Wales Dance Platform –A Valuable Contribution to the Contemporary Dance Scene in Wales.
A week-long programme of contemporary dance in venues across Cardiff which included the Glanfa stage at the Wales Millennium Centre drew audiences from all over the country and nationwide.   Independent dance artists presented innovative ideas in choreography, film and photography.
One of the major highlights of a talent-filled week took place on the final Sunday when four independent dance companies performed on stage at the Sherman Theatre. Among these was internationally known Ballet Nimba, from Guinea. Idrissa Camara and Oumar Almamy Camara gave a mesmerising and energised performance, leaping around the stage in what appeared to be manic but was in fact perfectly controlled yet acrobatic dance representing masculine identity and the age-old battle for dominance between father and son while reflecting the uncertainties of the social and political scene. Those old enough to recall the visit to the UK from South Africa in 1974 of the show Ipi Tombi, a pastiche of a variety of South African indigenous musical styles which caused some controversy among critics at that time, will have noted similarities. Ballet Nimba deserves an accolade for the way in which the traditional urban and village roots of the dance is retained alongside modern dance moves and stylistics.
At the conclusion of the Platform a £1,000 award for “The most innovative and eye-catching work” an award was presented to Gwyn Emberton for his ‘The Devil in Eden’, a duet taken from his work My People, based on the book by Caradoc Evans.
Barbara Michaels

Ballet Cymru has justifiably earned the reputation of going, artistically speaking, where no man – or woman – has previously dared to tread.   This double bill proves the point with a combination of contemporary dance and, in the first half, a score by award-winning Welsh composer Thomas Hewitt Jones which incorporates a major choral input, and in the second half the music of folk song.
The Same Flame
Music: Thomas Hewitt Jones
Choreography: Darius James, Amy Doughty & company dancers
The dancers of Ballet Cymru showcase their expertise in this piece, based on a 35-minute choral work portraying Olympic values, with lyrics by Matt Harvey sung by the equally skilled Vivum Singers. The combination, in itself unusual, becomes even more so when guest artist Suzie Birchwood makes her entrance. Birchwood, who won a full scholarship to train at the London Studio Centre when she was 16, but had her training cut short a year later by the onset of generalized dystonia which has left her requiring wheelchair assistance, would emphatically not want this aspect of her life dwelt upon in relation to her dancing. So I shall only say that the determination required to appear on stage as a dancer in a choreographed piece that includes lifts and pointe work is mind-boggling.   If that in itself is not deserving of an accolade, then the high standard of Birchwood’s work is even more so.
Darius James is a name well-known to those familiar with the work of Ballet Cymru, and here as is the norm with him he makes huge demands of his team of dancers who rise to the challenge with an evident enthusiasm. This is contemporary dance but James is not afraid to acknowledge, and at times make use of, traditional ballet steps and format, and does so with a seamless expertise which adds much to the success of the performance. The choral input by the Vivum Singers is considerable and of a high standard, but there is a caveat here, in that at times attention is inevitably split between the dancers on stage and the singing.
Week of Pines
Music and vocals: Georgia Ruth
Choreography: Darius James, Amy Doughy and dancers of the company.
A complete change of style, mood and scene for this work by Aberystwyth songwriter, singer and harpist Georgia Ruth, whose debut album is danced to here.   Accompanying herself on the harp, and singing in both Welsh and English, backed by guitar, reed organ, bass and drums, Ruth’s is a talent which cannot be denied. Judging by the audience reaction, and conversations in the bar afterwards, many of the audience came specifically for this and, with each of six tracks telling a different story, there was undoubtedly an extra dimension to be gained for those familiar with the album.. However, for those more intent on the structure and performance as applied to the dance interpretation, some explanatory programme notes would have been helpful. Choreographing such a piece is far from easy, and while the dancers did their best to follow the mood swings of the score it did at times take its toll.
Overall, an exciting and innovative double bill danced by a company of nine dancers all of whom display considerable talent. It remains to be seen whether or not Ballet Cymru’s declared objective of bringing in those who are wary of traditional ballet succeeds. Judging by the enthusiastic reception, it may well have done so.
Barbara Michaels

Northern Ballet
Choreography, direction & costume design David Nixon OBE
Music Philip Feeney
Review by Third Age Critic Barbara Michaels.
Golden epaulettes, crystal chandeliers and Cossacks – all the flavours of Imperialist Russia bring glitter and glamour to David Nixon’s take on this new balletic version of the rags-to-riches fairytale by the brothers Grimm. While it retains the key features – put-upon-Cinderella, her cruel stepmother, heartless stepsisters, handsome Prince and, of course, the glass slipper – it probes deep into the back story and so becomes a much darker concept altogether.
For a start, there is the music. Philip Keeney, who composed the music for Christopher Gable’s version of the story back in 1993, has managed to pull a completely different and much more strident score out of the hat, echoing the disturbing elements – child abuse et al – underlying the story. Nixon gives us two Cinderella’s – the very young girl whose father, who dies tragically at her birthday picnic, is her idol – and the young woman who captures the heart of a Prince.
As young Cinderella, Michela Paolacci is delightfully ingénue, bringing delicacy and a touching vulnerability to the role,, but it is Lucia Solari, dancing Cinderella grown to womanhood, whose grace and fragility, coupled with an expertise in a role which requires her to dance en pointe for much of the time, who deserves a major accolade for the exquisite precision of her dancing. Nixon’s choreography ups the ante for the male dancers, giving Javier Torres, as the Prince who captures Cinderella’s heart, a chance to show his strength as a soloist. However, it is in the final pas de deux with Solari that he comes into his own.
Nixon has made some changes to the concept of the wicked stepmother, first seen here. as an adoring wife who, distraught with grief at the death of her husband for which she blames Cinderella for his demise, turns against her. Some wonderful choreography with its own poignancy and heartbreak behind the cruel façade is danced with understanding by Jessica Morgan, who shows a command of the stage that bodes well for her future. And what of the Fairy Godmother?
You may well ask. Nixon has replaced her with a male Magician, danced here by Tobias Batley (who doubles this with the role of Cinderella’s father), popping up when needed and throwing the occasional magic trick or firework to keep us on our toes, at times hovering in the background, in a manner which brings to mind the more sinister Baron Rothbart brooding over Swan Lake, in the ballet of that name. Although the Magician is, of course, a benign figure, the reference, although oblique, is there. It is referenced again in what is, perhaps, the most memorable scene in this innovative production – that of skaters gliding over an icy glistening lake, danced as always to a high standard by the Northern Ballet Company.