Month: June 2016

Genesis Elijah.
Photo credit: Nathaniel Bygrave

Rapper Genesis Elijah was inspired at the age of ten by Wu Tang and Ice Cube. Little did he know back then that his future would see him working with KRS-1. In the UK he’s worked with everyone from Skinnyman and Sway to Blak Twang.
Elijah is an act that has toured nationally around the UK in spots like Manchester, Swindon and Southampton, as well as internationally in places like Spain.

He released a mixtape in 2006 for his steady fanbase who were disappointed when he then decided to withdraw for a while from the music scene, but he was of course, eventually, magnetically drawn back.

Elijah then delivered an album titled Before I was famous with the Krate Krusaders and as testament to his focus, his body is covered in tattoos that read discipline, justice, dedication and liberty.

Photo credit: Nathaniel Bygrave

1. Where did you grow up and what was the environment like?

I grew up in Brixton South London. I had a very contrasting upbringing. I was raised in a very strict Christian household where we had no TV and secular music wasn’t allowed, but my uncles and cousins would listen to Big Daddy Kane and NWA and also I would get music from my friends at school. Around my friends I’d be cussing and fighting but at home time would be praying and reading bible stories. Inside I would be singing and outside the riots were happening. It was a strange time but I learnt a lot about people.

2. What was it that attracted you to hip-hop?

These guys were rebels to me. They didn’t give a fuck. They were adults but not like the adults I was used to being around. They were saying things I didn’t even understand but I wanted to understand. I loved the way rappers dressed, their hair, the jewelry everything.

3. When did you start making music and what kind of things were you writing about?

I think I wrote my first rhyme at around 10 years old. Ice Cube dropped Amerikkkaz Most Wanted the year before and I had played it non-stop and Dre had just dropped The Chronic. I was obsessed with Snoop. He used spell out “The D-O-Double G” so I wrote a rhyme calling myself “The N-A-Double T”. My real name is Nathaniel but my family call me Nat so I started spelling it with two T’s cos it looked better and still do to this day. My rhymes were really just disses to imaginary foes with the most amount of “motherfuckers” and “niggaz” I could fit in a bar haha. One day my mother found my rhyme books and threw them all out. As I got a bit older I started talking more about social issues then made some songs about my friends but at the time I hadn’t really found my identity so my rhymes didn’t really have any direction. In those early years I wasn’t really focused on content and I was just focused on the actual skill of rhyming. I made my own rhyming dictionary and would also write down any punch lines I could think of and pretty much all I would do everyday is think about rhymes and punch lines.

4. How did your writing progress as you got older?

Well I found myself. I spent years listening to other artists and being inspired by them to point where I would here Eminem then I would start rapping all intricate then I would listed to Common and would rap more afrocentric and then listen to Mobb Deep and get all thugged out etc. It took a while for me to just get comfortable being me and as soon as that happened my song writing just went to a different level. I became more self-aware as a person and that just translated to who I was as an artist. I think that intern just helped people to relate to me because now they knew who I really was.

5. How has your sound changed?

I think I’m a lot more open to new sounds now. I won’t limit myself to one sound now. If a beat sounds good I’ll use it. When I was younger I’d turn down beats for sounding too pop or too American or whatever because I was very conscious about what my supporters would think. Now I really don’t care what anyone thinks. My real supporters are smart enough to understand I need to grow as an artist. I dropped a track called Karma which was nothing like anything I’d done before and got the most amount of love from die hard supporters and that just validated everything for me. I am a hip-hop artist but I don’t just make hip-hop.

6. What do you think of the new crop of Hip-Hop artist like Drake, Young Thug, Future, Kevin Gates etc?

I really like most new music. I like the energy. It reminds me of why I started listening to hip-hop in the first place. A bunch of young guys just not giving a fuck. I hear people complaining about not understanding what they’re saying and its funny cos that’s thing my mum used to say about the music I make. I think you have to get to a point when you realise some music just isn’t made for you. Let them do their thing.

7. As an underground artist in a small scene were you able to make any money?

I made a little bit of money from my first deal but not enough to quit my 9 to 5. I didn’t really make money until I started selling CD’s on the street. Some of my boys were already doing it so I wanted to see if it could work. I pressed up my mix tape and went into central London and started selling them to shoppers. I was selling them for £5 each and at first would sell about 20 a day. After while when I got better at selling it went up to about 30 then once I got my music video on to TV sales just went crazy. I had days where I’d sell 100 CD’s. My CD manufacturer couldn’t believe how fast I was getting through them. From 2006 to 2009 I sold around 20,000 CD’s. 2006 was the last time I worked a 9 to 5. The only reason I actually stopped was because I was spending so much time selling CD’s all around the country I didn’t have any time to actually make any new music. Around the time I stopped selling the game was on the way down anyway. There were so many CD sellers it was getting saturated plus CD’s were on the way out.

8. As consumers have moved away from hard copies how have you been able to make money of music?

I kind of sat back and took a look at the ways that money could be made from music and then basically tried to do em all. So obviously I’ll always make money from shows but I also looked at things like music production and getting music synced to movies and adverts. I then started shooting music videos for myself and other artists and that became a separate career in itself. I also started a clothing line and got in to graphic design. My thinking is I may not be able to make £10,000 in one go but if I know I can find a way to make £1000 10 times and then it’s just a matter of scalability. Seeing what works and doing more of it.

9. Any plans to sign to a major or even a big independent record label?

I’d love to be signed. I’d love to just have management. Sometimes the weight of putting a project out yourself while knowing it’s not going to get the push it deserves can be a bit soul destroying but I always tell myself the people that need to hear it will hear it. Like fate will bring it to the right people. You never know who’s hands your music will end up in and I’ve had people like Ricky Gervais push my music to Gary Vaynerchuck use my songs on his videos as well as having movie directors request music for films. If the right deal comes a long then I’ll take it. I’m very realistic about those chances and if it doesn’t happen I’ll know I’ll be fine regardless but like anything in life it’s nice to have some help. It would be cool to know that a label believes in my music enough to invest some money in it but if not I’ll just keep investing mine.

10. Do you ever see yourself leaving the music industry?

No. I love music. Regardless of all the other things I do outside of music, music is my foundation. Without music nothing else can really happen. Music gives me a voice. It gives me a platform and from there I’m able to capitalise on opportunities that come to me. Making music is the only thing that never seems like work to me. It’s something I would do even if I never got paid for it and the majority of the time I don’t get paid for it. I’m very grateful for the position I’m in because I know how hard I’ve worked to get here. Even if the place I am doesn’t seem far to others to me it’s been a life long journey. I may never be a worldwide household name selling millions of albums but I know my music had an impact on a few lives. I’ve seen places I would never have seen without music and have been able to give my family a good life. Long after people stop checking for me and this little bit of hype dies down you can bet I’ll still be writing rhymes doing shows and connecting with people who love real music. This is what I was born to do.

Watch Genesis Elijah | Homicide

When the world looks to the UK music scene it usually knows of numerous London based pop star names and then of course there are those four lads, you know the ones, The Beatles from Liverpool. Aside from that there have been numerous pop and rock acts from another one of the UK’s next biggest cities – Manchester. Manchester more than punches above it’s weight in the musical ring!

The obvious names? Happy Monday’s, Elbow, Oasis,Take That, The Verve, Chemical Brothers, Badley Drawn Boy, Doves, Joy Division, M People and many more.

However, don’t get it twisted, the genre’s of hip hop and grime have also throughout the years been prominent in the city and it seems like 2016 is the time that they are breaking through.
It’s taken five years of solid work by grime MC Bugzy Malone to break through nationally, and now all eyes are on Konny Kon and Tyler Daley, otherwise known to all their fans over the years as ‘Children Of Zeus’.

‘Still Standing’ is the debut single from the latest signings to First Word Records, Children of Zeus. COZ is a soul project from two of Manchester’s most respected artists Konny Kon and Tyler Daley.

Konny Kon and Tyler Daley. Photo Courtesy Benji B.

Konny Kon is a DJ, MC and beatmaker best known as one third of Broke’N’English alongside fellow Mancunians DRS and Strategy. Tyler Daley, also known as Hoodman, went from being a respected MC and actor to one of the most in demand soul singers of recent times, lending his vocals and writing talents to music from Soul II Soul’s Caron Wheeler, 50 Cent, Lisa Mafia, Bugsy Malone and more. As a duo they have also supposed acts like The Pharcyde in concert live.

Listen here;
https://soundcloud.com/firstwordrecords/sets/children-of-zeus-still

Whilst the likes of Dub Phizix, Chimpo, Zed Bias and Levelz are making waves in D&B, Bass Music and Grime, Children of Zeus came to break the trend and bring a soulful side that is much needed to continue Manchester’s rich musical history. Over the last few years the duo have been releasing tracks through their Soundcloud, generating daytime radio play and legions of devoted fans. They are now finally ready to commit some of these recordings to wax with two tracks that represent the sound that they describe as ‘future classic soul for sophisticated hoodrats’.

‘Still Standing’ is a Bilal-esque slice of neo-soul, a love-letter to the mother’s that raised them, whilst on the flip ‘No Strings Attached’ blends dusty soul samples with a tale of life on the road and the temptations it brings. Look out for COZ’s debut live show in London later this month and more new music very soon.

1.If you had to make a playlist that your music would fit into, which others artists would compliment your sound?

Not to compare us at all but I think our music sits nicely with artists such as Raphael Saadiq, Anderson Paak, Slum Village, Madlib, Maxwell, Native Tongues etc

2.Do you consider your music to be uk hip hop?

We both come from hip hop backgrounds, and obviously are from the UK, but the sound associated with ‘UK Hip Hop” doesn’t really resonate with us. There’s hiphop elements to our music and there’s rhyming on some of the tracks, but I think it leans more towards soul music that hip hop heads would appreciate.

3.Which artists do you listen to in your car?
Konny Kon-Westside Gunn & Conway, Loose Ends, Anderson Paak, anything Alchemist produces, Garnett Silk, Mobb Deep.

Tyler- my stereo is broke haha but if it wasn’t I’d probably be listening to the same shit

4.Who does what in Children Of Zeus?
There’s two of us. Tyler Daley who handles most of the vocals (singing and MCing) and Konny Kon who MC’s.
We both make all the beats.

5.How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard you before?

We make classic soul for hip hop heads. There’s no lovey dovey dancing over polished R&B involved. It’s soul music with samples or something we’ve played with, a lot of bass or some dusty sounding breaks involved. Some of the tracks are straight hip hop but it’s all Is pretty chill.

6.Who are your musical influences?
We both love the same music. We came up on 80’s/90’s hiphop but pirate radio in Manchester raised us to love soul, dancehall, roots reggae and lots of UK street soul from dons like Soul2Soul, Loose Ends, Omar etc.

7. What’s next for Children Of Zeus?
Working on more music and touring. We have some pretty huge collaborations with some legends from NYC on the way which may have dropped by the time you read this. We just want to continue making music for your headphones or car that still translates to rocking a live show.

8. Where can people go to find your music?
Best place is www.soundcloud.com/children-of-zeus but if you search for us online there’s more music and videos out there!

9. If you could sum up your vibe in one sentence, how would your describe it?
Soul music for listeners, bluntheads, fly ladies and prisoners!

10. How has your home town (Manchester) helped shape you as people and artists?

We live in city where it never stops raining. All we can do is sit inside and make music. Manchester is also home to the highest concentration of MC’’s for its size in the UK. It’s competitive but everyone is cool with everyone no matter what genre. The grime MC’s work with the hip hop guys. The Drum n bass MC’s jump on hip hop tracks. It’s all one big collective that seems to dominate the UK at the moment. It’s always been very London-centric but I think ears are starting to point in our direction now and one after another we are all breaking through.

South London singer Jodie Abacus is performing at this years Glastonbury Festival and this past fortnight also performed across the pond at The Roots Picnic.
Jodie’s songs are classic, feel-good, two-step hits in the vein of Kool and the Gang, The Temptations, The O’Jays with hints of a certain hat wearing Virginia lad called Pharrell.

PIC SARAH MCCOLGAN.

Jodie is hot onstage and in the kitchen. Just go to YouTube and see Jodie Abacus Hot Kitchen recipes. He talks us through how to make musical macaroni (where he throws in Aretha Franklin as well as his Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson impressions), space buffalo wings (to go with his track Space Buffalo- complete with fire emoticons), and soul slaw (where he sings to his cabbage – yes really). Whilst Jodie’s Hot Kitchen video recipes are slightly tongue in cheek, mix master Armand Van Helden has actually remixed a version of Hot Kitchen.

PIC KWAME KWATEN.

Heres Jodie on THAT Roots Picnic, his pre-stage rituals, where he sits on the Rock & Roll scale and what he’d like to school Americans on.

1-The Roots Picnic is an annual event that is huge on the American calendar. How did you get onto the bill and how does this rate alongside all the gigs you’ve done so far?

The Roots festival was a fantastic experience for me, to share the stage with an R&B KING like Usher – even to sound check JUST after usher was absolutely surreal.
I don’t exactly know how I got on. I guess you have to be kind of special to be put on. Humbly, so I’m still working on ‘being special’ by the way lol.

2-Playing live is something you clearly love with all the European festivals under your belt too this past year, but what’s your worst ever live gig memory?

There’s no best or worst gig to me. My thing is to always learn from the last show, and forget about how good the last show was and respect the new audience, so my mind state is always on reset. I’m singing my stories and I want the audience to leave nourished!

PIC COURTESY ROOTS PICNIC.

3-Where were you on the Roots Picnic line-up, at the start? Repping the UK? – Tell us about that?

I was the only one repping the UK as far as I know, and I opened the festival. The response afterwards was amazing, I didn’t want to let myself down so I was pretty focused.

4-You did your sound check after The Roots and Usher’s sound checks. Did you manage a quick chat with any of them?

I was mostly pretty hype and just wanted to perform. I did have a degree of nerves in general but they were at the usual normal level.
I spoke to Usher and Quest Love very briefly whilst taking a picture. Quest Love asked me where I was from and tried to do a London accent…it wasn’t bad …nice try haaa

Jodie with Questlove and Usher.
PIC KWAME KWATEN.

5-How did your set go? Were the audience at all acquainted with your material or was it playing to a brand new audience unfamiliar with your music?

It’s funny thing because as I go onstage, I’m singing and people were mouthing the words to the songs …I can’t tell you how much of an amazing feeling that is, you wrote it once in the past and now they’re singing it. The set was amazing judging by the way the responses were after the show on social media and through the duration of the day.

6-Once upon a time, live music, musicians and sex, drugs and rock & roll used to all go together, but in 2016 musicians seem a much cleaner, healthy eating, juicing, detoxing, vegan loving bunch. Where do you sit on the scale between totally rock & roll and clean living music nerd.

Between me and my band The Neutronics, there’s a fair amount of beer drinking, swearing and unprovoked insults. Pringle-eating, tequila-shooting and mostly laughter …we laugh A LOT!!

Jodie with DJ Jazzy Jeff.
PIC KWAME KWATEN.

7- I’ve been on tour with music stars that do all sorts from praying, honey, rum and lemon concoctions to full yoga session…. What are your pre-stage rituals?

I like to gather everyone together to have a prayer before I go on, it’s to remind us to respect the stage and why we’re here. It’s a long hard road. I’ve been praying all the way.

8-What’s the one standout song in your repertoire that new listeners should be sure to check out and why does it represent what Jodie Abacus is about?

Either “I’ll be that friend” or “Halfway to Mexico”
One talks about my bout of pneumonia, going through a bad year and needing a hug, the other is about the part of the journey to get to this point. Part of what’s happened in my past experiences and what it takes to progress.

Jodie with Anderson Paak.
PIC KWAME KWATEN.

9-What’s the best thing about hip hop culture and how it’s changed the world?

I love hip hop, good or bad it’s the Rock & Roll of this generation. It’s very accessible in a way. It’s like crushing a tin can to play football without the ball and scoring goals through two pieces of clothing acting like goal posts. And if that makes absolutely noooo sense to you it makes total sense to me and that’s all that matters.. Sorry but it’s tangent time and my mind goes off on one sometimes visualizing things. Hip hop is worldwide now and in a very big way.
If you catch me in the right place at the right time you’ll see me rock out to hip hop like a nutter!

10-Americans always seem to have quite an affinity with all things British from our accents to our slanguage. What one British thing from South London in 2016 would you like to skool them on?

1. That we don’t all speak like Dick Van Dyke from the film “Mary Poppins”

2. That some, perhaps most of us haven’t tasted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Tell an American that you haven’t and they lose their sh**. (LA accent) “What do you mean you’ve never tasted a peanut & jelly sandwich?.. Are you insane???” It’s a great conversation piece you should try it if you’re a Brit at a table filled will Americans.

3. We Brits can jaywalk whenever we want. .. Dangerous yeah!… But we can.

Nick Cannon onstage in London.

Last week American rapper, actor, comedian, entrepreneur, record producer, radio and television personality Nick Cannon came to London for the weekend and true to form, didn’t spend a minute of it sleeping. Across a three-day period he performed to a packed out O2 Brixton Academy where he recorded a UK version of his infamous Wild N Out show, made appearances at two nightclubs and threw an all day rooftop pool party.

Nick was child prodigy who excelled in acting as well as music and played the lead role in movies like Drumline, and in 2005 created, produced, and hosted the MTV improvisation comedy series WILD’N Out, which not only airs in the USA but in numerous countries globally including the UK.

In the UK, Wild’N Out inspired a whole raft of its own comedy talent and brands including Kojo’s Comedy Fun House, Harvey’s Young Gods Of Comedy and more. Nicks own production company – NCredible – produces his Wild ‘N Out show for MTV2 in the states – and sit up and pay attention… this is a big deal. We always talk about ownership; well this is what it looks like.

Alongside his own comedy series Nick has hosted around seven seasons of Americas Got Talent alongside his peers like Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Mel B and more proving that American households love him too.

As well as all this on-screen creative arts skill, his talent as a businessman mustn’t be overlooked. For a young black man to be simultaneously connected to and respected by the streets, as well as being engaged and embraced by TV and film industry bosses is a rare thing. Nick is the chairman of TeenNick for Nickelodeon too, which …YEP, YOU GUESSED IT..is a big deal.

Proving the hip hop generation are in demand and his personal genus is sought after by mainstream money, the Radioshack brand named Nick ‘’Chief Creative Officer’’ in hopes of catering to a younger audience.

At one point in time, Nick was juggling hosting TV shows, a regular daily radio show and all this business. A big deal. He eventually stepped down from his radio show due to lupus health issues, but it hasn’t stopped him continuing to support numerous charitable causes.

For this London trip Nick brought a full squad of talent to the capital, to record a show from here, for his Wild ‘N Out series. UK comic White Yardie opened the show which consisted mostly of his comics each taking a 10-15 minute stand up slot each and then the performance ended with a couple of regular games from the main show.

One of these was the ‘Family reunion game’, where comics scan the audience and bring up celebrity lookalikes from the audience onstage. This was hilarious and in London they found T Pain, Akon and a poor girl who had her weave ripped off her head to the crowds hysteria! (A thing that I hate with my Girl Power gene freaking out, but hey, that’s for another article).

BBC Radio’s Dj Ace provided the musical set for the full show in between acts, including a spot where there was a ‘UK Wild ‘N Out Girls search’ where around 15 hot, young fillies were paraded onstage, with Nick teasing ‘’I’m going to take one back to the States with me’’. The NCredible team played their latest song – ‘Snapchat (GettinFreaky) – which went down well with the hyper audience.

Nick with the UK Wild ‘N Out girls at his Sunday rooftop pool party.

At the end of the show the general consensus from the audience was a great night had been had by all, and whilst they knew and expected Nick to be a very efficient host, it was as a stand-up comic himself that he really surprised and excelled.

Remember we mentioned eatlier how much of a great multi tasker he is? As he left British shores he posted his #LondonNights poem that he had managed to shoot whilst in town. And to our delight it showed him addressing the issue of racist nightclubs in London, (specifically DSTRKT!).

WATCH NICK CANNON’S #LONDONNIGHTS POEM HERE;

Carry on speaking Nick. We appreciate you.

‪#‎SpokenSundays‬ ‪#‎LondonNights‬ ‪#‎poetry‬

London Nights

As I wander through each chartered street
I’m not from around these Ends
But we strut through the alleyways like real top bosses
Holding our bollocks
Searching for gully live
Yo, Cheerio! Where my niggas at?
Ride or Die!
We arrive. Trafalgar Square lights.
I swear this motherfucking city is fly.
I first met her in 2005.
It was Piccadilly Circus, green eyes, ass so fat, curves had a nigga nervous
Perfect etiquette,refine like a horse and carriage.
She was a little hip hop but a whole lot of garridge
She was fucking with my trainers, Red Doernbechers
I rocked them joints with skinny jeans but she called them knickers or trousers
Either way I was trying to get her out of hers.
I heard the West End was a hotbed for mayhem
But I ain’t give a damn
I’m trying to see what that fanny like
My girls from Brixton was throwing so many drawers I thought it was a panty strike
Dotiwala told me I should leave them alone
She know my ex
And she know how I like’em
Baited and Beautiful
Nothing but the best
Model chicks smelling like cigarettes
Ready for sex
But the mash man run up in the spot
So we hopped up on The Tube trying not to get shot
Dipped to a low key rooftop somewhere off Oxford Street
Where I met a red bone joint with 110s on her feet.
But the Council was tripping like this was the Dstrkt
Yo, I’m wearing too many colors to be bothered with racism
So I slipped them some bees and honey
Grully hand to let me and my mans them in
And the bouncers still flexin’ on the Bruvs
With them dumb ass door policies
Shit was mad rubbish
Fuck this!
Niggas stay getting fucked with
Trojan Magnums
Stuck outside even on this side of the planet
But we gone sneak in on the horse
In the distance I hear how the youthful harlots curse
Screaming “Come test me”
Might get sliced up tonight
What would Lonesome do?
Damn I miss my Pops
This shit is getting on top
The rude boy in the ski mask just got tackled by the cops
As they grab his knife, he just spit in they face
Bloody wicked
You don’t gotta believe my tale
I ain’t gotta lie to kick it
I’m sticking to my story
The new pimpin’ Charles Dickens with an Oliver Twist
The Tale of Two Cities
Getting that pick wit paper
Hot chicks
Massive music
Rampaging fights
I can’t wait to go back and feel them London Nights

This is the most diverse ballet company that I’ve ever seen. Prince Siegfried was performed by black male Cuban dancer Osiel Gouneo, on further inspection of the cast list I noted that in the 120 dancers list, there are an abundance of Asian and black dancers and many eastern European names in the programme too. #Very EU

Every single dancer was technically strong and not a wobble or alignment was out of place. You could see that the 150 plus hours of rehearsals had been well worth it. As a former dancer and ballet teacher, I always look out for teeny imperfections and found none.

There were more swans onstage than I’ve ever seen- 60! Their movement in unison across the stage is mesmerising akin to a kaleidoscope. Magical!

Derek Deane’s choreography is breathtakingly fluid. From long, elongated beautiful dancer lines to full on, ariel visuals of Busby Barclay patterns, to simple head tilts by the dancers, every movement felt swan-like and you couldn’t tear your eyes away for a second.

The cast of young dancers from the Tring Park School For The Performing Arts were just as proficient as the adults. Very impressive.

As the performance was in the round there wasn’t a bad seat in the huge venue, just different angles. I was sat in the stalls – my favourite location – close enough to the dancers to see their faces, feel their muscles twitch and hear every tap of their pointe shoe slide, leap and glide across the floor. Having the audience sat 360 degrees around the action makes it really intimate and thrilling!

Nothing beats the dreamlike, magical sheet of white mist of the lake at night through which the dancers step.

The musical score composed in 1875, is just so beautiful, I decided there and then it should be played during every ground breaking milestone in my life; giving birth, weddings, and more importantly in my dying hours.

Swan lake is the simplest story and so relatable. Who hasn’t been bugged by their parents to get married? Fallen for the wrong person then had their squad protect them from the douchebag?

Going to a ballet in a great venue like this is an exciting occasion. You should have great respect for the culture and tradition of theatre and get dressed, and be on time! I don’t want my swan dream state to be broken by latecomers asking me to get up to let them in their seats.

Some wonder if they would like the art of ballet. If you love sport, athleticism, competition, music, spectacle and a good emotional narrative, you’ll love Swan Lake. If you liked movie Face Off, you’ll love Swan Lake with its duel switched role love and action narrative. Nicolas Cage and John Travolta couldn’t even try a grand jete!

The live music orchestra of 80 members of the English National Philharmonic does visually play second fiddle to the main dance attraction, but by no means is less important. The full orchestra is made up of some of the country’s top musicians, and the acoustics in the legendary venue with its mushroom acoustic buttons hanging from the ceiling make this one huge 360 experience for your senses!

You can always tell past and present dancers who are sat in the audience in the same way you can tell musicians watching their peers perform. We sit in our seats and twitch or elongate our spines to match the swan’s choreography. It’s a dancer thing.

With Swan Lake there are a couple of need to know facts. The parts of both the good swan (Odette) and the evil black swan (Odile) are both played by the same dancer. This dual role of our heroine was very impressively done by lead dancer, Romanian Aline Cojocaru who was playing this role for her first time ever, and what a grand job she did!

The other big thing is there is a big moment that every Swan Lake lover knows is coming. As a child it was one of the first things to grip me. The swan would perform the nigh impossible feat of performing 32 fouettes on one leg spinning at speed on her toes not just to dazzle the audience, but also to seduce Prince Siegfried. I must try that, this Friday night down at the Red Lion.

The black swan pas de deux was spectacular. She performed 32 fouettes spins on one leg on pointe, he performed 11 grand jetes. Look it up. It’s a big deal. That’s all.

Anyone can go to the ballet and they do. The audience was simultaneously full of very elegantly dressed up dance fans in dresses and suits, as well as casual dance lovers in jeans and trainers. There is no judgement. We’re all there for our mutual appreciation society for the dance. Well, until the very end, when you leave and see policemen cordoning off a huge, VIP car with a police escort that was transporting former governor of Hong Kong and the BBC Trust Chris Patten, and you’re battling hundreds of excited ballet leaping fans along High Street Kensington to rush to the tube.

Like most ballets (and pantomimes), there’s a baddie. The evil character that brings the heat and drama. In Swan Lake its Rothbart who was performed by James Streeter, Every time he’s onstage there’s more drama, feathery outfits and evils than in an episode of Empire.

Like many old ballets, a few scenes tend to be set in the olde worlde Royal Courts where entertainers performed for the king and queen. I couldn’t help chuckle to myself as I realised that back when Tchaikovsky wrote this score entertainment was ballet, acrobats, jugglers and dances from other nations. The modern day version today would be The Royal Variety Show with Kylie and a long forgotten, random member of Spandau Ballet.

As much as you want to ‘’whoop!’’ after every virtuosic spectacle, you have to hold down this urge until the end. Once over though, you can join the audience in cheering and whopping loudly!

Swan Lake is the worlds most popular ballet, the Royal Albert Hall is one of the worlds most beautiful venues – it’s my favourite hands down. This English National Ballet performance is a beautiful production.
A truly once in a lifetime opportunity for date night, family outings, friends or simply solo. Catch it while you can!