DANSOX Summer Schools, Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Oxford 11th-25th July 2022

Dance Scholarship Oxford (DANSOX) hosts no less than three exciting summer intensives this July. International artists, writers, choreographers and guests explore themes of creativity and dance-making in relation to other arts. Alice Oswald and Saju Hari explore epic through different media; Thomas Page Dances develops current research on Commonalities; emerging dancers at Rambert School and the Royal Scottish Conservatoire make new dance narratives by and about women.  Guest lecturers include international dance critic Alastair Macaulay and eminent biographer Lyndall Gordon. Visitors are welcome to drop in at any time to watch the processes unfolding, but do book places for the public sharing events listed below.

Venue: Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford OX4 1DY

Alice Oswald with Saju Hari and Dancers 11th-14th July

Oxford’s Professor of Poetry Alice Oswald collaborates with internationally renowned contemporary Indian dance and martial arts expert Saju Hari, developing work for the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama All-Night Epic project to come in 2023.

Public Sharing including Q&A: 14th July 5.30pm

Thomas Page Dances: Commonalities 15th-20th July

Thomas Page Dances develops new dance work and discusses the themes of commonality in relation to dance theories, histories and practice.

Public Keynote Guest Lecture given by Alastair Macaulay: ‘Commonalities, Communities, Utopia’ 15th July 11.30am

Public Sharing of the work with Thomas Page Dances including Q&A: 20th July 5.30pm

Deborah Norris, Rambert School and Guests: Women and Choreography 21st-25th July

This exciting choreographic intensive brings together a group of students of the Rambert School and the Royal Scottish Conservatoire in classes and workshops with guest teachers Kate Flatt, Jennifer Jackson and Susie Crow, and to make new work.

Public Keynote Guest Lecture given by Lyndall Gordon: Charlotte Brontë (Villette) 21st July 5.30pm

Public Sharing of Woman-Made! An evening of new short ballets created by women including Q&A

25th July 5.30pm

To book for Keynote Lectures and Public Sharing events please email Professor Sue Jones here

 

Ballet: The Essential Guide to Technique and Creative Practice, edited by Jennifer Jackson – Maggie Watson reviews

If I had to recommend just one book to a vocational dance student, it would be Ballet: The Essential Guide to Technique and Creative Practice.  In ten chapters, each written by an expert, the book covers the full range of material of which anyone embarking on a career in ballet needs understanding and awareness. 

The structure takes the reader logically from Ginny Brown’s and Anna Meadmore’s opening chapters on  ballet’s founding principles, cultural history and heritage, though the practical aspects of learning to dance, self-care, creativity and musicality, and on to guidance on the professional conduct, conventions and essential activities that all help bring a performance from the studio to the stage.

 

DANSOX Inaugural Summer School, St Hilda’s College Oxford 6th-8th July 2019

The DANSOX Inaugural Summer School will be taking taking place 6-8th July at St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford, attracting a unique mix of dance academics and artist practitioners in a rich programme of seminars, practical lecture demonstrations and special dance film and book presentations.

Alastair Macaulay, former Chief Dance Critic at the New York Times, leads the three-day event with lectures on three master choreographers: Petipa, Balanchine and Cunningham.  Seminars will include presentations by dance scholars including Julia Bührle, Renate Bräuninger, Gabriela Minden, Margaret Watson, Fiona Macintosh and Tom Sapsford.  Lecture demonstrations will include Moira Goff on 17th century and baroque dance, Susie Crow and pianist Jonathan Still on the ballet class (with dancers Ben Warbis and Ellie Ferguson of Yorke Dance Project), and Jennifer Jackson with composer Tom Armstrong on music and choreographic practice.  Sir Richard Alston will talk about the influence of Merce Cunningham on his work, including a solo performance by Elly Braund.  Lynne Wake will present her recent film Bejart and Queen, and the event culminates in the eagerly anticipated launch of Nadine Meisner‘s biograpy of Marius Petipa.

Dates:  Saturday 6th -Monday 8th July 2019

Venue:  St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford OX4 1DY

To celebrate the inauguration of this special event, DANSOX is offering one-off specially discounted tickets: £15.00 daily ticket, £30.00 for a three-day ticket.
All are welcome. Come for a day or two, or for the whole three days. Refreshments and lunch provided for ticket holders.
Booking essential at Eventbrite https://dansoxsummerschool.eventbrite.co.uk

Download the full programme here

Accommodation available in St Hilda’s College – contact Sarah Brett
Further information from the Programme Director: Professor Susan Jones.

We hope to see you there!

 

 

Images Ballet Company at Cornerstone Arts Centre, Didcot, Thursday 13 June 2019 – Maggie Watson reviews

Images Ballet Company presented a programme of joyful, colourful and musical work at Didcot Cornerstone Theatre on Thursday. Interlacing originality with tradition, the opening work, Interplay by Mikaela Polley, set the tone for the evening as light gradually bathed the backdrop in blue, revealing percussionist and composer Martin Pyne upstage right, and seven dancers stage left, silhouetted in beautifully placed classical ballet poses.

Images is the company of London Studio Centre’s graduating ballet students (six women, two men this year) and it gave the dancers the chance to work with four different choreographers on new works, exploring ballet as a means of expression and communication. The light hearted Interplay, with its changes of direction and use of pointe and swift, darting petit allegro was full of friendly interactions between the dancers.

 

Images Ballet Company, Cornerstone Arts Didcot, Thursday 13th June 2019

This week Didcot’s Cornerstone Arts welcomes Images Ballet Company for the second time, in an evening that highlights the dynamic range and beauty of ballet today.  This company of aspiring ballet professionals with “coltish freshness” (Dancing Times) take centre stage in four exciting works by internationally established and rising choreographers working across the globe today.

Former Scottish Ballet Director Ashley Page creates playful neo-classical dances to music by Britten, while Andrew McNicol draws on Ravel’s lush Miroirs for an intimate portrait of women. Ballet and contemporary dance maker Cameron McMillan pushes balletic lines into fresh classic form and Mikaela Polley and percussionist Martin Pyne collaborate to bring brand new ballet and music together. Vibrant dancing set off with stylish costume and a rich musical palette, including live percussion, promises a performance that will entertain and surprise ballet lovers and newcomers to dance alike.

“Their show was one of the most exciting I’ve seen in years with a wonderful and eclectic choice of repertoire, danced with passion and verve”
-Bruce Marriot, Dance Tabs

Directed by former Royal Ballet soloist, Jennifer Jackson and presented by London Studio Centre, one of the country’s most prestigious performing arts colleges, Images Ballet Company is one of four touring companies made up of final year students – INTOTO DANCE (contemporary dance) THE JAZZ DANCE COMPANY (jazz theatre dance) IMAGES BALLET COMPANY (classical ballet) and SEEDTIME (music theatre).

Founded in 1978 by Bridget Espinosa, London Studio Centre enjoys an international reputation for its outstanding professional theatre training in the performing arts. Students experience exceptional teaching in a vibrant atmosphere at London Studio Centre’s home in the award winning arts centre, artsdepot.

Performance:  Thursday 13th June 7.30pm

Venue:  Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon OX11 7NE

Tickets:  £12.50 (concessions £10, Members’ discount 20%)  Book online here or call the Box Office on 01235 515144

Find out more about Images Ballet Company here

 

 

Robert Helpmann: the many faces of a theatrical dynamo, edited by Richard Allen Cave & Anna Meadmore – Maggie Watson reviews

This collection of essays, articles and interviews, accompanied by a DVD, is enlightening, entertaining and scholarly. Robert Helpmann joined the Vic Wells Ballet in 1933, and was a major influence in the development of ballet in England, but despite being the subject of three biographies (by Elizabeth Salter, Anna Bemrose, and Kathrine Sorley Walker), by the early years of this century his fame was fading and his choreographic work Miracle in the Gorbals (1944) was almost lost.

The story of this ballet’s miraculous recovery threads through the book, and draws together memories, commentary, film footage and analysis.

 

Images Ballet Company: Cornerstone Theatre, Didcot, 13th June 2018 – Maggie Watson reviews

Images Ballet Company is the performing group of the graduating ballet students at London Studio Centre, and their appearance at Cornerstone last night was an exciting opportunity to see new dancers and new (or nearly new) works. Artistic Director Jennifer Jackson presented a programme of dances by four choreographers (Hubert Essakow, Erico Montes, Bim Malcomson, and Morgann Runacre-Temple), which demanded lyricism, attack, humour and acting ability, and the dancers rose to the occasion magnificently.

 

Images Ballet Company, Cornerstone Theatre Didcot, 13th June 2018

Coming to the area for the first time, Images Ballet Company is proud to present a programme of entertaining dance, reflecting the diversity and beauty of Ballet today, that will appeal both to ballet lovers and those new to dance.  Directed by Jennifer Jackson, Images Ballet Company is one of four touring 3rd year companies from major vocational school London Studio Centre. The aspiring professionals of the company take centre stage to showcase theatrical and vibrant ballet with stylish costumes and a rich musical palette.

Working with Images for her third successive year, acclaimed choreographer Morgann Runacre-Temple has re-created Mozart’s Women: The Kingdom of Back, her exquisitely detailed portrait of three women in Mozart’s life, with a new cast. Bim Malcomson explores of the humour of being human.  Former Royal Ballet and Rambert soloist, Hubert Essakow presents encounters between live music and dance, while Royal Ballet artist Erico Montes’ choreography and process has richly enhanced the dancers’ feeling for flow and epaulement.

Music is central to this year’s show.  Viola and guitar duo Elliott Perks and Tom Ellis have arranged Schumann’s Marchenbilder to be played live for Cut Out, Hubert Essakow’s dances with space and gravity.  Bim Malcomson has used music from Joby Talbot’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for Red Queen Brouhaha, her witty exploration of ideas from Lewis Carroll’s imaginative world. In the centenary year of votes for women in this country, Erico Montes has been drawn to the music of a little known African American composer, Florence Price, for his Sonata in Colour.

Louie Whitemore and Andrew Ellis have brought their expertise in costume and lighting to finesse the visual landscape.

A note from Artistic Director, Jennifer Jackson;

“The dancers you see tonight specialise in classical ballet in their professional training at London Studio Centre. Three second year students are joining the graduating class on tour and all have been involved in working with choreographers, designers, musicians, production staff, repetiteurs and teachers over the past three months to create the programme. Each ballet grows from a unique creative process through which the dancers develop as versatile collaborative artists, honing professional skills that are required to meet the diverse expressive and performative demands of the ballet today. It is a great privilege to work with these artists and alongside the excellent educators at London Studio Centre. I am hugely thankful for their contributions and support of Images’ work and our exploration of ballet as creative artistic practice.”

Performance:  Wednesday 13th June, 7.30pm

Venue:  Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot OX11 7NE

Tickets:  Book online here, or call the Box Office on 01235 515144

Find out more about Images Ballet Company here

About London Studio Centre:

Founded in 1978 by Bridget Espinosa, London Studio Centre offers a comprehensive Theatre Dance Course for students who are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of the theatre. LSC is thrilled to announce the validation of its enhanced Theatre Dance course, which continues to offer students a broad and versatile training but further allows students to specialise in Classical Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Jazz Dance or Music Theatre.

Graduate students have embarked on successful careers, joining companies such as Rambert Dance Company, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, Michael Clark Company, Richard Alston Dance Company, Henri Oguike Dance Company, Phoenix Dance Theatre, The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Spirit of the Dance, JazzXchange, Stomp, ZooNation, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal National Theatre, as well as performing on Broadway and the West End in musicals including Wicked, Chicago, Matilda, Hamilton and Cats.

Many students have also worked on numerous television programmes and films and in the commercial sector. Many graduates also are working as independent, creative artists in dance and theatre.

Find out more about the school here

 

 

Kenneth MacMillan’s Sea of Troubles: genesis and revival – Susie Crow

October 2017 marks the 25th anniversary of the death of choreographer Kenneth MacMillan.   The festival Kenneth MacMillan: a National Celebration hosted by the Royal Opera House brings together two weeks of performances of MacMillan repertoire by not only the Royal Ballet, but also Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet, Scottish Ballet and Yorke Dance Project, who will be performing his late work Sea of Troubles in the Clore Studio and on tour.  Oxford Dance Writers pays its own hommage to the master here: Susie Crow, a founder member of chamber company Dance Advance for whom Sea of Troubles was originally made and and herself an original cast member, writes about the work, its genesis, and the experience of reviving it for performance by today’s dancers.

Sea of Troubles was commissioned from Kenneth MacMillan by Dance Advance for touring to small and mid-scale venues.  It was officially premiered on March 17^th 1988 at the Brighton Festival.  A tour of over 35 performances in what was then the Southern, South East and Eastern regions followed, culminating in two performances at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. In the following year there were further performances by the company including at Madrid’s Festival de Otoño, and the company was supported by the British Council to perform it at festivals in China and Germany.  In 1991 the work entered the repertoire of Scottish Ballet for a few performances; and in 2002 it was performed by an ensemble lead by Adam Cooper and Sarah Wildor at the Exeter Festival in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of MacMillan’s death.  It was revived at short notice by Scottish Ballet for performance at the Edinburgh Festival in 2014; and in 2016 was remounted from the original notation by Jane Elliott for Yorke Dance Project, who are currently touring it and performing it at the Clore Studio at the Royal Opera House as part of Kenneth MacMillan: A National Celebration.  I was called in as a member of the original cast to coach and rehearse a new generation of dancers.

 

Late Work at GOlive Festival 25th September 2013 – Rebecca JS Nice reviews

We reprint this review with kind permission of the author on whose blog Rebecca Nice: Dance Writer it first appeared.

Jennifer Jackson and Susie Crow (BIG Ballets), Late Work, opened Wednesday 25th September’s show sitting well within a billing of several collaborations between artists. This emphasis on collaboration was reiterated by dancers Crow and Jackson who invited musicians Malcolm Atkins and Andrew Melvin on stage by opening two side doors for their entrance. This introduced them as performers and set a precedent for the rest of the night. Built on improvisations between musicians and dancers, Late Work questioned the function of ballet and rebelled, albeit creatively, against its structures.