Alexander Grant Dies at 86 - Anna Kisselgoff article

FromThe New York Times:

"Alexander Grant, Dancer With Royal Ballet, Dies at 86
By ANNA KISSELGOFF
Published: October 3, 2011

Alexander Grant, whose portrayal of childlike suitors, muddled husbands, English eccentrics, pirate chiefs and Shakespearean rustics made him one of British ballet’s most beloved stars, died on Friday in London. He was 86.

His death was confirmed by Jean-Pierre Gasquet, his longtime companion. Mr. Grant had been ill for eight months after a hip operation left him hospitalized with infections and pneumonia.

Mr. Grant was especially acclaimed for his magnetic personality and vigorous demi-caractère style, particularly in Frederick Ashton’s works for the Royal Ballet.

Seeing Mr. Grant as the complete dancer, Clive Barnes, dance critic of The New York Times, reviewed him in Ashton’s Neapolitan Dance for “Swan Lake” in 1969 and proclaimed him “one of the few great, as opposed to merely magnificent, dancers of our time.”

Mr. Grant also played an influential role in international ballet. He served as artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 1976 to 1983 and staged Ashton’s “Fille Mal Gardée” in many companies, including American Ballet Theater.

Mr. Grant himself is perhaps best remembered for the role he originated in “Fille” as Alain, the rich farmer’s son rejected by Lise, a rich widow’s daughter who marries her poor sweetheart.

More in love with his red umbrella than with Lise, Alain could be mistaken for a simpleton. But Mr. Grant made him a gentle childlike figure who had not experienced the world. The trick was to dance so well that Alain looked slightly clumsy but not too much so.

In another memorable role seen with the Royal in New York, he was Bottom in “The Dream,” Ashton’s version of Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Transformed into a donkey, Mr. Grant danced a virtuosic solo in toe shoes disguised as hooves.

Although many called Mr. Grant a character dancer, he was more of a classical dancer who used ballet technique in a demi-caractère style, which is less concerned with academic niceties.

In his early years, he showed off a swashbuckling bravura: his pirate chief in Ashton’s “Daphnis and Chloë” exploded into a frenzy of leaps after abducting Margot Fonteyn’s Chloë, wrapping her around his neck and throwing her to the floor.

Alexander Grant was born on Feb. 22, 1925, in Wellington, New Zealand, where his parents were in the hotel business.

Having studied dance since the age of 7, he was offered a ballet scholarship in London. He arrived there in February 1946 and was invited two months later into the Sadler’s Wells Theater Ballet, the recently formed junior troupe of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet (which became the Royal Ballet in 1956). Short on male dancers in the postwar period, Ninette de Valois, founder of both troupes, invited him into the senior company in September of 1946.

Ashton, now considered Britain’s greatest choreographer but not yet internationally known, created a small role for Mr. Grant in 1946 in one of his lesser ballets, “Les Sirènes.”

It was Leonide Massine, then ballet’s most prominent choreographer, who brought the young dancer to public notice.

Invited as a guest choreographer by de Valois, Massine cast Mr. Grant in his revivals and two new works. Massine’s farce-like “Mam’zelle Angot” gave Mr. Grant a major success in the choreographer’s idiosyncratic comic style.

“I was given this role by Massine which typed me as that kind of dancer for the rest of my life, Mr. Grant said in later years. “I don’t regret it.” Nor did he regret never portraying a prince or count in 19th-century classics like “Swan Lake” or “Giselle.”

It was Mr. Grant’s ability to portray a character through dancing rather than mime that made him outstanding. Ashton recognized this quality and cast him as the Jester in his new “Cinderella” (1948).

During his 30 years as a dancer in the Royal Ballet (1946 to 1976) Mr. Grant appeared in 30 Ashton ballets, creating roles in 22 premieres. Occasionally he was thrust into Ashton neo-classical works like “Symphonic Variations” and he appeared in Michel Fokine’s “Petrouchka” and ballets by de Valois.

In the 1971 film “Tales of Beatrix Potter,” Mr. Grant danced on toe again as Pigling Bland and was also featured as Peter Rabbit.

In addition to Mr. Gasquet, his partner of 54 years, Mr. Grant is survived by his brother, Garry Grant, also a former dancer in the Royal Ballet.

Mr. Grant was seen as an inspiration to Ashton and even as a collaborator. The range he displayed in Ashton ballets alone was testimony to their joint creativity.

In “Enigma Variations,” a meditative Ashton masterpiece about the composer Edward Elgar and his friends, Mr. Grant’s terse expressiveness summed up an entire personality in a brief comic solo. For his final Ashton role, he offered a moving image of a lovelorn Russian husband in “A Month in the Country” (1976)."

Talent For Ballet - Can I Get Into Ballet

Do you wonder if you have the talent for ballet?

Kids ask me "how do I know if I can get into ballet? "

Professional ballet teachers look for a combination of a physique - close to the ideal ballet body - and the spark of love for dance and presence, or magnetism, that they feel will develop you into a successful performer.

If it seems that you do not qualify for a professional dance career (sometimes you are not accepted because there are not enough places in a program), you can still get into ballet and love it.

Find the best local studio with the highest credentials. If a specific studio has been able to send any of their students to a professional school, they will be advertising that fact. Read everything in their web site, and check the teachers' credentials.

If you do get into ballet, take advantage of the current dance education that is available for home practice.
There are books and DVD's, put together to enhance your ballet training.

You can improve your talent for ballet with some extracurricular study:

Flexibility Workout for Athletes

The Perfect Pointe Book - professional footwork for men in ballet too!

Inside Ballet Technique - anatomy as related to ballet technique/physical requirements and advantages:

Last but not least - what's talent for ballet without turnout?

Getting accurate information will help you get stronger and more flexible as needed, to practice safely and correctly at home. Understanding proper stretching and relaxation techniques will add to your muscle strength.

If you know how to take advantage of every ballet barre exercise, you will develop the following technique:

* correct natural posture
* ballet foot muscles and ballet footwork
* correct alignment
* high leg extensions
* strong ballet turnout

Talent for ballet involves the ability to concentrate.

In other words, a maturity to ignore all the distractions delivered to you by your culture. Peer pressure, emotional upheavals, and keeping up good grades can all alter your focus to varying degrees.

If you wonder "can I get into ballet", or "do I have talent for ballet" take a few months of ballet classes and find out!

The Best Stretching Exercises - What's My Best Program

The ballet beginner and the adult going into ballet class both want to learn and understand the best stretching exercises.

Each wonders "what's my best program"?

Those in love with, and already watching ballet closely, can see that high leg extensions, long curving back bends, elastic knee bends and cat-like jump landings, and high leaps in the splits, are the mere norm in classical dancing. A tall order for most!

After training hundreds of ballet students, I tell you, everyone is different, and almost each one wished they had just one more physical attribute, the one that everyone but they, had.

 The Flexibility Workout For Athletes (click on the pic!) is not for beginners but more for intermediate dancers and athletes.

You may be a ballet student with high arches, flexible hips, and yet - you have lousy turnout.

You may be a dance student with a long neck, elastic shoulders, a willowy upper back, and high arches, yet have a tight pelvic area.

Many of the most gifted ballerina has one area that needs a lot of stretching exercises, just to catch up with the rest of their physique.

Ballet is easy for practically no one, just in this regards. Yet, if you learn some functional anatomy, and if you KNOW what your least flexible muscle group is, you can get it up to par with your more flexible muscles.

Don't despair if you do not have the easy flexible ankle joints (get The Perfect  Pointe Book to solve that problem!) , but you have a deep, elastic, demi plie. Your long and stretchy calf muscles will provide you with a range of motion from the depth of your plie, to your highest point of foot, giving you a strong jump upwards.

If you have a shallow demi plie, but more motion in the ankle joint, that movement will give you a strong push off from the feet. Either way, you can work on the other, to get more movement, as well as more of a fashionable look in the result, which as we all know, ballet is very picky about.

If you have a small range of motion in both the ankle and demi plie (calf muscles), then you will have to patiently work on both areas. The good news is, no matter how slowly, you will improve, with understanding of your muscles and joints, and not with just forceful pushing on them.

Here is a tantalizing short Essentrics stretching workout - oceanside!

Back To Ballet With An Adult Ballet Class

Who wants to get back to ballet class?

Depending on how many years it has been since you have done ballet, or any kind of dance related exercise, I always say go for it.

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You may have to call several local studios to find an adult ballet class that is right for you.

You may worry about the dance wear dress codes and if you will want to comply.

If you are overweight, or have lost your flexibility, you probably feel very self conscious.

In an adult ballet class - you're not alone!

Most dance academies that offer adult ballet class level work will offer a one-class-pay for a new dancer, and after that you will be asked to pay by the month.

There are usually other types of class packaging that are further discounted, depending on the amount of classes purchased.

Will You Get Injured In An Adult Ballet Class?

There is always a possibility of injury, with ballet and most sports too, if you are out of shape. But bear in mind that every single ballet barre exercise is designed to train your muscles so that you prevent dance injuries.

The basic ballet posture, for example, is a natural posture. It may not feel or look that way, since most people slouch and are slowly injuring themselves just by that bad habit.

Standing up straight is not an exaggerated military posture, but maintains the natural spinal curves, placement of the shoulders under the ears, and is completed with a relaxed and curved neck.

Ballet turnout is the main technique that prevents knee injuries. The feet should not be forced out more than the knees can match the rotation.

You may never get into the performance standard fifth position - toes to heels - and yet over time you can still gain elegance and control from attending adult ballet classes.

You will achieve your artistic fulfillment with careful, patient hard work. You will feel the exhilaration of the air borne leaps and spinning pirouettes all the more, having the confidence that you can land from jumps safely.

You will reach your ballet position after turning, well grounded, without the room spinning on without you.

Control And Perfectionism

Ballet classes truly give an ongoing sense of control and mastery, through repetition, and slow increase of strength. Yet, the affliction of perfectionism is a dead end for any dancer, especially a self critical individual who perhaps feels disadvantaged in an adult ballet class.

If there is any quest in your mind/heart for a perfect kind of control and a harsh way to discipline yourself, you will be the dancer to most likely injure her/himself in class.

I caution about this because, a drive to be perfect usually entails over-working, not resting enough in between classes, and maybe not eating enough to achieve any muscle building.

I don't mean muscle shape or bulk, but just strength, and a normal recovery.

Dancing ballet, you can always get better, so there is no perfect.

The real control comes with practice, developing better foot control (use The Perfect Pointe Book for extra practise), and knowing how to do ballet stretches and relaxation techniques correctly.

I hope you DO get back to ballet, and find an adult ballet class that you love.

Ballet Movies - Like Steampunk Movies?

I love ballet movies. The abundance of movies available now is of great interest to me, and I'm sure it is for most dancers.

It is not possible to get around the world, see all the dance festivals, or travel to catch all the ballet touring companies every year. Yet, while collecting ballet movies, I feel like I just lucked out.

I bought a "deal" package of 4 ballet movies recently. Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. I only bought it because The Nutcracker is Maurice Bejart's production, which I had not seen. The others...well I can always watch another one, whoever.

The "Swan Lake" was special because Evelyn Hart danced Odette/Odile. I had not seen her in that role, so it was a nice surprise for me.

Secondly, I watched "Romeo and Juliet", choreography by Angelin Preljocaj, with the Opera National De Lyon, filmed in 1992. Cool. That's a company that has not graced my neighborhood. I knew it was a neoclassical style.

Steam punk movies? I may have seen three before - "Dune" designed by Tony Masters and Carlo Rimbaldi; City of Lost Children" designed by set designer Jean Rabasse and artistic director Caro (and coincidentally both scores were by Angelo Badalamenti); and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" with set designer Andy Thomson - all steam punky designers...

Well, this "Romeo and Juliet" has the flavor of steam punk movies and it is moody and powerful. None of the lush Italian wealth of the power families, but very strong emotionally. I did not think I would like the modern choreography - having been partial to John Cranko's - yet with the Prokofiev score, it was captivating.

I did not assimilate what I was looking at immediately. This production re-invents some of the characterization, trimming down the cast and events.

When I realized I was watching a Steam Punk Movie I sat back and enjoyed it. The wall guards with the German Shepherd were a chilling touch.

I love old movies - probably all ballet movies!

National Ballet School Grows Own Organic Vegetable Garden

"Simon and Jack's Garden
Simon Hill, NBS' Manager of Food Service Operations and Jack Sobocinski, NBS' Chef de Cuisine, have planted an organic herb & vegetable garden behind NBS' Residence! The herb variety is extensive, including lemongrass, thyme, basil, chives & tarragon amongst others. The vegetables include heirloom tomatoes, English runner beans & cucumbers! Many of NBS' menus have featured our very own herbs & produce."

posted at:http://www.nbs-enb.ca/media/enews2011/enewsAug11.htm

I applaud!

How To Relieve Muscle Pain That Has Become Chronic In Ballet, Dance And Cheerleading

Dancers and cheerleaders need to know how to relieve muscle pain that has become chronic. Often, some area of the hips in particular can become imbalanced because of a postural misalignment. It seems like nothing gives those sore muscles relief.

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In many cases, you will see a dancer's or cheerleader's postural habit when they are not dancing or practicing. There are variations on the lack of the postural plumb line, which is a line going straight down through the body, through the natural curves of the neck and spine.

 Ideally, the ankles, knees, hips, waist, and shoulders are all stacked neatly.

A tight area in the psoas, one of the large muscles that lifts the legs to the front, will pull the low back out of alignment. The back will look swayed, and the thighs will turn inward.

This is one way that leads to imbalance in the development of the hip muscles. A dancer or cheerleader will try to resolve this with more and more stretching.

Yet, one muscle or another will get tighter and tighter, and others may get over-stretched.

Some students will feel a clicking, a snapping, or a clunky movement for a long time before it starts to hurt. Please tell your teacher or coach immediately if you feel these things.

You can correct your posture and how you use your core and hip muscles, before you get the inflammation and pain that is so hard to get rid of.

Misalignment in the basic posture, and in the basic ballet positions (used everywhere in dance), will develop one muscle or area of muscles too much.

Consequently, other muscles in the same group remain underdeveloped and weak.

Understanding the muscles around the hips, and how they work in connection with the deep low core muscles, will help students or dance team members prevent injuries.

Can you stand sideways to a mirror and check your posture? Can you see the natural curves of your spine and visualize the plumb line going straight through the curves?

Can you pull up the very low abdominal muscles? Sometimes they can be harder to feel than the higher stomach muscles.

If you are not sure that you are using these low ab muscles properly, try this:

* lie down on the floor, and make sure you have your natural curve at the small of your back
* you should be able to slide your hand under the curve there
* first do this wrong - suck in your stomach so that the small of your back pushes into your hand
* release the stomach muscles
* now do it right - pull your very low ab muscles straight up from your pubic bone and away from your hip bones
* keep the curve in the small of your back

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 Your belly button will move UP toward your ribs. Up not IN. This action, when you are doing barre exercises, or routines to warm up for your cheer leading, will support the right activity in the hip muscles. It is going to help you develop long lean muscles.

If you take contemporary dance classes and study the Martha Graham technique, you know that the contraction movement actually elongates - even though it changes the shape of the spine and DOES push out the curve at the small of the back, it requires that you pull UP the lower core muscles and maintain length in the spine.

The stronger your low ab muscles are, the more fluidity you will have in your ballet movements. For cheer leading too, your core control will be so much better.

Make sure you get the instructional DVD Flexibility Exercises For Athletes. It includes a whole section on sore muscles relief.