January Update

 © 2022 Powerhouse Ballet  Author Jane Lambert

Immediately after Jane Tucker's Waltz of the Flowers workshop in November, I booked studio 1 at Dance Studio Leeds for an all-day workshop on 29 Jan 2022.  I had invited Annemarie Donoghue to give us our usual 90 minute class between 12:00 and 13:30 and Jane Tucker to give us a full workshop just as they had done very successfully in January 2020.  At that time the worst of the pandemic seemed to be behind us.  Omicron was known only to a handful of clinicians in South Africa.

A week later O was everywhere. I had a very narrow escape myself as one of the speakers at a seminar that I was chairing in Cambridge tested positive after he had been on his feet next to me for the best part of an hour.  I was advised to take a PCR test at Cherry Hinton.  Waiting for the result to come through was one of the most anxious 24 hours of my life.

As I did not want to put any of our dancers through a similar experience I decided to postpone the workshop until March and ask Annemarie to present our company class online;.  Not everybody likes online classes but Jane Tucker gave us a very enjoyable one on 28 Dec 2021 to which we welcomed a member of Scottish Ballet's elder company and several dancers from outside the UK.

© 2021 Powerhouse Ballet  Author Jane Lambert

Happily. O turned out to be less virulent than B and Δ and the number of infections started to decline.  After consulting Annemarie and the studio owner, Katie Geddes. I decided to invite up to 10 to attend the studio and the rest to follow the class on Zoom.

I have to congratulate Annemarie for devising a class that included everyone.  It is very easy for a teacher to forget half her audience.   That did not happen on Saturday. Annemarie kept an eye on all of us.  She gave us a very thorough barre, a beautiful adagio, the usual centre exercises and a grand allegro that could be performed safely in a kitchen or sitting room.

Annemarie was assisted by Sarah Lambert who brought her big monitor, camera and microphones from Birmingham.  So far as I could see, it was the next best thing to their being in the studio,   I am very grateful to Sarah for giving us so much of her time - not just last Saturday but ever since we started the company.

Our next event will be the February company class between 15:30 and 17:00 on 26 Feb.   It will be given by Lizzie Gunson of Elizabeth Gunson Dance.  Lizzie is fab.   She has been coaching me since September. She is very thorough with a sharp eye for detail but she is also very patient and encouraging.  She teaches students of all ages and abilities.  One of her pupils is auditioning for the Upper School and has already been accepted by one of the other top schools.  I can promise you all a great class.  I will circulate the Eventbrite card this weekend.