| August-September
Diary 2003
by Cassa Pancho
It has been a very busy summer what with preparing for our
next performance (28th and 29th of October at the Cochrane
Theatre – buy tickets now!), going to Tobago and turning
twenty-five, but I have managed to filter it down into exactly
1,143 words. Here goes…
It’s My Company & I’ll
Cry If I Want To…
I am a crier. I cry when I’m upset, I cry when I’m
angry, I cry if someone has been mean to me and I even cry
if I’ve been mean to
them. I cry when I’m hungry and when I’m tired.
Just writing that I cry makes me want to cry. Pass me a tissue.
Not for me any brave soldiering on and quiet suffering–
oh no - if I’m unhappy, chances are you’ll know
about it. Of course I don’t always cry buckets (mascara
ain’t cheap these days). For the lesser things (hunger,
boredom, tiredness) I usually just well up a bit then eat
a sandwich and I’m fine. I also swear a lot –
so, when I’m not blubbing chances are I’m turning
the air blue around me. The worse thing is when I’m
so outraged that I cry and
swear – then I’m just an incoherent, watery mess.
I have changed though. The Ballet Black Fundraiser (see December
diary) toughened me up considerably. And if memories of the
goings on at the Fundraiser aren’t enough to remind
me that sometimes shit happens, I try to remember three things
told to me by very different people:
1) “You’ve got to be somewhere” (Virginia
Fowell, my best friends mum)
2) “Stick to your guns girlie” (my Mum)
3) “No matter what those f****** c**** do or say, give
them hell and if you’re gonna go down, grab them by
the balls and take them with you” (My Dad – who
swears even more than I do – and I can assure you he
does not cry).
My Dad also said something about twisting as well as grabbing
but that’s for another diary. I love, love, love all
of those pearls of wisdom and try to apply them frequently.
Anyway. Back to the crying:
“You’ve got to be somewhere”
(Virginia Fowell, at a gig somewhere, 2002)
For the first time ever in my life, I cried tears of pure
stunned, astonished awe, in an “oh my God it can’t
be true” way, the day I was shown Ballet Black’s
new home…at the Royal Opera House.
Yeah baby! You heard right – we are now officially residing
at the Opera House following a fabulous meeting with Deborah
Bull just before the summer. I was shown around the following
day and kept saying stuff like, “are you sure
this studio is for us?” (on seeing the Ashton Studio)
and “Oh…my…God..!” (the Fonteyn Studio)
and “Yikes!” (The Clore). I did manage to stem
the flow of tears and just had very shiny eyes until I made
it out onto Floral Street and was completely overwhelmed.
Raymond Chia (our coach/guest ballet teacher) said on our
first day “I always prayed that I would teach in these
studios. I had hoped it would
be with the Royal Ballet, but I guess this will do.”
We’ve done class next door to the Kirov, spied the Royal
Ballet in rehearsal and I even, nearly tripped over Gillian
Revie’s baby! I know! Studios built to the size of the
Opera House stage, air-conditioning and the sounds of the
Royal Opera Co. floating on the air. I think I died and went
to Ballet Heaven. I can’t believe that we, me and Ballet
Black are there. But I guess you’ve got to be somewhere.
“Stick to your guns girlie”
(Trish Pancho, in my brother’s room, 2003)
Work is well underway and in some cases, pretty much done
regarding our October show. All four ballets are finished
if you can believe it. Our choreographers are Stephen Sheriff
and Patrick Lewis (plus me and Denz). The proofs for the (may
I say FABULOUS) posters/flyers are done. Our lighting designer,
David Playter (Donmar Warehouse) and all costume designers
and makers are busy as can be and our musicians are probably
drunk somewhere. All going according to plan there then.
I am doing crazy amounts of overtime at my job as Practice
Manager at Pilates off the Square. It’s such a great/bizarre
place to work. I really believe that at some point in time,
every face you know will pass through the doors of our studios.
Everyone from Melanie Griffiths to Matthew Hawkins has been
in for a Pilates class or a bit of applied kinesiology (try
saying that after a few vodkas). The overtime is, of course,
to help fund the Ballet Black show and although it can be
tiring, it was all worth it the day one of the fabulous comedians
from “Smack the Pony” (Channel Four sketch show)
came in. Of course, I am unable to say which
fabulous laaaaaaaaaaady it was, but needless to say it cannot
be long until there is an episode involving black ballet dancers…?
Celebrities aside, it can make for a fairly long day, but
when my Mum advises me to stick to my guns, I bloody well
do. Move over Annie Oakley.
“No matter what those f******
c**** do or say, give them hell and if you’re gonna
go down, grab them by the balls and take them with you”
(My Dad – at any given time, 1978 to present day)
The day the Arts Council responded to our funding application
with the words “we do not think your project is value
for money” I was pretty mad. But then I thought, hey
- we are the only black ballet company around in the UK, we
work like crazy every single moment, of every single day for
the past two years, we have a school dedicated to providing
great ballet classes and encouraging more black and Asian
kids into dance, have created professional relationships with
brilliant musicians, established links to the Trinity College
of Music so that their students receive degree credits if
they work with us, have weekly open classes that allow any
black or Asian dancer to improve their ballet technique, are
producing four brand new ballets, we stick to what we believe
is artistically right, we have the full support of a professional
physiotherapist, Pilates trainers and additional ballet coaches,
we put on our own fundraiser, performed as part of other shows,
built a website, produced our own t-shirts, have our own photographer,
press department, our own designers, have done interviews
with British Satellite News for the Foreign Office, are being
turned into a documentary, have a regular diary on Ballet.co.
AND we rehearse at the Royal Opera House…
(HUGE pause for breath…)
We even received a letter of commendation from Tessa Jowell,
Secretary of State.
Of course we’re not
value for money.
|
|
