ABT Cinderella

When I found out that Marianela Nuñez was performing in American Ballet Theater's Cinderella, I couldn't help but buy a ticket to see her perform!

Her artistry and sense of emotion in Cinderella's first solo seemed to make time stand still, as the entire theatre became absorbed in her beauty.

Isabella Boylston danced gracefully as the fairy godmother, with light, swift bourrees and delicate epaulement.

Despite cleverly crafted scenery, involving a flickering fire in the hearth, the technical aspects of the production were somewhat underwhelming. When the time came for her to transform Cinderella's pumpkin into a carriage for the ball, the Fairy Godmother playfully lobbed the pumpkin offstage; it was replaced from the wings by a silver carriage. Perhaps an onstage transformation would've been more exciting- something akin to Birmingham Royal Ballet's gargantuan growing tree in the Nutcracker would've given the ballet that elusive "wow factor".

The highlight for me, in the ball scene, was Gabe Stone-Shayer's spectacularly springy Jester; he displayed fabulous charisma and stage presence, as well as excellent elevation, with particularly impressive straddle jumps. 

At the ball, the corps de ballet danced in white tutus; my instinctive thought was of the snow in Nutcracker; I couldn't quite fathom the relevance of snow in a ballroom, until I looked at my programme, to see that they were not snow, but stars. Nonetheless, I didn't really see why stars would be in a ballroom either! 

A highlight of the final act was Nunez' double ménage of pique turns in her solo; she demonstrated incredibly impressive speed and control.

In the curtain calls, the entire theatre seemed to give a standing ovation- which beautiful Marianela certainly deserved. 

Swan Lake

On Saturday, I was incredibly lucky to see American Ballet Theatre's Swan Lake, with Isabella Boylston as Odette/Odile, and Danil Simkin as Prince Seigfried. 

It was so inspiring, knowing that the last time I saw Swan Lake, it was the middle of audition season, and I was desperately vying for a ballet school place. This time, I was in New York City, a summer intensive student of the Joffrey Ballet School- with a Ballet West place for September. I am so grateful to have such supportive friends and family- and the most amazing ballet teacher I could ever wish for- who help me to achieve my dreams.

Anyway! I particularly enjoyed the act 1 pas de trois in Swan Lake, and the entrance of the corps de ballet swans, as I knew the choreography for both scenes. The dancer who performed the first solo in the pas de trois had an interesting sense of musicality; she seemed to dance through the music on the opening section- echappe releve, attitude devant, derrière, entrechat six-  as opposed to using the counts and holding each releve.

I was delighted to see Misty Copeland- who yesterday became the first woman of African-American descent to ever become Principal of American Ballet Theater- dance in the Cygnets pas de quatre. Her stage presence was phenomenal; she danced with effortless strength and grace. It is so inspirational to know how Misty defied the odds; she doesn't fit the "ideal ballerina" stereotype, but she was determined to succeed- so she did.

Isabella Boylston's Odette had a beautiful sense of sensitivity and vulnerability, her first pas de deux with Seigfried was enchantingly delicate and emotive. Personally, I preferred her as Odette rather than Odile; in the act 3 pas de deux, her turns lacked the vitriolic dynamic of the black swan, and although she neatly executed the iconic fouetté turns in the coda, she travelled significantly, lacking the spectacular virtuosity of dancers such as Tamara Rojo or Miko Fogarty. 

In contrast, Danil Simkin dazzled in Seigfried's act 3 solo: his leaps had spectacular ballon, and he attacked the pirouettes with a vivacious sense of determination.

The ballet's ending was considerably more tragic than that of the Russian version; both Seigfried and Odette died in the lake, followed by Von Rothbart's demise, as unconditional love vanquished his evil powers. 

As the spine-tingling chords of the final theme played, an image of a slowly rising sun illuminated the backdrop, as the corps de ballet swans grieved for Odette and Seigfried, immaculately precise in their positioning. With no image of Seigfried and Odette reunited in heaven, the sunrise seemed despondent, bearing the truth that even love cannot overpower deceit and evil; life goes on, bearing no regard to human sorrow.

Nonetheless, although the ballet was deeply emotional rather than uplifting, it was phenomenally inspiring, to see one of the best companies in the world perform in such an incredibly beautiful theatre. 

Joffrey; Week 1

I have just finished my first week of classes at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing opportunity, the teachers are incredible and I feel like I'm improving already! Yesterday's teacher was an ex-Bolshoi dancer :D

It's been awesome to see New York too, (although I have to say, the Subway is a lot more confusing than the London Underground!!) so far we've visited Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge, which was phenomenal! (I'll upload photos when I work out how to!) This afternoon, I'm going to see American Ballet Theatre's Swan Lake, which I'm super excited about! 

Ballet West

A few months ago, I auditioned via video, for a place at Ballet West, in Scotland. I really wasn't expecting a place at all- in fact I just wanted the rejection email to come quickly, so I could get over my inevitable failure and move on. 

Last week, I glanced at my phone, whilst modelling for a group of artists who were drawing portraits. I had a voicemail message from an unfamiliar number, so clicked on it to listen, out of curiousity. "Hello Sophie, this is Jean from Ballet West," oh please no, I'm surrounded by people, this is not a good time for a rejection, I thought desperately- yet couldn't quite bring myself to cut off the message. The voice continued "We are sorry to have kept you waiting, but I am calling you with the good news that we would like to offer you a place at Ballet West, for this September". The world seemed to stand still for a second, I barely dared to believe what I was hearing. To the shock and bemusement of the poor artists who were drawing me, I screamed with delight, feeling as if, at last, the entire universe was perfect. It felt entirely surreal- in fact it still does- to think that just as I had lost hope, my ballet school dream finally came true. When I received my official letter confirming my place at the school, it felt just like the scene in Billy Elliot, when Billy got his letter from the Royal!!

This week, mum and I went to Scotland to visit Ballet West. It  is in a tiny, sleepy village on the north west coast of the Scottish Highlands, called Taynuilt. The scenery is breathtaking, although we did get very lost attempting to walk from the station to the school, after nine hours on a train!! Luckily, a lovely lady pulled over in her car and offered us a lift to Ballet West. At the school, we watched a pas de deux class- the dancers were all very gifted, and it was lovely to see the trust between the students. Then, we met Gillian, who is the owner of the school. She is incredibly kind, and reassured mum that she takes very good care of all of her students!! Mum and I stayed the night in Oban, before travelling home- having made a definite decision that I belong at Ballet West!! Although moving away from home is a daunting prospect, I am already counting down the days until I start at Ballet West, it's all so exciting!

Meanwhile, I'm busy preparing for a trip to New York; I'm off to the Joffrey Ballet School summer intensive next week!!!!! :D

Exciting news!!!

I GOT A PLACE AT THE JOFFREY BALLET SUMMER SCHOOL IN NEW YORK !!!! :-D :-D

Just One More!!!!

Just as I thought auditions were over, my friend text me last week; "Joffrey Ballet are holding summer intensive auditions in London!!" Of course, the allure of a trip to my favourite place was irresistible (although tinged with the tiniest bit of sadness knowing that my last trip to Covent Garden, for my Royal audition, was filled with hope of a ballet school place, a hope that is now extinguished for at least another year).

I arrived in London (having successfully navigated the Underground!) and did a Russian ballet class at DanceWorks. I have always admired the Russian dancers, and adore the Russian style, however a negative audition experience involving a rude principal and a very strict teacher who spoke- or rather, yelled- in Russian throughout the class, had somewhat diminished my desire to learn the Vaganova style. I didn't really know what to expect in the class, but was pleasantly surprised by how lovely our teacher, Zina Mamedova, was. Zina trained at the Vaganova, danced with the Kirov, then became Principal of the National Ballet Theatre of Prague! 

We did a lot of barrework, focussing on building strength through slow, repetitive movements. The centre work was faster paced, with four lovely grand allegro enchainements!

After exploring beautiful Hyde Park, I travelled to Covent Garden. The spiral staircase to exit the station was a good warm-up; 193 steps! I visited all of the dance shops, before arriving at Pineapple Studios for the Joffrey audition. 

There were just seven of us in the audition (although as Joffrey tour worldwide for their auditions, I'm not expecting a place at all!); the man who taught the class was wonderfully enthusiastic, and gave some really useful corrections. He was particularly meticulous regarding alignment; for example in arabesque he didn't want us to pitch forwards at all (contrary to what I have been taught!); it was quite hard to adapt to the unique Joffrey style!

The pirouette enchainement was lovely; despite having not danced for 2 weeks over Easter, I managed a few triples, which I was very pleased about as I was expecting it to be a disaster!! 

During certain exercises I had to remind myself to smile, but in grand allegro I couldn't help but smile, as it felt as if all of my favourite steps had been put into one enchainement!

They said we'll hear the results of the audition within 3 weeks- although I'd absolutely love to go to New York, it isn't financially feasible, so I'm looking at summer schools in the UK instead :P

Audition Conclusion

I've completed all of my auditions (Royal, Northern, BTUK, London Russian & Hammond), and am very sad to say that unfortunately I wasn't offered a place this year. However, the past few months of auditions have taught me so much- independence, confidence, and most importantly, how to cope with rejection!! I have made the decision to study a BTEC Dance course at college, with the aim of auditioning for ballet and contemporary schools in early 2017. That seems like an eternity away!! But I suppose I knew all along that I wasn't ready for vocational school this year; within the next two years i hope to continue to improve my ballet, and increase my knowledge of contemporary. I also teach at my local dance school; there is nothing more wonderful than bringing joy to young children, giving them the gift of dance.