BalletBoyz® The TALENT

STEF STEFANOU AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING COMPANY
Mikhailovsky Ballet

THE DANCING TIMES AWARD FOR BEST MALE DANCER
Dane Hurst / Rambert Dance Company

GRISHKO AWARD FOR BEST FEMALE DANCER
Natalia Osipova / Mikhailovsky Ballet

DE VALOIS AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Leanne Benjamin
Matthew Bourne

The awards are a celebration of brilliance amongst the diversity of dance forms. More than 200 nominations of companies, choreographers and performers were received from dance critics and the eventual 40 short-listed for the awards came from a wide spectrum.

The 15th National Dance Awards will be held on Monday 26 January 2015.

Steven McRae Named Young Australian Achiever of the Year

Steven McRae and Miyako Yoshida Performing in The Nutcracker The Royal Ballet’s Principal dancer Steven McRae has been awarded Young Australian Achiever of the Year in the UK by the Australia Day Foundation. Marking Australia Day abroad has taken in a whole new meaning for him being named with this prestigious title, as he continues to aim inspire children to chase their dreams too.

Just 28, McRae has a dream dance career. He began with jazz and tap classes as a child following an impromptu dance class aged seven. He went on to tap at the Sydney Olympics, and later become the Royal Ballet’s youngest Principal dancer. He has performed as a guest Principal with many renowned international ballet companies and still has a notable number of years to achieve even more.

The Australia Day Foundation accolade is especially significant for McRae in 2014, as he will be performing his favourite role of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet with the Queensland Ballet in July. For someone of McRae’s age to have achieved so much and to have represented Australia on the world stage is truly remarkable and an inspiration to young people everywhere, prompting the award from the Australia Day Foundation. Steven’s long list of dance achievements include the top prize at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland. The Royal Ballet School offered him a full scholarship in 2003 and he graduated and joined the Royal Ballet Company the following year.

The Young Australian Achiever of the Year in the UK has been awarded annually since 2005, recognising the achievements of a young Australian in the UK. Australia Day marks the day in 1788 of the first Governor of the colony of New South Wales. Australians across the country and overseas celebrate Australia, reflect on achievements and what they are proud of. In the UK, it is also a day to celebrate British heritage and the close links between the nations.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Stretching Sufficiently

Edgar Degas - Dancer Stretching at the Barre

Despite the fact that stretching out dancers’ muscles is vital, there are many points to heed as you work towards a more supple, flexible body. In order to stretch safely and successfully, the body and muscles must be sufficiently warm: don’t hold static stretches (those held for longer than 30 seconds) before warming up. The stretches do increase flexibility but only once the body is warm. Stretching cold muscles achieves nothing and often leads to overstretching ligaments and tendons, increasing instability and resulting in pain. It also decreases the muscle’s ability to contract, resulting in less power and available strength once you start dancing.

The key to stretching effectively is to be incredibly warm, by first activating the muscles and getting blood flowing through the body before working toward greater flexibility and a more balanced body. Unfortunately, in a constant pursuit of greater flexibility, dancers have a tendency to favour extreme, and sometimes dangerous stretches, instead of following a gradual approach, creating weaknesses in their bodies. The first step in switching over to a safe stretching regime that increases muscle flexibility without sacrificing the stability needed for balances and the power needed for jumps is losing bad habits.

Often dancers get caught up with stretching one area of the body that they forget about the other muscles: if you stretch your hamstrings make sure you equate this when stretching your quadriceps. This means that creating imbalances in the body is less likely to happen. An additional method of countering this is by using a foam roller. This can be used when dancers are feeling tight in order to free up the connective tissue muscles before stretching them, decreasing muscles tension and pain. Foam rolling can be done prior to activity, even on cold muscles, or post-activity to release inhibited muscles and allows more freedom in a muscle that was otherwise restricted.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Big Dance Pledge 2014

Big Dance 2014 The Big Dance Pledge is back for 2014, a chance to learn, make and perform dance with the rest of the world as one. As a mark of the 5th anniversary of the Big Dance Pledge, this special 5th edition is created by Scottish Ballet with fun and celebration at its heart, as part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme of the Commonwealth Games. Lots of help is at hand; watch the ‘Pledge Family’ demonstrate, look through the Big Dance tutorial and inspiration films to begin planning your own Pledge!

You can even make your own version for the Big Dance Pledge 2014, with a group of friends, classmates or work colleagues to put your dancing on the map! Once you are rehearsed and happy with your dancing, be ready to perform as part of the two simultaneous performances on 16 May 2014 from wherever you are to be part of a unique and simultaneous wave of dancing across the world. If you would like to learn the official Big Dance, watch the complete choreography online. You can learn the dance with 5 tutorial videos, showing one section at a time – don’t forget to use the special warm up video!

The Big Dance Pledge will travel around the world with the support of the British Council. School children all over the world will be able to learn the Scottish Ballet choreographed dance and participate in the Big Dance Schools Pledge through the British Council’s Schools Online website. The British Council also plan to provide step by step guides for Commonwealth schools on how to take part, alongside additional teaching resources that will provide an introduction to dance.

Devised for people of all ages and abilities and with a variety of dance styles included, Scottish Ballet’s Creation of the Pledge has been in development for almost one year by the company’s education team.

The On Pointe Enrichment Series

American Repertory Ballet will present its first ‘On Pointe Enrichment Series’ event on 7 February, specifically aimed at children from 2 years, and their families, entitled “Telling Stories Through Dance”. The American Repertory Ballet Trainees and members of American Repertory Ballet Workshop (ARBW), a performing group comprised of Princeton Ballet School’s advanced students, will perform Matthew Keefe’s Grumpy Bird and selected variations from Princeton Ballet School’s spring 2014 production of The Sleeping Beauty. All American Repertory Ballet’s On Pointe events are free and open to the public.

Grumpy Bird is a lively and humorous one act dance programme based on the children’s book. The Sleeping Beauty is a full-length classical ballet: it’s renowned tale tells the story of Princess Aurora, who sleeps for 100 years as a result of the sleeping spell cast by bad fairy Carabosse, and the Prince who breaks the spell with a kiss. Grumpy Bird has been performed as part of an assembly programme at numerous preschools and schools as a result of ARB’s Access & Enrichment initiatives, including planning ARB’s school time matinees and assembly programmes.

Discussion of the art of storytelling in dance will be led by ARB Resident Choreographer Mary Barton and ARB Director of Educational Programming Lisa Beth Vettoso. Barton is a long-time faculty member at Princeton Ballet School and also serves as a ballet master for the ARBW programme. She also directs the students’ rehearsals, namely oldest and most advanced groups. Barton also trains and coaches the Trainee division, which performs and rehearses with American Repertory Ballet in addition to ARBW. As Director of Educational Programming, Vettoso works extensively with ARB’s DANCE POWER programmes, including rehearsing the DANCE POWER Scholars and Dance Mix students.

Cirque du Soleil launch theatrical branch

Cirque du Soleil, the renowned theatrical company famous for its incredible show performances, has announced it has formed Cirque du Soleil Theatrical, a New York-based division that will focus on developing new shows for Broadway, the West End and touring.

This comes as exciting news for the UK capital, in the hope that Cirque du Soleil will create a show for Theatreland rather than just the outskirts at the Royal Albert Hall and other similar venues. Cirque du Soleil is based in Montreal, Canada, and has travelled all over the world performing to the masses who adore their numerous productions. The company began as a troupe of street performers and, over 30 years, has grown into a multi-billion dollar international company.

Scott Zeiger, a founder and partner in BASE entertainment, which produced Phantom – The Vegas Spectacular, has been named president and managing director of the theatrical division. Zeiger’s other Las Vegas-based productions include Jersey Boys and Rock of Ages, with Broadway credits including The Who’s Tommy. Zeiger will also work with Cirque du Soleil’s sister troupe, Cirque Éloize, which appeared at the Peacock Theatre, London, in 2013 to great acclaim.

Previous theatre ventures ahead of the creation of the theatrical division for Cirque have had a mixed history. Wintuk, a music-based narrative, played four holiday seasons at Madison Square Garden, US. Banana Shpeel, a vaudeville-themed piece, played an extended preview period and season at the Beacon Theatre, with a revamped version gathering more success on tour in the US. Zarkana, a touring show developed for a summer residency at Radio City Musical Hall, ran for two seasons before becoming a production in Las Vegas. Iris, a Hollywood-themed show created for the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, home to the annual Academy Awards, ran for a year.

Andrew Lloyd Webber To Fund Arts Apprenticeships

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s charitable foundation has announced six grants which will support apprenticeships within professional arts organisations. The grants total more than £150,000, meaning young people will be able to gain better access to the arts, and gain a better chance of success with funds behind them as part of organisations.

Five theatre organisations and one music festival will receive funding: Shared Experience will receive £105,000 over three years to support one trainee director and producer per year as a result of paid six-month apprenticeships; Tangled Feet will receive £14,000 over two years to help fund its participation programme for young people; Manchester Royal Exchange’s Young Company will receive £10,000; Chickenshed will receive £15,000 towards its Young Creators Programme; Icon Theatre in Medway will receive £9,000; and the Lake District International Summer Music Festival will receive £10,000. There is great variety in the organisations which have gained support, meaning benefits will be across the board of the arts industry.

Since the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation was re-launched in 2011, it has donated over £8.5 million to more than 120 projects. The foundation’s support of these projects will give young people valuable experience within professional arts organisations, and not just those which place performers on stage. It seems relatively common that talented individuals working behind the scenes are forgotten or glanced over. However, as the trust advocates, it is equally important to provide training for these skills as it is for performers, because without those behind the scenes – or in other, equally important, areas of the performing arts industry – there would be no show for the performers to work in.

As a result of the grants by the foundation, arts across the UK can continue to produce to high standards having provided solid training and opportunities for those aspiring to work in the arts.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.