Blue None

by Cassa Pancho

"Cassa Pancho in London and drinking too much Blue Nun probably!"*

Well. As hilarious as this is, it is, fortunately, untrue.

The past month has been spent doing things that are too boring to write about in detail, but are exceedingly important to the Company and the way it progresses - so, at the risk of sounding like a Big Boring Book of Ballet Technique…

Starting a black ballet company probably sounds, to many people, like an impossible thing to do. Add to that the lack of black dancers available, who are classically trained to professional level and that makes it even more unattainable. So, we have six dancers, who've all been through vocational training, though only two have focused on ballet opposed to contemporary. Every week, Denzil and I break down ballet technique to try to give the most effective coaching we can, and that, believe it or not, is the easy part. Denzil's very gorgeous four-year-old son has also been attending some rehearsals so I've been combining being a director with entertaining him; we've fed the ducks, eaten Hula Hoops and read what seems to be the entire Mr. Men collection. I'm trying to convince him to join the company when he's a bit older. A bag of Chocolate Buttons should do it.


Denzil and son

I aim to have the first showing of work for Ballet Black in January/February 2003, so we need a venue. I have several in mind - and I really like one in particular, but every time my assistant Venetia attempts to arrange an appointment, our calls are not returned or the meetings are cancelled. Pretty bloody irritating - but an extremely reliable source informs me that theatre managers are from another planet - so I'll give it more time.

Funding
We're in need of a pretty small amount of money in comparison to a lot of other dance companies, but are having a difficult time getting hold of enough. We've just been turned down by the Princes Trust, as this isn't the sort of thing they do - so where do we go from here? Perhaps a smaller venue for our first show (the current maybe-location seats around 300), which would reduce our costs? We're also attacking the corporate world with a vengeance, but we'll have to wait and see.

Get Happy
On a happier note, the Ballet School opens officially on the 20th of April and once again, I shall be knee-deep in four-year olds - more about that after the 20th. I let my own inner dancer out (she has to be let out at least twice a year) a couple of weeks ago by going to Hampy's ballet classes at Pineapple, which were fabulous! I was absolutely exhausted by the end, but had a great time. I've also been asked to choreograph the finale for the graduating third years from the Royal Academy of Dance. Rehearsals should start in a few weeks and I've changed my mind about music four times so far (and still counting). That's all for now…

* Bruce's thoughts on what I've been doing - based no way whatsoever in fact.
(My apologies - I did of course mean Bacardi Breezers : Ed)