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Dance In The UK: NYCB’s Nutcracker Production

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by Jessica Wilson

The Nutcracker

There’s an extremely Christmassy privilege heading to the UK on 22nd December, in the form of New York City Ballet’s brand new production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, with tickets priced at just ten pounds. This multi-million dollar production includes a forty foot Christmas tree which weighs a staggering one tonne, seventy ballet dancers, fifty children from the School of American Ballet – the official school of NYCB – and a sixty-two piece orchestra. It is ultimately described by the New York Post as “the Christmas show of all Christmas shows”.

NYCB has an unparalleled active repertory of more than 150 works, many of which are considered modern masterpieces. The Company was established in 1948 by choreographer Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein, joined by Jerome Robbins in 1949 as associate artistic director.  Now under the artistic direction of Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins, the company performs an impressive annual 21-week season in New York, the longest home season of any dance company in the world.

The production’s defining feature is its vast scale, described as a ‘virtually live performance’ to be screened in cinemas all over the UK. This will ultimately provide mass audiences with the chance to view such an iconic and prestigious work by Balanchine, who is generally argued to be the father of modern ballet. This great accessibility is proved unhindered by the extremely limited run, due to the fact it is the ‘golden ticket’ of ballets for all dance lovers, available nationally. [Read more…]

Dance In The UK: Dance Shows Boost Popularity?

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by Jessica Wilson

Jessica Wilson

Having seen a huge influx of dance-related TV shows throughout 2011, a recent survey conducted by YouGov has revealed that just over 1 in 5 British adults (21%) have become interested in dancing as a result of shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and So You Think You Can Dance. The survey was completed in the prelude to the Dance Proms, a new festival which took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday 13th November of this year. The Dance Proms featured twenty-four acts selected from a competition held to find the UK’s most talented dance students and representing all genres of dance. Dance Proms, a celebration of dance in all its forms, is organised by UK’s leading dance organisations: the International Dance Teachers’ Association (IDTA), Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD); and the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD).

The YouGov survey also revealed that roughly the same number of adults (1 in 5) currently participate in some form of dance, stretching across a vast range of styles, with just over 1 in 8 adults (13%) having taken part in a dance class in the last five years. This is sure to grow in the future, with the introduction of extremely popular “dance-fit” activities such as Zumba, the latest dance craze to sweep the US and Europe, and favoured among many celebrities including Wayne Rooney, Madonna and Jennifer Lopez. [Read more…]

Dance In The UK: “The Place” & Dance Education

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Jessica Wilson

by Jessica Wilson

Following the comments made by British Member of Parliament David Willetts, the relationship between dance and education has now been placed under close scrutiny. Dance professionals became increasingly concerned that the position of dance in education was under threat, which consequently sparked the debate. Willetts, Universities and Science Minister, recently remarked that he believed “soft” subjects such as Dance should be of less worth if a student was to apply to attend university. The dance sector strongly rejected this argument. Willetts’s claims were controversially published on the same day in August 2011 as the examination results which precede students’ further studies at university.

At what can only be defined as perfect timing elsewhere in London was the announcement that The Place, the UK’s premier centre for contemporary dance, is to introduce GCSE Dance to their existing teaching schedules. GCSEs are national examinations taken by young people both inside and outside schools; the course offered by The Place is open to students aged 13-18 years old. A parallel to the British school examination system can be observed in the Cecchetti system, used throughout Britain and the United States and enabling students to take exams at different levels and progress to higher grades. GCSE examinations form much of the first preparation for further education and with such promotion by The Place, dance appears to be on the road to recovery. To hear Willetts’s comments on the prospective introduction of this course would be very interesting to say the least. [Read more…]

Musical Productions: What Brings Success?

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Jessica Wilson

Please join me in welcoming 4dancers new Intern and Contributor Jessica Wilson to the site. Today she’s sharing some thoughts about what brings success in musical productions, based on her experiences in London…and she’ll be joining us from time-to-time with posts here on 4dancers…

by Jessica Wilson

London’s West End is currently in a state of flux. Musical productions continue to close, making way for others to take their place, for sometime only weeks at a time. At first, this local circumstance appears to be one alone; however, it may be that this occurrence extends further outside of London, nationally, and perhaps even internationally.

Focusing on London primarily, it is vital to draw attention to the fact that the shows closing are generally those which are not based on an existing concept such as a book or film, whereas those that survive are based on an existing commercial success.

In September of this year, Alistair Smith in The Guardian online wrote of “home-grown” musicals such as Betty Blue Eyes, featuring a pig that is being illegally reared to ensure the local dignitaries can celebrate the Royal Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. As one of the shows to be closing imminently, Smith conversely argues that this is not the beginning of the decline of the British musical, citing many alternative successes as Ghost, Billy Elliot, and Matilda. However, Smith does not identify that all of his examples are based on a previous success – be it a Hollywood film, the story of a British mining town or a popular children’s book – despite the productions’ origins. There are musical productions waiting left, right and centre ready to fill previous show’s shoes and they are less and frequently original conceptions for stage. [Read more…]

NDTA: Ignite! Annual Conference and AGM 2010

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For those of you dance teachers/readers in the UK…don’t forget the upcoming conference – “Ignite!”

Sessions this year will include things such as:

  • Working with boys
  • Understanding dance film
  • Choreography–developing creativity

And more…for details and a complete schedule of events, visit the National Dance Teachers Association.

The conference will take place on Saturday the 20th of November 2010 at Elmhurst School for Dance in Birmingham. Don’t miss this wonderful event!

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