Dance Direct Blog. News, Reviews & Advice About Dance

A new comedy web-series, Stage Mums, is the latest craze to hit screens, following in the wake of similar shows such as the US Dance Moms and the UK Dance Mums. For anyone who has been involved in a dance competition, they will immediately connect with the escapades and trials of the dance world for aspiring dancers.

Stage Mums stars Anna Massey-Waters and Tara Page, as Shaz and Trace respectively, debuted online and are now presenting a second series. The tongue-in-cheek creation, created by Massey-Waters, has been a YouTube sensation. Shaz and Trace are two ‘stereotypical’ Australian stage mums, both proud parents of talented triple threat teenage daughters, Shenaya and Abcde. The pair of mothers discuss pretentious children, parents, Australian eisteddfods, social media and castings, and will do whatever it takes to make their daughters stars.

Starting as an actress, Massey-Waters met Page during a local stage production and talked about collaborating for many years before beginning to write, and star in, Stage Mums. Massey-Waters is a former drama teacher; her daughter was an actress in a children’s television series and therefore the characters of Shaz and Trace are drawn from real-life experiences. For some, Stage Mums may be a little too close to the truth – stagey parents can be notorious for their reputation – however it seems to be a hit!

The series is filmed in Massey-Waters’ Gold Coast home by her husband, a camera operator and editor. He shoots several episodes simultaneously, with each one taking around two weeks to produce and upload to YouTube. At first Stage Mums began as a whim, however its many international hits online is definitely proving otherwise.

The UK & Irish premiere of new musical The Addams Family is scheduled to open at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh on 20 April 2017, directed by Matthew White. As a musical comedy, with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice( the creators of multi award-winning Jersey Boys) the show is set to delight fans across the country. Music and lyrics are by Andrew Lippa, based on the characters created by Charles Addams.

As a touring production, the show will see Wednesday Addams all grown up, with a secret that only Gomez knows; she’s fallen in love with a young man from a respectable family, far from The Addams family! Gomez Addams must now keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents, with all the usual clan present, including Uncle Fester, Lurch and son Pugsley.

The original Broadway production, starring Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia, ran for just under two years at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. The production also toured the US and international productions have been seen in Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Germany and the Czech Republic. Now it is the turn of UK and Irish audiences to relish the performances; British director White has directed the recent UK Tour of The Producers, and the UK Tour and West End run of Top Hat, so audiences are in for a treat. For the Menier Chocolate Factory, he has also directed Candide, Sweet Charity (and in the West End) and Little Shop of Horrors (also West End).

In terms of other creatives’ credits, Andrew Lippa wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical, Big Fish, the music for the Broadway production of Aaron Sorkin’s play The Farnsworth Invention and the book, music and lyrics for the Drama Desk award-winning musical The Wild Party.

In Rambert’s 90th anniversary year, the company will open the doors of its South Bank home to the public for a special two-week edition of Rambert Revealed – the company’s annual programme of public events, tours and workshops. In addition to watching dance, people will also have the chance to take part in a range of masterclasses exploring the company’s repertoire, heritage, and creativity, by sharing the broad range of activity that takes place in its studios.

Rambert Revealed runs until Saturday 22 October, building on the success of the project over the past three years. The creative initiative has doubled in size for 2016, offering more opportunities for independent dance practitioners, teachers, students and members of the public to explore Rambert, participate in workshops, preview upcoming work and develop their dance practice.

Highlights include open rehearsals for Ghost Dances and the Rambert Event, as well as the chance to learn choreography from some of Rambert’s classic repertoire, including Ghost Dances and A Linha Curva. There will also be the opportunity to preview new works or works-in-progress from the company’s choreographic platform, which will feature work by independent dance artists affiliated with the company, Rambert dancers and Rambert’s new choreography fellow Julie Cunningham.

Other opportunities for professional dancers and choreographers include classical and contemporary classes led by Rambert rehearsal directors, as well as a two-hour workshop with Rambert’s Artistic Associate Peggy Olislaegers. This workshop will give dancers and choreographers the opportunity to deconstruct three pieces from Rambert’s repertoire before reconstructing them with new choreography informed by each work.

Rambert Live will return for its second year giving behind the scenes access to audiences and members of the public across the UK. The live-stream feed will feature a contemporary class with the Rambert dancers, previews of some of the works touring this autumn – including Christopher Bruce’s Ghost Dances and Itzik Galili’s A Linha Curva – and a choreographic platform performance, featuring works by Joss Arnott, Julie Cunningham and Carlos Pons Guerra.

Ingrid Gow was born in Randwick, Sydney in 1987. She knew from the age of four that she wanted to grow up to be a ballerina. Her training began at Academy Ballet in Sydney and continued at New Zealand School of Dance. In 2007 Ingrid successfully auditioned for Royal New Zealand Ballet, where she danced for three years. Ingrid joined The Australian Ballet in 2010 and was promoted to coryphée in 2013.

Ingrid’s repertoire includes Princess Royal in Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake 2015, Frederick Ashton’s Symphonic Variations 2015, Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort 2014 and Bella Figura 2013, Skinny Stepsister in Alexei Ratmansky’s Cinderella 2016, 2015, 2013 and Lady Capulet in Graeme Murphy’s Romeo & Juliet 2011.

You may not know that Ingrid also loves reading and adding to her high heel collection!

The Australian Ballet will be screened in the UK for the first time by CinemaLive. The Fairy Tale Series – a series of three world premieres – will be screened across the UK on three nights only: The Sleeping Beauty on 4 October, Cinderella on 23 November and Coppelia on 19 April 2017.

—

Did you always want to dance?

I started ballet at four years old and once I had had my first experience on stage at the end of year concert I was hooked, with classes in jazz, contemporary, character and a little bit of tap. Once I hit about 14 years I started thinking of ballet as a career option and from then on everything I did was to help secure that path.

Where did you train and what was it like?

I started my training at Academy Ballet in Sydney and studied there until I was 16. It was my second home for all of those years, and I have made lifelong friends with the students and the teachers. At 16, I moved to New Zealand to complete three years of full time dance at New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington and graduated with a National Diploma in Dance Performance. Those three years helped me to realise that the hard work does pay off.

How did you come to be part of The Australian Ballet?

I joined The Australian Ballet in 2010 after three years with Royal New Zealand Ballet. I had lived in New Zealand for six years to study and work, and I wanted to come home and spend more time with my family. I grew up watching The Australian Ballet perform in Sydney at the Opera House and it was always where I hoped I would continue my career.

Who or what inspires you?

My fellow dancers inspire me every day. Talent only gets you so far. It’s the passion and hard work I see in the rehearsals and performances that makes me proud to be a part of The Australian Ballet.

What has been the most memorable moment of your performing career to date?

My most memorable time was the creation of Alexei Ratmansky’s Cinderella. Watching him develop the characters of the Step family was the most fun I have ever had in the studio and we felt that we could really make them our own. Sometimes I’m not sure if I’m truly acting the role of the Skinny Stepsister or if it has become an alter ego!

What has been the most challenging?

The most challenging part for me is finding the balance between my professional and personal life. We give so much of ourselves in the day to day activities we don’t always give the time for the recovery of the body as well as the mind.

What is a day in your life like now?

At the moment we are rehearsing for the season of Nijinsky, so after a morning ballet class we rehearse all day in the studio until 6:30pm, with a break of about an hour and a half throughout the day. If I have an extra break from rehearsal I’ll be in the gym and after work it’s home for dinner. At the weekend I will try to be more social and spend time with friends, but if I have two days off work, one of them will involve a quick trip to the gym to get my blood pumping.

What is the best thing about the dance and performing arts industry?

I have always felt that dance is selfish in a way, I do it for myself and no one else, quite simply it feels good and makes me happy and I want to do it every day. I can’t imagine feeling like that about any other kind of work. However, I also love that it creates conversation and discussion. It’s designed for the audience to feel enjoyment, love, hate, and to be challenged. It is art.

What would you like to change?

I wish there was more of an understanding from the outside world of what goes into making dance a career. The Australian Ballet is part of that change with several behind the scenes activities and a large online presence. We are slowly infiltrating the masses.

What would be your advice to an aspiring dancer?

Look after your mental health as it’s just as important as a healthy body.

What’s next for you?

I hope to continue to enjoy my career here with The Australian Ballet for as long as possible. I’m not sure what the next phase of my life will entail, but I’m sure that it will be just as satisfying.

Setbacks are, unfortunately, part of a dancer’s life. Whether you didn’t get the part in the production you wanted, you didn’t achieve the highest mark band in your exam or you are healing from an injury, there are many reasons why your enjoyment of and development in dance may falter.

At some point along the dancing journey, every dancer will experience something they perhaps were not expecting, or even anticipating. Setbacks can sometimes be unavoidable, but it is the way the dancer deals with these setbacks that is the most important thing. Whether they are big or small, it can be difficult at first to look past what has happened, but eventually it will inform you as a dancer.

Setbacks can be hard deal with if it means an injury is stopping you perform or dance to your full potential in a class, Injuries are frustrating, but this time rehabilitating the body can mean you learn more about it, and about your attitude to dance. Observing classes mean you learn so much from other dancers, and the way your teacher takes the class. Rejection too can be frustrating and disappointing, however it can mean you have a refreshed outlook when you return to class, determined to nail that pirouette or top note.

Setbacks generally knock a dancer’s confidence, and it is normal to feel upset or disheartened. It is important to allow yourself to feel the disappointment of what has happened, but ultimately this will build your resilience for next time around and will help you to grow as a dancer. Make sure you view the setback as an experience, and ensure you can take a lesson from it – definitely an opportunity in disguise!

The classic musical 42nd Street is set to open at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London’s West End next year, delighting fans of the iconic musical which has not been seen for some time. Popular with amateur dramatic companies, the musical follows the lives of performers as they struggle to make their names on Broadway. When the show opens at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, it will feature a cast of 50.

The show, which has a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, music from Harry Warren and lyrics from Al Dubin, is an adaptation of the 1932 novel and the 1933 film. Its songs within the musical include “We’re In The Money”, “Lullaby of Broadway” and “Shuffle Off To Buffalo”, and many more classic hits which audiences know and love. In 1981, the original Broadway production won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and it is thought that this London production will achieve the same kind of success.

Previews of the revival will begin on 20 March 2017, and the production will be directed by Bramble, who has previously directed Barnum, Treasure Island and The Three Musketeers. The show follows the announcement that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will come to the end of its run at Drury Lane, and head out on a UK tour and Broadway run following its success in the UK capital. For 42nd Street, the creative team believe the theme of the show speaks louder today than ever before: follow your dreams and with talent and hard work they can come true.

The original production of 42nd Street was similar in look to a Warner Brothers black and white film. This time the team is focused on creating an MGM Technicolor version of the musical with additional songs and dances.

Broadway Dance Lab, a new non-profit organisation, is helping kick-start new works of musical theatre by giving choreographers the tools they need, such as studio space and paid dancers, in order to try out concepts for new shows. Whilst music can inspire you no end, and a mirror can help you develop those all-important dance moves, a choreographer cannot create without the full set of assets they require.

With funds raised from donors and foundations, the goal is to offer choreographers artistic freedom to test new ideas ahead of creation. Broadway Dance Lab was founded by Josh Prince, the choreographer of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and Shrek the Musical, aiming to develop the organisation to help ideas become successes. 2015 saw the organisation emerge, and six choreographers were supported in their work. These included Andy Blankenbuehler, Tony Award-winner for “Hamilton,” and American Ballet Theatre’s Marcelo Gomes, a dancer expanding into dance making.

Seven more choreographers are on the cards for 2016, able to develop ideas without having to worry about the cost of doing so, and without a clear output for the work in progress. The Broadway Dance Lab has consequently created a new model for developing shows in the US, from Prince’s own experience of practising his craft and trying to launch new ideas, without the costs of dancers and space.

Many professionals find that theatre requires a product on stage very quickly, leaving little room for trial and error. Countering extremely short rehearsal periods, as short as four to six weeks, the Broadway Dance Lab means experimentation can take place first, without the watchful eyes of directors or the cast themselves. Not every show is able to plan for, or afford, pre-production work, and in time, Broadway Dance Lab hopes this will develop into initiatives for young dancers, regional theatre choreographers and dancers with disabilities.

As one of the world’s most popular dance companies, last week the iconic Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returned to the UK ​to delight and impress audiences all over the country. Its visit is the first in over six years, presenting 10 works during six exhilarating programmes, including its crowd pleasing Revelations masterpiece.

With a mixed bag of a programme, the pieces selected demonstrate the sheer versatility of both the dancers as individuals and the company as a whole. From hip hop and house dance, some African, to ballet and technical contemporary, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater presented itself as hugely current, but with a resounding nod to the classics and its history.

Rennie Harris’ Exodus opened the evening with poignancy, but filled with stark energy. This gave way to club-type culture as the dancers showed a deliberate lack of rapport in the formations of the piece’s objectiveness. Ronald K. Brown gave the audience an irresistible blend of modern and African dance, the dancers performing each movement seamlessly and seemingly without effort. As they glided across the stage, their technique and passion was all too clear. After the Rain, a pas de deux to showcase just two of the dancers of the company that just can’t be faulted, premiered with Ailey in 2014. With choreography by Christopher Wheeldon it was a perfect prelude to Ailey’s Revelations. This enduring classic is a tribute to the many stages of African-American cultural heritage, performed each time with passion, vigour and style.

The company’s tour began with a two-week, four-programme season at Sadler’s Wells, London, and will conclude at Festival Theatre, Edinburgh on 19 October. The Autumn tour will see Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater visit 10 venues, presented by Dance Consortium.

Since 1958​, Ailey’s performers have performed for over 25 million people in 71 countries, on a total of six continents​. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater​ was founded in 1958, recognised by the US Congress as a vital American “Cultural Ambassador to the World” in its presentation of constantly high-quality work and performances. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Battle​ (the Company’s third artistic leader in its 60 year history)​, Ailey’s performances celebrate the human spirit through the African-American cultural experience and the American modern dance tradition.

The 25th anniversary performance of Miss Saigon will be broadcast in cinemas across the UK on 16 October, it has recently been confirmed, with the iconic musical celebrating its quarter of a century by reaching even more audiences. Miss Saigon is Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby’s musical loosely inspired by Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly. The anniversary staging which was recorded for the broadcast saw 20,000 people try to book tickets within the first five minutes of tickets being released, demonstrating the extent of the musical’s popularity.

Ahead of the release into cinemas later in the year, a new trailer for the event has been released ahead of the screenings. The musical was recorded in front of a live audience at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End where the musical was playing. This was done back in September 2014. The decision was made not to to digitally remove the stage microphones from the performers, in order to remind cinema viewers of the fact it is a stage production rather than a film.

Jonathan Pryce, Lea Salonga and Simon Bowman were some of the past Miss Saigon alumni who featured in the performance which was recorded for the big screen, and the cast of the show in London included Jon Jon Briones as The Engineer, Eva Noblezada as Kim and Alistair Brammar as Chris. According to producers, the cast delivered emotional performances so close-ups appear very natural, just like they were being shot for the cinema as opposed to being performed to a packed theatre.

As a result, the musical of Miss Saigon is incredibly cinematic as a theatrical experience, taking into account the score and staging too. There were also some additional covering shots filmed in January 2016 to be added to the cinema release.

The popular and seemingly never ending board game is going to experience a facelift: when it starts playing on Broadway. Hasbro Inc. recently announced that it has partnered with producers the Araca Group to bring a new musical based on the 81-year-old board game to the Great White Way, a different concept indeed.

For the creatives, the Monopoly brand’s lack of a traditional, built-in storyline gives them more freedom to explore new, creative possibilities and experiment with the narrative too. Other major elements of the show also have yet to be developed, such as casting, musical scores and the creative concepts which will guide the entire musical. An option that is currently being batted around is the currently fashionable immersive experience, giving audiences the opportunity to be part of the show itself.

It is also rumoured that Hasbro hasn’t ruled out bringing any of its brands, which include Play-Doh, Stretch Armstrong and My Little Pony, to Broadway. This is very fitting considering the current make up of Broadway; of the 24 musicals currently on Broadway, only four are originals: Chicago, The Book of Mormon, Cirque du Soleil musical Paramour and Something Rotten! Adaptations began on Broadway in 1997, when The Lion King arrived; the potential of a ‘Monopoly the musical’ may just work.

It is clear that adaptations work in theatre, particularly film to musical as well as new concerts such as Monopoly. Universal is developing Back to the Future and Bombshell, the show-within-a-show about Marilyn Monroe from the TV series Smash. Sony is developing Tootsie and Warner Bros.’ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, currently onstage in London, will open on Broadway in April. Warner is also developing stage productions based on Beetlejuice, 17 Again, Dave and Dog Day Afternoon. In 2013, Fox partnered with a Broadway producer to develop musicals based on its films, and are currently developing The Devil Wears Prada and Mrs Doubtfire. Watch this space!