The UK Pavilion – Photo by Mr. Bian Qiwu
So how was it for you?
After one week in Shanghai, I feel changed. Now I’ve viewed the world from a new side, I have realised that the people, the food and the dance is completely different. Seeing the Chinese dancers execute the same pieces that we did back in England was very remarkable. I enjoyed seeing the way they interpreted the music, and it really struck me how gifted each individual person was! Jenna Lee did an entirely exceptional job of putting the whole thing together, and yet again, the show was wonderful. My experience in Shanghai has been literally life changing, and one I will never ever fail to remember.
Anna
Now that my time in China has come to an end, I’m extremely sad to leave. It has been one of the best experiences of my life. When I first arrived I was blown away by how great the contrasts were between London and Shanghai. Even now as I’m leaving the differences still amaze me. The performance was amazing. The stage was huge. Prince Andrew was very polite. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity that ENB and my school have offered me. I would like to thank my teacher Mrs Dutrieu, for supporting and helping me through the week.
Matty
Swanning Around success at Shanghai Expo 2010
To all involved in the performance at U.K National Day,
To all the dancers who performed yesterday, I am so proud of how you rose to the occasion and became real ambassadors not only for your schools in China and Hong Kong but also for English National Ballet and the U.K. Your performance was absolutely stunning and your characters all came to life in such a moving and brilliant way. It has been an honour and a privilege to work with so many talented dancers and the respect you show each other and the hard work you put in is something we will take back to the U.K with us. To the U.K cohort, we are very proud of the performance you gave, you all looked absolutely beautiful and really waved the flag for the U.K. A final thank you must go to all the teachers and dance artists who have worked tirelessly to make the performance the absolute best it could be. Your co-operation, support and innovative choreography is an inspiration to us all and we hope this is not the end but just the beginning.
We will fly home tomorrow exhausted but absolutely ecstatic and we look forward to sharing photos and videos of the very special memories we have created together. Congratulations and we hope to see you again soon!
With Love and heartfelt thanks from
Laura – Swanning Around Artistic Director
Dress Rehearsals
These videos were taken during the Dress Rehearsal.
Intro
Swanning Around China – Dress rehearsal Intro from WebPlay on Vimeo.
Finale
Swanning Around – Dress Rehearsal Finale from WebPlay on Vimeo.
Day 4
This video shows interviews with some of our UK students out in China.
UK student interviews in China from WebPlay on Vimeo.
Thoughts before the Performance
Effie- Holland Park School
I am pleased with my performance last night but feel I still need to improve on some steps. I am sure it will all run more smoothly in today’s show.
Anna – Latymer Upper School
I am tired after the long day yesterday – we started at 8.30 and didn’t finish til 10pm!! I am nervous about the performance but am generally feeling ok and very excited!!
Oriana- Hong Kong School
I am excited and not really nervous. The dress rehearsal was a very different experience, I have never been in such a big production before with so many performers. The dance styles are very varied. Suzhou and Beijing schools’ dances have a very Chinese style but there are also dances based on contemporary and classical ballet. It is very interesting to see all the different styles.
Jordan – Burnt Mill School
Iam really excited and am ready to go on stage. Laura’s warm up really helped and now I don’t feel so tired and my muscles don’t ache so much. I can’t wait for the performance.
A message from 2 students from Hong Kong
Hi, my name is Sylvie. I’m 16 years old, and I come from Hong Kong. This has been my first time coming to Shanghai, and I think it’s a wonderful place, especially the good bargains we get when we go shopping. Also, the food is rather cheap here but it makes your mouth water! Coming here and doing this project is a great opportunity for me to widen my knowledge of, not only my passion in dancing, but also appreciating different cultures with different countries coming together as one to form one whole company.
Rehearsals have been quite intense! We were given loads of feedback and notes, so that we are able to improve the quality of the character we are performing. We frequently had to stop and repeat or go though a lot of material again and again. By the end of the day, I’m sure we were all exhausted. Tomorrow is the big day! I’m feeling anxious, but very excited as well. I think the show will go fantastically, if we really work hard and be engaged in the dancing. So that we are able to leave a mesmerizing performance for our audience!
Hello, my name is Naomi and I come from Hong Kong. I’ve came to Shanghai before but this time is totally a different experience. I’ve never been elsewhere to perform so I am really excited. The previous rehearsals went very well.
Day 3:
Today we had a short rehearsal in the shanghai song and dance ensemble. We rehearsed all of the unison sections and its looking great. 
This experience has been wonderful. All of the people have been really friendly as well, we went sight seeing and saw pretty much everything, all of the tall buildings look like something out of a movie. Its also really funny and interesting because most of the Chinese people look at us and take pictures. The food is really nice, but hard using chopsticks all of the time. Tomorrow we have a long day, and were also going to the expo for a dress rehearsal. We cant wait!
Lauren and Abby, St John Bosco
Day 2
Hello again, this is day two of our trip. Today we had our first day of rehearsals, they were very tiring and had to learn a lot. despite this it went very well.
We travelled into the Old Town of Shanghai where we entered the scenic market. During our visit we tried various teas and stopped to have a look around lots of little stalls that lined the streets.
After that we took a long walk along The Bund which had the most fascinating views of the many skyscrapers, and also, due to the crazy amounts of people, the atmosphere was extremely buzzing and exciting. We sat down at a restaurant on The Bund, and were immediately faced with tricky choice between frog saliva and webbed goose feet. (In the end we had plain rice and a coke). That’s all for today, need some well deserved rest for our big day tomorrow.
Anna and Matteo
Day 1
The plane over to Shanghai from Heathrow was very easy (apart from the screaming baby three rows back), with most of us sleeping at least a couple of hours. Fei Fei greeted us at the airport and escorted us on the Maglev train and Metro to the hotel.
Having all refreshed ourselves after the long journey, we set off to the shopping complex nearby for some dinner, very much needed by all of us. I think we’ll all sleep like babies tonight..!
Anna and Matteo
by rss