Ballet in Small Spaces

Posted on May 17, 2011

The Oxford dance company Ballet in Small Spaces offers an up close and personal view of new ballet. Following sell-out performances in 2009 and 2010, the company premieres two new works at The Castle, Wellingborough before touring to arts centres across Oxfordshire.

Crow said: “Ballet isn’t just about big shows in big theatres with big orchestras. I want to build a local audience – of all ages – for ballet. Part of local dance provision has to be the opportunity for young people to see professional ballet close up.”

Choreographed by artistic director Susie Crow, Inside Out is set to Alan Bush’s 24 Preludes for Piano, played by Peter Jacobs. It invites the audience into the studio to watch the dancers at work, from warm-up to pas de deux. Crow’s Commedia is inspired by the fantasy paintings of Claude Harrison, and danced to Robin Holloway’s Serenade in C, played by the Exuberant Players.  Performances at the North Wall in Oxford are accompanied by an exhibition, “Drawing the dance, dancing the image”, part of Oxfordshire ArtWeeks 2011.

Later in the tour, the company perform Harlequin Dances, a playful introduction to ballet in relation to music. Dances from Inside Out are presented by Susie Crow with musical interludes by the Exuberant Players, followed by a complete performance of Commedia.

Picture: Katherine Kingston and David Horn in Inside Out. Photograph: Mark Brome.

Tour of Inside Out and Commedia

MAY

18: WELLINGBOROUGH, The Castle (matinee and evening)

Tel: 01933 270 007

www.thecastle.org.uk

20-21: OXFORD, North Wall Arts Centre

Tel: 01865 319 450 

www.thenorthwall.com

Tour of Harlequin Dances

MAY

31: CHIPPING NORTON, The Theatre

Tel: 01608 642 350

www.chippingnortontheatre.co.uk

JUNE

2: DIDCOT, Cornerstone Arts Centre

Tel: 01235 515 144

www.cornerstone-arts.org

25: BANBURY, The Mill Arts Centre

Tel: 01295 279 002

www.themillartscentre.co.uk

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.