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Previews | DANCE
BALLET NORTHERN BALLET: ELVES & THE SHOEMAKER Macrobert, Stirling, Thu 9 Apr FESTIVAL 2015 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL LINE-UP Various venues, Edinburgh, Sat 8–Sat 29 Aug, eif.co.uk
From Nutcracker to Coppélia, the ballet world is filled with stories that children can latch on to. As the hours roll by, however, attention starts to wane. Which is why Northern Ballet is creating short, tailor-made ballets for yo unger audiences. Following tours of Ugly Duckling and Three Little Pigs, the company is back with Elves & the Shoemaker.
‘The idea has touched a need,’ says choreographer Daniel de Andrade. ‘There are elements in some ballets which are obviously for children, but although sitting through two hours of ballet technique is wonderful for adults, you can see children fidgeting, wanting the toilet or a sweet. So these are 40-minute ballets which they can understand from beginning to end. They’re engrossed and everything is geared towards how they think.’
For Elves & the Shoemaker, de Andrade has used the story’s central theme to introduce children to a range of styles danced in bare feet, hard, soft and pointe shoes. ‘A shoemaker and dance is a giveaway,’ says de Andrade. ‘As soon as I started writing the scenario and transported it to dance, I saw the opportunity for various styles, building up to where we bring in the princess en pointe.’ (Kelly Apter)
Anyone who puts dancers in heavy black boots and pretty pink pointe shoes in the same piece has got something interesting to say about modern ballet. And critical and audience opinion about Martin Schläpfer, Ballett am Rhein’s artistic director, would suggest that’s the case. His large-scale work set to Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 has that epic feel you want from a major Festival performance, and isn’t the only dance show in Fergus Linehan’s first programme that gives ballet a good name.
Christian Spuck was last seen at the Festival with his dramatic Return of Ulysses, performed by the Royal Ballet of Flanders in 2009. Now artistic director of Ballett Zurich, his return is good news indeed, with the Shakespeare-inspired Sonnett looking equally exciting, especially with choreographer Wayne McGregor joining him in a double-bill
Despite swapping ballet for contemporary, Sylvie Guillem is still the most exciting ballerina of the past 30 years, so her swansong tour is a real jewel in the Festival crown. Especially when her choice of choreographer – Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant and Mats Ek – reads like a who’s who of 21st-century greats. (Kelly Apter)
COMMUNITY EVENT GO DANCE Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 26–Sat 30 May
For five nights each year, one of the country’s most prestigious venues sets aside its professional programming to welcome 47 community dance groups onto its stage. Proving that Go Dance lies at the heart of Scotland’s dance scene, it’s been over- subscribed each year since the event started in 2008.
Alison Cowan has the pleasure of encouraging
groups to take part, but the unenviable task of turning some away when assembling the lineup. ‘It’s an open call so we don’t audition,’ she explains, ‘but we do ask lots of questions, look at photos or YouTube videos, and if we’re not quite sure we’ll go and have a chat with them.’ Vocational colleges, mainstream schools running dance projects, community groups and private dance schools all get involved, with Cowan striving to get a good mix of dance style, age, gender and geographical spread from across the country. ‘It’s very much a community venture, and there’s no apology for that,’ she says. ‘Audiences will get a mixed programme, and within that there will be some pieces you think are wonderful and others you’ll think didn’t quite work. I wouldn’t change that format, because if you did then you somehow diminish it as a whole. And I can say hand on heart, I’ve seen some of the most moving and authentic pieces of dance over the years.’ (Kelly Apter)
2 Apr–4 Jun 2015 THE LIST 109