EYB: The Sleeping Beauty

As mentioned before, I’m performing in the Stevenage EYB production of The Sleeping Beauty at the Gordon Craig Theatre 15-17th October. We had our first rehearsals this weekend, 2-8pm yesterday and 12-6pm today, pretty intense hours, but things are finally underway! Since the audition in June and casting day in July, it seemed like such a long wait, but it’s finally begun… I was a mix of excited/nervous yesterday as I really didn’t know what to expect schedule wise, but now after two days I have to say it’s actually less exhausting than I expected! I’m not saying it’s easy at all, but the sessions vary from 45 minutes to 1hr 30, and I was pretty much expecting them all to be 1hr+ with fewer breaks than we’re getting. Not that I’m complaining – or saying it’s a walk in the park!

We’re split into three groups for a warm up class at the beginning of each rehearsal after a meeting with parents. Class lasts for roughly 45 minutes, with a relatively long barre before moving into the centre for pirouettes, adage and allegro. It’s been so long since I had 45 minute classes it’s amazing how fast it goes!

Yesterday we then went straight in with an hour session en pointe learning the dance for Act 3. I’ve been cast as a Guest, there’s about 20 of us, the majority en pointe (including myself) and some on flat, who are basically the corps de ballet, so we’ll be on stage during all three acts for a lot of the time and hopefully have quite a bit to do.

After a costume fitting for the prologue we had another hour or so carrying on, and then at the end of the day we all come together in the main hall and perform the sections that have been learnt in the order of the ballet so that we get used to the sequence of everything and at the same time get to see what everyone else has done as well. Obviously in between all that we had a few breaks as well, varying from 1 hour to 15 minutes.

Today was similar, starting with class as normal and then recapped what we did yesterday before adding on. I have to say by the end of the first hour spent en pointe my feet are struggling a bit! I’ve been en pointe for about 3 years now, but I’m only used to spending half an hour a week doing syllabus exercises, the majority of which are at the barre which isn’t a whole lot of use now! I’m fairly confident my feet are going to get a lot stronger very quickly doing this! However, I’m yet to get a blister which is an amazing achievement, it’s just the throbbing pain on the tips of my big toes I’m dealing with.

Today we learnt the whole prologue as well which is almost the whole cast on stage together at the Christening.

So that’s the first weekend over! We don’t have another rehearsal until the 25th and then we’re straight in with Friday 4-8:30, Saturday 2-8:00, Sunday 12-6:00… wish my toes luck please. And my brain, for attempting to remember all the choreography during the 3 week break!! I can’t wait to go back already 🙂

Rambert Intensive: Final Thoughts|Dreams That Glitter

I’d like to begin by saying I miss being at Rambert already, it felt really weird not going back again yesterday, I think I’d just got used to the hectic nature of it all and travelling into London every day. It took me about an hour on the train but it was a direct route so it wasn’t too bad, luckily my station is right at the beginning of the line so I didn’t have to fight for a seat, getting a seat was more of a concern on the way home though when I just wanted to collapse! Commuting is kind of exhausting but I actually quite liked having that quiet time on the train at the beginning and end of the day.

Since this was only my second summer intensive I didn’t have a whole lot to compare it to, and the one I did last year was a youth one for ages 11-18 so had a very different feel to this one which was an adult course, there was a much wider range of ages as I think the youngest was 16, all the way up to 30+. It was interesting how different the tone was working with older people of different ages although we did quite similar things as to last year. First off, there’s  a lot less drama with adults I think; there’s no whiney 12 year olds!! I think with a group of adults as well there tends to be more barriers put up with ourselves as the older you get the more self conscious you are and you have more fear of trying new things and being around new people, whereas younger people generally adapt easily and are up for trying anything they seem to just throw themselves into it. I’m not saying no one had any confidence or anything because that’s not the case at all and there were some very talented dancers in the group but it’s just a completely different vibe to a group of young people.

Another difference is with the youth group, the majority of dancers participating are there because they want to become professional dancers and go into a performance career, and there can almost be a sense of competition. With this course however it was such a mix – there was some people already in dance training, some doing A Level, some there for pure enjoyment just dancing as a hobby, there because they just really love to dance. Some had little dance experience while others had years under their belt; it was a diverse group it was really nice to work with such a range of people and we all helped each other through it.

This brings me onto friendships… Most people’s main priority on the course was obviously to soak up as much information as possible, to work on themselves as dancers and performers and improve as much as possible in the short space of time. A few people knew each other before and came in groups and others knew no one and sort of kept to themselves. Back to the confidence thing, why are adults so much worse at making friends and putting themselves forward than kids? Between that and being exhausted and very concentrated on food during our breaks, everyone was generally quiet and didn’t talk to each other a whole lot really. It wasn’t until the last couple of days when we started talking more, so I guess if the intensive had been longer we would’ve made more significant friendships! It was still nice to get to know everyone though and we’ll keep in touch through Facebook.

As I mentioned before – there was two groups an Intermediate and Advanced; ultimately it was up to the individual which path they chose but the Advanced was generally dance graduates, professionals or those in full time training, and the Intermediate dancers had not been dancing so long, there more for pure enjoyment and for themselves than working towards a career in dance. As with anywhere there was a clear divide between the two groups and we didn’t really mingle between groups a lot but I did manage to talk briefly with a few of them and it was interesting to hear about the wide range of backgrounds the dancers came from. Had I chose the Advanced route I think I would definitely have found it challenging, the material they showed during the sharing looked absolutely amazing, however I don’t think I would’ve struggled so much I’d have changed groups, although a lot of the dancers in that group were very technical and expressive I think I would’ve learnt a lot being with them and would have enjoyed the challenge, maybe I’ll do that next time? I imagine each group of dancers would be different though in terms of standard.

To conclude, if you hadn’t gathered by now I had an absolutely wonderful time and would jump at the chance to do a course like this again. The level of training we received was brilliant and it was a privilege to have the chance to work with Rambert company members; truly learning from the best. It was tough at times and definitely a challenge but I’ve learnt so much – I really enjoyed having classes with a range of teachers as you get to experience the variety of teaching styles and each of them has a different vision of what they want you to get out of the experience.

Finally, here’s my list of tips to take with you to any intensive:

1. Be open to anything! The more open minded you are, the more you can learn and the more you’ll take away with you. Don’t be confined to what you’re used to and respect different people’s methods of doing things.
2. Eat little and often. It definitely took me a couple of days to gauge how much to eat so as to feel full fuelled but not like you’re going to throw up in the class after lunch! You have to eat properly, food that will give you energy. Most days I had: toast for breakfast, some fruit in the morning break, pasta/rice and salad at lunch, a cereal/protein bar and mixed nuts for afternoon break, and a good dinner when I got home.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or put yourself forward. If you don’t understand something, ask. If you missed part of the phrase, ask. If you have an injury and need another option, ask. This is so important! Don’t just skip over something if you don’t understand it, the teachers don’t mind you asking questions as they want you to succeed and understand everything.
4. Drink lots of water! If you’re dancing for hours at a time, keeping hydrated is super important otherwise you’re probably going to pass out or get a horrible headache. Drink lots!!
5. Get plenty of sleep. If you don’t get enough you will definitely feel it the next day when you’re trying your hardest not to yawn at the barre. Your body is being put under a lot of pressure and a lot of energy is required, you can’t do your best and get the most out of every class if you only had 4 hours sleep.
6. Look after your body! I highly recommend you get a foam roller or a massage ball or something similar. I used the foam roller every evening for about an hour when I got home and it made such a difference to how my body felt. Listen to your body and look after it to prevent injury. I also found an ice bath for my feet particularly soothing half way through the week. Hot/Cold showers also feel really good afterwards!

I think that’s about it…. I hope this post wasn’t too long/boring, I just wanted to share everything in one go. I’m not going to lie I’m quite impressed with myself for keeping up with these blog posts all week, it’s been a really nice way to document and evaluate everything! If anyone else has done a course at Rambert I’d love to hear about your experiences 🙂

Rambert Intensive: Day 4|Dreams That Glitter

10:00-11:30 Contemporary

Today we did a different contemporary class with the teacher we’ve been having for Choreography – Estella. It was nice to do a different class and mix it up a bit, it’s interesting to see how many different directions a contemporary class can be taken in my different people. This was kind of more ‘traditional’ with some floor work to warm up the back and legs and then some phrases standing in the centre, some corner work and then finally we learnt a phrase which was to be added to our choreography piece.

11:45-1:15 Repertoire with Luke – Terra Incognita

We carried on with the repertoire from yesterday and it’s really intricate with lots of small details that make it look so much better when you get them spot on. We watched Luke perform the piece full speed and it’s literally like at least triple time to what we’ve been doing, it’s insane! It was really inspiring to see it done properly though and gave us a more of a clear idea of what we’re aiming for.

2:15-3:45 Choreography with Estella

Choreography was quite intense today, we finished our piece which is about 5 minutes, incorporating the new phrase from this morning and adding repetition and new formations/direction etc. It’s coming together quite nicely! I did something to my foot though, I think it came from doing lots of floor work in a crouch position and using my feet to push off of in a demi pointe position… I’ve iced it and hoping for the best – I want to be able to dance tomorrow!!

4:00-5:00 Ballet

So after the foot incident I probably should have taken it easy in ballet if done it at all, but me being me insisted on doing it in my pointe shoes. At that stage the actual pointing and flexing motion didn’t hurt at all, but it is a bit now, oops… I didn’t do any releves on pointe or anything just some balances at the barre mainly, but even doing tendus in pointe shoes works your feet so much harder than wearing soft ballet slippers. I really enjoyed the class though!

So tomorrow we have a contemporary class with Kate again, and then rehearsals for both pieces of rep (here’s hoping I can remember what we did at the beginning of the week!!) and the choreography, before our sharing with the advanced group – I can’t wait to see what they’ve been doing and the difference in standard between the two groups, I’m really interested in how much of a difference in ability there is. I can’t believe it’s the last day tomorrow already, it’s gone pretty quickly!!

Rambert Intensive: Day 3 |Dreams That Glitter

Day 3

This morning you could tell everyone was feeling it a bit at this stage! Especially if you’ve gone from not doing much at all the last few weeks or months to suddenly intensive training for 6 hours day, it puts a lot of pressure on the body. Tonight I came home and put my feet in an ice bath, stretched and used the foam roller for about an hour or so, hopefully that will do the trick and ease the aches and pains tomorrow…Still all good fun though!

10:00-11:30 – Contemporary with Kate Mummery

This class was pretty similar as the first two days again. We started off with a bit of a massage session in partners which warmed us up and relieved a bit of tight or stiffness and woke up our bodies, followed by a mini contemporary/yoga session. We then added onto the phrases we’ve already learnt which included more floor work (more bruises) which I enjoyed as if there’s one area I’m worse at it’s definitely floor work, just making it look smooth and effortless is not at all easy for me, especially when transferring the weight into the hands in various ways. I’m sure there was something else I was going to mention about this class but it’s getting late and my brain is totally frazzled – maybe it’ll come back to me!

11:45-13:15 – Repertoire with Luke Ahmet – Terra Incognita

We started learning some new rep today with a different teacher from the company from the last couple of days. It’s completely different from the last piece we learnt that was quite balletic, fluid and elegant, the phrases from Terra Incognita are more unusual and quirky. It was fun to pick up and we learnt so much in the session! We’ve already started putting it together as a piece which we will perform as a whole group at the end of the week, and we’re going to learn some more material and clean it up tomorrow.

14:15-15:45 – Choreography with Estela Merlos

We’ve got more of a piece coming together in this session now, the phrases are being performed by different groups within our group, and the piece starts with the structures we ‘built’ yesterday, with transitions added in – so it’s like a structure has been made and then we all crumble to the ground to represent a disaster, and then we rebuild into the next huge structure where we’re all relying on each other to stay up, then we crumble again and repeat, I think it looks quite effective. We’ve added some group work into it as well including some lifts which will look good in the end. One more rehearsal tomorrow and we should have a nice little piece to show!

16:00-17:00 – Ballet with Antonette Dayrit

We were also lucky enough to have a pianist for this class as well which is much nicer than doing the exercises to a CD like I’m used to. Not having a musician for class all the time makes you appreciate the experience a lot more when you get the chance though. The class was a general level as there was lots of mixed ability in our group, a few people never having done ballet before. I was a bit sceptical as to whether I’d have the energy for ballet at the end of the day, having finished off with a nice bit of relaxation the last couple of days, but I found that the hour actually went super fast and almost didn’t seem long enough. We did quite a long barre and then moved into the centre for an adage, centre practice, pirouettes, pirouettes from the corner, a couple of petit allegro exercises and a couple of allegros travelling across the room to the finish with. Tomorrow I’m going to attempt the class in my pointe shoes and see how that goes! I haven’t done a huge amount of pointe other than the Intermediate syllabus so I really want to work on strengthening my feet in them – English Youth Ballet is going to be a killer with all those long rehearsals en pointe I think.

Review: La Sylphide|Dreams That Glitter

On Thursday I went to the evening performance of Australia’s Queensland Ballet’s production of La Sylphyide at London Coliseum, which only lasted from 4-8 August! My friend Sophie won a pair of tickets from Dancing Times and invited me to accompany her which I was very excited about. We had no idea where our seats would be until we collected the tickets from the box office and were delighted to find we were Row C in the stalls – an amazing view and definitely a lot closer than I’d ever sat in the Coliseum previously. The last time I was there was when me and Sophie met for the first time and took part in the English National Ballet’s Swan Lake workshop on stage, which was a wonderful experience (I’m patiently waiting for the next one).

The cast isn’t huge, consisiting of:

The Sylphide – Sarah Thompson

James – Luke Schaufuss

Madge – Greg Horsman

Gurn – Vito Bernasconi

Effie – Mia Heathcote

Anne – Mary Li

Lead Sylph –Lisa Edwards

These are the main characters; there is also a group of witches, ‘2 lads’ and the pas de huit.

The story follows the tragic tale of impossible love, between a Scottsman James who is awoken the night before his wedding by a beautifully captivating sylph, who steals him away and leads him into a forest where he chases the idea of her having abandoned his fiancé. Of course it’s just not that easy…

The elegance of the Sylph’s opening solo was performed beautifully by Sarah Thompson as she filled the stage with a series of tiny neat courus and all of her movements had a floaty, fairy-like sense to them, almost presenting a dream like orb around the character of the enchanting Sylphide who will go onto entice James on the eve of his wedding to Effie.

The entire first act was danced in a Scottish manor house clearly indicated by the use of the set. I was very impressed with the amount of batterie included in the choreography, it was inspiring to see such intricate footwork and carefully thought out patterns. The Scottish national dances were portrayed well by the cast, enhanced by the excessive use of tartan costumes! I’d like to give a special mention to the children in the cast – it took me a while to notice them as they blended into the corps so well, they coped so well with the demanding steps. I thought there was a perfect balance between classical ballet and Scottish folk dance throughout the performance.

The second act was set in a mysterious, magical woodland glade where the Sylph had lead James away from his wedding festivities back at the manor. This is where the tragedy unfolds with help from Madge the witch, wonderfully acted by Greg Horsman.

Although some reviews I’ve read state otherwise, I felt very much transported by the company’s production of this classic tale, but perhaps this is because I had nothing to compare it to? Either way, the ballet is now up there with my favourites and wouldn’t hesitate to see it again given the chance.

I think you should all now go and have a read of Sophie’s review of our evening as well, which you can find here: http://ballerinadreamsdancediary.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

10 Things About Auditions |Dreams That Glitter

Now that I’ve been to a few different auditions I thought I’d write this post because although I haven’t done hundreds of auditions and haven’t been going all that long, I feel as though I’ve learnt a lot already and I want to share it all with you. These are all from a dancer’s perspective but I guess they would apply to acting or singing too.

1. Be Yourself
I know it’s said a lot, but I think it’s the most important tip someone could give. As soon as you start pretending to be someone you’re not, you probably won’t do as well if you would just being you. Don’t try and be someone else that you think the company or whoever are looking for, because you could be very wrong. You never know what they’re really looking for and pretending to be someone else could throw that opportunity away for you. Also, don’t try and copy the way someone else performs the choreography you’re given, because chances are they’re a different shape to you, and could be a different style of dancer and it just won’t work. Don’t copy the material directly from the choreography either, try and put your own mark on it.

2. Learn From Others
This may now sound quite contradictory, but on the other hand, if you like how another dancer performs something and does it in a way you hadn’t thought of, there’s nothing to say you can’t do it that way as well. You can learn a lot by watching dancers around you because everyone has a different way of doing things. It’s important to get the balance right.

3. Take Risks
Risk takers prove very popular in auditions, and playing safe won’t get you anywhere. It’s better to do the choreography full out as big as you can and maybe mess up a little bit or trip up in the process, than do everything clean and small and ‘safe’. Don’t be afraid of trying new things, go for that double pirouette even if you’ve never attempted one before in your life.

4. Smile!
Look friendly! This seems pretty obvious, but a smile can go a long way. If you look like you’re enjoying yourself and look happy to be there then that could boost your chances of getting through to the next round next to someone who looks a little miserable and bored. Be aware of what your face is doing while you’re dancing, keep those muscles engaged too!

5. Do It For The Experience
Take every opportunity you can, even if it’s not usually your kind of thing because you may be surprised, and the more you go to and explore, the more you’re going to learn. Don’t go in expecting not to get anywhere, and don’t be put off by others. Even if you don’t get that place, you can guarantee that you will take away something with you from every audition you take part in, and applying next time could help you get the next thing you apply for.

6. Don’t Be Disheartened
Similar to what I said before, don’t be disappointed if you don’t get the first thing you go for, or even the first ten. It takes time to get used to the whole process but at the end of the day it’s all about being in the right place at the right time. You never quite know what someone’s looking for, but if you don’t get one thing you thought was perfect for you, there’ll be something even better waiting around the corner for you. Don’t lose heart!

7. Be Open Minded
Don’t dismiss something just because you’re not 100% comfortable with it or if something is slightly out of your comfort zone. Challenge yourself to new things and throw yourself in the deep end sometimes, you might surprise yourself.

8. Don’t Be Afraid To Go For Something Twice
Just because you don’t get into that dance company the first time you try, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again next season! A lot of companies change their artistic directors etc on a yearly or so basis, so they will always be looking for new, different types of people each time they hold auditions. Try, try and try again!

9. Think
On one hand, think about what you’re going for and what you want to get out of each experience before you go and apply, that way you know you’re not wasting your time and you can benefit somehow from it. On the other of thinking, don’t do too much of it if you don’t get the place! Accept that you weren’t what they were looking for and move on, don’t beat yourself up about it. Remember, there’s always another audition!

10. Be Prepared
Do your research before you apply to make sure it’s something you can benefit from and definitely want to do. Make sure you research the venue and how to get there, plan your route and timings, always give yourself more time than you actually need! Take everything with you: spare shoes (it’s good to take various options because you don’t know what the floor will be like), layers of clothing, plenty of water and substantial snacks.

These are in no particular order but I just wanted to put that out there and hope that someone might find some use of it! Share your best/worst audition experiences below….

Big Ballet |Dreams That Glitter

Ok so this post is a little late, I’ve been meaning to write it for a couple of weeks now but I’ve been distracted by dance and art deadlines (I probably should be doing art right now but writing this seemed more appealing). 

Anyway. Big Ballet was a three part documentary on Channel 4 a few weeks ago that was trying to showcase the fact that you don’t have to be small to be a dancer. Wayne Sleep bravely decided to explore the taboo subject and ventured into the world of overweight dancers. He auditioned men and women from all over and selected the best of them to be in his dance company, with his ultimate aim to produce a performance of Swan Lake, one of the most famous ballets of all time. 

I liked the idea of the program, of attempting to break down that barrier of strict rules when it comes to the professional ballet world, however I do think there are reasons for the specific qualities of a prima ballerina. It simply doesn’t look as aesthetically pleasing if a 200lb dancer in a leotard and ribboned shoes comes across the stage, I think the heavier you are it must be harder to be graceful. Having said that, considering the range of weights of the people that were shown at the audition stage, and looking at those who then got into the company, I think the ones that got in were considerably smaller, and maybe this defeated the object of the program slightly?

 

 

Now I’m not trying to be offensive but if any of those girls really loved and cared about ballet as much as they were making out to, they’d surely do something about their weight. Ballerinas need to look tall and elegant on stage and to do this you must have long, slim limbs. I’m not saying all ballerinas should be tall, but they at least give the impression of being taller by really extending their lines and pulling up through the body. A second thing, a ballerina can’t possibly be that much overweight with all the physical demands of the art form. It’s a very strenuous activity and part of the reason why most professional dancers are so slim and toned is because of all the work they are doing and the time they spend dancing in the studio rehearsing or performing on stage. A lot of preparation is gone into putting together shows and what you see on stage is the final result of that.  Professional dancers (and so aspiring ones probably should too) have a specific diet to satisfy the needs of their bodies. They would need sugary foods from time to time to keep their energy up as well as carbs for long term energy. The girls on Big Ballet always seemed to be eating rubbish around the camera or off for a McDonalds, and I think if you want to be a dancer then you have some kind of respect for your body and don’t want to be filling it with fatty horrible foods. 

My next point is how these women wanted to be referred to as ‘real women’ and not fat. Wayne initially called them fat in one of the VTs and that sparked off a lot of reactions from the bigger girls. He didn’t mean it to be harsh or mean, but at the end of the day that is what they are. In that kind of industry fat is just a word to describe people who are overweight, and that’s not healthy. I think the women did overreact and take a bit too much offense to that simple comment. It basically implies that women who are fit, healthy, slim or even just naturally skinny are not ‘real’. It’s the same as beauty campaigns claiming that they have ‘real women’ instead of models. Are models and dancers not real then? What are they? One lady on the show referred to dancers as being ‘robots’ which I found quite offensive and don’t see how that’s any more positive than calling them fat. Yes, dancers may work their bodies and do things with them that ‘normal’ people (excuse the term, as I feel that calling certain people normal is no better than what I’m trying to make a point about anyway but you know what I mean) probably wouldn’t, but that’s what dance has become and it does not mean that dancers should not be considered as real people.

Dance, and ballet in particular has evolved a lot over the last hundred years and like anything it has changed and adapted over time. It is now highly competitive and the standard is so high it’s almost ridiculous, but each generation wants to push themselves and be even more amazing than the last. At some point in the past someone decided (probably a man) that female ballet dancers should dance on their toes… however did they come up with that? As a dancer there is no slacking if you want to get anywhere because there is always people younger than you that are probably better than you and they are becoming the next generation of dancers behind you. Only the best of the best will get to be principal ballerinas at the top. 

I’ve kind of gone off on a bit of a tangent haven’t I… Back to Big Ballet. I thought a lot of the dancers did have a lot of talent, the majority of them had done ballet as a child and been told they were too fat to do it professionally or just quit in their own time or whatever, but many of them still had basic technique and there were a few pairs of definite ballet legs and feet in there. i did think it was quite sad how some of them had had years of dance training and never got anywhere but this was their chance to go somewhere with it. Throughout the dance classes they had you could see they were being pushed hard by Wayne and Monica Loughman and many of them rose to that and coped really well. 

They all developed quite rapidly and by the end they did have a full ballet and at times I’m sure they were doubting whether they would or not. it seemed to be quite successful and it was a brilliant opportunity for dancers who are slightly larger, and I think the company are possibly trying to take things a bit further and see what else they can do considering further projects. If you’re interested, go to @Big_Ballet_UK on twitter and follow what they’re up to.

In conclusion, I think that the ballet stereotypes are very unlikely to change, especially when it comes to weight. Unfortunate though it is that dancers on the larger side may never get the opportunity to perform in a renowned company and tour the country, some of the most important features of ballet are being able to dance everything with a perfect elegance, on your toes, have perfect technique and for the women to be lifted effortlessly by the man. This will always remain. 

I didn’t know this was going to turn into such a lengthy almost rant like post, but if you watched the show I’d love to know what you thought of it, or if you didn’t – what are your views on bigger ballet dancers? And lastly, I’m sorry if some of my comments came across slightly bitchy… 

You can find out more about the show and watch clips and exclusives including the full performance of Swan Lake here on the Channel 4 website: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/big-ballet

Dancer Project |Dreams That Glitter

After rediscovering the work ‘Dancers Among Us’ and the ‘Ballerina Project’ I managed to convince my dancer friends to pose for me so I could take some pictures of my own inspired by those photographers I’ve spoken about previously. We went up to the park and through the woods to take a few action shots and then went into the library, we did get a few odd looks here and there but I really like the results. Did I mention it was for my art project? We’ve started our exam projects now and I’m doing mine based around dance so after some artist research on dance photography, this was my next step. Thank you to my wonderful models Lauren and Maisie!

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Sights and Sounds of America |Dreams That Glitter

For the past few months my ballet classes have been spent preparing for a show that’s now all over for another two years when the next one will be. It was a lot of the girls’ last show as well as they’re all going off to uni etc, and if I’m still there in two years time I’ll be one of the oldest left. Does this mean I may get a part? Possibly, though it’s equally likely for the younger ones below me to get the proper parts and I’ll still just be in a group…

Although it was many people’s last show, it was also my friend Maisie’s first ballet show. 

 

The whole thing varied from stressful to a lot of fun but generally speaking I’ve always liked doing the shows. I did my first when I was 5 and always imagined what it would be like to be one of the older ones and ten years later here I am. I have to say I also hoped I would be in better costumes by now but I’m not really. The indian one was a dark green tunic type thing with trousers and they were a suede material, not the most fashionable, and of course the feather headbands. I was also in an evil mask dance where I had to wear a bright orange long sleeved leotard with this netted tabard thing over it, and a white mask which looked quite creepy… The best costume was probably the sun ones, a bright yellow leotard and various coloured long skirts, mine was gold. We also had a sequin waistband and gold tiara like headpiece. 

The ballet was called Silver Cloud and the story line was rather basic, there was an indian girl and boy about to get married, but then an evil snake comes and takes the boy and puts him under a trance. Various things happen and then everything ends happily and they kill the snake and the settlers and indians are united together. Make sense at all? Probably not. But it was fun to do and I spent quite a lot of time on stage which is quite unusual as in previous years I’ve had one 60 second dance in the entire ballet. 

So now ballet goes back to focusing on exam work! Here are some more pictures from the dressing room:

 

 

 

 

Dancing On Ice Week 4 |Dreams That Glitter

I’m a little late getting this up this week but I’m determined to get this done every week without fail so here we go!

This week was the first of our themed weeks of the competition, and it was ‘Dance Styles’. From ballet to street dance, we saw it all on Sunday and some of the contestants got on better than others. Everyone was out of their comfort zone as they were all given totally different styles. Dance week brought a clear divide to the ice panel as well, as you may have noticed, there’s Karen and Robin the skaters of the panel, looking for technique and quality of the skating itself, and then there’s Ashley and Jason who are much more involved with the performance side of things. I definitely think that Jason only focuses on this, whereas the other three judges are slightly more balanced and do look at the performance as a whole.

First up was Kyran, a big, strong rugby player up to do rock and roll, which is a fast, upbeat, bouncy kind of dance with lots of tricks. I think he did a brilliant job with Nina, especially with the tricks but I think the dancing part was pretty good too.

Next up was Suzanne and Matt doing ballet, which I was really excited for. First of all I’d like to comment on how sweet it was of Suzanne to get Matt’s parents over here, and I can’t believe they’ve never seen the show in the ten years that Matt’s been on it! I think they did a fantastic job together, there was a few ballet elements in there that I recognised but I do think there could have been a bit more. That’s not Suzanne’s fault though (it drives me crazy when the judges – it’s Jason 99% of the time – comment and insult the choreography when it has nothing to do with the celebrity, they’re given a new routine each week by Jayne and Chris themselves, and I’m sure they take everything into consideration when they are choreographing. I also think they’re amazing for choreographing everything themselves each week, just think about how many routines they’ve put together in the duration of the show since it started in 2006. Anyway – back to Suzanne and Matt – it was a shame they messed up the lift but they covered it up extremely well because I didn’t notice at all until they said afterwards.

Next were Gareth and Brianne with street dance, and I think Gareth is probably the least suited to that style in the whole competition. However, he gave it a good go and you could see that he’d put a lot of work into it. The difference between the footage from the beginning of the week and the final performance was excellent. Saying all that, I do think that Gareth is not at the standard of some of the other skaters he’s up against, and I think he could be in danger next week. But like Holly Willoughby said on This Morning last week, it’s not that he’s a bad skater, it’s just because everyone else is amazing and therefore makes him look worse.

After Gareth came Bonnie and Andrei, who were given the waltz. Now, everyone just assumed that Bonnie was going to be fantastic and have an advantage because of her profession but actually ballroom dancing is very different to say, the kind of dancing you do in west end shows, for example. Just because someone is good at one style of dance does not give them an automatic advantage at being good at every other style. I do think that she did a fantastic job though and she’s just as good as she was in the first series and I don’t think enough people appreciate her talent on that show.

This marks the half way point of the show, where we took a break from the competition and saw Jayne and Chris skate a beautiful routine to In My Life by Rebecca Fergusson who sung live. The routine was so touching, and I loved the projections at the beginning. If they do that on tour, then half the arena will be in pieces, guaranteed. I found out this week that Jayne and Chris are skating Bolero in Serajevo again to mark the 30^th anniversary at the winter Olympics, on the 13^th February, just a couple of weeks. I can’t explain how excited I am to see that. You can read more about it here.

Back to the competition – Sam and Vicky with their Bhangra routine. Sam was back on form this week and performed brilliantly with Vicky, the movements were sharp and precise and the routine looked like a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Next up was the couple who were sadly later eliminated from the competition after losing the skate off to Kyran. It was Zaraah and Andy skating a jazz routine. I thought this was one of their best yet, it was different from her other best routines which tend to be the lyrical kind. I really enjoyed watching them skate together (but I do miss Fred) and I’m disappointed to see them go. It’s got to the point where all the couples I didn’t really care too much about is gone and every skate off from this point onwards I’m going to be watching from behind a cushion. That’s when we know it gets serious.

Beth and Lukasz got quite an unusual dance style – Scottish. I thought this choreography was great because you could clearly see the elements from the dance style within the routine. And you’ve got to love Lukasz in that kilt, flashing Phil at the end, who knows what he saw 😉

Hayley and Dan were the penultimate couple to perform and they did a Charleston which I  personally (and I’m sure others will agree with me) deserved full marks. It had tonnes of energy and lots of fancy tricks and clear Charleston choreography which was executed wonderfully. 

Last but certainly not least, there was Ray and Maria performing a flamenco routine. It was quite different from what I was expecting but it was quite frankly outstanding and fully deserved the incredibly high marks that it got. He just never stops, who knows where he’ll be by the final (assuming the public don’t lose their minds and get rid of him)! 

If you missed any or simply want a recap all of the performances are available to view on the Dancing on Ice website.

Bring on next week!