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On any normal morning, the dancers of Ballet d'Jèrri can be found at Fort Regent, taking what dancers across the world call their ballet class.
This isn’t so much a lesson as a series of exercises that dancers use to warm up, strengthen and maintain their technique, the company’s founder and artistic director Carolyn Rose Ramsay explains.
She first came up with the idea of Ballet d'Jèrri – the island's first professional ballet company – after she moved to Jersey in January 2020.
“I kind of jokingly call ballet my lockdown project,” Carolyn said.
After putting together proposals for the company, making sure she could get licences and visas for the dancers, the company’s artistic team published a job posting and around 1,000 dancers sent them a video application.
“Skill is the first thing you look at. Dance is probably the most merit-based society that I've ever encountered,” Carolyn said, adding that CVs are only used in the industry as a reference point.
“The most important thing is what you can do in the room in front of me right now today, which I think is both terrifying and also weirdly comforting.”
Pictured: Ballet d'Jèrri held their first-ever public performance in May this year. (Rebecca Le Brun)
Of these initial 1,000 applicants, 75 dancers were invited to an in-person audition in London last year where 20 made it through to the final round which involved a conversation on Zoom with Carolyn to discuss the dance company’s ambitions and what Jersey is like as a place to live.
The nine dancers who were eventually selected to form the company include dancers from around the world as well as an apprentice from Jersey, 18-year-old Miriam Oliver.
Miriam joined the company as part of a push to provide a pathway for local talent to learn from creative professionals.
Other company members come from Israel, India, France and the UK – and have danced in places like Germany, Chile, Ireland and Singapore.
One Ballet d'Jèrri member, Kamal Singh was born in India and has had a remarkable path to being a professional dancer.
He is the son of a rickshaw driver and started dancing aged 17 after watching the Bollywood movie 'ABCD: Any Body Can Dance'.
Kamal learnt to dance locally and was later taken under the wing of Mario Fernando Aguilera, a notable Argentinian teacher and choreographer who had a part in the film. He then went on to study at the Vaganova Academy in Russia.
Pictured: Kamal Singh says his life motto is "never stop learning".
After becoming the first Indian dancer to be accepted at the English National Ballet School, Kamel needed to raise £27,000 to be able to go. His fundraiser was shared by Bollywood stars and got attention around the world - he raised the money in two weeks - and he was named one of Forbes Asia’s '30 Under 30' in 2021.
Kamal Singh is a 20-year old ballet dancer from Vikaspuri, Delhi who discovered ballet just 4 years back. He comes from a very humble background, his father is an e-rickshaw driver and he attended the local government boys school.. contd pic.twitter.com/L4tTAQB2CY
— Kunal Kapoor (@kapoorkkunal) September 16, 2020
Tweet: Famous actor and entrepreneur Kunal Kapoor was among those who shared Kamal's fundraiser.
But Kamal said he has had to sacrifice a lot to be here; he recently missed his sister’s wedding because he was rehearsing in Jersey.
“It’s the first wedding in my family and I was here in the dance room doing my pliés,” he said.
Joining Ballet d'Jèrri, Kamal admitted that he wasn’t sure how well the company would do. However, he said that after dancing in the premiere in May, he became more confident.
“At our premiere the audience was full and they loved it," he said. "We were so happy to see that.”
Ohad Caspi is another member of Ballet d'Jèrri who relocated to the island to join the dance company.
He was born in Israel, and now also runs his sustainable queer fashion brand OCwear from Jersey.
The company is a one-man operation and Ohad fits in managing the brand around his rehearsals and teaching pilates classes.
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Pictured: Ohad Caspi using Jersey's beaches as a backdrop to model for his brand.
Ohad enjoys the company’s repertoire and style, which incorporates neo-classical and contemporary choreography.
It gives the company freedom in a discipline with a lot of built-in rules.
“Sometimes these rules are very old, so they have to be adapted,” Ohad explained.
Moving to Jersey, he said he had finally found a place where he feels at home.
Having lived and danced in Germany prior to moving to Jersey, he appreciates that there is no language barrier in the island.
Pictured: Ohad Caspi performing in 'Punch n Peck'. (Rebecca Le Brun)
“It’s the first time I have felt I would love this to be my home for a while. It's the first time I have found a place where I want to feel more stable,” Ohad said.
“What this island has to offer - it’s very special.”
A company of nine at the moment, Carolyn said her “10-to-15 year vision” is to have more dancers, which would involve moving to a larger space.
Currently, the company rehearses at the dance studios in Fort Regent – one of the few rehearsal rooms on the island that are big enough for them. The company’s premiere was held at a riding school.
Pictured: Ballet d'Jèrri say they were cold but made to feel at home rehearsing at the Albert Bartlett potato packing factory in Trinity.
The company has had issues finding spaces to rehearse and perform in, and is currently on the hunt for a permanent home.
At first, they rehearsed in the Albert Bartlett potato packing shed in Trinity and, although the company said they were made to feel very welcome there, the cold meant dancers were at a higher risk of injury.
Working in unusual spaces is, in part, an artistic choice but can also be much more expensive in the long run due to extra equipment and labour costs.
The company would therefore ideally perform in both traditional venues, such as theatres, as well as more experimental venues.
Carolyn said her goal, ultimately, was to make ballet accessible on the island.
“Our goal is to be here to stay,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to 30 years from now, when the kids who are in primary school now are grown-ups and they can say that they’ve been going to the ballet since they were 10. That’s what I'm looking forward to.”
As well as dance performances, the company has also done a lot of community work.
They work with primary schools on the island, showing them what it’s like to be a professional dancer.
In their first month, the company saw 250 children come through their doors, Carolyn said.
Pictured: Ballet dancer Donovan Delis-McCarthy rehearsing at the Albert Bartlett facility. (Itzik Galili)
They have also worked with Scottish Ballet on their schools programme 'Safe to be Me', which tackles topics like discrimination, racism and homophobia through dance.
Ohad, who identifies as gay and uses he/she pronouns, said: “I realised through the programme how important this education of different genders, different loves, romantic loves is, especially at that age.”
Pictured: Kamal Singh, Ohad Caspi, Reece Hudson, and Anna Daly in 'A Where'. (Rebecca Le Brun)
From the very start, the company have also been involved in Cake and Cabaret events which involve variety shows aimed at older islanders held across different parishes.
Carolyn explained: “People of older generations actually learned how to dance when they were young. And I was like, I feel like this event needs more dancing but obviously I'm a little bit biased!
"So we worked on that with the Optimistic Voices as well, and did a little bit of combination of music and dancing performance. And then the dancers made everyone dance with them at the end, which was really cute.”
It’s in this optic that the company are organising a 'Ballet in the Park' event this weekend in an effort to bring dance to people who wouldn’t normally buy ballet tickets.
The event is celebrated by dance companies across the world and Carolyn is drawing from her experience at a similar event in Canada.
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She explained: “We, the school and the company, kind of joined forces to put on 'Ballet in the Park' every year, and it's been going for more than 50 years. They get 4000 people to every show, over two weekends in the summer, and it's absolutely incredible.
“It makes it something that the company almost starts to feel like a sports team for the people in the city that they feel very represented. They feel proud that the company is from their city.”
Pictured: Donovan Delis-McCarthy and Anna Daly dancing in 'Punch n Peck'. (Rebecca Le Brun)
Jersey's 'Ballet in the Park' will run on Saturday 24 June and Sunday 25 June at Howard Davis Park, with various free events all day.
People are invited to stop by and stay as long as they like.
Ballet in the Park: schedule for Saturday 24 June
Ballet in the Park: schedule for Sunday 25 June
Pictured top: Ballet d'Jèrri rehearse in an Albert Bartlett potato packing shed in Trinity. (Rob Currie)
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