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October 23, 2003
Stop Press - more Men in Tights ...
Just to say that the programme is getting an early repeat:
Men In Tights
Monday 27th October
ITV2 - 21:00
Highly recommended
Bruce Marriott - Ballet.co
October 19, 2003
Men in Tights - Daniel Jones on Television...
Daniel Jones has been busy making a TV programme - teaching shipyard workers how to dance professionally!
The group of men selected (more pictures)
Time and date details of the transmission:
Date: Tuesday 21st October
Time: 21:45
Channel: ITV1
Here are the details about the show from the ITV1 website:
Men in Tights
Documentary following an attempt made by Daniel Jones - soloist dancer with the English National Ballet - to turn eight Geordie shipyard workers into ballet performers for a one-off show in front of friends and families. The programme follows the four-week process from the initial auditions through rehearsals to the final performance, revealing how these macho males get to grips with life in such an alien work environment, form unlikely friendships, and sustain injuries as the big night looms ever closer.
ITV1 Website
Sadly Daniel is unable to write about the programme for a while - but he will when he is allowed to I'm sure! In the meantime enjoy the show and look for further web coverage on our TodaysLinks page:
www.ballet.co.uk/todayslinks
Bruce Marriott - Ballet.co
October 13, 2003
Runaway
Runaway
I was eleven years old when I left home for ballet, but apparently it wasn’t the first time that I had left the nest. A couple of weeks ago I was visiting my family in Newcastle-under-Lyme and my mother reminded me of another one of those embarrassing childhood moments which I’d actually forgotten about. The story this time was from when I was 8 years old, and was the time that I had ran away from home for no apparent reason. I had packed a small bag and without my parents noticing I had crept through the front door and ran to my grandparents house. My parents had only found out when my grandmother phoned my mother to ask if she knew her son was on the run. There had been no incident that I can remember that had pushed me to make such a dramatic move, in fact my family didn’t even have a clue that their eldest son had left the house at all, so she instructed my grandmother to tell me that if I wanted to come home for dinner I was still welcome. A couple of hours later I returned home, ate my dinner and then went to bed in my own bed. When I was 11 years old I left for good, on a ballet journey, never to return, well not yet anyway.
Daniel Jones and Francisco Bosch in ballet class at the Herod Atticus Odeon Photo © Daniel Jones
Creative Socks
Walking from Gloucester road tube station to 39 Jay Mews, the home of English National Ballet, I often find myself imagining I’m in Athens. It’s not because I don’t love London because I do, actually I’m devoted to London. It’s just that when I travel abroad with English National Ballet the experiences on international tours seem to glue themselves in my mind. There is something quite enriching about being taken to a country just to do ballet and I am very appreciative that people seem to adore the art enough to transport ballet companies all around the globe. Our recent tour to the Herod Atticus theatre, Athens, Greece, was actually my third visit as a performer to the stunning theatre. The heat is always a pleasant surprise and working in such high temperatures makes it easier to warm up and stretch the body at the appropriate time, not that dancers always wait for the appropriate time to put their limbs in extreme positions. Anyone who has ever been on a plane with a ballet company will have discovered that as soon as the seatbelt sign goes off legs start to appear where normally a head would be seen, and all sorts of creative socks show their faces until turbulence arrives.
Daniel Jones, Fernanda Oliveira and Gary Avis having fun in Athens Photo © Daniel Jones
A Greek Frank Spencer
The performances in Greece were a huge success and seeing the light from the Acropolis share it’s glow on the smiling faces of the audience was an incredibly beautiful sight. Once the curtain fell, which didn’t actually happen as there are no curtains at the Herod Atticus Odeon, most people headed quickly to the Plaka area where wonderful Greek food, wine and diet coke was gobbled up by the hungry and very thirsty artists.
As our working day didn’t actually start until six o’clock the hotel swimming pool was extremely busy during the day, some dancers – myself included – even made it to the beach. It was while I was heading to the beach that I had one of the most frightening taxi rides of my life. For some bizarre reason this particular driver was convinced his name was Michael Schumacher and was showing off with a terribly bad impersonation. His driving skills were closer to those of Frank Spencer than a formula one racing driver but I don’t suppose he would have known who Frank Spencer was if I had told him.
Relaxation Technique
When the tour was over I headed swiftly to the beautiful island of Zakynthos for a quiet week on a beach. I was desperately in need of some mental and creative preparations for what was ahead in the next few weeks. I was about to get started on probably one of the biggest challenges of my life so far,and I needed to do some serious relaxation before the ball started to roll…
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