 |
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
News
|
||||||
|
News
|
Dateline: 10th April, 2006
Fonteyn Nureyev Competition - The Final The final of the Fonteyn Nureyev Young Dancers Competition, organised by the Royal Academy of Dance, was held in the Lyric Theatre of The Lowry, Salford Quays, on Sunday evening, 9th April. Twenty young dancers, aged between 10 and 13, had been chosen from 300 entrants from across the UK and they perfromed before a large audience of family, friends and ballet-lovers, among them dancer Wayne Sleep who had travelled up from London to attend. Also in the audience was BTG editor Peter Lathan, who reports: Manchester United were playing Arsenal in the Premiership at Old Trafford, just a cough and a spit away from The Lowry, on Sunday evening and my hotel was packed with football fans, most of them wearing Man U shirts. But although their team won 2-0, I have to admit I never felt anything like the sense of excitement there was in and around The Lowry for the FNYDC final. Both in the foyer beforehand, during the interval and after the show, and in the Lyric itself during, the audience positively bubbled. And so it should, for this was a great occasion: the first Fonteyn Nereyev competition and an unrivalled opportunity for young dancers from all over the UK to show their talent and dedication. And indeed there was plenty of both in evidence. The youngsters had spent three days working towards the evening's performance, including a one-to-one session with Gillian Lynne whose amazing career includes being a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet and a star dancer at the London Palladium and choreographer for ballet, opera, theatre (for the RSC) and music theatre, including, of course, her Olivier-winning choreography for Cats and the current production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In addition they worked with the Royal Academy of Dance faculty, so they had what must have been a strenuous but extraordinarily rewarding and exciting experience. The youngster were divided into two "levels", based on age, and at each level there would be a Commendation and a winner. The evening began with the younger Level 1 dancers: six girls and four boys. First up was a class in which they ran through various short routines, each concentrating on a specific skill or skills, in groups of various sizes. Then, after a brief pause, each contestant had his or her solo spot, dancing a set of Variations specially choreographed by Gillian Lynne, the set for the girls being different from the boys' set. The same pattern was repeated after the interval at Level 2 (eight girls, two boys), although both the class and the Variations were different, with the movements being more advanced and requiring much greater balance. Their performances can only be described as amazing. A colleague said to me at the interval that she was so glad that she didn't have to make a decision about winners and losers. They all, she said - and she was totally correct - have their strengths and whilst B might not have been as good as A in aspect 1, (s)he was better than A in aspect 2, and so it went on. The announcer used the words "utterly captivating performances". Absolutely! Then, as the judges deliberated, came a short film about the partnership of Fonteyn and Nureyev, followed by what Gillian Lynne described as a "unison happening", a piece she choreographed for all twenty finalists and which they learned in a mere six hours. And then the moment of truth, the "dreaded but eagerly anticipated moment": the announcement of judges' decisions. They were:
The judges were Dame Antoinette Sibley (President of the Royal Academy of Dance), Sir John Tooley (Chair of the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation and former General Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) and David Bintley (Director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet). As was said on numerous occasions throughout the evening, these children are the future of ballet in the UK: without a doubt, it is in safe hands! Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
|
|||||
|
|
