© Ballet Central Central School of Ballet students are keeping a diary of their final year for us - the year when they actually go out on a tour all around the UK. But that's in the future and this month we have more introductions and getting to know you's. Next diary Previous diary Back in 2000 we also tracked 4 Ballet Central students on their UK tour: Year 2000 Student Diary Ballet Central reviews Ballet Central website

Stephanie Elstob...
“On the Road”

There is so much to tell you!

After a lifetime of preparing for it, our performing careers and Ballet Central 2003 have begun! After opening in Epsom on 3rd April and then performing in Wales and Scotland, we are gradually becoming more confident handling lighting equipment and loading our truck, thanks to Simon, our technical manager. We seemed to build up to the tour very quickly as time was filled with Health and Safety talks, sound and lighting lectures, plus there was the first time everyone saw the production photographs and the first sight of the poster. As you can imagine, we all got excited at every small event!

I could tell you a million stories from each venue so far, but there are a couple that really stick out. The first long drive we encountered was our trip to Abergavenny. After a lengthy stint in the minibus (amazingly driven by Lisa, Company Administrator, and Amanda, Wardrobe Manager) we arrived at the theatre quite late and found out that we had to unload our truck that night instead of the next morning. This would have been no problem, except the theatre was actually above an indoor marketplace, meaning lots of stairs, a lift only big enough for two flight cases and a very, very loud Welshman (bless him!) who was helping to load the lift and push out the flight cases to four of us who were waiting for them at stage level. Again – it would have been manageable if the stage hadn’t had a big rake which meant we were chasing the flight cases so they wouldn’t roll into the auditorium! Quite a funny scene!

The next venue which sticks out – for good and bad – is Hexham. This is one of my home venues, and on arrival, we were lucky enough to have a free evening and a lot of sunshine. The hotel was really gorgeous and the stage was good (bigger than Wales).But the theatre itself was being redecorated, so for the performance, the audience had to enter through a fire escape. The show that night wasn’t the best – that evening was the premiere of Antonio Castilla’s new ballet, We Are, and due to difficulty lighting this piece, the rest of the show didn’t get a technical rehearsal – so the pieces hadn’t been placed and felt quite cold. We seemed to pull it together though and still received positive feedback.

I don’t know if many of you have watched Sesame Street? Don’t worry – I haven’t gone completely insane, I do have point! My favourite character is Elmo, the cute red monster. I have a big Elmo toy – he’s about two and a half foot tall and dressed in a Superman babygro. He has now become our tour mascot and is travelling everywhere with us! Lisa is planning to put him on the front of the truck – how cruel!

When back in London, the publicity side of Ballet Central has been lots of fun. I had phone interviews for two north east newspapers and also got very nervous before I did a live radio interview for BBC Newcastle. As I’ve written before, dancers and talking aren’t a good match, and I can honestly say that my stomach has never turned so many times – luckily I had Elli, our publicist, with me for reassurance!

Our biggest performance was on 22nd April at the Linbury Studio Theatre in the Royal Opera House. The tickets were sold out, the stage was huge, the theatre was beautiful, we got to see Darcey Bussel and Alina Cojocaru rehearse. After a lot of build up, the show and the buzz were amazing! Enough said!

So, to the future and our next Ballet Central adventures. We are premiering Sally’s piece, Perspective, on Thursday in Ilford which I am really looking forward to. I love dancing the piece and am so excited to do it in costume and with lighting. In terms of venues, our longest tour begins on 22nd May after which we will be on the road for nine days including dates in Durham and Whitley Bay (both home venues) on 25th and 27th May.

After a couple of auditions, Martin, Vicky and Claire will be joining Northern Ballet Theatre in August and Amy was offered a contract with Hong Kong Ballet, who want her to start in six weeks time! (I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it in her diary.) A few people are auditioning for English National Ballet on 17th May, and as for me… I am off to Hamburg on Monday to sing for a role in Phantom of the Opera and will be doing another audition in London for the Strasbourg production two days later. I will hopefully also be auditioning for Matthew Bourne’s Adventures in Motion Pictures in June… we’ll see what comes up.

I hope some of you can make it to one of our performances and it would be brilliant to hear some feedback! Until next month xxx

Ps I forgot to write that I think we should all support Wayne Sleep on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! as he’s doing really well so far!

Amy Grubb...
Diary for May

Newsflash: I have a job! Since Sunday 4th May when I signed my contract, I have been the newest recruit to Hong Kong Ballet. As you can probably tell, I am really excited about joining and I still feel slightly dazed about the whole situation as none of it has had time to sink in yet. It better had soon though, as I am due to start in about six weeks because I am needed for their production of Sleeping Beauty. It’s now or never so I am jumping – no, leaping at the chance!

It all came about when I heard through the grapevine that Stephen Jefferies, the Artistic Director of Hong Kong Ballet, would be watching a class at Pineapple Dance Studios. So I trekked to Pineapple with all the other Central 3rd year students to take part in the class, only to be faced by a mass of eager dancers who obviously had the same idea as us – his presence had obviously become common knowledge. Positively squashed on the barre I didn’t think I’d be seen so I just did my best and enjoyed the class. Therefore, you can imagine my sheer shock and delight when Stephen Jefferies approached me at the end and offered me a contract! I’ll no longer be a student; instead I’m going to be a professional – it’s official!

What am I going to do without my Ballet Central buddies? Saying this, however, my video camera has now joined me on tour, so I will capture everyone on tape and take them all to Hong Kong with me. I can already tell my last Ballet Central performance is going to be an emotional one!

Also, even though I have been away from home since I was eleven (having been at White Lodge), going to Hong Kong is a whole different story and I’m really going to miss my family and not forgetting Leeds. I’m sensing expensive phone bills!

I do feel extremely fortunate though, to have a job after two auditions (the other being Northern Ballet Theatre) as it’s such a weight off my shoulders.

Now, after all that excitement I must apologise for not writing sooner. It’s been a hectic time and I’m sure you missed us all very much!

Since my last entry, Ballet Central’s 2003 tour has officially kicked off, taking in venues in Epsom, Hexham, Kirkcaldy, Dundee, Hertford and London.

There have been some aspects of the tour which have taken some getting used to, for example, everyone being packed into the minibus, travelling long distances and the get-ins and get-outs. The company sets up the stage and then at the end of the show we have to take everything down and pack it away. This consists of laying the dance floor, cabling up all the lights, organising the wardrobe and setting up the sound system. I’m happy to say I now know what I’m doing as opposed to standing around trying to look occupied to disguise my cluelessness, which is, I have to confess, what my first couple of get-ins consisted of!

Then there are the performances. My favourite so far was performing at Linbury Studio Theatre in The Royal Opera House, despite the fact that it was probably the most pressured. This, however, created a buzz and an air of excitement and we were able to feed off this positive energy. The other performances have all provided challenges where we had to handle and adapt the pieces to rakes, very small stages and even smaller wings.These provided their own hazards, such as running into lights and running into each other on entrances and exits, mentioning no names,,, but yes, I was a culprit! They do say it’s all part of the learning process!

I missed the performance in Abergavenny because I was asked to attend workshops and book signings at the Cheltenham Literature Festival to promote the new Dorling Kindersley book Ballet School, in collaboration with Central. I was photographed at the beginning of the third year to appear in the book along with Martin Bell. So if you go out and buy it (!) you’ll be able to see us. Working with the young children (who are the focus of the book and attend junior classes at Central) was actually an enjoyable experience and quite refreshing, bringing back memories of my ‘pink’ dancing days. Then there was the book signing which was of course the highlight!

As you can probably tell, things are moving pretty swiftly for us now with the tour keeping us very busy. Next time I’m sure I’ll have a great deal more to tell you so I’d better see you then, or maybe even at one of our performances which would be fantastic! Bye bye until then.