| Theatre
Faculties Irish Congress 2004
Saturday
23rd & Sunday 24th October 2004
The Grand Hotel
Malahide
Ireland
Saturday
23rd October Reports>>
Children’s classes>>
Teacher’s classes>>
Sunday
24th October Reports>>
Children’s classes>>
Teacher’s classes>>
Saturday
23rd October
Children’s
classes
Modern
Theatre Faculty
‘New Grade 5’
Sarah Wilson
The first morning kicked off with the new Grade
5 Modern work for children. Many eager young faces
waited anxiously for Sarah Wilson to guide them
through the warm-up and the isolations. Despite
the early start, they were alert and eager to
please.
National
Dance Faculty
‘A Selection of Dances from the new National
Graded Examination Syllabus’
Marion Roberts
The second session of the morning saw
the children don their character skirts and shoes
for a selection of dances from the National Graded
Examination syllabus. Marion Roberts guided them
through dances from different levels of the newly
restructured Graded Syllabus from countries including
Denmark and Austria.
Tap Dance Faculty
‘Free Tap Class’
Nick French
We were then treated to an excellent Tap class
for the children with Nick French. His class was
based on the work from the Bronze Tap Award, and
the children obviously enjoyed his class, responding
to the variety of music and style included in
this syllabus.
Imperial Classical Ballet Faculty ‘Posture,
Placement and Port de Bras’
Andrew Wilson
Andrew Wilson’s class was on ‘Posture,
Placement and Port de Bras’. It is always
a pleasure to have Andrew’s teaching at
home. His aim was to raise awareness of correct
posture and placement and good use of arms.
Having talked the students through correct alignment
of body and arms, he encouraged them to maintain
this placement while executing port de bras, pirouettes
and allegro enchainements. It was gratifying to
see the children concentrating, and under Andrew’s
constant reminders and encouragement, improving
posture and placement and giving a better understanding
of port de bras.
 |
‘Posture,
Placement and Port de Bras’, Andrew
Wilson |
South
Asian Dance Faculty
‘Fun with Rhythms’
Pushkala Gopal
A special treat for the children in the afternoon
was Fun with Rhythms given by South Asian dance
teacher Pushkala Gopal, who had also guided the
teachers through Steps and Syllables earlier on.
Pushkala was assisted by her excellent student
Sunita and this class proved very popular with
all those who participated.
 |
‘Fun
with Rhythms’, Pushkala Gopal |
Classical Greek Dance Faculty
‘Aspects and Development of the Medal Tests’
Carol Vasko
The rest of Saturday was taken up with aspects
and developments of the medal tests by Carol Vasko.
A class appreciated by both those participating
and watching.
Cecchetti
Classical Ballet Faculty
‘Open Class Repertoire’
Graham Fletcher
The Open Class Repertoire, given by Graham Fletcher,
probably provided the most fun of the day. Dreams
of learning the ‘Sleeping Beauty pas de
deux’, or the ‘Dance of the Cygnets’
were firmly quashed when Graham announced that
they were going to learn the ‘chicken dance’
from ‘La Fille Mal Gardee’. The class
was bursting at the seams but nevertheless, inspired
by his ‘squawking’ sounds and ‘fowl’
movements, the children rose to the occasion and
learned the complete dance in forty minutes. Their
antics were hilarious and both audience and children
had a wonderful time.
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Teacher’s
classes
Classical
Greek Dance Faculty
‘Grade 6 Demonstration’
Karen Collings
The day of teacher’s classes began with
the Classical Greek, Grade 6, demonstration presented
by Karen Collins. Students from Cork, Down and
Dublin gave a confident presentation of the work,
showing freedom of movement with strong technical
accuracy. The sequence with a small ball showed
excellent eye co-ordination, while the arm positions
were immediately evocative of the figures of Greek
urns and vases.
Especially
interesting was the athletic sequence - conveying
a sense of freedom, strength and power - a wonderful
contrast to the softer lines of the earlier sequences.
The vivid royal blue and scarlet costumes were
very attractive. This was an excellent start to
the day.
Modern
Theatre Faculty
‘New Primary’
Sarah Wilson
The new Primary Modern Theatre class examinations
work was taught by Sarah Wilson. This syllabus
encourages a strong use of imagery, designed to
assist the childs thought process, and to encourage
development of the brain as well as movement and
works really well for this stage of the child’s
development.
The
children are encouraged to explore different themes
within a controlled context and to respond to
the different qualities and aspects of music.
Sarah’s enthusiasm for the work is infectious.
Her ideas offer inspiration, especially to teachers
who find imaginative work difficult. The teachers
were delighted with the syllabus and many felt
that they would use it for both Ballet and Modern
classes for young children.
Modern Theatre Faculty
‘New Syllabus work, Grades 5 and 6’
Development Team
Sarah Wilson continued with the New Syllabus,
Grades 5 and 6. Teachers worked with Sarah on
some of the excerpts from the new Grade 5 Modern
syllabus. The teachers responded well to the clear
instructions and advice on line and rhythm. The
new work is exciting and challenging, and teachers
were happy to sit and watch the next lecture.
South
Asian Dance Faculty
‘Steps and Syllables’
Pushkala Gopal
As mentioned in the children’s classes,
this class was conducted by Pushkala Gopal. The
class gave the teachers present an opportunity
to learn work from a totally new dance genre for
most.
Imperial
Classical Ballet Faculty
‘The Art of Terre à Terre Work’
Andrew Wilson
After lunch Andrew Wilson taught the art of Terre
à Terre work. Once so important, it has
sadly lost favour in recent years to more athletic
work, so it was really wonderful to watch teachers
performing a series of enchainements, designed
by Andrew to encourage a ‘feel’ for
the floor - glissades, pas de bourrees, temps
de cuesses, pas de basques, skimming jetes - all
combined to make intricate enchainements.
It
was a joy to watch footwork combined with changes
of body alignment and weight. Movements so fast
as to demand absolute accuracy in execution -
is this a lost art? Again, under Andrew’s
emphases on good
use of floor and feet, much was accomplished by
the end of the class.
Tap
Dance Faculty
‘Bronze Tap Award’
Nick French
Nick French is a member of the team teaching this
work. He was delighted
to be bringing the syllabus to this class of enthusiastic
students and teachers. His rhythmic approach and
attention to detail was obviously appreciated
throughout the day.
National
Dance Faculty
‘An introduction to the new National Vocational
Graded Examination Syllabus’
Marion Roberts
In this session, Marion Roberts introduced teachers
to a selection of dances from the restructured
Vocational Graded Syllabus, representing a variety
of countries including Russia, Rumania and Austria.
Students of Paddy Hurlings acted as a demonstration
set and partnered teachers who took the floor.
 |
‘An
introduction to the new National Vocational
Graded Examination Syllabus’, Marion
Roberts |
National
Dance Faculty
‘Irish Dancing’
Brenda Bastable
Finally we had a lovely surprise, a demonstration
of Irish Dancing by the Bastable Warren School,
introduced by the Principal of the School, Brenda
Bastable. The dancers executed a traditional ‘Hornpipe’,
the three tunes choreographed in 1924.
A more modern ‘Rhythmic Ructions’
followed, a reel in couples, and a ‘Brush
Dance’. The last goes back 200 years, when
only the men danced and impromptu performances
took place in kitchens to the accompaniment of
accordion and fiddle. The girls wore traditional
Irish Dancing costumes, embroidered in the five
Celtic colours, with illustration from the Book
of Kells. This was a wonderful finish to the day
and a treat for the overseas visitors.
 |
‘Irish
Dancing’, Brenda Bastable |
Report
by:
Anne Tighe and Louise Belahan
Additional
contributions:
Paddy Hurlings, Gaynor Owen, Patricia Prime and
Jacky Ferguson
Photographs: Elaine Mayson (except those above)
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Sunday
24th October
Children’s
classes
Imperial
Classical Ballet Faculty
‘Warm Up and Grade 3 Dance - A Day at the
Races’
Lorraine Swain
On Sunday morning, while the sun sparkled on the
marina in Malahide, Lorraine Swain took the children
thorough the Grade 3 dance ‘A
Day at the Races’. The whole class responded
enthusiastically.
 |
‘Warm
Up and Grade 3 Dance - A Day at the Races’,
Lorraine Swain |
Tap
Dance Faculty
‘Tap Class’
Emma Rogers
Emma gave an excellent class, she captured the
imagination of the children and they responded
by dancing with confidence, style and enthusiasm.
 |
‘Tap
Class’, Emma Rogers |
Modern
Theatre Faculty
‘Modern Class’
Barbara Evans
The floor was crowded with enthusiastic dancers.
The pace and energy expected from a Barbara Evans
class was evident from the first beat. So much
was learnt from this talented teacher.
Modern
Theatre Faculty
‘Junior Jazz Class’
Carole Mosely
The class was conducted with high energy and great
enthusiasm by both Carole and the children. The
room was full of eager young dancers who attained
a good standard of Jazz technique.
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Teacher’s
classes
Modern
Theatre Faculty
‘New work Grades 5 and 6’ (A continuation
from Saturday)
Development Team
The new syllabus work was taught with care and
Sarah Wilson’s eye for detail ensured a
good standard was achieved in the exercises.
Imperial
Classical Ballet Faculty
‘New Grade 5 and 6 Variations’
Francesca Filpi and Vanessa Palmer
Meanwhile, the teachers were totally enthralled
by the beautiful style and technique of Royal
Ballet star Francesca Filpi, who taught them her
Grade 5 Ballet variation.
This
was immediately followed by Vanessa Palmer’s
Grade 6 variation which she described as her ‘tribute
to Sir Frederick Ashton’.
 |
Francesca
Filpi and Vanessa Palmer with Patricia Prime |
Demonstration of Ballet, Tap and New Modern
Work Variations
The highlight of the weekend took place at noon
on Sunday with the demonstration of Ballet, Tap
and new Modern work. Paddy Hurlings introduced
the Tap presentation, brilliantly performed by
her students, who travelled from the UK. It was
enthusiastically received by the audience. Next
came the Imperial Ballet demonstrations - a selection
of work from Primary to Advanced I. The performance
was excellent with the youngest children showing
that a good interpretation of the simpler steps
can make them as exciting to watch as the advanced
work. Finally Sarah Wilson presented the Modern
Theatre work from Grade 5 and 6 - this work is
riveting - the girls performances were excellent,
thanks to the rehearsal teachers, Debbie Allen,
Paddi Mulholland, Sinéad Murphy, Nadia
Quick and Leon Reynolds. If applause is anything
to go by, the demonstrations delighted all in
a very packed room.
The
demonstrators were:
Zoe Ashe-Browne
Louise Bell
Kate Buckley
Emily Cave
Shannon Coghlan
Eimear Digney
Deidre Duggan
Anna Feeney
Grace Flynn
Melissa Greenwood
Grace O’Hara
Rebecca Haughton
Claire Hegarty
Rebecca Hickey
Maeve Kelly
Roisin Laffan
Gillian Fenton Leogue
Mary Lucey
Fiona Mahon
Nicola McConnell
Ailsa McCullagh
Lauren McEvoy
Elspeth McKeever
Jenny McKeever
Kate McLoughlin
Anna McNicholas
Emma Melvin
Grace Morgan
Naoimh Morgan
Kelly Ann Murphy
Sinéad O’Connor
Clíodna O’Connor
Emma O’Donovan
Margaret O’Doherty
Emma Oliver
Lauren Oliver
Naoimh Reilly
Katya Solovyova
Jessica Stokes
Jean Syme
Dori Tallent
Kathryn Teehan
Rachel Tracey
Leonne Walshe
Laura Jane Ward
Molly Ward
Sarah Wiseman
Modern Theatre Faculty
‘Open Jazz Class for teachers and students’
Barbara Evans
After lunch on Sunday came not one treat, but
two, for dancers and audience alike. First was
Barbara Evans’ Open Jazz Class for students
and teachers - what a challenge! - but all rose
to the occasion and responded so well to Barbara’s
untiring directions and enthusiasm.
 |
‘Open
Jazz Class for teachers and students’,
Barbara Evans |
Guest teacher for Masterclass
Steven Paling
Without pausing for breath, dancers immediately
filled the floor for Steven Paling’s Master
Class - Steven, who has starred in Mamma Mia had
chosen to teach the original Fosse choreography
of the last dance in ‘Chicago’ and
the dancers’ response was fantastic.
 |
‘Open
Jazz Class for teachers and students’,
Barbara Evans |
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