News

New Season Rehearsals 2010/11
South Coast Ballet has now resumed Rehearsals for the 2010/11 year in The Studio, The Lighthouse Theatre, Kingland Road, Poole

Artistes            9.00am to 10.30am (Please enter via the Stage Door before 10am)
Coryphees        10.30am to 12.30pm
Soloists            12.30pm to 2.30pm
Principals          2.30pm to 5.30pm

All Members will receive their Season Booklet at their second rehearsal on 11th September.

Rehearsal Auditions for New Members
If you are interested in becoming a Member for the start of the 2010/11 Year in September, please be in touch and let us know that you would like to participate in a Rehearsal Audition with us. These will be held on Saturday's 4th, 11th and 18th September.There are now only a very limited number of places available, so please make your intentions known the sooner rather than the later. Contact SCB via email southcoastballet@btinternet.com or leave a message via telephone (01305) 839927 or please arrive on the day itself and present yourself and we'll audition you in a rehearsal on the day itself - just come prepared in your normal ballet kit.

Dancer of the Year 2010
The Dancer of the Year Vote was unaniously won by Principal Chelcie Hunt. This is a dancer-only vote on who they believe should be the Dancer of the Year and with absolutely no influence on them whatsoever!! The dancers' written words and reasons for nominations will be available in the foyer of the Lighthouse Theatre throughout the duration of our next Seasons' Rehearsals, and I am sure you will be as touched as I am at the maturity and selfless comments that they have exhibited in their nominations. I believe that this is an amazing troupe of young dancers, who have really honed in to the theatre, and what it is like to be a performance artist. They have all adopted a true theatre spirit - all for one and one for all - regardless of their teacher, school or training background.

South Coast Ballet ethos
Dancers cannot 'see' what they do the same way that musicians, actors and singers can hear what they do, therefore they need people to see them and their work on stage live. We urge you, to come and see these young dancers and provide as much encouragement and support as possible. As Artistic Director, I place my trumpet in a box and hide it in a dark corner, as I believe the only trumpets that should be heard are those of the young dancers giving it their all on the theatre stage, trying the hardest they can to learn the craft of being a dance-performance artist. What we do is far different to end-of-year shows and one-off showcases as our focus is on truly developing artistic skills - as long, slow and drawn out a process as it is in teaching the technique of ballet. I sincerely thank all those teachers who have consistently trained and inspired these young dancers year after year, and who also give their support to South Coast Ballet in developing these aspects of their pupils' craft which are so different but vital to their overall technical training per se.

As always, we welcome new dancers, and particularly boys to come and join our fold and learn the craft of performing, gain the confidence of their self and their talents and understand the full capability of what they can and are capable of achieving in their dance. This organisation is a calm, relaxed, child centred environment, there is no angst, no raised voices - only confidence and self-esteem building. Even those helping backstage have a great time - no-one gets their head bitten off, and there have never been any tears of sadness (except when people leave us of course!!). It takes a lot of discipline to get shows like Mermaid and Snow White off the ground in as little as 10 - 12 weeks, bearing in mind these are full length ballets with strong acting and mime involved as well as engagement with very different musical styles! All while member's also have their normal dance classes, exam rehearsals, school, a social and a home life. We have to be 'strict' to reach the goal of being ready to perform on time, but this is achieved through the use of Performance Enhancement Strategies and Encouragement Techniques. Basically, not the touchy-feely end of the scale nor the obsolete 'strict' end of the scale either, which tends to utilise such methods as 'reverse psychology', 'treat-them-mean' and 'shout at them'! (Sadly, the latter methods were imposed on me during my early training, when it was deemed that the more you were shouted at and made to do things over and over relentlessly meant that your teacher was 'good'. Likewise, the more 'picked on' as a dancer you were, the more talent and potential you had. Neither of these strategies really did very much to booster confidence and self esteem, which dancers need plenty of to really progress in this ordinarily difficult and complex art form!)
So while we do have to be strict in order to achieve three performance seasons a year, it is achieved by processes conducive to personal as well as company achievement and progress, and using a wide range of practices that do not utilise either of these two extremes.

South Coast Ballet is NOT a showcase. We DO NOT separate the individual schools, but combine their talents to recreate bona fide ballets from the repertoire, and original creations. The dancers all work together as 'one' unit, and are staunchly faithful to each other as a group. As a point of note, what we do is not only unique in the UK but unique in the world!! The dancers of South Coast Dorset are thus extraordinarily fortunate to have this amazing opportunity available to them. Bear in mind also, that our maximum is only 36 to 40 dancers in full total, and that ALL Principal and Soloist roles are played by our own local dancers and NOT professionals. Are they robbed for not having the benefit of working alongside professionals? NO!!!  Indeed, they benefit greatly from actually experiencing the real life of playing these roles for real. This is priceless - you cannot put money on this!! Actors who have guested with us, have learnt so much by what we have to offer. If you feel like you want to join us, let us know as soon as possible. We are adamant - we WILL NOT fill the stage with as many dancers as we can get. We will ONLY engage between 36 and 40 dancers at any one time, thus there are now only a very few limited places available. If you would like to Audition for entry to the next Season please contact us as soon as possible to place your name on a waiting list.

The Cast for The Nutcracker
Young Clara          Madeleine West
Older Clara           Chelcie Hunt
Nutcracker Prince   Ibrahim Langoo
Mother
Father
Vicar
Vicars' Wife           Emily Dilke
Guest
Guest                   Caitrin Barrett-Donlon
Guest
Guest
Uncle Herbert
Cousin William      Giles Surridge
Freddie
Bertie
Masquerade Doll   Chelcie Hunt
Military Doll          **Madeleine West**
Children                Artistes
Friends                 Coryphees
Maids                   Kara Leatherbarrow & Lydia Martin
Crazed Mouse King
Captain Fancey
Mice                     Artistes
Soldiers                Coryphees
Snowflakes           Coryphees
Angels
Sugar Plum Fairy   Madeleine West
Yuletide                Emily Dilke
Marzipan              Olivia Mills
Sparkle                 Allanha Tucker
Star                      Caitrin Barrett-Donlon
Turkish Delight      Giles Surridge with Lauren Dawes or Chelsie Scadding
Pudding & Custard
Mistletoe & Holly
Sugared Jellies
Golden Bell
Flowers                 Soloists
Father Christmas as himself

Guest Dancers and Actors Welcome!
Dancers and Actors 18 and over are most welcome to become involved and play one of our many character roles available in any of our productions. Please contact the Artistic Director direct for full details about what may be available. There are places still available for Nutcracker in December.