DANCE LIST
DANCE
GLASGOW
Performance
See Focus on Dance special section.
I THEATRE ROYAL l lope Street. Box Officell3l 331 1234
Netherlands Dans Theatre 2 Mon 4—Sat 9 July. 7.30pm. £3—£I2. .\'DT2 arethe young sister group to Netherlands Dans Theatre. Based in a new theatre in the
llaig. it is a company of great \ igour and versatility despite its youthfulness (all dancers are between the ages IS and 21 l. NDT2 appear in (ireat Britain for the first time in Glasgow . this being their only his stop on an international tour.
Moscow Classical Ballet Mon 1 l-Sat to July. 7.30pm. Matinee Sat in at 2.3llpm. £3.5(l—Llh’5ll. It'sa triple first. I. A world premiere of a new production of Sw an Lake. 2. The first time a Soy iet company has worked with a British artist. 3. Tim (ioodchild. that British artist's first attempt at a tutu.
Moscow (‘lassical are ranked third only to the Moscow 's Bolshoi and Leningrads Kirov Ballets and tour in the same grand style. With a corps du ballet ot Jll plusstars of the Bolshoi. their performance looks set to be spectacular at least. Swan l.ake.a story of unrequited loy e w hich leads to union only in death. is the quintessential classic ofelassical ballets. Rows on rowsol swanettes and emotional duets betw een lovers. real and imagined. make it an irresistable challenge to today 's companies.
Dance Theatre of Harlem Mon 15 Sat 2o Aug. 7.30pm. Matinee Sat 2flat 2..‘~llpm. £3.5(l—fl85ll. Theatre Royal's bat-trick of
firsts culminates in the first visit to Scotland by this internationally renowned all-black ballet company. With Firt’hird, I’our I ‘cm/n’rumcnis and Phoenix Rising in the programmes. this company will undoubtedly pull Festival goers overfrom lidinburgh.
Classes
See locus on Dance panel on a weekof Classes. 3~ lllJuly.
See (‘()I ' RSliS section after Edinburgh for details of‘special courses.
EDINBURGH Classes
I ASSEMBLY ROOMS 54 (ieorge Street 225 All I 4.
Dance Al Assembly Regular classes for all. Mon -7 .lune—(‘ontemporary with Marilyn Williams. Tue ZS .Iune-Contemporary with (‘raig McKnight. Sun 3July-Dance Day (see (‘ourses below).
I EPWDRTH HALLS'Nicolson Street (22‘) III-71 lot‘inl'o).
Classes with Tracy Hawkes
Wednesday Ballet (l. 15—-7.3llpm. Adults general beginnerswelcome. MondayJazz h..‘s(L-7.45pin. Adult intermediate.
SatJazz l2.45 ~2pm. Adult general. beginners welcome.
All classes £2.25 (L2). Reduction for block hooking.
Courses, Summer Schools I DANCE INTD THEATRE Iinglisb Dance
Theatre. Dance ('ity. l’eel Lane.
Newcastle .\'l{l 4DW. 25 July—b Aug.
.\ summer school w hich promises to be worth the cost. including tuition byJacky l.ansley (new directorof linglish Dance Theatre ). Rosemary Butcher (oneof
GLASSES
Britain‘s leading New Dance choreographers). Laurie Booth (known internationally for his work in movement theatre) and Rose English (a performance artist who has worked from both epic and personal perspectives). £120 (£85) not including accomodation.
I DANCE THIS SUMMER OF PEACE-A FESTIVAL Brunton Hall. Musselburgh. 665 371 1 . 8- IOJuly. A festival open tothe public which will include classes for experienced and beginners and will focus on an international flavour to dance. Director Tom Yang has organised folk dance front Nicaragua. India. Japan. and Europe taught by a group ofprofessional dancers. Music will be provided in plenty by a number of musicians. A wonderful opportunity to feel the spirit ofother cultures. At a nominal £3 for all three days it is also a bargain. For further details and applications contact ELCl-IAT at the Brunton i fall.
I DAY OF DANCE Assembly Rooms. 54 George Street. 447 5205 (evenings). Sunday 3 July from Ilium—4.30pm. £6 (£3). Tickets available in advance from Assembly‘s regular dance classes (see above) or on the day. It is suggested that you bring along a packed lunch. Tea. coffee and juice will be provided.
A day ofactivity for all levels of experience. In the morning Marilyn Williams teaches contemporary dance and choreography. During lunch there's a chance to see ‘Between Stones' a performance/installation collaboration between a visual artist and dancer — this is free and also open to the public. After that. Sheridan Nicol takes a nifty jazz class and then there is a discussion on the future ofdance in Edinburgh. lfyou can‘t make it to the workshops. you are invited to come along to the discussion as it is important that your views are heard.
All classes highlighted below are at the Royal Scottish Academy Of Music and Drama, Renfrew Street, Glasgow. Slip into something comfortable and take a dance class. Whetheryou've been turning up fortutu training since you were live, think you’re pretty hot on the disco floor but would like to try your feet out on something a bit different, or don’t know a pirouette from a pas de bas, now's your chance. Focus on Dance has packed as many classes into their week as the BSAMD will take.
Believe it or not (and if you flick through the programme you will) there are more than 100 classes over eight days. Fifty teachers are taking part, many of them known internationally. There are morning classes to catch early birds and evening classes for those who work. You could take class all day and treat the week like a summer school. Dryou could dip into just one or two to see how it feels— acquire the taste. There are classes for complete beginners and classes for professionals. There are special classes for kids — even three year-olds are catered for (Mon 4 July noon). And where it says ‘Age 13 Upwards’ there's no age limit atall.
So what do you do if you want to go to a Focus dance class? First of all, check the programme carefully. Although laid out clearly there is a lot of information and you must be careful to pick out classes which suit you. Look out for level of experience required. The most common classification is ‘general'. That denotes an open class structured for people of mixed ability. However,
these classes do require some experience of everyone participating. It need only be a number of dance classes in the past, or experience in a different technique, but complete beginners and those who had never been to class would find terminology difficult and the pace too fast.
Forthose people, there are beginners classes, marked as such. Even if you have never done ballet before, it‘s fun to try ballet as an adult (Mon 4 July 5.45pm). It does wonders for a sagging posture. If you fancy something less refined, why not tap (Tue 5 July 5.45pm) or ballroom (Tue 5 July 11.30am) orjazz (Thurs 7 July 5.45)? Putting a little rhythm into your soul is one of the most universal pleasures we humans can hope for against all that gravity.
If you have never been to a dance class before, make this the first. Your
rig-out need not be elaborate, but it is best to feel comfortable, physically and psychologically. Footless tights and/or track-pants are best topped with a loose T-shirt. Long hair should be tied back and jewellery left behind. Feet for contempory classes should be bare - feeling the floor is all part ofthe experience. Ballet beginners may need to wear socks forthe barre, butwill need to take them off for running and leaps. Most classes begin with a warm-up session and move on to studying steps and choreography, building on all aspects of the body. The mental challenge must not be forgotten either— it is an extra dimension which other forms of exercise cannot offer. Dancers, both amateur and professional, must sharpen their memory, quicken theirthoughtto
action processes and look for accuracy of mind as much as body. If you can
imagine a step clearly in your mind, it is much more likely that you will eventually be able to execute it.
If you have some experience under your leotard, then you will be wondering how to squeeze all the masterclasses into yourfimetable. If you can’t make up your mind here are just a few of the unmissables:
Phoenix Dance Compfliy, General, Sun 3 July 3—5pm; Bose English (wonderfully unique performance artist) General Mon 4July, 2.30—5pm; (1&9ng of the Kirov Ballet, Leningrad Intermediate/Advanced Tue 5July, 10-11.30am; Mom, artistic director of Second Stride, Elementary Wed 10-noon; Alan Beale, assistant director of Stuttgart Ballet General Thurs 7 July, 10-11.30am;C_o_r1ip_aggje Prelim] from France General Fri 8 July, loam—12.30pm.
As well as the illustrious band of visiting artists there is also a whole group of classes taken by dancers living in Scotland. Most (Tracy Hawkes in Edinburgh, Fiona Alderman in Glasgow, Craig McKnight in Dundee and many others) take regular class in their home town — for details of those check with them after the Focus class and/or refer to the regular List dance column.
Whateveryou do, enjoy yourself. The Academy is superbly equipped with showers, new studios with barres, mirrors and pianos and a cafe/bar. With all that and the exceptional quality of classes on offer, there is no excuse. Get down and boogie.
(Alice Bain)
The List 24 June — 7 July 1988 23