MY OWN BALLET ON STAGE!

At the end of last season I was so thrilled to be told that I was to be given the opportunity to create my own short work and immediately had ideas of mounting quite a complicated character ballet. I spent time creating costume and set designs and searched hard for suitable music. However, finding a five-minute piece of music that had all the different styles that I was looking for, proved impossible! Ideally, I’d have loved to have found a ‘Mr Lanchbery’ to compose a piece specially for my ballet, but I realised that I had to think again!

I discussed ideas with Jill Tookey and she understood my difficulty in finding the right music to fit my rather complicated scenario. She suggested that, though my idea was most original and very exciting, perhaps I should consider putting this particular subject ‘on hold’ and concentrate on re-inventing my cup-winning piece in NYB’s Choreographic Competition – a colourful group character piece called Punch and Judy.

Inspired, I went to Liverpool to do further research at the Maritime Museum where there was a Punch and Judy exhibition. I talked to Mr Codman, whose family had been involved in Punch and Judy shows since 1800! I learnt a great deal and he generously offered to help with my research. I watched several other Punch and Judy shows to gather a few more ideas, but found that sometimes these had been modernised for a younger audience and I wanted my ballet to show a traditional Punch and Judy show.

Jill Tookey also talked to Punch and Judy man Bryan Clarke, known professionally as Professor Jingles! He very kindly offered to lend us one of his Punch and Judy theatres to use on stage and Jill commissioned him to make us a wonderful larger-than-life Mr Punch puppet.

The NYB Audition day arrived and I felt nervous about taking my very own audition class. Ros Taylor, NYB’s Drama Coach, encouraged me to prepare several routines for the boys and the girls and I printed off some short scripts so that we could incorporate some acting as well as dancing. In addition to Punch and Judy I needed a dog, a clown, a queen and an executioner – all strong characters.

I listened to a great deal of music before I achieved the effect I wanted. I arranged this carefully using some wonderful clips of traditional seaside music as well as Gershwin and Silent Movie music.

Jill helped me to find some of the costumes I needed, mainly from the NYB’s vast store, and we dyed mob caps, tights and aprons to achieve authentic colours. We had to make Mr Punch, the dancer’s costume and I was thrilled when costumier Tessa Balls brought this along for a fitting – she had managed to match the puppet exactly.

NYB Make-up Artist, Sue Wigglesworth took a mould of Mr Punch’s nose and chin so that she could make a prosthesis and paint this in appropriately vivid hues.

I can’t believe that my ballet will be on such famous stages as Sadler’s Wells, The Birmingham Hippodrome and The Orchard, Dartford.

Lucinda-Jayne Brereton

illustration: Lesley Fotherby

The ideas and images for this piece began to develop one late evening while sitting and absorbing myself in the compositional skills flying from Richard Norriss’s fingers. Although at that time these images had no destination, I begged Mr Norriss to compose some short pieces to be put together for me to use. He happily agreed and so the creative process began.

I knew I was very fortunate to be working so closely with my composer, so I aimed to learn from him all I could. I must thank him for being so patient with me when I would often ask (knowing very little about music composition) for “a bit more whoosh before the big bit” and so on. After many late nights and free hours, during which he never ceased to inspire me, we came up with a suite we were both very excited about.

It wasn’t until this point that Jill Tookey offered me this great opportunity with the NYB to stage a short ballet of my own - this is when things started to become a little surreal.

I made the decision not to choreograph a single step until I was with the dancers and so I made it my duty to soak myself fully in the music. The difficulty I had was falling asleep to the music; I would wake up during the night, half strangled by my bed covers, hanging upside down out of my bed - obviously, I had been choreographing in my sleep!

I was very lucky being able to select my own cast at the NYB Spring Auditions. They are all very inspiring and intelligent dancers and they know how to handle me when I am asking the impossible. I am sure I won’t always be this fortunate!

Already money was becoming a problem as costumes and set designs were coming into play. So, after many plans on how to cut back financially, I decided to tackle the problem as only a teenager would - just ask for more money! So... there I was outside the Headmaster’s office hoping he hadn’t noticed the late assembly marks and the apple eating in the corridor, about to do the ‘business thing’ and ask for some money. It turned out that he certainly had noticed the assembly marks and the apples. But, being the kind-hearted gentleman he is, he offered music sponsorship. Thanks Sir!

The costumes and set designs both run along the same theme of ‘written music’; the staves running as a motif. I wanted all the girls to have a modern approach on the typical classical costumes by using personal jewellery and hairstyles.

I am guessing that the only reason you have been reading these notes is to find out more about my piece! Well, I am sorry, I’m not going to tell you. I want you to take from it what you will. All I will say is that it’s a light-hearted piece, choreographed for the enjoyment of both the audience and the performers. Oh! and watch out for the girl in black... she’s going to get him!

Enjoy...

Drew McOnie

photos: Hae Ni Kim
 
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