Arran dancing
On the first weekend of November, there was a lot of dancing going on. Scottish Ballet arrived, complete with conductor, tutors, a brilliant young pianist and of course their own dancers, who staged the wonderful new ballet, First Encounter, on the Friday night. Photos taken at rehearsal the same afternoon catch something of the magic of the occasion.
There was an active take-up of all the workshops offered, and on the Saturday interested listeners joined in a social evening that was enlivened by a splendidly ‘low-down’ talk by Scottish Ballet’s conductor, Richard Hanner. He gave a candid insight into the difficulties that used to arise between the orchestra and the choreographer, specially over the knotty question of the speed of the music. 
Wen Yang Ho, the company’s brilliant young pianist, gave skilled and witty examples of the difference between a plodding approach to such composers as Bach, compared to a more lively modern tempo. Often very funny, Richard’s talk also laid bare the underlying passion for music and its physical expression, and the intense discipline needed in order to express this. In speaking of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, he ran out of words – and rightly, for ballet deals directly with its own beauty, and needs no words.
On Sunday afternoon, a big group of people came together in Brambles at Auchrannie, for a 45-minute Ballet Café session in which they found themselves doing a warm-up then performing an outline story involving good and wicked fairies. Again, Wen Yang Ho played for the exercise, then supplied music to go with tea and cakes (thus replacing any ounces lost during the exercise!) Emma Jane McHenry directed the impromptu ballet with immense charm and encouragement, and after tea gave an illustrated talk on ballet costume, showing some fabulously exotic creations. The money involved is staggering – every tutu takes four weeks of skilled hand-work to make, and will cost £800-£1,000.
The following morning, Scottish Ballet were heading out to run Primary school workshops, and were then leaving Arran to continue their tour in other locations. For countless people, they leave behind a fresh interest in dance, and a new understanding of how one’s own body can express creative and exciting movement. A fabulous weekend.
