The Royal Opera House live screening: The Winter’s Tale

The story of two boyhood friends, both kings, separated in childhood and reunited as adults, is the basis for this tale of love, loss and redemption.

King Leontes (Edward Watson)

Happiness reigns until King Leontes of Sicilia, in a jealous fit, accuses wife Hermoine of having an affair with friend, King Polixenes, and that their newly born child is not his. Their eight year old child, Mamillius, witnesses his mother’s distress and, already ill, collapses and dies. Hermione, the loss of her son too much to bear, also collapses and dies, and only then does Leontes - having in his rage also banished his baby daughter - realise the disastrous consequences of his mistake. Edward Watson's immense portrayal of his character's descent into a tormented, paranoid soul is illuminated by Wheeldon's tortured, contorted and twisted choreography.

The noblewoman (I thought nursemaid) Paulina, is the emotional heart of the piece for me – the one constant in Leontes life, it was her anguish that sent me over the edge. Not only did she lose Hermione, Mamillius and the baby princess, it was her husband, Antigonus, who Leontes sent to abandon the baby girl: he was eaten by a bear [Exit, pursued by a bear]. But before that happened, he left in the cradle a beautiful emerald that had belonged to Hermione ...

That was just Act One. You had to have had a heart of stone if you weren’t blubbing by then. Stone, I tell you. Which, in the Opera House itself would’ve been ok, but the Imax at Bluewater? Not so much ...

Perdita (Sarah Lamb) and Florizel (Steven McRae)

The intensity of the first part gives way to the delicate joy of the next, as the baby princess, found by shepherds, grows up as Perdita and falls in love with a disguised Prince Florizel – son of Polixenes! Against the backdrop of a beautiful bejewelled tree, their courtship is pure wonderment. A sense of Irish & folk dancing imbues the piece with magic; the ensemble and music hints of Riverdance and I marvel again that ballet can draw from so many genres and yet still retain its own essence. Perdita is crowned May Queen and her adopted father presents her with Hermione’s emerald. But – you knew it was coming – Polixenes is unhappy with the relationship, and condemns Perdita and her family to death. They, and Florizel, flee to Sicilia.

Wistful longing and sense of loss pervades the opening of Act 3, as Leontes, supported by Paulinha mourns at the clifftop graves of his wife and child. When Florizel and Perdita arrive they appeal to the King for help and he agrees, remonstrating with Polixenes upon his arrival. In a moment of violence, Polixenes manhandles Perdita, revealing the emerald and her true identity.

Fathers and children are reunited and celebrate the marriage of Perdita and Florizel. Wedding festivities at an end, Paulinha leads Leontes to a new statue of Hermione but, suddenly, the statue comes to life. Hermione is alive, hidden by Paulinha for 16 years. An exquisite final act, and I haven't been so choked up since Les Mis – thanks, ROH Bridge!

Shakespeare’s comedy?tragedy?late romance was screened live from the ROH on Monday, April 28th, and shown in 29 countries. Choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and with music by Joby Talbot, we were treated during the intervals to interviews and behind the scenes glimpse of the processes involved. The audience reaction was captured on social media and posted online, where yet more plaudits were added in the comments section – read it all here.

The Live Cinema Season continues with Manon Lescaut on Tuesday, June 24th – visit the website here for the full programme. Seeing a ballet on a cinema screen is not quite being there, but it comes damn close so check out your local listings.

Post script: There wasn't a press photo available for Zanaida Yenowsky (Paulinha) but it was the desolation and sorrow in her performance that captured me most. Spooky then, that wandering around the National Gallery the next day, I found her in Da Vinci's pencil sketch. Really. Look at the photo below and then click here.

Royal Academy of Dance to present The Royal Ballet with the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award

The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) will award its highest honour – the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award (QEII Award) – to The Royal Ballet, 60 years after the award’s inauguration. The award – presented annually in recognition of outstanding services to the art of ballet by the RAD – was first conferred on The Royal Ballet founder Dame Ninette de Valois, in 1954. To celebrate this benchmark in ballet history, the award will be presented during a gala fundraising dinner for the RAD’s flagship event, the Genée International Ballet Competition (the Genée).

The QEII Award was created in honour of the 1953 coronation of the RAD’s patron, Queen Elizabeth II. The Royal Ballet will become the first ever company to receive the award usually bestowed upon individuals. The gala dinner will be held at Claridge’s in Mayfair, on 4 September 2014, the exact venue where the first QEII Award was held at a lunch on 16 July 1954. It was presented to Dame Ninette de Valois by the then RAD President Dame Adeline Genée in recognition of her outstanding contribution to ballet including her founding of The Royal Ballet in 1931 - the same year in which the Genée was first convened.

The Genée has since proved to be a launch pad for a professional career in dance, and the Academy hopes to fundraise to provide the means for a broader pool of young talent to participate. Since the year 2000, 14 Genée medallists have gone on to dance with The Royal Ballet alone – amongst them current Principal Dancers Lauren Cuthbertson (Silver Medallist, 2001) and Steven McRae (Gold Medallist, 2002). As this presentation of the QEII Award celebrates the shared history between The Royal Ballet and RAD, the gala will aim to fundraise for the next generation of young ballet talent hoping to take part in the Genée in the future.

The gala event will be hosted by RAD President and former Royal Ballet Principal dancer Darcey Bussell CBE, and the QEII Award will be accepted by Kevin O’Hare on behalf of The Royal Ballet. Dancers from The Royal Ballet will dine with the guests and the evening will feature a charity auction, where dance lovers will be able to bid for glamorous and highly sought-after prizes. The proceeds will create means tested bursaries of up to £2,500 for future Genée candidates who cannot afford the costs involved in taking part in the competition, as well to develop the competition itself further.

Kevin O’Hare, Artistic Director of The Royal Ballet, says: ‘On behalf of everyone associated with The Royal Ballet, I would like to say what a great honour it is that the Company has been chosen as recipient of The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award this year. 2014 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the presentation of the first award to our founder, Dame Ninette de Valois in 1953 and it is particularly appropriate that during the evening funds will be raised for the Genée International Ballet Competition, which does so much to discover and encourage the finest young dancers and potential stars of the future from around the world.’

Luke Rittner, CEO Royal Academy of Dance, says: ‘I am delighted that the Academy is bestowing its highest honour – The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award - on The Royal Ballet Company. The Royal Academy of Dance and The Royal Ballet have a long tradition of mutual respect and close co-operation, and these bonds of friendship will be further strengthened on 4 September when we join together to celebrate this award and to secure the future of the Genée International Ballet Competition.’

Read all about the organisations involved below:

Royal Academy of Dance

With over 14,000 members spread across 79 countries, the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is one of the largest and most influential dance education and training organisations in the world. Established in the 1920s, to improve standards and re-invigorate dance training initially within the UK, the Academy helps and encourages its teachers to perfect their teaching skills and pass on this knowledge to their students. There are currently over 1,000 students in full-time or part-time teacher training programmes with the Academy and each year the examination syllabus is taught to thousands of young people worldwide, with around a quarter of a million pupils per year going on to take our exams. http://www.rad.org.uk

The Royal Ballet
Based at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden, The Royal Ballet, led by Director Kevin O’Hare, is Britain’s largest ballet company.  The Company has a wide-ranging repertory showcasing the great classical ballets, heritage works from Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton and Principal Choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, works by Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor and Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon, as well as new works by the foremost choreographers of today. Access is a key issue for the Company and its work is seen not just at the Royal Opera House but via televised and cinematic performances, outdoor Big Screen performances, international touring and through the work of the company’s Education Department http://www.roh.org.uk/

The Genée International Ballet Competition
The Genée International Ballet Competition, named after RAD's first president Dame Adeline Genée DBE, is the Academy’s flagship annual event. Also known simply as ‘the Genée’, it is one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world, attracting the finest young dancers from around the globe all of whom are students of the RAD syllabus. Candidates receive a unique opportunity to work with renowned choreographers and teachers for five days before performing at the semi-finals, and then at the final, where they compete for a range of medals. The competition has taken place almost every year since 1931, and is now a truly global event. The ChallenGenée Fund provides funding for the annual Genée International Ballet Competition. The Challengenée Fund is a Designated Fund of the Royal Academy of Dance.
http://www.rad.org.uk/genee2014

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award
The QEII award is the RAD’s most prestigious award, bestowed for the first time 60 years ago in 1954 to Dame Ninette De Valois, at a lunch attended by - amongst others - the presidents of the four Royal Academies (Arts, Music, Dramatic Art and Dance). Since then it has been awarded nearly every year to many personalities in recognition of outstanding services to the art of ballet.
http://www.rad.org.uk/about/about-the-rad/awards-and-nominations

A fairy tale beauty, re-awakened: Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty

An age old tale of magic and wonder, retold darkly and sensually - Disney this ain't! Matthew Bourne's Gothic Romance re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty won my heart.

Sumptuous was the word repeatedly popping into my head: sets, costumes and of course, the incredible score by Tchaikovsky, beautifully interpreted. Add to that the divine dancing, with Matthew's trademark capacity to interchange genres: contemporary ballet gave way to flashes of Paso Doble and balletic Argentine Tango in the palace of the bad vamps; devilish costumes in traditional Flamenco red and black intensified the passion and impending aggression. If the trailer doesn't make you wish you'd been there, I don't know what will:
 

Depending on if you believe the official Twitter or the official website, Tom Jackson Greaves or Adam Maskell (my money is on him for last night, at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury - but I was in the Upper Circle, so I could be wrong!), is the most charismatic of baddies as Caradoc, son of Carabosse (also played by him), in this most moving vampire love story since Buffy met Angel.

The decision to show Aurora first as a playful baby by way of animated puppetry was inspired; her transformation into a coquettish 16 year old - a captivating Hannah Vassallo - continued the playfulness; charming to all, innocent yet knowing.

There were audible gasps from the audience when good fairy Count Lilac 'turned' Aurora's young lover - for how else would he survive to awake her with a kiss? Those of us who'd seen the Imagine documentary of course, just nodded sagely. "Be careful, though, with those racquets!"

All ended as it should (after an awakening, subtle, but maybe a little too adult for under 11s) happily ever after, with every aspect of the whole production simply stunning. If you get the chance to see Sleeping Beauty or any of Matthew Bourne's New Adventures there's no decision to be made, just do it.

Follow Matthew on Twitter @New_Adventures and keep up to date on the website. News already there is that Swan Lake returns in the winter!

Move It 2012

The UK's biggest dance exhibition/festival, Move It, the show for dancers, teachers, students and enthusiasts, will be held at Olympia from March 9th to 11th.

With 20,000 dancers taking part over three days across three stages, this amazing spectacle has performances from Flawless and the English National Ballet - together, fusing streetdance and ballet; Got To Dance's Akai, Alleviate and Chris & Wes; Britain's Got Talent stars James Hobley and Twist & Pulse and many more, including performances from the best performing arts colleges and streetdance crews.

The Big Dance Interview Sofa returns, with ex-Strictly Come Dancing champions Darren Bennett (with Jill "The Halfpenny", Series 2) and Lilia Kopylova (Darren Gough, Series 3) guests at 12.30pm on the Sunday.

There's a Dance Teachers' Convention, as well as the chance to grab a bargain in the leg warmer department and take part in a variety of different classes, so check out the website today to book your tickets.

My two favourite things ...

Yep, chocolate and dancing - don't do both at once though, you might choke. Settle back instead to watch (catch it quick if you're a Kent local, catch it slow if The Smoke is your thing) as Chocolat - the Ballet, takes the stage at the EM Forster Theatre in Tonbridge.

Snippets: Diversity; Black Swan

A comprehensive why-you-should-see-this-film list for Black Swan.

And Diversity have a fitness DVD out! Catch a glimpse below.

Snippet: Football versus Ballet!

Brilliant article from ex footballer Paul Croughton, it's quote long but stick with it, it made me laugh out loud but also made me want to see Edward Watson dance. He's at The Royal Opera House, from Tuesday, in The Judas Tree. Contains scenes of violent and sexual nature - you wouldn't expect that from ballet, would you!