Balletboyz

BalletBoyz at the Opera House

The BalletBoyz are set to make their debut appearance at the Royal Opera House from 16-27 September, dancing in the Linbury studio theatre. The company will present theTalent 2014 in a brand new triple bill at the Linbury as part of Deloitte Ignite 2014, the contemporary arts festival curated by the Royal Ballet and Minna Moore Ede of the National Gallery.

Former Royal Ballet dancers Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, co-founders and artistic directors of BalletBoyz will present works by Christopher Wheeldon (Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet), Kristen McNally (Royal Ballet Soloist) and Alexander Whitley (New Wave Associate artist at Sadler’s Wells). The triple bill is the company’s first chance to perform new work since their final performances of the award-winning double bill – Liam Scarlett’s ‘Serpent’ and Russell Maliphant’s ‘Fallen’ – at the Camden Roundhouse in July.

Mesmerics, by Christopher Wheeldon, is a piece created in 2004 for three men and two women. Wheeldon’s reworking has recreated the piece for eight of theTalent’s dancers. The old format, set to a score by Philip Glass, contained a lot of pointe work and traditional partnering. Wheeldon set about re-inventing it, working closely with Nunn and Trevitt.

Kristen McNally, Soloist with the Royal Ballet, has created Untitled. She is a fast rising choreographer and recently made the fresh, indie-ballet ‘Mad Women’ for New English Ballet Theatre at the Peacock Theatre. Nunn and Trevitt, along with Kevin O’Hare, are keen to encourage the development of new artists, including McNally. She has found new ways to work with boys and the result is highly anticipated.

The Murmuring by Alexander Whitley, in its well crafted and constantly moving structure, is relatively abstract in its nature. It is set to a low, distinctive and continuous sound, as murmurings is also the flight pattern of flocks of birds, particularly starlings.

BalletBoyz – The Dancer’s Course

Becoming one of the BalletBoyz is arguably every young dancer’s dream. With their slick performances, immeasurable talent and famous good looks, it is no wonder that the group lead by Trevor Nunn and William Trevitt is going from strength to strength, and may have the answer to these young dancers’ wishes.

Following their hugely successful project ‘The Talent’, BalletBoyz are launching The Dancer’s Course, which will start in September 2013. As an innovative one year weekend course, the Boyz are searching for men and women over the age of 18 to join the professional dance company in order to develop their versatility, contemporary dance skills and technique within their nurturing environment. Developing talent and grasping opportunities form the majority of yearning to be a professional dancer (the other part being a little luck!), so this BalletBoyz course seems the perfect chance to engage with an experiential approach to training, whatever your dance background.

The course will centre on working closely with ‘The Talent’ to develop the young dancers as artists and providing them with opportunities to perform and choreograph throughout the course. With the aim of the course to take individuals with raw talent and turn them into creative and employable dancers, it seems the course is every young dancer’s dream. Working alongside the BalletBoyz, the dancers will come to represent the BalletBoyz ethos of excellence, and a desire to perform at the highest level.

The dancers will also have the chance to gain firsthand experience of the technical aspects of performance, such as film, music, costume and lighting, in addition to working closely alongside ‘The Talent’ in order to be coached, mentored, challenged and inspired by some of the leading teachers and choreographers in the dance world today.

Summer Programmes at The Place

The Place

In July and August 2012, as in many years previously, The Place will present its annual two-week programme of dance courses for both young participants aged 6 to 16, and adults aged 16 and over of all abilities this summer. Whether your interest is the graceful beauty of ballet and you live to fulfil your dream of stepping into class in perfect pink ballet shoes, the toe-tapping energetic buzz of wearing jazz shoes, or whether it is actually heaven on earth to put on your leotard and leggings and engage in some thought-provoking and challenging Contact Improvisation, The Place will have something to suit you.

Summer Shakers, over four days, is an annual programme of dance classes for young dancers, with this year’s theme surrounding “Victories and Losses”. Each group participating will work to create a sport-inspired dance, fusing energy, competition and power which are prevalent in both activities of sport and dance. Summer Intensives is the programme that will be led by a team of international dance teachers and companies, allowing participants to ‘create their own course’ from the extensive range of five-day options available including creative workshops, body conditioning techniques and repertory workshops with resident companies in addition to the above. The companies involved this year are the BalletBoyz and the Jasmin Vardimon Company, two prestigious companies who individually have contributed much to today’s contemporary dance scene, and beyond into the dance sector as a whole.

2012 will see the addition of the traditional Japanese dance form, Butoh, taught by Marie-Gabrielle Rotie. This particular strand of the programme encourages structured improvisation, working with poetic images and scores in order for participants to create simple movement.

For additional information, visit The Place.

Image courtesy of The Place.

Dancing on the whole without ballet shoes, or diamond encrusted tutus, male ballet dancers are mostly utilised on stage to display the female ballerina in the best possible light to the audience and critics alike. While this has been a tradition of classical ballet for many centuries, the twenty-first century has marked a series of changes in the male-female relationship on stage, with increasing numbers of female dancers required to lift and support their male partners in dance genres.

Balletboyz, an all-male company has also turned the male classical ballet dancer tradition on its head, and sometimes quite literally. Made up of 8 young men, the Boyz are more likely to sport jazz shoes than the white tights and unitards of their male dancer predecessors. Whilst this history is an integral part of dance today, it seems important that the dance sector should not become stagnant – it should continue to evolve and adjust to the shifts in the industry, and the social and cultural contexts of everyday life.

As the creation of Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, Balletboyz was founded in 2001 as contemporary and classically driven company. Both founders were members of The Royal Ballet, both dancing principal roles including Romeo, Prince Siegfried and King of the Sweets. They have additionally created roles for choreographers such as Kenneth MacMillan, Twyla Tharp, William Forsythe and Christopher Wheeldon. Through the formation of Balletboyz, Nunn and Trevitt have fused the classical and contemporary, moving away from the soft shoes they were once used to, and creating a passion-fuelled company full of inspiring young men.

In 2005 Balletboyz became Associate Artists at Sadler’s Wells, London’s leading dance house, and 2010 saw the first edition of Balletboyz’ groundbreaking project, the TALENT. Nunn and Trevitt selected nine male dancers from a variety of backgrounds, working with them closely to create a company of performers. The show toured nationally and internationally receiving fantastic reviews, confirming that Balletboyz do indeed wear the dance crown, and will continue to push themselves physically and creatively.