Mark Baldwin
Mark will be adding to his blog posts over the coming weeks and months.
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Scotland
Posted by: Mark Baldwin on 24 February 2010
The long tour after a hefty rehearsal period has brought out some injuries; always a dancer's and a dance company's worst nightmare. On the flipside, other dancers get an opportunity; a recent example would be Otis-Cameron Carr who stepped in for Kirill Burlov in Glasgow.
Otis is a very musical dancer and I'm so pleased he finally got the chance after replacing Miguel Altunaga at an early open rehearsal of The Comedy of Change. Thomasin Gülgeç made his Comedy debut in Brighton: he recently won a Critics' Circle Award for Best Male Dancer (Modern) - see photo below. You may have read too that the Company has been nominated for two Olivier awards; one in the category of Best New Dance Production, and the other for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for all our recent new work which, to my pleasure, includes The Comedy Of Change.
Rambert dancers: Dane Hurst, Malgorzata Dzierzon, Estela Merlos and Thomasin Gülgeç
© John Ross, ballet.co.uk
Edinburgh saw the return of Eryck Brahmania, after injury. Eryck created a lead male
role in The Comedy Of Change. Comedy saw rangy Luciá Barbadillo also making her debut in Brighton. Malgorzata Dzierzon, Elizel Long and Antonette Dayrit, also joined or replaced Pieter Symonds and Gemma Nixon in alternating casts.
Special thanks to our excellent marketing team as Edinburgh drew a great audience. Our Press Manager, Steven Drew, had previously connected me to the Scottish journalists Mary Brennan and Kelly Apter, always a pleasure, since I've known Mary since 1996 when I was resident choreographer with Scottish Ballet. (If you've ever wondered what's under Mary's array of beautiful hats it's beautiful auburn hair: we had breakfast together in Norwich where I caught a glimpse.)
Scotland, although cold, is exuding its usual charm and curiosity for Rambert and The Comedy Of Change. Charles Darwin was a student in Edinburgh studying, at first, medicine; also it's where he learned taxidermy skills from a freed slave, and most importantly where he really began his deep interest in the natural world. Spookily, the Edinburgh Festival Theatre is almost directly opposite the Royal College of Surgeons, and I have read that it was watching an operation there on a child that revolted him and helped swing him away from general practice and towards evolution.
Comments
By: Alice Squire
Saturday, 27 February 2010 20:11:14
Thank you so much for coming to Aberdeen. We are a bit of a cultural backwater that tends to be overlooked - was a brilliant late xmas present to see Rambert