Elizabeth Gunson Dance

On 8 Sept 2021 I posted the following to my Facebook page:

Elizabeth Gunson ("Lizzie") holds three classes for adults at Phoenix Squash & Fitness Club between 19:00 and 21:00 on Wednesday evenings:

• Ballet from 19:00 to 19:35
• Tap from 19:35 to 20:10 
• Dancercise from 20:10 to 21:00

I attended all three of Lizzie's classes on 8 Sept and her ballet class last Wednesday.  I enjoyed all of those classes tremendously.

The class took place in the Club's dance studio.  About half a dozen of us turned up.    Before the class, Lizzie asked us what we did for a living.  One was an accountant, another a nurse, yet another worked in retain and one had even been a police detective.   Lizzie told us a little bit about herself.  Her favourite genre was ballet but she had learnt other styles.  She had danced on dry land but also on cruise ships.

She started the class by correcting our posture.  I have been doing ballet on or off for over 50 years and I must have developed all sorts of bad habits in that time.  Lizzie straightened me out at once.  I had developed the habit of looking down - probably at the computer screen during lockdown.   Lizzie got me to stand my full height and raise my gaze at all times.

Having taught us all to stand properly Lizzie moved on to pliés requiring us not just to fold our legs and keep a straight back but also to have regard for our arm and head movements.  We performed pliés on each side of the barre in 1st, 2nd and 5th positions though I have to confess that my 5th tends to look more like everyone else's 3rd.   We proceeded with tendus and glissés, tried some balancing exercises in preparation for pirouettes and finished with a simple adagio.

The class lasted 35 minutes.   That was half as long as my usual classes in Leeds and Manchester but it was every bit as demanding in that it required enormous concentration.  Even though I had told her that I had never done tap and did not have the footwear Lizzie invited me to join the tap class.   I am very glad that I did because it was a lot of fun.  I am seriously thinking of investing in a pair of tap shoes next time I visit Freeds or some other dance shop.  It is not easy but the rhythm is infectious.   Again Lizzie taught us some basics and then set us a more demanding exercise.

Finally, we tried dancercise which was great fun.  The best bit for me was to pretend to be walking a catwalk like 16-year-old models.  We cheered each other on with our exaggerated movements and poses.   That is the sort of exercise that develops stage presence and it has an obvious application for ballet.  I left the studio stiff and exhausted but quite exhilarated.

As I had attended a class in Manchester the day before and had booked a workout in the gym the next day with my personal trainer yesterday I attended only ballet on Wednesday.  Again, the class was not easy but I learnt a lot.  It followed much the same course as the class two weeks ago with the exception that after the adagio we had a go at posé pirouettes.   I have to work on these.

Phoenix Squash & Fitness Club is a couple of miles from my home so it is very convenient for me.   It is just outside the centre of Honley Village and not far from the main road between Huddersfield and Holmfirth.  It has a fair-sized car park which can usually accommodate everyone.  There are frequent bus services to Holmfirth and Huddersfield.   I would travel to these classes if I had to.   In the words of the old red Michelin guide, Lizzie's teaching vaut le voyage. 

Class Review - Hype Dance Open Adult Ballet Class

Standard YouTube Licence

Yesterday I attended the adult ballet open class at  Hype Dance Company in Sheffield.  Hype Dance is located at 60 Upper Allen St, Sheffield, S3 7GL which is a good deal more accessible than its previous premises in Earl Street (see More than just Hype - Beginners and Improvers Classes in Sheffield 14 May 2014 Terpsichore).

Hype Dance perform a lot of shows including the one in the video above which was danced on The Moor (a pedestrianized shopping area in Sheffield city centre) as part of Sheffield's "Frightnight" celebrations on 2 Nov 2014.  The piece was choreographed by Fiona Noonan, the teacher who had led me back to the barre after an absence of 45 years. The dancers include my contributor Mel Wong who is now in Hungary  (she is the one in the black tutu from Big Ballet) and Ian (the chap dressed as a pirate) whom I mention later in this article.  Hype's artistic director, Anna Olejnicki, has been very supportive of Powerhouse Ballet and two of its students have signed up for our company classes.  I had a lot of good news to report about Powerhouse and one of the reasons for my visit was to deliver that news in person.

Sadly I did not see Anna last night or my friends Wendy McDermott or Andrew Murray. However, I did see others including Ian who appeared in the film above.  The class was taken by a teacher called Ale (which I think is short for Alejandra) and she was very good.  Her style of teaching was different from the styles of any of my other instructors and it was very effective.  She had a class that varied in experience from a first timer to women in pointe shoes but she gave us exercises that we all enjoyed and from which we all benefited.

She started with pliés, of course, and you might think that there is only one way to do pliés but she gave them a flourish of her own with rises and balances between demi and full.  Similarly with tendus.  We had to think about what leg to use, to remember to plié, to transfer weight and turn round smartly to continue the exercise facing the other direction.  She paid a lot of attention to posture calling us from the barre to the centre more than once to check our positioning.  We did ronds de jambes and cloches before calling us to the centre for glissés.

To glissés she added relevés and passés and before we knew it and without any fuss pirouettes.   Remember we had a first timer in the class and this was only his 7th or 8th exercise ever in ballet and he turned beautifully.  Even I with all my problems with turns did not quite fall off the pons asinorum.  Ale showed us tombés and balancés  and created a little enchainement that ended with a pirouette from 4th which we practised from stage right and stage left.

All too soon the hour was up and it was time for cool down.  Ale's cool down was one of those most thorough I have known and took several minutes.  The only thing missing from the class was jumps.  Had it been a full 90 minute class I am sure we would have covered them. I would be very interested to see how Ale teaches them.

One of the few lessons that I remember from my first ballet classes at St Andrews 50 years ago is that every student should thank the accompanist for the music and the instructor for the class in addition to any clapping in the reverence. Sally, my very first teacher, was a stickler for ballet etiquette.  When I thanked Ale for the class she asked me whether she would see me the following week.  Sheffield is not the easiest place to reach from Holmfirth and I have classes in Manchester and Leeds so I can't make her class every week but yesterday will definitely not be the last time she sees me.

Introducing Janet McNulty

A big welcome to our latest contributor, Janet McNulty.

Janet comes from Liverpool and she signs her many interesting contributions to BalletcoForum with the words:

"Proud of my Scouse accent!
(Watching ballet keeps me sane)".

Northern Ballet opens its season at this time of the year with a series of performances at West Yorkshire Playhouse. That theatre is literally next door to Northern Ballet's base at Quarry Hill and audiences like to think of it as the company's home. Many of its works have been premiered here and there is a special intimacy in the auditorium that brings out the best in the dancers. I look forward to Northern Ballet at the Playhouse very much indeed.

Alas this year I shall have to miss them because I shall be at the Dutch National Ballet's gala in Amsterdam tonight. Knowing my affection for Northern Ballet Janet has very kindly offered to review their season for us. I hope she can be tempted to contribute frequently to Terpsichore because she has an encyclopaedic knowledge of, and boundless enthusiasm for, all kinds of dance.

I see from her contributions to Facebook that she already enjoyed the opening night and I look forward to seeing her detailed review. I should also like to wish the company all the best with their West Yorkshire Playhouse season. I shall next see them in Romeo and Juliet at The Alhambra.

By the way here is a recipe for scouse.

It's Only Words

Students of the Deana Morgan Academy in Bradford will perform It's Only Words at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford on the 16 and 17 Sept. It is advertises as a celebration of Shakespeare, Dickens, the Brontes, J M Barrie, J K Rowling and other famous authors in dance, drama and song.

There will be three performances:

Fri 16 Sep 2016
Time 19:15    £ 25.50 - £17.50

Sat 17 Sep 2016
Time 14:15    £ 25.50 - £17.50

Time 19:15   £ 25.50 - £17.50

Tickets can be obtained through the theatre's website.

Mr Frog Dancewear

According to Professor Sir John Seeley the British empire was acquired in a fit of absence of mind.  I had a somewhat less devastating fit for humanity (but distressing enough for me) when I left my treasured ballet bag from the Bristol Russian Ballet School on a tram. I had bought it at the Playhouse Theatre, Weston Super Mare when I saw the School dance Cinderella with Elena Glurdjidze and Arionel Vargas on a tram (see An Even Better Show: the Bristol Russians by the Sea 5 May 2014 Terpsichore).

I was on my way to Karen Sant's class at KNT in Manchester. I was distracted only momentarily but that was long enough. By the time I noticed that i had gone the bag and its contents of two pairs of ballet shoes, two leotards (one purchased only the previous week and worn only once), a pair of ballet tights, a ballet dress, skirts and a towel were trundling on their way back to Rochdale. I reported the loss immediately to Metrolink but the bag was never handed in  I had to miss class with a favourite teacher, which was bad enough, but now I have to replace the missing items which is worse.

These are not easy to replace because I am not your typical dancer age, shape or size as you can see from my attemot to dance a shade in La Bayadere (see La Bayadere Intensive Day 3: No Snakes  17 Aug 2016) but I made a start in Huddersfield at Mr Frog's Dancewear shop in the Byram Arcade.  According to the shop's website it was founded in 1985 which was the year I moved to Upperthong (a village in the path of nature's wind tunnel on a lonely moor several hundred feet above sea level). A village, incidentally, that was mocked mercilessly by David Murley in his ballet Frisky Claptrap (see Ey Up from Uperthong 10 Oct 2014 Terpsichore). For all those years I had never noticed it but instead continued to purchase my shes and other kit from Freeds in St Martin's Lane and other Southerners.

I found this shop while researching for this blog which will eventually have the best directory of adult ballet classes, dance wear shops. studios, theatres, venues and other resources in Yorkshire on the planet. It is located in Unit 23 on the first floor of the Byram Arcade which is one of the architectural landmarks of Huddersfield. The best place to park is Sainsbury's multistorey where you can get up to 4 hours free parking on weekdays if you buy a few items from the store and up to 30 minutes even if you buy nowt.  If you rely on public transport the store is close to Huddersfield bus and railway stations.

The proprietor was able to sell me a pair of So Danca shoes that fit as well as my Freeds with the elastic sewn on. She also ordered me an extra-large Mary Rose leotard similar to one that I had bought last year for Jane Tucker's Swan Lake intensive.  She also allowed me a 10% discount on her "Back to School" promotion.

Judging by what I could see in her shop and on her website the proprietor carries a wide range of women's and girls' dance wear. Show cards for many of the big brands like Bloch, Capezio and So Danca were on display.  Her website lists several of the local ballet schools though not Team Hud surprisingly. The only serious drawback is that the store is open only from Wednesday to Saturday but no doubt goods can be bought online at other times.

Dance Studio Leeds Ballet Newsletter

The Dance Studio Leeds from Kathryn Hall on Vimeo.

The Dance Studio Leeds has just announced the opening of a new studio and new classes from the 19 Sept 2016 in its August Ballet Newsletter.

It appears that the Monday evening class which I reviewed in Terpsichore on the 18 July 2016 and 22 Oct 2015 will be split in two with beginners at 18:30 to 19:45 and improvers from 18:45 to 21:15.  According to the timetable there will also be a beginners' class on Mondays between 10:15 and 11:15, a Ballet Fundamentals course on Thursday evenings from 29 Sept to 3 Nov 2016 with Helen Snowden and an Advanced/Intermediate course with Nathalie Leger between 18:00 and 19:30 on Fridays.

The studio will include ballet in its next Showcase at the Carriageworks Theatre in Leeds on 8 Oct 2016.

For more information on Dance Studio Leeds see its resources page in the dult Dance section,

Planet Dance

Carlinghow Mills

Author: Betty Longbottom
Source Wikipedia

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Just as Monsieur Jourdain in Moliere's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme spoke prose all his life without knowing it I have been patronizing Planet Dance ever since I started classes at Northern Ballet (see Jane Lambert Realizing a Dream 12 Sept 2013 Terpsichore). The area to the right of the reception desk with items of dancewear on display at Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre's building at Quarry Hill is actually a branch of Planet Dance. Over the years I have bought shoes and tights from the lady who runs the concession without knowing that it was part of a larger business.

Planet Dance is a wholesaler and retailer of dance clothing, footwear and accessories. It supplies dance schools and other retailers online and through a showroom and retail premises at Carlinghow Mills in Batley. I visited Caringhow Mills for the first time on 13 Aug 2016 as I was kitting up for a three day intensive workshop with Jane Tucker at The Dancehouse Theatre in Manchester (see Jane Lambert La Bayadère Intensive Day 1: There's Life in the Old Girl Yet 16 Aug 2016 Terpsichore).

The showroom at Carlinghow Mills is very easy to miss even if you know your way around Batley. It occupies one of a number of units in a converted mill on the Bradford Road.  The full postal address is
Planet Dance
2nd Floor
Middle Mill
Carlinghow Mills
501 Bradford Road
Batley
WF17 8LL
it is towards the back of the complex and I had to wall around for a few minutes before I found it.

The showroom is up a flight of stairs and quite airy and spacious. I had asked for an extra large leotard and several pairs of tights to be put to one side and these were waiting for me when I arrived. There seemed to be a wide variety of footwear for most types of dance including lots of pointe shoes. The staff seemed well informed and efficient and I was on my way within minutes.

The leotard was comfortable even though I had to dance in it for nearly 6 hours on one of the hottest days of the year. Since my visit I have looked round Planet Dance's website and note that it has some useful information on the pianist, David Plumpton and a comprehensive directory of dance schools. It appears that they will add pages on dancewear size guide, pointe shoes and ballet shoes but those pages are empty at present.

The Batley store stocks all the usual brands such as Bloch, Carpezio and Freed. It is not far from my home. It is quite likely that I shall come again.