Posted by Sara Green (Marketing and Admin Assistant, Hoipolloi)
As most of the blog entries so far have been mainly my perspective on the process I decided that it was time to get someone else’s view. Lee Fisher, the ballet coach, worked with the actors in the rehearsal room to assist with the movement in the show. I had a quick chat with him to find out what he thought of the show, the process and of course the dancing.
Firstly I asked him how he came to be involved with The Doubtful Guest and whether he had seen Hoipolloi’s work before. He hadn’t. In fact the link was through Watford Palace Theatre and a shared contact. Hoipolloi was recommended to him and Shôn invited him to come along and do a taster session with the actors.
Lee trained at the Royal Ballet School and danced with Birmingham Royal Ballet for 17 years. He retired from dancing full-time in 2005 but still makes guest appearances across the globe. This kind of work is fairly new to him, but he says that it felt organic and natural to be part of the production and looking back he said how much he enjoyed working on it.
So why does a Hoipolloi need with a ballet coach? Well, Gorey was obsessed by ballet – during one period of his life he even attended every single performance of the New York City Ballet for 23 years!
And so Lee did a bit of everything! The day would begin with an authentic ballet warm-up. They shared terminology and techniques, particularly classical form of the arms, feet and body and used ballet as the starting point for many of the exercises. The actors would then use what they felt was right for them, making it their own.
Lee stressed how ballet was explored in an almost entirely collaborative way, but there were also some structured and choreographed pieces with which Lee took the lead. So there was a nice balance between Lee instructing and the actors using the techniques in their own improvisations.
In terms of the individual actors it was interesting to hear that they all had their own particular styles, one being quite Italian, one Russian and one very English in their movements. Lee found this fascinating as well as their adaptability, creativity and willingness to try new things. This is something I found when watching rehearsals.
I then asked him what he thought of the actual story and style it was written in, and whether ballet fits in with this. He literally loves the story of the doubtful guest and apparently was laughing all day throughout the rehearsals. He also thinks that it was an inspired decision to use ballet to add another layer to the production and when he was shown the book for the first time he could see exactly how ballet would fit in. The style of the book really appeals to Lee and when I spoke to him he couldn’t wait to see the finished product.
I was pleased to hear that Lee thoroughly enjoyed working with Hoipolloi and felt proud to be part of such an exciting process but I think that it was our privilege to work with this enthusiastic and talented dancer. After seeing the show last night (which was absolutely stunning by the way!) I was so impressed by the use of movement and dance and the ballet style was clearly detectable in the performance.
I saw Lee after the show and he was very happy with the result, and couldn’t believe how far the actors had come since he worked with them! Definitely a success all round.
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