Ballet was my first love. I can remember dragging my mother
along Princes Street
in Edinburgh
worried in case I was late for class; I was three or four years’ old.
After the usual progression of trials and tribulations including
the declaration of War I managed to win a scholarship to
Sadlers Wells
School in the 1940s. Although the theatre was closed due to bomb damage the rehearsal and changing
rooms were still in operation. You entered the stage door and clambered up the
sparkling granite stairs to the dressing rooms entering a new and magical world.
There we received a complete training of classical ballet. All the steps of every routine in the ballets were covered at dance class. Exercise at the barre was taken at twice the pace I was used to and with a
great swing by Mrs Hughes on the piano.
We owe a great deal to
Ninette de Valois who started it all
with the support of
Lilian Baylis (
Old Vic) and the Russian ballet master
Sergieff who had smuggled all the classical data, every notation etc out of
Russia.
The drama and the dance combined
in the theatre known as
Vic-Wells and prospered. The ballets
were performed at The New Theatre in St Martin’s Lane (now known as
The Noel Coward Theatre) which was kept open during the War providing I think a valuable
escape for the people of London.
More recently a very important development of a new school
and company is thriving in Birmingham - the
Birmingham Royal Ballet.
This has nurtured the same style and spirit as Sadlers Wells and last Friday
our daughter Joanna took me to a glorious performance of
“Coppélia” at the
London Coliseum on the company’s guest visit to the West
End. We had a superb evening and I rejoice in their success.
Every step of every dance carefully noted has remained the
same over the years and was danced with verve and great joy.
Coppélia is definitely my favourite, not the least because I
took part as a student. I was one of the dolls, the astronomer doll which has
since disappeared, but the music still enchants and the company’s performance
was superb. Congratulations to them all – long may they continue to shine!
Maggie Moncrieff
Labels: Birmingham Royal Ballet, Coliseum, Maggie Moncrieff, Sadlers Wells