The Great Gatsby

 

The Great Gatsby

Last Thursday my SO and I went to Sadler’s Wells to see Northern Ballet’s performance of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age novel The Great Gatsby. I was really looking forward to it and I wasn’t disappointed! It was a full house, and we were right at the back of the top tier, so it was pretty warm in there. 

It was ballet, of course, but it was also full of jazz music and authentic jazz dances, such as the Charleston and the Lindy Hop. The sets and costumes were lavish and really captured the feel of the story set on 1920s Long Island, NY. I started reading this novel a few times in the past, but now I have made a commitment to read it all the way through, and then maybe move onto Fitzgerald’s other novels that I own because they’re art deco hardback editions that look nice on my bookshelf…

Tap Class

Tap dance class is going really well. It’s the largest class size I’ve ever known on a Thursday afternoon, but it’s a really lovely group of people. We’re all getting to know each other better as we’re doing a lot of work in pairs, which is great. I’m trying to stand in different parts of the studio so I don’t get stuck in my comfort zone! We now have a break for a week of half-term, and I was wondering whether to take a break from that class until September, but  I ended up telling everyone I’d see them in 2 weeks…

Review: Creature

Front cover of the Creature ballet programme with theatre auditorium in the background

 

Yes, I was at Sadler’s Wells again! Last Saturday my SO and I headed to Islington to see Akram Khan’s English National Ballet production Creature. 

It was a full house that afternoon and there was lots of anticipation and excitement as the lights went down and the show began…

“In a dilapidated former Arctic research station, Creature has been conscripted by a military brigade into a bold new experimental programme. He is being tested for his mental and physical ability to adapt to cold, isolation and homesickness…” (Act I synopsis)

The mission is to colonise space, man’s final frontier.

Creature is based on medical student Georg Buechner’s play Woyzeck (1875), a tragedy where a lonely soldier agrees to take part in medical experiments conducted by a doctor, to earn money – his mental health gradually breaks down and he begins to have apocalyptic visions.

The staging of Creature is a large wood panelled room, where the creature is being kept and tested. He falls in love with Marie (Emily Suzuki), his keeper who spends much of her time mopping the floor, but shows him kindness. She is assaulted by the evil Major (Skylar Martin) who is in charge of this mission and because she has rejected his advances, his rage turns towards her.  A sinister and repetitive voice over from The Lord of the Rings’ Andy Serkis added to the sense of foreboding that was being created by the menacing and jarring music. On and off throughout the show we hear part of a speech by President Nixon congratulating Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong “because of what [they] have done…” which gradually becomes more and more twisted and slurred, where we suddenly realise (if we’re paying attention) that the meaning has morphed into something different.

A sinister and repetitive voice…

Rentaro Nakaaki was excellent as Creature and beautifully expressed the many emotions his character went through. The military brigade were very effective as a sinister and faceless troop, following the Major’s orders, and I loved the contemporary style of dance. The story raises many questions about the quest for space, how we treat our planet and at what cost, and of course, how we treat each other.

Creature is an engaging, Frankenstein-esque, edge-of-your-seat ballet and I’m so glad I went to see and experience it!

 

Scottish Ballet Company Class

Last Saturday morning I took myself along to Sadler’s Wells in London to watch  Scottish Ballet’s company class! I have a free membership with Scottish Ballet, which includes invitations to watch company classes. As the company were performing a sold-out run of ‘Coppelia’ at Sadler’s Wells, I thought I would take the opportunity to go along and watch them warm up and rehearse.

I got to Islington early, so I had a wander along Camden Passage and stopped for a cappuccino before heading to Sadler’s Wells. I arrived at the Lilian Baylis Theatre entrance on time and went in to join the others who were waiting. We were met by the lady organising the event and she crossed each of us off the register. Then, at 11.30am we were taken through the stage door, down to the auditorium where everyone spread out across the seats so we all had an uninterrupted view (I think there was about 15 of us altogether). The company class had already started, and I was really excited to see how they get ready for a day of not one, but TWO performances!

The rehearsal director took the dancers through barre class and floor work and then they moved onto rehearsal for Coppelia. It was so interesting to watch everyone and I have to say what we all know already – they are SUCH TALENTED ATHLETES! We watched them for an hour before we were collected. I didn’t have tickets to see the show later on, but I didn’t feel like I was missing out – the company class was fab!

Watching the warm-up gave me the motivation to put more effort into working out, and to persevere with my online ballet classes 🙂

My Highlights of 2022

Happy New Year! I meant to write this blog post on New Year’s Eve, but there was a lot going on over the holidays, including a trip to the theatre, so I’m writing it now! Today is actually Epiphany, so we’re still technically in the Christmas season 🙂 

2022 was a better year than the pandemic years, and it was good to be out of the house and fairly ‘back to normal’, but it was still a bit strange with all the crazy politics, the death of the Queen and trying to get into some sort of hybrid work pattern, plus I got rid of my car. Here are my highlights of 2022:

Sadler’s Wells Gift Membership

I was given this amazing gift for my birthday, which gives me priority booking and 20% off tickets, so I made sure I went as often as I could! I saw some great ballets and other dance shows including:

Plus I saw Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty on New Year’s Eve, which was my first Matthew Bourne experience and I loved it!

Return To In-Person Tap Classes 

It was just so great to be back in the studio with other people, especially some of my old classmates! I include attending the tap intensive in this, because that was the first in-person class I attended after the pandemic and I learnt SO MUCH and surprised myself how I got back into things after being in the garage with a laptop for 2 years. But really good to be back to my weekly class.

Tina Turner the Musical 

A postponed birthday treat from 2021. I mean, it was just AMAZING!

Anything Goes

Once again, another FABULOUS SHOW with an excellent cast, including Simon Callow, Bonnie Langford and Kerry Ellis. It was a lovely Summer’s day at London’s Barbican.

Commonwealth Games

 

Athletics and diving – It was such a fantastic, positive atmosphere in Birmingham! Plus we stayed at a spa hotel outside of Birmingham (got an amazing deal!) and drove in to the designated park & ride car parks as the city hotels were stupidly expensive during the games.

Breaks in Devon and Kent

My SO had a week away in Devon in June, and then a colleague let us have her flat in the Thanet area of Kent for a week in September, so we took my mum with us. We were really fortunate to have great weather (most of the time) on these two weeks away – because you never know!  I wasn’t familiar with Kent, so it was nice to discover a new area.

Living Room Makeover

It hadn’t been changed since we moved in at the end of 2017 and I was sick of the blue walls, plus some of the paper was peeling and bubbling. In our second week off work in September, when we were back from Kent, we stripped wallpaper, filled holes, hung new paper, painted and rehung pictures where we wanted them (rather than where there were already holes)! There’s still an area to sort out in the corner behind the TV which requires replacing guttering outside, but WE LOVE IT NOW. The fireplace now stands out as a feature and I learnt how to do wallpapering properly.

Home Alone with Live Orchestra

In early December my SO and I went to see Home Alone with Live Orchestra at the Birmingham Symphony Hall as part of his birthday gift. It was also at the Royal Albert Hall in London something like a week before that, but it was pretty much sold out, standing room only, so we went for Birmingham…with a seat! There was even a choir onstage for the choral sections and they sang Christmas songs at the end. Those who left during the end-credits missed out! It’s my favourite Christmas film (I watch it every year) and it gave us all the Christmassy feels.

As you can see, I saw A LOT of shows last year, and I haven’t even mentioned all of them in this post. But you know I love the theatre, and when you go off-West End, the ticket prices are SO MUCH more reasonable. 

I usually write my goals for the year ahead, but I don’t think I managed to write anything last year – I was just glad to get out of 2021! This year I’m sharing a simple More & Less list:

More:

  • Quality sleep
  • Tap dance
  • Cardio exercise
  • Reading
  • Stretching
  • Writing

Less:

  • Trying to catch up
  • Things in the diary
  • Spending ££

Let’s see how it goes! How about YOU?

October Happenings

Sorry – I’ve been M.I.A again! I guess I’ve been adjusting to a new life routine, now that I’m going into the office 1-2 times a week and I’m back at TAP CLASS every Thursday (apart from this week as we’re on a break).

On Tap

Tap class has been really great – I mean REALLY great. We’ve done lots of helpful exercises over the last few weeks, travelling across the floor, working in pairs and cementing some trickier combinations. We’ve been learning a routine throughout the 6 week course using Mick Jagger’s Strange Game. I don’t think I’d ever heard the song before, but I like it! The routine allows us to play with the rhythms, switching between the downbeat and cross-phrasing. There are a couple of turns in the middle of the routine (exciting!), and we had the option of doing a turn-and-a-half (540 degrees so they tell me) and landing in the right direction on time(!!) or just doing a half-turn (180). I’m not great with fast turns and dizziness these days, so I stuck with the half. It was for the best!

In other news – my 14 year old niece has recently started tap dance lessons! I think these are tacked on straight after ballet and she’s doing the ISTD syllabus of course. I’ve given her one of my portable tap boards so she can practise at home, and I told her I’m happy to go over anything if she needs any help, because I think she’s finding it quite difficult having started later than the rest of the class. I’m going to make sure I don’t overwhelm her with information!

Mixtape: Celebrating 20 Years of Zoonation: The Kate Prince Company

A few weeks ago my SO and I, being big fans of ZOONATION, went to Sadlers Wells to see their latest offering Mixtape, a 20 year celebration of many of their shows, including the incredible Into the Hoods, Some Like it Hip Hop, Message in a Bottle plus The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, Tales of the Turntable and Groove on Down the Road. The whole thing was just so uplifting – stunning live music and singers, fantastic hip hop choreography and dance. There was also a wonderful exhibition on one of the floors dedicated to former member Teneisha Bonner who died far too young in 2019 from breast cancer. I remember her as a real stand-out dancer in Into the Hoods when we saw it not once, but twice many moons ago. Wow, I forgot how much I loved that show and the banging soundtrack.  Mixtape was such a great night, didn’t want it to end and yes, the audience clapped on the off-beat!

Back to the Future The Musical

 

 

Last Thursday I met a former colleague after work and after a catch-up at Wahaca with Mexican street food, we went to see Back to the Future The Musical at the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand. Now this was an interesting one. I absolutely LOVE the Back to the Future films – they’re iconic and I can watch them again and again, particularly I and II. So I was interested to see how they’d adapted the first film for a West End musical.

In all honesty, I thought Doc Brown and George McFly were excellent, down to mannerisms, humour, dancing and everything. Marty McFly was pretty good. Not all, but a lot of the dialogue was verbatim, so if you know the film, you know what’s coming. They changed the reason why Marty had to go back in time to save the Doc. The set and especially the DeLorean was AMAZING – five stars! But I had this feeling all the way through that much of the supporting cast were fresh out of musical theatre school and a little inexperienced. I like the fact the show used the original theme music throughout and of course the iconic Huey Lewis & The News songs which popped up here and there, plus Chuck Berry’s Johnny B Goode at the school dance but some of the singing grated in places, such as when the actress playing Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer sang The Power of Love – it was a bit over the top musical theatre voice, if you know what I mean. I’d say good effort on the whole production, but something was missing for me and I don’t think everything can be successfully be made into a musical. Someone at my tap class who saw it last time around suggested it could perhaps have worked better as a play? Maybe. Still, it was a good night out.

Strictly 2022

Fleur Vito Jive Still
Fleur, Vito and Wig © BBC/Kieron McCarron

Strictly Come Dancing is back! I’m not really obsessed with it this year, but I’m still watching the main show, the results show and most of the It Takes Two shows on weekday evenings because it’s fun and positive. It’s really refreshing to not be on Twitter with all the moaners and psychos this year! It’s a great cast of ‘celebrities’ again this year…even if some don’t take to dance as well as others… Last Saturday night celebrated 100 years of the BBC and although the songs were JUST AWFUL for dancing (the Eastenders, Blue Peter  and Casualty theme tunes, anyone?!), I have to say I was in stitches watching Fleur & Vito’s jive to Abba’s Waterloo (celebrating Eurovision) – I mean that WIG on Vito’s head took on a life of its own! HAHAHAA

Anyway, I hope you have a great weekend, and if you’re in the UK, don’t forget the clocks go back tomorrow night!

 

Review: The Crucible

Seeing as I have this gift membership for Sadler’s Wells theatre, on Tuesday evening after work I went to see Scottish Ballet perform their adaptation of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible.

The play is inspired by the Salem witch trials of 1692, but was also written as an allegory for the post-war witch-hunt of those with alleged communist ties in Hollywood, leading to many in the industry being blacklisted in the 1940s-50s. Some people were even imprisoned for refusing to testify. Arthur Miller himself was convicted of ‘contempt of congress’ for refusing to identify others who had been at meetings he’d attended…

In a devout Puritan village in Massachusetts, teenager Abigail works for John & Elizabeth Proctor, but ends up having an affair with John, discovered by Elizabeth, and she is fired. Abigail and her friends head into the forest, having followed Tituba, the slave of Revd Parris, and she tries to put a curse on Elizabeth Proctor. Frenzied dancing ensues until Revd Parris discovers them and finds his daughter Betty has collapsed. Betty is carried back to the house and Revd Hale, an expert in witchcraft is summoned to investigate. In the process of trying to exorcise the bewitched Betty, a dark force is unleashed and the group of girls begin to accuse lots people in the village of witchcraft. Tituba is framed for witchcraft and jailed. Abigail is the niece of Revd Parris, so her accusations hold sway in the proceedings that follow. The villagers become suspicious of each other and accusations fly, leading to many court hearings. Abigail plants a poppet (mini-doll stuck with a pin) of herself in the Proctor’s home to frame Elizabeth. The authorities search the house and discover this ‘evidence’ of Elizabeth’s witchcraft. Eventually, the affair between John and Abigail is made public, but Elizabeth’s continued denial of the affair leads to her own condemnation. John is also accused of witchcraft and sentenced.

I’ve never seen Scottish Ballet before, so I was very excited to watch a different ballet company on stage. I’ve also never read The Crucible – the only Arthur Miller play I’ve read is A View from the Bridge when I was at school. As you can tell from the storyline and subject matter, the show was quite dark, with a constant sense of menace hanging in the air. With choreography by Helen Pickett, the dancers were fantastic – the dancer playing the role of Abigail performed some very effective jerky, off-kilter movements, visually representing her mental and emotional state. Unusually for a ballet, there was laughter and also screaming from the dancers at various points, which made it even more disconcerting.

I wouldn’t say this was my favourite ballet as it was so dark, but it was very well done and the story kept me gripped until the end.

Review: Casanova

Casanova programme

Last Saturday I decided, fairly last minute, to take myself into London to Sadler’s Wells to see a matinee of Northern Ballet’s production of Casanova. I was given a gift membership for Sadler’s Wells for my birthday this year, which means I get 20% off tickets, plus priority booking: win-win!

Unfortunately, the Northern Line wasn’t running Euston to Angel, so the plan was to get the 214 bus from King’s Cross. HOWEVER, I accidentally got on the bus going the other direction, so I ended up in Kentish Town! OOPS. So I jumped off the bus, crossed the road…and then caught the bus back to the Angel. Honestly, I could have just walked from King’s Cross in that time.

Anyway, onto the performance!

We’ve all heard of the name and the legend of Casanova being a ‘ladies’ man’ but this ballet drew from the real story of Casanova – trainee priest, writer, philosopher, polymath, violinist and professional gambler. Of course, his reputation wasn’t for nothing and he did indeed have many love affairs, as according to his memoirs, and so the story was a little suggestive in places, hence being for age 12+! The Saturday matinee featured talented first soloist Lorenzo Trossello as Giacomo Casanova. The dance was mesmerising, the costumes were authentically 18th century Venice, the set was atmospheric and the orchestra was spectacular. This is my third Northern Ballet show and I just love the way they tell a story. I would say on this one, because I didn’t know the story, I had to refer to the synopsis in the programme before the show began and also during the interval.

External view of theatre

The second circle where I sat wasn’t completely full, so I had most of row G to myself and a few people shifted closer to the front after the interval for a better view and more space. I really love Sadler’s Wells theatre at Angel because unlike many of the theatres in London, it’s a large, spacious and modern theatre, and the view is pretty good wherever you sit. I have been to their Peacock Theatre venue in Holborn many times and exciting news – next year they will be opening a new venue, Sadler’s Wells East at the Queen Elizabeth Park in Stratford!

Verdict: Fantastic storytelling and what a talented bunch!

Two Theatre Shows in Two Weeks!

Message in a Bottle

Message in a Bottle Theatre Programme

Last Saturday my SO went into London to see Kate Prince’s latest dance story, Message in a Bottle at the Peacock Theatre in Holborn. The show how told the story of a family of refugees who have been displaced following civil war in their homeland. This was set against the backdrop of the songs of Sting, including Roxanne, Englishman in New York and of course Message in a Bottle. The story was poignant, current and very moving in places and the music and dance was just fantastic.

The Lion King

Lyceum Theatre

This Saturday just gone, we took my mum and nephew to see the award-winning musical The Lion King. We originally had tickets for August, but it was postponed due to cast and crew members having tested positive for Covid. It was a fabulous, colourful show and of course Elton John’s songs are amazing (The Circle of Life is a particular favourite). Unfortunately, there were a lot of people in the audience fidgeting, looking at phones and generally messing about – the adults, not the children!

It’s been great to get out there and support the arts! Have you been to the theatre lately?

The Tap Pack

After a busy day at work on Thursday (helping cater and host a lunchtime leaving do for 60+ for our department head :-}), I met my SO at Holborn station as we were going to see The Tap Pack at the Peacock Theatre! Exciting! Before the show we went to the Meat Market, which sits above Covent Garden’s Jubilee Market Hall, and enjoyed a ‘healthy’ dinner of wings, hippie fries (topped with onions and hippie sauce) and slaw. I think I’d pass on their wings next time because they tasted like they were deep fried.

The show began at 7.30pm and I went for tickets in the back, end of row seats in the stalls as the view is always good, being a modern theatre. A bonus was that we had the row to ourselves so we could move along to the middle 🙂

The Tap Pack are some guys from Australia and as you can guess from the name, the show takes its inspiration from the Rat Pack (ie. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr are the members you will have heard of). The show was full of all kinds of music, both modern and classic Rat Pack, plus plenty of humour and amazing tap dance! I wasn’t expecting the guys to sing as well as dance, but they sang throughout the show, accompanied by live band. The audience was introduced to each member of the pack and their skills in turn, and you really saw each member come alive.

My favourite parts were:

a) when founding member Jesse alternated between sitting and drumming on a wooden box and tapping…sometimes tapping while sitting down. He has some fast hands and feet!

b) his tribute to some of the tap dance greats

c) the showy song and dance piece to Bruno Mars’ Runaway Baby

d) Thomas’s improv section – AMAZING. Like whaaa??!

e) the section of audience participation with clapping call and response (I love a bit of call and response!!)

These acts stood out to me, but there was plenty to enjoy. It was a fabulous show!

The show runs at the Peacock Theatre until 19th May, and then will be touring the UK before heading back to Australia.

https://www.thetappack.com/

Alvin Ailey UK Tour 2016

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On Saturday I went to see a matinee of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater UK Tour at Sadler’s Wells (the home of dance!) in London. To save faffing about changing tube lines from Marylebone, we caught the 205 bus directly outside Marylebone Station all the way to Angel! Easy peasy.

I’ve only seen them once before when they were last in London, at Sadler’s Wells in 2010, so I was really excited to see the show. I went for Programme C, more for the timings than for the particular pieces, because all the programmes contained Revelations, Ailey’s fantastic signature piece, of which I have the soundtrack.

(Programme C: LIFT / Awakening / Cry / Revelations)

We were up in the Second Circle, but still had an excellent view, compared to when I’ve been to watch shows in some of the very old theatres (e.g Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre, starring at the scaffolding)!

LIFT was a fantastic, African-inspired varied piece, with lots of musculature. Lively moments and reflective moments.

Awakening woke me out of my stupor. It very futuristic in the way that it balanced “chaos and resolution”. Loud, jolty music, jolty dancing in white outfits. I won’t say I enjoyed that piece particularly, but it was very avant garde, interesting and unpredictable.

Cry was choreographed by Alvin Ailey himself for his mother, and I felt it captured the mother’s spirit perfectly. Wonderful, colourful dancing.

Revelations is my favourite, and clearly everyone else’s favourite too, as the audience applause was deafening! I love the songs, the dances and the setting of the Deep South, God-fearing church-going, ladies in hats waving fans, men in suits days. Fabulous!

 

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Image courtesy of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater