What
others have to say ...
The following review of "Combinations for Allegro" has recently been published in Australia's premier dance magazine:
Dance Australia
It is re-printed here by kind permission of the Editor, Karen van Ulzen, who can be emailed at: yaffabiz@flex.com.au
COMBINATIONS FOR ALLEGRO
Book and CD by Moira Coops, Barbara Hannan, Tony Llacer and Benedict Tan
This book and CD set is a real innovation. I agree with Colin Peasley who writes in his Foreword, "I sincerely hope that it is only the first of a series" and that it is "a welcome addition to...the very small library of available literature on classwork."
Here is relief for those teachers who feel they don't, as Peasley says, "have the ability to invent enchainements that allow students to feel the joy of dance, as well as ....fulfilling the teaching objective." He adds that he had the luxury of observing and learning from guest teachers all his working life, an opportunity many teachers don't regularly get. This book can offer some of the same inspiration and professional development.
The attractive spiral bound notebook presents 52 allegro enchainements, based on the Balanchine style, choreographed by Filipino Tony Llacer, who studied at the School of American Ballet, and now heads Dance Arts in Singapore. Each enchainement is described in the usual balletic combination of French and English, as well as being notated clearly on the facing page.
Singapore-based Englishwoman Barbara Hannan recorded the notation using the MacBenesh software developed by Canadian Rhonda Ryman.
Each enchainement is matched to at least one tune on the CD -and each tune is played at two speeds - an inspired idea which dance teachers will really appreciate. The slower speed is for learning the exercise; the faster speed for performance. It is probably fair to say that many students will only handle these 'fast footwork' enchainements at the slower speed.
The work is set at Elementary to Advanced level, with most of it labelled Intermediate. Pointe work is specifically catered for. Llacer's choreographic style is evident with, for example, lots of batterie, pas de bourrees, sissones, pas de chats, temps de cuisse, and releves with accents both up and down. Petit allegro dominates, with some medium allegro, but no grand allegro - I hope that is in the next book!
The piano accompaniment is composed and played by Singaporean Benedict Tan, who has been accompanist for Singapore Dance Theatre since 1988. His playing shows he knows what is needed to motivate a ballet class. There are 28 tunes, each played at two speeds, plus a reverence at the end. Most pieces are 32 bars in length, consisting of a wide range of dance styles including honky tonk, a gavotte, scottische, an Irish 6/8 and a Spanish waltz. There is a good variety of time signatures and music styles. Because it is lively, this CD would be suitable for open or adult ballet classes, as well as the major level or pre-professional student at which it is aimed.
The CD in itself is a valuable addition to the ballet teacher's resources, whether or not the enchainements are used. But it is in the enchainements that this set really has something new to offer: class work to expand the teacher's repertoire, and to challenge the student.
The whole product has copious background notes, and is meticulously cross-referenced. There is a bibliography, a glossary, an index to relate every CD track to one or more exercises, and listings of time signatures, numbers of bars and levels of difficulty. There is even a directory of steps, enabling teachers to select which exercises focus on a particular step - for example, brise dessus appears in exercises 23,26,33,39 & 44. The set is clearly a labour of love for this small Singaporean team, who were inspired by Australian member Moira Coops' habit of writing steps down to remember them.
Like the RAD syllabus books, this book also provides useful exposure to Benesh notation, enabling teachers with just a little Benesh knowledge to recognise steps, and further develop their knowledge by relating the text to the notation. The only oddity is the deliberate omission of body, arm and head movements, these being left to the teacher's discretion. This does make the notation easier for the novice to read.
Thoroughly recommended!
Susan Whitford
