“Our producer Alex, an ex-professional ballerina wants to pass her knowledge and experiences, which are her heritage, on to younger people.”
WHO: Kay Francksen
WHAT: “Bluffing Your Way in Ballet pirouettes its fast-paced and irreverent way through the history of ballet. Whizz with us beyond the tutu with stories and dances from the ballet greats, including Isadora Duncan, Václav Nijinsky and Margot Fonteyn. Never heard of them but love ballet? You’ll be in safe hands! The company will perform, in avant-garde fashion, the intrigue, tragedy and magic of ballet’s greatest stars, past and present. Our ballerina Alexandra danced with The Royal Ballet and with some of these ballet stars. She’s delighted to share her knowledge and experiences with you.”
WHERE: theSpace @ Venue45 – theSpace @ Venue 45 (Venue 117)
WHEN: 15:05 (45 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
It is our first time at the Fringe. It seems mad as we’re a mature company, but we wanted to be a part of this world-renowned, diverse, international festival while we still can! Make way for the oldies! We devised a show during 2023 which tells ballet’s story from the Renaissance to now, not as a lecture but in an amusing and sometimes crazy way. Our producer Alex, an ex-professional ballerina wants to pass her knowledge and experiences, which are her heritage, on to younger people. Most of us are in our twilight years but still fit and able to help her to do this. We have had sold-out shows in Bristol and our audience feedback shows that the public is curious about the fantastical history of ballet and its many eccentric characters.
We want to tell our story in a concise and zappy way and experience the wonder that is the Edinburgh Fringe. We will be out there, in our tutus, displaying our wobbly bits and enjoying every minute. Carpe diem init?!
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
We have learned that we can do it and we absolutely have to do it now! We are not getting any younger! We are a relentless bunch of older/ancient performers. Our star ballerina is 75 years old. We have a wealth of energy and experience to bring to the stage (as well as flatulence and snacks). Seriously though, if not now, when? Our public keep coming back for more, so let’s share our show more widely. We already have our bus passes so why not add Festival passes?
Tell us about your show.
The show was devised and written by all of us. We each researched and wrote about our particular characters, who had been previously selected in a rough outline presented by Alex, who is also producing and performing in the show. We have plundered many personal experiences from Alex’s career. It came together over a year of trial and error. We finished up with a longer version of this show which we took around Bristol and Bath. We were surprised, delighted and encouraged by audience feedback:
“I was a bit concerned that it might not have been quite what my friends were expecting but they were most impressed and very interested… the history of ballet was discussed all the way back to Horfield on the no. 75 bus!”
When Alex said she wanted to take Bluffing to the Fringe we readily agreed to let her do most of the work but then relented and set to rejigging it into its present form with the creative guidance of our Director, Amanda Horlock. Alex has started negotiations with Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School, with whom she has maintained connections. In the long run the aim is to take it to other dance and actors’ classes and community schools, together with a simple preshow workshop which we also offered with the previous show. We saw how this appealed to both young and old and in particular those with special needs. It seemed to free their imagination and gave them the confidence and joy that we feel when we perform Bluffing Your Way In Ballet.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
After our show we will all need a lie down but then we want to get out there in our tutus and pirouette our way along to see as many other shows as we can. If audiences have enjoyed our focus on dance and comedy, we hope they will go and see Assembly @ Dance Base – Dance Base 3, Prime and LYDC’s “Timeless” at venue 22, a lovely mix of ages in dance. Assembly and Dance Base also have many other dance shows on offer, go to: https://www.dancebase.co.uk/festival-24/
We also hope to get along to fellow Bristolians, Scaffolding, Documental Productions (Bristol Old Vic and Pleasance) dark comedy “Pleasance Dome” at Venue 23, go to: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/scaffolding
We’re also looking forward to tasting some of the other genres on offer at the smorgasbord that is the Edinburgh Fringe, such as our friends at Threedumb Theatre.
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