Engage with our work though BBonFILM
#BBonFilm is a new and exciting way to showcase our digital work: inspirational dance films, performances, repertoire and on-demand ballet classes. Scroll below to see a few examples of our digital work for film, for dance education & enjoyment and also some inspirational films created by our former dancers and friends.
Arranged & taught by Cira Robinson
Demonstration by Marie-Astrid Mence
Duration: 63 minutes
Streaming: This class has been filmed for web only distribution. 4K quality options to follow soon.
Feel free to adapt any exercise that is too challenging by performing it more slowly, or with low legs or by staying on the whole foot instead of demi pointe. Please also adapt any exercises you need to if your dance space is restrictive.
Health & Safety notice:
These classes are for you to follow along with at home and you do so at your own risk.
Please make sure you have enough space to move your arms and legs without coming into contact with anything.
Wear comfortable clothing that does not restrict your movement.
If you don’t have a barre, use something secure like a countertop or heavy chair.
If you don’t have ballet shoes you can wear socks or dance barefoot.
If you enjoyed our class and would like to make a donation of any size, you can do so using the link below.
LIKE WATER acknowledges the resilience of our ancestors, passed down from generation to generation. A world unkind to our people, yet somehow we survive. A world that that has conditioned us to not see the beauty of our skin, hair, culture and our people. But like water we flow, like water we change shape. We remain resilient.
Ballet Black is a professional ballet company for international dancers of black and Asian descent. The company was founded in 2001 by their Artistic Director, Cassa Pancho MBE, in order to foster talent and provide role models to young, aspiring black and Asian dancers. Beyond the Screen is a short film presented by Facebook
According to reports in Elizabeth Wilson’s book, Shostakovich: A life remembered, the young composer was “fragile and nervously agile,” and indeed, Yuri Lubimov considered that “the fact that he was more vulnerable and receptive than other people was no doubt an important feature of his genius”. The seven movements in Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 11 are all quite short, almost fragmented. Each one, for me, has its own emotion, structure and story, except for the last one, which is a combination of the previous movements. There are real moments of restriction and tension within the choreography and music, which tug the four dancers through the space. The detail and the intricacy capture them in a battle for their own territory. It was really exciting to revisit Captured again, five years after its creation in 2012. There are new dancers in the company, which has allowed me to look at the ballet with fresh eyes. I wanted to push the piece further and really define what was important: that sense of unease and the crackle of tension. I am particularly grateful to Cira Robinson, on whom the piece was originally made, for her beautiful yet sharp, dynamic and ferocious dancing. Also to the other dancers of Ballet Black for bringing new life to Captured, at the same time as building on what was created in 2012.
This concept is fascinating to me as an artist, and I really wanted to find a way to bring this idea to life. I decided to take on the challenge of creating an original score for this updated version, in collaboration with the dancers and my team. The process of creating this element of the ballet really helped me to understand what I was trying to achieve choreographically.
The title of the piece on its own is quite interesting to me, in the sense that a person can find themselves in a situation where everything is presented to them, but they can choose to make their move at a later stage. This title led us to write a piece that is both complex yet simple, deep, confusing, and hopefully fun. The scrambling of thoughts that sometimes don’t lead us anywhere, when all the while, time continues to pass us by. One second at a time.
The Ballet Black team and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how this would be best communicated through movement and dance. The most amazing thing about being both a dancer and choreographer in the Company is the constant communication we are able to have, and the idea that we are building something much greater than ourselves. Thank you to Cassa and the team for creating this work with me. I am very happy to share it with you.
Mthuthuzeli November, January 2024
‘Historic moment in British ballet history’
In October 2018, after 18 months of development, Freed of London have teamed up with Ballet Black founder and artistic director Cassa Pancho MBE and Senior Artist Cira Robinson to create the first skin tone pointe shoes, handmade in the U.K. for black, Asian and mixed race dancers.
After over a year in development, Freed of London has introduced new colours ‘Ballet Bronze’ and ‘Ballet Brown’ to their core collection. The Freed of London ethos has always been to develop shoes to meet the needs of each generation of dancer and these new colours continue to reflect this.
“This wouldn’t of been achievable without the help of everyone involved, especially “Ballet Black” whom we collaborated with to create these beautiful new colours.” – Freed of London
“I am beyond delighted that Freed have launched these two new colours. Although it may seem like a very small change to the outside world, I believe this is an historic moment in British ballet history and another step forward for culturally diverse dancers across the globe who wear the iconic Freed brand of shoe.
I would like to thank Freed for using their platform to help instigate change, and Cira Robinson, Senior Artist at Ballet Black, for her unending dedication to making this possible.”- Cassa Pancho MBE, Founder & Artistic Director
During a difficult period of my life, I had a series of panic attacks, to a point that my body shook uncontrollably. Sometimes I was so broken that I couldn’t focus my mind, and other times my mind worked but the shaking continued. I asked Film Maker Daniel Lowenstein to capture one of these episodes.
The symptoms in this film are genuine and I continued to shake between takes. However, I managed to use the shaking to inform some of the movement.
With the awful moments comes amazing life lessons.
Therefore life is always amazing, even if it doesn’t seem to be at the time. – Jake Nwogu
Directed, Shot & Cut by Dan Lowenstein – Film Director http://www.danlowenstein.com/
Music by Mad EP https://soundcloud.com/mad-ep
Ballet Black was founded in 2001 with a mission to make a fundamental change in the diversity of mainstream classical ballet – on stage, behind the scenes, and among audiences & participants. We recognise the importance of providing visible, diverse role models of Black and Asian descent in ballet. Our professional ballet company is made up of ten dancers from around the world and we create award-winning new work that is bold and distinctive, both live and on film, that tours the UK and internationally. Our size and scale of production makes it possible for us to perform in large theatres such as London’s Barbican Theatre as well as small scale theatres like DanceXchange, enabling us to take our work to areas that may not otherwise receive high-quality ballet. We have developed a strong reputation as one of the most prolific commissioners of new ballets (over 60) in the UK and are known for nurturing many emerging choreographers who have gone on to enjoy successful careers.
Since 2020 Digital technology has become a vital part of what we do. We are currently developing #BBonFilm as a digital showcase of all things Ballet Black. The development of this initiative has been made possible with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies Digital Accelerator Programme. This grant has supported the consolidation of our Digital Producer and their role in both developing this website and in the launch of our mobile screening initiative. The screening service enables us to take our film work to theatres that are unable to accommodate our live performances, plus schools, universities, film festivals and community groups. Our Digital Producer also oversees the creation of our online library of ballet class resources, the development of our future film projects and all licensing and streaming negotiations.
In addition to the release BBonFilm, and with the kind support of The Linbury Trust, we have also busy aggregating and sampling our film and live audiences to better understand the interests and wishes of our audience as a digital customer.
Since 2021 we have won or have received an official selection in over 25 Film Festival awards from around the world. Alongside promoting our existing digital material our ambition is to create further educational resources and one new dance film per year so that digital touring sits alongside live performance touring as a staple of what we do.
We also develop talent at the early stages of ballet through our subsidised Junior School & Junior Associate Programme, providing professionally taught ballet classes led by teachers of diverse heritage to children and young people aged 3 to 18. Our Junior Associate Programme is designed to support and inspire girls and young women aged 12 to 16 during the crucial pre-vocational stage of ballet training. This cements our commitment to reaching a critical mass of young people for whom the artform of ballet has historically been closed and is part of our contribution to diversifying ballet in the UK.
We challenge perceptions in ballet, promote greater inclusion in dance training, and are growing audience diversity for ballet and the wider dance sector across the UK. We are also playing a vital role in advocating wider societal change through our industry-changing collaborations, such as working with Freed of London to create the first UK made pointe shoes for Black, Asian, and culturally diverse dancers.
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