Dear Rambert Fans

If you want news or, even better, to comment about the Rambert Spring Tour 2006, please go here:

http://www.ballet-dance.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25868

We're looking forward to your comments.

Best wishes

Rambert Dance Company

CriticalDance

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Rambert Autumn Tour 2005 - News and Feedback Forum


Lucila Alves and Andrew Hurst of Rambert Dance Company in Tudor's "Dark Elegies"
Image by Patrick Baldwin


Few would rate the Autumn as their favourite season, but the Autumn Tour of Rambert Dance Company certainly goes some way to cheering our spirits as the nights draw in and thick pullovers are dug out from the bottom of the wardrobe.

This season looks particularly strong with the popular "Constant Speed", the exquisite "Dark Elegies" and another chance to see "Swamp", which some are calling a modern masterpiece. Rambert has an excellent record for commissioning and the coming months also feature new work by Rafael Bonachela and Christopher Bruce.

Here are further details of the Autumn repertoire and the season:



Constant Speed
Mark Baldwin’s Einstein inspired Constant Speed, has Rambert’s dancers whizzing around the stage like hyperactive molecules, in a joyous and athletic frenzy of movement. Performed to sparkling waltzes by Franz Lehár, this ingenious and witty piece succeeds in making physics fun. With cheeky costumes and vibrant lighting this hugely entertaining work is set in a prismatic landscape of colour.
click for more information

Curious Conscience
Benjamin Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings is set to poems by six English poets. Using both the music and the poems as inspiration, Rafael Bonachela creates a series of interwoven scenes, which explore the central themes of ‘night’, ‘sleep’ and ‘dreams’.
click for more information

Dark Elegies
Created in 1937 by Antony Tudor this is a masterwork from the Rambert repertoire. Performed to a Mahler song cycle, this emotionally charged ballet is a timeless exploration of grief and mourning.
click for more information

Judgment of Paris
Antony Tudor’s Judgment of Paris is a black comedy in which he takes the famous Greek myth of three goddesses competing for the golden apple that Paris will award to the most beautiful and turns it on its head.
click for more information

Momenta
Momenta was created by Mikaela Polley for the Rambert Workshop Season in January 2005 and is performed to a score of the same title by Patrick Nunn.
click for more information

Swamp
Michael Clark's Swamp was first performed in 1986 and employs classical dance movements imaginatively in a thoroughly contemporary way.
click for more information

New Work by Christopher Bruce
Christopher Bruce, Rambert's former Artistic Director creates a new work for the Company
click for more information


Here are the forthcoming tour dates:




Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe

Wednesday 28 September – Saturday 1 October, 7.30pm

* Judgment of Paris, Tudor
* Momenta, Polley
* Dark Elegies, Tudor
* Constant Speed, Baldwin.

Wycombe Swan
St Mary Street
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
HP11 2XE

Box Office: 01494 512 000

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Bristol Hippodrome

Wednesday 5 - Saturday 8 October, 7.30pm

* Swamp, Clark
* Dark Elegies, Tudor
* Constant Speed, Baldwin.

Bristol Hippodrome
St Augustines Parade
Bristol
Somerset
BS1 4UZ

Box Office: 08706 077 500 (Ticketmaster)

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Norwich Theatre Royal

Wednesday 12 – Friday 14 October, 7.30pm
Matinee: Thursday 13 September, 2.30pm

* Swamp, Clark
* Dark Elegies, Tudor
* Constant Speed, Baldwin..

Norwich Theatre Royal
Theatre Street
Norwich
Norfolk
NR2 1RL

Box Office: 01603 630 000

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Milton Keynes Theatre

Wednesday 2 - Saturday 5 October, 7.30pm

* Swamp, Clark
* Curious Conscience, Bonachela
* Constant Speed, Baldwin.

Milton Keynes Theatre
Marlborough Gate
Milton Keynes
Buckinghamshire
MK9 3NZ

Box Office: 01908 606 090 (booking fee)

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Sadler's Wells, London

Tuesday 15 - Saturday 19 November, 7.30pm
Matinee: Saturday 19 November, 2.30pm

* Curious Conscience, Bonachela
[London première]
* New Work, Bruce [World Première]
Christopher Bruce, Rambert's former Artistic Director and creator of the hugely popular Ghost Dances and Rooster creates a new work for the company
* Swamp, Clark.

Sadler's Wells
Roseberry Avenue
Islington
London
EC1R 4TN

Box Office: 08707 377 737

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Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Wednesday 23 - Friday 25 November, 7.30pm

* Curious Conscience, Bonachela
* New Work, Bruce
* Constant Speed, Baldwin.

Edinburgh Festival Theatre
13-29 Nicolson Street
Edinburgh
EH8 9FT

Box Office: 0131 529 6000

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Theatre Royal, Plymouth

Wednesday 30 November - Saturday 3 December, 7.30pm

* Curious Conscience, Bonachela
* New Work, Bruce
* Constant Speed, Baldwin.

Theatre Royal, Plymouth
Royal Parade
Plymouth
Devon
PL1 2TR

Box Office: 01752 267 222

Posted by Alex R:

Taken from the Rambert Dance Company website:

Rambert's First Signed Performance

On Saturday 24 September 2005 Paul Whitaker from Music and the Deaf will be presenting a sign language interpreted performance of Rambert Dance Company. This is the first time that Rambert, Music and the Deaf and The Lowry have presented a signed contemporary dance performance. The following pieces will be signed:



Swamp, Clark
Curious Conscience, Bonachela
Constant Speed, Baldwin

Did anyone see this? If so what was it like?

How To Post on CriticalDance

Now it's your turn. Everyone at CriticalDance and Rambert will be delighted if you want to post a comment about any aspect of
the tour or the Company.

To post a comment you, we have made things easier and you don't need to register. To make a posting, you need to click on the "Post Reply" or "New Topic" buttons at the top right of each page in the Forum; type or copy and paste your comments into the posting box; when you are ready, then press the "Add Reply" button.

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For additional practical information about CriticalDance click here.

Don't worry if you've never written about dance before. Just tell us your reaction to any aspects of the evening, whether good or not. The Rambert staff are keen to have your feedback and, if appropriate, will reply here.

A few words would be great, but if you want to write more you might like to look at our beginners' guide to reviewing.

Any problems or queries, don't hesitate to contact stuart@criticaldance.com

Don't delay - have your say.

Alex R wrote:



A very interesting point, Alex R. I'll try to find out more.

ballet rambert is awesome!! we are comin to watch u on wednesday at the hippodrome, so makesure ur good!!! haha! u will be, i love ballet its awesome, you are immence, please do a special shout out for me at the hippodrome, i want all of ur autographs!! my name is sian, i attend a college in bristol. cheers!! love sian, jules and teets x x x x x x x x x x x x x o

Paul Whittaker, the Founder of the organisation "Music and the Deaf" (MATD), and who signed the Lowry performance of Rambert Dance company on Saturday 24 September 2005, tells CriticalDance about the event:

This was a first for MATD as we are used to signing plays and musicals, but not dance performances. However, the Lowry is one of the venues where we regularly work and they were keen to provide a signed dance performance as was Mark Baldwin, Artistic Director of Rambert.

Signing for dance is certainly a challenge: unlike a play or musical you have no lyrics to translate, and have to respond to what happens in the orchestra pit (or on tape), rather than to what happens on stage. The Rambert programme at the Lowry was very varied and each work presented different problems. Initially I thought "Swamp" would be the hardest to sign, as it has an electronic score and thus deals with unconventional musical sounds: in the event, I found this the easiest piece to do, simply because the sounds were so different, and I could create an appropriate mechanical sign vocabulary to describe them.

"Curious Conscience", a new work by Raphael Bonachela, is a wonderful piece, but my problem was whether to interpret the poems, which contain pretty difficult images to translate, or to describe what is actually happening in the music (Britten's "Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings".) I was concerned that deaf patrons would find it hard to relate the signs they read to the dance they were watching. I finally decided on translating the lyrics, with just the occasional reference to the horn part, though I did not sign the Prologue and Epilogue, as I felt it was more important for the audience to watch the dancers at those points.

I approached "Constant Speed" with some foreboding as it is a piece inspired by physics and I got a "U" in my O-level Physics exam! The dance has lots of pace and variety, but I found the first section of the Lehar score difficult to sign; although there's a lot of musical motion - lots of scurrying back and forth - I found this hard to turn into sign language and feel this was my least successful part of the evening. In contrast, however, the final section - "The Gold and Silver Waltz" - has plenty of big tunes, so you can easily show the rise and fall of the music and what instruments are being played.

Overall, it was a very interesting experience, though some pieces did work better than others. I'm keen to learn to develop the possibilities of further interpreted dance performances and hope that we can continue our association with Rambert.

To learn more about the work of "Music and the Deaf", check their website.

Does anyone have any information about the new work by Christopher Bruce yet? the Rambert website doesn't say anything as yet but i'm becoming extremely curious.

I have little to add to Paul Whittaker's article above, except to say how fabulous he is. I was very moved by some of the music signing, things we take really for granted being visualised. It's not a separate language like signing words, which also formed part of his presentation.

Part of the reason it worked so well for me was Paul's performance: absolute stillness when doing nothing and focusing on the dancers, understanding his role as a part of the whole.

They look good, but they’re hardly gripping
The latest pieces from Rambert and Siobhan Davies offer mixed rewards, says David Dougill for The Sunday Times

Rafael Bonachela is one of the busiest choreographers in British modern dance at the moment....Rambert Dance Company, where he performed for 11 years, supplied the creative impetus and space for his first choreography; he has made nine works for them, and was appointed associate choreographer two years ago. Now he has decided to go independent, leaving Rambert with an ambitious farewell creation, Curious Conscience, premiered at the Lowry, Salford, at the start of the company’s autumn tour.

click for more

Audience reactions from High Wycombe Thursday, 29th September, 2005:
Judgment of Paris/ Momenta/interval/Dark Elegies/ interval/Constant Speed

During the first interval

Julie from Windsor, “I enjoyed the first piece. I thought they were trying to do something really difficult; to look as if they were performing really badly must be quite a challenge for them. The second piece I found very contemporary for me. I liked the motion and speed but thought it needed to be developed more.”
Sue from Datchet, “ I really enjoyed the second piece, fascinating. Dancers seemingly on their own went near to someone else and that triggered off the next dancer until several went on to dance together. I liked the speed of it and the momentum. It started slowly and built. The first I enjoyed because it was unusual and it made me chuckle.”
Ann from Hillingdon, “ Absolutely amazing. The first was delightful, amusing and funny. The second really extraordinary, the movement and the way it was lit. Total enjoyment. I liked the way you could concentrate purely on the dance.

During the second interval.

Ann added, “It reminded me at the at the start of that painting, The Scream, I could
feel the distress and anxiety, executed brilliantly and the dancers were exquisite. It conjured up such a feeling of loss.”
Martin and Jenny from Harlington, “ Really enjoyed it so far. The first was light, funny and amusing – fun. The second was really impressive; it flowed from one dancer to the next. They did it very well. We were very impressed with Dark Elegies.
Jenny was very moved and almost in tears. It was all about loss and you felt that. There was a great deal of variation in the choreography, lots of things going on. I think everyone found it moving. You could feel the pause before people started clapping, almost as if they didn’t want to break the atmosphere they had created, but of course you need to let them know how well they did. The dancers are a really high standard. We go to the Royal Ballet alot. We are really impressed so far with Rambert.”

And on Saturday: -

During the first interval.

Alison and Rose (aged 11) from Maidenhead,
Rose, “ First one was really cool and interesting. I liked the second one because you could put whatever story you liked to it. I thought they were all in an orphanage in a dormitory and out of bed playing and at the end they went back to bed.”
Alison, “I loved the way they portrayed the ageing prostitutes, especially the tall one. Very, very expressive. The physical way they move in the second one is incredible. I’ve been several times before to watch Rambert and they are always a joy to watch.

During the second interval.

Leo Kersey ( who of course danced in the original production of Dark Elegies ), “ Lots of odd things I found different, little things really. The last boys solo in the original had a really impressive part where the boy jumped forward, threw himself to the ground and jumped up and back, it was quite stunning. Tudor loved lots of quick and then slow movements. The third solo for a boy was made on a famous tap dancer and that should remain the style as it gives a different flavour to it.
It was very true to the original, just a few odd things really. Tudor was very particular about the lighting. At the end it shouldn’t dim as it is looking forward with hope to the future and it should reflect that. I didn’t like the way the baritone just shuffled off, I think in the original he walked up stage, being the first one off, with the dancers following.
With Judgment of Paris the feeling was that of seeing a Charlie Chaplin film, sad with funny touches. They used to cry it was so sad, girls who had once been lovely dancers now having to earn a living as prostitutes. It made you feel almost naughty to laugh at the comic side of it. Momenta was a nice number, a choreographic thing, just dancing, absolutely fine; I hate all those where it is just legs up all the time. “

(note from me, it was an absolute delight to talk with Mr Kersey and I thank him for his time and hope I recorded his comments as he intended.)

Melissa from High Wycombe, “ Nice to see a production where you can understand the story lines. I really liked Dark Elegies even though it was sad and dark.”

At the end.
Jonathan from Harefield, “ Brilliant, absolutely fantastic. I am amazed to be able to see something like this outside London. I haven’t been here before and never dreamt it would be so good. I loved the speed of it.

Sue from Byfleet, “ Excellent programme with the exception of Judgment of Paris, this Tudor is not suitable for such obviously young and beautiful women.
Beautiful musical dancers, lovely lines, a total pleasure! “

Although I did not have time to ask many people at the end I would like to add that the audience reaction was terrific to Constant Speed on both evenings, with much enthusiastic and sustained applause, a wonderful way to end the evening and everyone went home uplifted. I heard one lady say she had never imagined physics could be that much fun!

Thanks again to all at Rambert for two wonderful evenings, the company is looking great!

Thanks again to Avril, who, yet again has come up trumps with a bumper crop of audience comments. Believe me, it's enjoyable but hard work collecting these and after a few I begin to wilt. Clearly, Avril sticks at it through thick and thin.

Press release

Rambert Visits Norwich This Week

Rambert Dance Company visits the Theatre Royal Norwich from 12 - 14 October where audiences will be treated to three works from the season:

Artistic Director, Mark Baldwin's Constant Speed (pictured) - which has Rambert’s dancers whizzing around the stage like hyperactive molecules, in a joyous and athletic frenzy of movement, Dark Elegies - a masterwork from the Rambert repertoire originally choreographed by Antony Tudor in 1937 and the Olivier award-winning revival of Swamp by Michael Clark.

Read what BBC Norfolk had to say about the tour:

Rambert Dance Company on tour
From the BBC Norfolk website

Discover the physical side of physics as you dance to the tune of Einstein's theories. The world-acclaimed Rambert Dance Company take a fresh look at the scientist's work during their latest visit to Norfolk.

click for more

This is just to say that I found Rambert up to the usual standards after not seeing them for a while. Swamp was breathtaking, a real slow burner. It is an immense pleasure to see such artistry. I am a primary school teacher and Rambert have always inspired me to teach dance. What would be great is if there were a series of posters images of your dancers to use as a teaching aid. I would also love to take my classes to see the shows to really appreciate the top level of dance.

Thank you.

Dear Guest,
I'm so glad you enjoyed the Bristol shows.

In terms of posters and teaching resources, a wealth of these are available from the Rambert shop, you can either go to the website:
www.rambert.org.uk and click on the shop page or go to this link:

http://cnb-host3.clickandbuild.com/cnb/ ... t-dance-co

There is also a free student resource pack downloadable from the Education pages of the website.

I hope this is helpful
Kind regards

Hannah Khalil
Web manager
Rambert Dance Company

press release

Baldwin & Rambert Win TMA Award


Rambert Artistic Director Mark Baldwin at TMA Awards 2005


Rambert's Chairman Prudence Skene CBE at TMA Awards 2005

Rambert Dance Company's Artistic Director Mark Baldwin (pictured) has been awarded the 2005 TMA Theatre Award for Achievement in Dance. The Award recognises Mark for the creation of Constant Speed and the high calibre of his artistic directorship of Rambert Dance Company.

Baldwin fought off stiff competition from Birmingham Royal Ballet and choreographer Matthew Bourne to take the award at a ceremony held on Sunday October 23 at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Covent Garden which was hosted by the actress and writer Nichola McAuliffe.

Mark Baldwin’s leadership of Rambert over the last three years has been hailed as a resounding success by audiences and critics alike. His incisive direction and strong creative vision has infused Rambert with a renewed sense of purpose, producing a fresh and energetic repertoire, an exceptional troupe of dancers and an array of innovative collaborations and commissions.

Baldwin’s first choreographic work as Artistic Director since his appointment in November 2002, Constant Speed , has been widely acclaimed for its novel and charming approach to physics. Inspired by three of Einstein’s key 1905 theories, Constant Speed has Rambert’s dancers whizzing around the stage like hyperactive molecules, in a joyous and athletic frenzy of movement. Constant Speed was commissioned by The Institute of Physics to celebrate Einstein Year in 2005 and appears at every venue, apart from Sadler’s Wells, on Rambert’s autumn tour.

Jerry Cowhig, Managing Director of The Institute of Physics Publishing congratulated Baldwin on the Award saying,
"I am so happy that Mark received recognition for Constant Speed and also for all his work with the company. He has done a brilliant job.The success of Constant Speed seems to go on and on...! Let me also congratulate the company for its part in all that success and well-deserved recognition."

The 150 theatregoers who judged the TMA Theatre Awards watched over 1,000 performances to select the winners over the 12 seperate categories.

The Awards were established in 1990 to celebrate outstanding achievement in theatre across the UK. Presented annually by the Theatrical Management Association, they are the only nation-wide awards for theatre, opera and dance with over 175 theatres taking part in the scheme. These prestigious awards recognise and celebrate excellence in all aspects of regional theatre, and as Britain’s flagship contemporary dance company, Rambert is especially proud to have won this award.