Ballet classes at URC Spring Term 2020

Happy New Year – and decade – to all!  The new term of ballet classes at URC began on Monday 6th January with the usual schedule of classes:
Mondays 4.15-5.30pm adult beginners, 5.45-7.15pm intermediate
Thursdays 10.00-11.30am advanced, 11.45am-12.15pm optional pointe work
Saturdays 10.00-11.15am adult beginners, 11.30am-1.00pm intermediate/advanced, 1.15-2.00pm optional pointe work.
Classes will as usual continue without a half term break; but the final date of the spring term is yet to be confirmed.

A date for your diary, however: on Monday 20th January there will be the usual adult beginners’ class but no intermediate class. This is because of an exciting DANSOX evening event with choreographer Cathy Marston talking about her new ballet for the Royal Ballet, which I thought people would be interested to attend; you can find details about this on the Oxford Dance Writers (ODW) website here, and check out other exciting dance events in January also flagged up on ODW.

As previously I have a list of people waiting to join the Saturday adult beginners’ class. If you are not able to continue with this class or if you think your attendance might be intermittent, please do let me know soonest if you have not already done so, so that I can calculate how many new people may join.

See you in class!

Susie

Ballet in Small Spaces Review of 2018-19

There are numerous links embedded in this piece; scroll your cursor over the text to find out more…

A year ago I didn’t manage to write a review of 2018; which had ended momentously with the wonderful winter wedding just before Christmas of my daughter Joanna and her man Dan.  A very happy occasion with much laughter and song; and the talents of dear dancer friends from Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet days were visible in the bride’s beautiful dress from Ritva Westenius, now headed by Chenca Williams, and gorgeous floral arrangements by Covent Garden’s go-to florist Bloomsbury Flowers run by Stephen Wicks and Mark Welford.

Building up to this special family event had shaped a year otherwise spent in regular teaching but also academic activity; beginning in January with a lecture for the History of Performance Course devised by the admirable Jane Pritchard, Curator of Dance at the Victoria and Albert Museum which houses the former Theatre Museum collections. ‘Dancers, audiences and spaces: reflections from practice’ had been originally presented at a Dance and Academia event in Oxford programmed by Miranda Laurence.  It drew on my own experience as a dancer in considering different spaces for dance and their effects on the relationship between performer and audience.  In April the more theoretical side of my doctoral research had its first outing in a paper ‘The ballet class: oral tradition and embodied learning’ at the Society for Dance Research’s conference evocatively titled ‘Dance in the Age of Forgetfulness’.

Pianist Hannah Quinn playing for autumn term Saturday classes

A special treat for those doing classes at URC on Saturdays this term.  Hannah Quinn is currently the Ivor Guest Trainee Pianist at the Royal Ballet, and as part of this programme she is getting additional experience playing for BiSS Saturday ballet classes.  This is proving a real treat, a wonderful opportunity to enjoy dancing with a live musician rather than recorded music, and to experience the instantaneous collaboration and enhanced listening that this cultivates in dancers.  See below for a biography of Hannah.

Hannah Quinn

 

British Pianist Hannah Quinn graduated with Distinction from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with an MMus in Repetiteurship. During her studies she was awarded the Leonard Hancock Memorial Prize and the James H. Geddes repetiteur prize. Hannah is an alumnus of the National Opera Studio.

Hannah has had extensive experience in the operatic world, but after discovering ballet through a couple of freelance contracts, has fallen in love with the classical dance form and has taken active steps to pursue it. Hannah is absolutely delighted to be training at the Royal Ballet this season and is fully committed to making the most of this excellent opportunity in order to gain the skills required of a ballet pianist.

Hannah has worked on Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances as it was being devised as a new piece by Liam Scarlett. She has also played for Wayne McGregor in his new commission Obsidian Tear, set to the music of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Nyx. Hannah has also worked with singers and dancers together in Javier Dr Frutos’ Les Enfants Terribles by Philip Glass. She is currently working on Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto, The Sleeping Beauty and Coppelia.

In the operatic world, Hannah has worked as a repetiteur at English National Opera, British Youth Opera, Scottish Opera and English Touring Opera where she was Head of Music Staff for two seasons.

Hannah has also performed as a song recital accompanist in the UK and abroad. She has a varied interest in repertoire spanning German Lied, French Melodie and contemporary music.

Hannah is also a trained conductor and has performed with Southbank Sinfonia, Trinity Orchestra, Tianjin Philharmonic, Hampstead Garden Opera and English Touring Opera.

Ballet classes at URC Autumn Term 2019

September has arrived, so here confirming the start date of ballet classes for the autumn term at URC, and the schedule.

Classes will resume from Monday 9th September, with the schedule as follows:
Mondays: 4.15-5.30 adult beginners, 5.45-7.15pm intermediate
Thursdays: 10.00-11.30am advanced 11.45am-12.15 pointe work
Saturdays: 10.00-11.15am adult beginners, 11.30am-1.00pm intermediate/advanced, 1.15-1.45pm pointe work

Prices remain the same at £10 per class with the 10th class free; pointe-work sessions will cost £4.

Classes will continue throughout the term with no half term break; a provisional date for the end of term is Saturday 14th December, but I will confirm this nearer the time. I will also alert you to any change to the schedule or unforeseen cancellations which may arise.

There continues to be a waiting list of people interested in joining the adult beginners, especially on Saturdays; so for those already attending please let me know soonest if you are planning not to continue coming this term, or if you are likely to be away at all, so that I can calculate how many new people I can realistically accommodate. If I do not hear, I will assume that you plan to continue as normal.

For those who want to do extra classes, may I also recommend to you Ségolène Tarte‘s Friday classes at URC which will resume from Friday 13th September and run until 13th December:

6.15-7.30pm  Adult beginners/improvers  7.30-9.00pm Intermediate/Advanced

Also check out Ségolène’s website here for details of her Tuesday 6.15-7.45pm class at Mortimer Hall which will resume on 10th September, level Improvers to Intermediate/Advanced.

Looking forward to a new term of dancing with you all!
Susie

Last ballet class of summer term with Brian Bertscher at URC 3rd August 2019

A happy memory of a highly enjoyable class with guest teacher Brian Bertscher.  The two hours began with a thoroughly warming barre, starting slowly and building in speed, with challenging balances and precision.  In the centre port de bras and adage explored épaulé lines, followed by pirouettes with luxurious balancés, bouncing petit allegro combinations and an exhilarating Prokofiev waltz to finish.  Brian communicated both rigour and infectious enthusiasm.  Hopefully to be repeated before long…

Brian Bertscher with Susie Crow and URC class members 3rd August 2019

Summer adult ballet classes in Oxford

Saturday 27th July saw the last regular ballet classes of term at URC, but for those of you wondering how you can keep going here are some suggestions for the summer break, levels intermediate and upwards…

Penny Cullerne-Bown of East Oxford School of Ballet is planning to teach either a Monday or a Wednesday evening classes 5.30-7.00pm at Oxford Spires Academy, Glanville Road, Oxford, OX4 2AU. For further details please email Penny soonest:
pcb@eastoxballet.co.uk

Oxford City School of Dance is running Thursday classes at St Matthew’s Church Hall, Marlborough Road, Abingdon Road, OX1 4LW as follows:
5.30-6.30pm Intermediate Foundation level ballet
6.30-7.00pm Progressing ballet technique/Pilates (ballet based strengthening exercises using exercise balls; all equipment provided)
7.00-8.00pm Advanced ballet
These classes will be continuing until 5th September (excluding 29th August). Prices are £7 for body conditioning, £10 for ballet, or £15 if you combine two classes on one night. If you pay for 4+ weeks of classes in advance you get 10% discount.

Saturday 3rd August at URC, United Reformed Church Hall, Banbury Road, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7HN
11.00am-1.00pm Guest intermediate/advanced level ballet class with Brian Bertscher, cost £15, you can find full details here:
https://balletinsmallspaces.wordpress.com/2019/07/25/brian-bertscher-class-urc-3rd-august/

And finally, if you can get to London and would like to continue with some pointe work, the lovely Bethany Elliott/Ramsey, who has previously graced many Ballet in Small Spaces projects, will be teaching class at Pineapple Dance Studios in Covent Garden on Monday 19th August as follows:
10.30am-12.00 General class, £8
12.00-1.00pm Pointe class, £7 (this can be done in flat slippers if you wish)
You may need to pay an additional small day membership charge at Pineapple.

Enjoy!

Susie

Brian Bertscher teaches class at URC Saturday 3rd August 2019

Regular ballet classes at URC finish this Saturday 27th August for a summer break, however for one additional day I am delighted to welcome as special guest teacher my old colleague the irrepressible and inspiring Brian Bertscher.  Brian will be teaching an extended intermediate/advanced class on Saturday 3rd August from 11.00am to 1.00pm; expect lots of joyous dancing.  This 2 hour class will cost £15.  Not to be missed!

A brief biography:

Brian Bertscher started ballet classes at the age of seven in Johannesburg South Africa and joined the Royal Ballet School London at the age of seventeen.  While there he also studied Cecchetti ballet and received the Advanced Exam certificate.

Between 1964 to 1979 Brian danced with the Royal Ballet and was a popular soloist with the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet.  His roles included Puck in Ashton’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the virtuosic Blue Boy in Les Patineurs.  He also excelled in ballets by John Cranko playing Jasper the Potboy in Pineapple Poll, and Little Clown (Bootface) in The Lady and the Fool.

1979-1980 Brian studied on the Professional Teachers Training Course at the Royal Academy London.  From 1980-2010 he was Professor of Classical Ballet at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany, and has taught internationally for ballet schools and companies.  Since 2010 Brian has been living and working in London, currently teaching regular classes at Morley College.

Find out more about Brian’s life and work here: https://brianbertscher.com/

Find full address details for the URC (Summertown United Reformed Church Hall) on the Classes page of this blog.