December 2018
Club News
Dates for 2018
Monday 3 December 7.30pm
We are delighted to welcome back Anna Meadmore as our speaker at the December meeting. Anna is always a
very interesting speaker and she will be speaking about her new book on Dame Ninette de Valois and the English Style
COMMITTEE MEETINGS
26th November 2018—6.30pm in the actors studio
Agenda and minutes to follow
Monday 28 January 2019 - 6.30pm
Silver Swans
At our November meeting we were very pleased to welcome Janet Martin and members of her Silver Swans group who meet on Thursday afternoons in Bexley. The Silver Swans is a world wide scheme launched by the Royal Academy of Dance in 2016. Although it is aimed at all ages the licensees, such as Janet, are trained to teach dance to older participants. Janet attended a seminar at the RAD in Battersea and there she learned to adapt her teaching of dance according to the ability, flexibility and mobility of the dancers. Angela Rippon is an ambassador for Silver Swans
and Janet met her at the seminar.
We all know the benefits of exercise at any age and the beauty of the Silver Swans is that it enables anyone to improve their fitness levels through dance. It helps develop stamina, balance, flexibility and coordination as well as being given the opportunity to meet up with others. It’s a great opportunity to develop confidence and have a go at something new. Some of the group have never danced before.
We were delighted to be able to watch a demonstration of what happens in a Silver Swans class. It started with warm up exercises focusing on the ankles, thighs, back, arms and neck. Sitting on chairs they concentrated on their breathing and then moved on to barre exercises which help to develop balance and posture. A ports de bras and a short allegro piece and finally we were treated to a short dance to music from Swan Lake.
It
It was obvious that the group had put a lot of work and effort into providing us with such an entertaining evening. Hopefully it wasn’t too stressful for them as it must have been quite daunting to have an audience. At the end of the demonstration Sue presented Janet and each of her swans with a red rose. The demonstration finished early which meant that there was also time to talk and get to know each other, an added bonus.
If you want to know any more information about the Silver Swans visit www.royalacademyofdance.org/learn-to-dance/silver-swans-1 or ask Catherine!
Thanks to Maggie for writing the article and Sally for the pictures
What's on
Coliseum
13—30 Dec ENB The Nutcracker
Albert Hall
28—31 December Birmingham Royal Ballet The Nutcracker
Covent Garden
20-29 November Royal Ballet Infra, Symphony in C, The Unknown Soldier
3 Dec– 15 Jan 2019 Royal Ballet Nutcracker
18 Dec—4 Jan 2019 Royal Ballet Les Patineurs, Winter Dreams, The Concert
18 Jan– 13 Feb 2019 Royal Ballet Asphodel Meadows, The Two Pigeons
12—16 Feb 2019 Royal Ballet School Mixed programme
15 Feb—4 April 2019 Royal Ballet Don Quixote
5—23 March 2019 Royal Ballet Frankenstein
26 March—11 June 2019 Royal Ballet Romeo and Juliet
8-21 May 2019 Royal Ballet Wthin the Golden Hour / New Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui / Flight Pattern
4-14 June 2019 Royal Ballet A Month in the Country, The Firebird
14 July 2019 Royal Ballet School Annual performance
Sadlers Wells
4 Dec 2018—27 Jan 2019 Matthew Bourne Swan Lake
Live Screenings at Greenwich Picture House/ Greenwich Odeon/Bluewater/Odeon Beckenham/Empire Bromley/Orpington
3 December 2018 Royal Ballet The Nutcracker
19 February 2019 Royal Ballet Don Quixote
16 May 2019 Royal Ballet Within the Golden Hour / New Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui / Flight Pattern
11 June 2019 Royal Ballet Romeo and Juliet
Royal Opera House 02073044000 Greenwich Picture House 08719025732 Sadlers Wells 02078638000 Greenwich Odeon 08712244007
Orchard Dartford 01322220000 Bromley Empire 08714714714 Churchill Bromley 08448717620 Showcase Bluewater 01322422700
Beckenham Odeon 08712244007 Orpington Cinema 0333 006 7777
Please check at the cinema before going that the performance is being shown, especially for the Bolshoi screenings, as not all cinemas
do all shows.
For those of you who like to attend the Live Screenings from the Royal Ballet you may have noticed that the next one is on the
3rd December the same day as our next meeting. Did you know that a lot of the cinemas also do an Encore performance on
the following Sunday? The programme is exactly the same and starts at 2pm, so you can have the best of both worlds and
hear Anna’s talk and see the Nutcracker. Please check at your local cinema that they are showing the encore performances.
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
Wishing all members a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you all in February 2019, the year in which we will be celebrating
58 years of ballet club!