Sunday 14 March 2010

Royal Ballet Principal Sarah Lamb @ MOVE IT!


Sarah Lamb dances The Dying Swan
Photography throughout :  Tim Cross

Yesterday afternoon at the MOVE IT! show in London's Kensington Olympia, amid much eager anticipation from the sizeable crowd, Royal Ballet Principal Sarah Lamb took to the stage and danced The Dying Swan solo. The stage floor had not been swept beforehand, and it did look as though the previous act had burnt some rubber and left it behind in places. However, the debris did not put Sarah off her fluid, melancholy dancing, and she gracefully picked her way around the stage to great applause.


The Dying Swan was originally choreographed by Mikhail Fokine for Anna Pavlova, to the cello solo, Le Cygne, from Le Carnaval des Animaux (Camille Saint- Saëns). The Dying Swan is (appropriately) what is known as a pièce d'occasion - a piece for a special occasion and a showcase for a great dancer, which depicts the final moments of a swan’s life.

It is a well chosen piece, danced as it is almost entirely en pointe in tiny pas de bourrée steps, which show off Sarah’s beautiful feet and hard-working Bloch pointe shoes.


Sarah is a Bloch Ambassador, and the company have this year, at last, been able to present her at the show, by kind permission Monica Mason, Director of The Royal Ballet.

Sarah brought her own white tutu, the same one as is depicted on the Bloch posters, with a feathered headdress that so spectacularly marks out a swan costume.


I think Bloch probably underestimated how popular Sarah would prove to be, especially as she agreed to a signing after her performance. Once it was announced, the queue immediately snaked around several stands. It is a mark of Sarah’s humbleness that she made her way through the crowds without any of the ‘heavies’ seen with other dancers, despite being a major draw at Covent Garden. She was lovely with everyone who had waited for her, dressed in jeans and “big shoes”- as someone pointed out to me - responding to photo requests and working her way through the Bloch posters.


I met several people who couldn’t face the queue and potential hour long wait to reach the front, to ask for their signed poster by Sarah, so I’m delighted to say that I have one ready to give away to the person who can answer the question set by Bloch, which is :


Which Bloch pointe shoe does Sarah Lamb wear?


The rules of the competition are as follows :

Please leave your answer in the comment box and make sure you can be contacted (anonymous comments don’t count for competitions !).
The closing date is Friday 19th March 8pm GMT.

All correct entries will be placed in a pointe shoe and the winner drawn at random. The winner will be notified as soon as the draw has been made. In the event that I cannot contact the winner, a second name will be drawn from the shoe and so on until a winner can be contacted.



Good luck everyone !

26 comments:

  1. Love...Love...Love...Blog !!! tia ionca

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  2. She is such a beautiful ballerina!!! I think she wears Bloch Suprima pointe shoes...... I love the photo of her in the desert!!!
    Hugs,
    Margaret B

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  3. Oh Elyse, how beautiful and perfect a ballerina she is, how can someone create such grace to show a dying swan? I love balet, I don't know what shoes she wears, but with her gift, I am sure she dances beautifully wearing any.
    Karen

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  4. Bloch Serenade pointe shoes.

    hmanka@comcast.net
    (317)507-6252
    (317)777-3313

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  5. Judging by the way she looks in the above pictures , I'm sure she's not less fascinating in the role of the dying swan than Anna Pavlova or Maya Plisetzkaya.

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  6. I'm going to guess Suprima or Serenade... I once wore Serenades myself but never really became friends with them. Grishko Vaganovas were my favorites. :)

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  7. I am guessing Bloch Axis TMTs, but I could be wrong.

    Thanks for such a brilliant blog - I check almost daily for my fix of ballet news (it's as good as any magazine subscription!!)

    Hannah
    hannahkw28@hotmail.com
    (I can't work out how to link to me here, but this is a contact address!)

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  8. Hi everyone - interesting answers ! All will be revealed later this week and thank you so much for entering.

    Hannah - I hadn't fully registered your dilemma last time - sorry. I'm over the moon that you read avidly and that you are enjoying everything - it's wonderful for you to say so and your comments spur me on ! Now, as far as I'm aware, you need to register to post a non-anonymous comment. Have you tried Goodle friend Connect ? It's quick and easy and then you should be able to follow this site and join my merry band. Do let me know how you get on. it's a long time since I needed to register but I'll investigate more if you continue to have problems.

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  9. beautiful dance , she looks like white span awesome

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  10. stylechanges - thank you - did you mean 'Swan' ??!

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  11. Hi Elise, I've taken your advice and set up my own blog too!

    I can only hope to be as readable as you, but for the meantime, I can now enter your competition.

    I think she's wearing bloch Axis TMTs!

    Hannah x
    ps- please follow me!

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  12. Bloch Aspirations? That's what they look like to me. Hope I win! I'm glad you found me because I'm loving your blog.

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  13. hi elise! there couldn't be a more beautiful swan than sarah.....each silhouette and photograph is absolutely gorgeous!! what a wonderful treat that must have been to see her perform! :))

    p.s. i'm disqualifying myself for the drawing as i don't know the correct answer to your question about the shoes......drat! :))

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  14. She looks like she dances beautifully; and aw I wish I knew more about ballet shoes haha.

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  15. I have no idea but the photos are wonderful and I love Bloch shoes. Oh to have been a dancer!

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  16. These have to be the most elegant and graceful photos I have ever seen. I am speechless.

    xx
    Rachel

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  17. Such graceful artistry. Beautiful photographs.

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  18. Sarah Lamb wears Bloch Suprima pointe shoes

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  19. I think suprima style pointe shoes!

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  20. She's absolutely beautiful, i think she wears suprima!

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  21. Hey, everything good? I love your blog! I love ballet!
    Your work is wonderful! I worked at the Academy of ballet 20 years ago. I have always been passionate by ballet! Makes a lot of time that I don't watch a show.
    You are to be congratulated! His work is divine, your photos are wonderful!
    I will add your blog on my blog and I will follow your blog.
    I'm Brazilian, live in Rio de Janeiro.
    Kiss, Rozani

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  22. wow, beautiful and very talented! she looks very graceful in her moves.

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  23. Wish I was more familiar with pointe shoes, I have no idea! I love her costume though and wish I could have been at this performance, so stunning!

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  24. Thank you everyone. Really appreciate your comments. We have a winner... I am just waiting for them to make contact and will announce the details then.

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  25. Hi everyone,

    Once again, thank you all for entering into the spirit here.

    The correct answer is Serenade and as you can see, we only had one clear winner - Hanna. I'm delighted to say that Hanna has accepted her prize and the signed poster will be winging it's way to her shortly.

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  26. At first I saw that picture and though it was Lopatkina! I've always been a fan of Sarah

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