Lauren Jankowski's Blog, page 4
October 23, 2021
Ballet Nebula Bow
That’s a wrap on Nebula week! This week was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to the next one 
Tomorrow, a new character takes the stage.
Special thanks to Karen Gillan (Instagram) and James Gunn (Instagram) for bringing this phenomenal character to life on the big screen. It’s great to see another adoptee character and it has been great to include her in this project.
Nebula Week has been dedicated to Chrissy Albertson (Instagram) and Michi Trota (Instagram). Give them a like and a follow, show them some love.
Costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
Helm by Carol Datura Riot, the Potions Mistress (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
October 22, 2021
Favorite Ballets: The Sleeping Beauty
In which I discuss another ballet I really enjoyed: The Royal Ballet’s production of The Sleeping Beauty.
Nebula costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
Nebula helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
Disclaimer: I’m in no way affiliated with the Royal Ballet or Royal Opera House and are not driving any benefit from talking about them.
The Sleeping Beauty recommended links
Streaming on Marquee TV (The Royal Ballet, 2016 production)
Playlist of behind the scenes, making of, and clips
Clip: Carabosse Curses Aurora (McNally is just astonishing in this role)
Rehearsals
2016 Rehearsal (1 hour 15 minutes, 2016, Kristen McNally, Olivia Cowley, “Carabosse”; Anna Rose O’Sullivan, Tierny Heap, ” Songbird and Enchanted Garden Fairies”)
2019 Rehearsal (1 hour 14 minutes, 2019, Yu Hang, “Fairy of the Woodland Glade”; discussion of “Les Beaux Dormants”; Sae Maeda, Leticia Dias, “Songbird and Golden Vine Fairies”)
Carabosse (15 minutes, 2011, Kristen McNally)
Pas de Deux* (20 minutes, 2014, Yuhui Choe, Benjamin Ella)
Pas de Deux* (10 minutes, 2016, Yasmine Naghdi, Matthew Ball)
Fairies and Cavaliers (20 minutes, 2019, a lot of people)
Rose Adage (20 minutes, 2019, Fumi Kaneko, Joseph Aumeer, Téo Dubreuil, Lukas Bjørneboe Brændsrød, Thomas Mock)
October 21, 2021
Making Ballet Nebula: From Page to Reality
Nebula was one of the most difficult characters to design a ballet version of. I think Karolina and I spent the most time puzzling over how to make a ballet version of this character. Nebula’s costume is pretty much all leather and, unsurprisingly, leather isn’t really used in ballet costumes.
When Karolina was out of town visiting family, she stopped in a fabric shop and found this gorgeous deep red fabric. It was leather-like and just perfect for Nebula.
For the helm, Carol designed something inspired by the ballet I was going to be talking about during Nebula week: The Sleeping Beauty.
The design also incorporates Nebula’s metallic features (hence the silver eye piece), which gives it a futuristic look. She used mostly blue and silver Swarovski crystals, giving it that trademark sparkle.
Nebula preliminary sketch and costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
Nebula helm sketch and helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
October 20, 2021
October 19, 2021
Favorite Dancers: Alexander Campbell
Discussing another one of my absolute favorite dancers: Alexander Campbell of the Royal Ballet
Nebula Costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
Nebula Helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
Disclaimer: I’m in no way affiliated with the Royal Ballet or Royal Opera House and are not driving any benefit from talking about them.
Recommended links for Alexander Campbell
Royal Opera House Page: http://www.roh.org.uk/people/alexander-campbell
Alexander Campbell’s Twitter (he’s delightful on Twitter)
Royal Ballet Flickr
Alexander Campbell’s Instagram
Overview
Leap of Faith (documentary, also on YouTube here)
Alex Campbell, Principal, Royal Ballet (solid and interesting biography from DanceAustralia)
Videos – Performances and Interviews
Bluebird Pas de Deux
Where We Are (a lockdown piece, by Alexander Campbell & Anthoula Syndica-Drummond)
Boys Own Dance: An inspiring discussion with male role models in the world of dance
Within the Golden Hour
Hans-Peter’s Mime
Comparing Mercutios (link goes to the full video, Alex Campbell’s bit starts here)
Why the Royal Ballet love performing Don Quixote
Why the Royal Ballet love performing Dances at a Gathering
Videos – Rehearsals and/or Presenting
Rehearsing The Mad Tea Party
Rehearsing Mercutio for Romeo and Juliet (2015)
Aeternum in Rehearsal
Kangaroo Rat from ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café (Birmingham Royal Ballet)
Sugarplum Fairy Pas de Deux (Birmingham Royal Ballet)
Aladdin Pas de Deux (Birmingham Royal Ballet)
Alice in Wonderland Rehearsal (as presenter)
Works By Frederick Ashton (as presenter)
Cricket
The tale of a “real life” Billy Elliot
Interview with Guerilla Cricket (watch until about 4:29, skip the bit that’s just cricket, start again here)
Aussie Dancer Inspiring England’s Cricketers (Cricket.com)
Sporting Plan to Boost Boys in Ballet (BBC)
Miscellaneous
Baby Alex Campbell (gif) (Also found here)
Internet makes audiences harder to wow, Royal Ballet’s newest stars say (The Telegraph)
Meet London’s Ballet Boys (Evening Standard. You may have to scroll some.)
On Glitter (BBC)
A Quote from here:
“I remember watching videos of Mikhail Baryshnikov when I was younger and I wanted to be like him,” says Cambell, citing Baryshnikov as a major inspiration throughout his career.
“He is so exciting to watch that I couldn’t help but want to try it. I was always drawn to the excitement of performing and it was definitely that element of the career that made me want to pursue ballet.”
Honest Photographs that Show the “Sweat, Blood, and Repetition” behind the Royal Ballet
October 18, 2021
Nebula Photoset 1
October 17, 2021
Introduction: Nebula
Week three, the one and only Nebula. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Nebula is another character who means a great deal to me (she’s got an adopted sibling and survived trauma). Nebula is a badass!
Costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
Helm by Carol Datura Riot, the Potions Mistress (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
As mentioned in the video, special thanks to Karen Gillan (Instagram), who plays Nebula, and to James Gunn (Instagram) who directs the Guardians of the Galaxy series.
Nebula week is dedicated to Chrissy Albertson (Instagram) and Michi Trota (Instagram). The anthology I mentioned in the video, which Michi co-edited, is entitled The WisCon Chronicles, Volume 12: Boundaries and Bridges.
October 16, 2021
Ballet Thor Bow
We have reached the end of the 2nd week of Ballet Marvel. I’m really having a lot of fun and I hope you are too.
Tomorrow, a new character takes the stage.
Thor costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram).
Thor helm by Carol Datura Riot, a.k.a. Potions Mistress (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
Special thanks to Chris Hemsworth (Instagram) and Taika Waititi (Instagram) for continuing this fantastic character’s story on the big screen. It means a great deal to me to see adopted siblings on the screen and to see a superhero who is unafraid to show emotion.
Thor week has been dedicated to Teatraybat (Instagram) and Briannacherrycosplay (Instagram).
October 15, 2021
Favorite Ballets: Cinderella
In which I discuss a ballet I really enjoyed: Cinderella
Thor costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
Thor Helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
The Dutch Ballet’s 2014 production of Cinderella is streaming on MarqueeTV
Disclaimer: I’m in no way affiliated with the Dutch Ballet and are not driving any benefit from talking about them.
October 14, 2021
Making Ballet Thor: From Page to Reality
Thor was a tricky one to figure out, though definitely not the most difficult. That honor goes to next week’s character.
As you can see from the preliminary sketch, a few things were altered in the final piece. We took out the splashes of color for a very rich brown to more capture his Ragnarok look and the cape was made a little more battle worn.
The helm was made to resemble both his Ragnarok helm and his comics one.
Carol used Swarovski crystals to give it that extra sparkle. We discuss the colors of the crystals and then she decides where to put them when she’s working on the helm. For Thor, we went with silver and red.
I could not be happier with the finished result.
Preliminary costume sketch and costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
Preliminary helm sketch and helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
