Search this site for:

Blog

Easter weekend in Monaco

Posted by: Gillian Langley on 12 April 2010

I spent most of Easter weekend in France at the Monaco Dance Forum looking at 80 students from: Le Tremplin Jeunes Ballets, Assemblee internationale, Beijing Dance Academy, Cannes Jeune Ballet, Compan. Brasileira de Ballet, Jeune Ballet du Québec, Academie Princesse Grace, École Royale de Ballet d'Anvers and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

Also attending were about 20/25 Artistic Directors from large and small companies. The hope was that we would find and indeed provide dancer contracts for our young hopefuls. There was plenty of talent on show, some of it outstanding. The setting was also gorgeous and being a foodie I ate really well. A day of watching four classes and barre then Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo that evening, then the next day the students rehearsing and that evening their performances.

It was also a chance to chat to other Artistic Directors and catch up, plus there was lunch in the presence of HRH Princess Caroline of Monaco, and the announcement of bursaries for chosen students; then to Nice and then back to London.

Back at base, Aletta Collins, Tobias Picker and the designer Miriam Buether (former winner of the Linbury Award) have been in Chiswick with us rehearsing Awakenings; it is going well. The team will be back later in the year before the première to rehearse; tweaking and refining what I hope will a fabulous piece. Also in the "House" is Jeannie Steel teaching Merce Cunningham's 1968 RainForest, I love it; one of Merce's animal works conjuring images of rainforest-like mysteries with the vapour steam and humidity represented by Andy Warhol's helium-filled silver pillows.

View comments (0)

Comments

There are no comments for this post