Hypnotherapy helps patients regain control

Evening Chronicle, 25 April 2011

Hypnotherapy helps individuals overcome obsessions, grief and addictions through the use of relaxation techniques. Here, Marion Sauvebois looks at how this therapy encourages patients to regain control of their lives

THREE years ago, Leigh Adams decided to give up chocolate.

The “Cadbury girl”, as she called herself, did not want to eat less of it – she wanted to be rid of the irrepressible need to “stuff” herself.

Leigh (pictured front with hynotherapist Ella Spencer) never thought of hypnotherapy as a way out of this chocolate-binge cycle but, after a hypnotherapist friend suggested a session might relieve her, she gave it a try.

She has not had any chocolate since.

For a long time, eating Twirl after Twirl did not seem like such a bad thing.

“I did not see eating chocolate as a big problem. Everybody loves chocolate,” the 50-year-old from North Shields, North Tyneside, explained.

“It is not great for you, but I thought that, after all, it was not like drinking or smoking.”

But over the years, the occasional treats became an essential part of Leigh’s daily routine, which she would crave all day.

She added: “It was like a ritual.

“I would have a piece of chocolate every day at lunchtime and another at around eight at night as a reward for a long day.

“When I went to the restaurant I would look straight at the dessert menu and chocolatey things.

“Even if I had eaten a big meal, I would always be able to eat chocolate. It was an urge but also a habit.

“I’d always make sure I had chocolate in the house. I used to go the newsagent and buy a whole box of Cadbury Twirls.”

The delightful sugar rush soon left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“I used to feel guilty and disappointed after eating a chocolate bar. It doesn’t even fill you,” the mother-of-three said.

Leigh would go to extremes for her “fix” and, on occasion, literally braved the elements to get her daily hit.

“If I wanted chocolate and there was none in the house, I would get my children dressed and make them walk in the snow to go and buy some,” she said.

“I would use them as an excuse, saying that they were the ones who wanted chocolate.”

The time came when enough was enough.

The detrimental health consequences of her addiction played a significant part in her decision to give up all forms of chocolate. But what convinced Leigh was the prospect of regaining control of her life and needs.

“I was a slave to chocolate. It was like a drug. I was a chocoholic,” she said.

“It took over my life. It was fattening and bad for my teeth.”

Not entirely sure of the benefits of hypnotherapy, she made an appointment with clinical and analytical hypnotherapist Ella Spencer. After one session, her need for chocolate disappeared altogether.

“Hypnotherapy only works if you really want it to,” explained Leigh.

“You have to want to change for yourself. It worked straightaway for me. I am still surrounded by chocolate. My children love it and I regularly buy it and cook it for them but I have no desire to put it in my mouth.

“A lot of people ask me, ‘How do you not eat any chocolate?’ I don’t even think about it.

“I don’t pick as much now and I’ve lost a fair bit of weight. It’s not an obsession any more.”

Regaining control of your life is key to hypnotherapy.

Ella Spencer has helped many individuals like Leigh to change unwanted behaviours and break destructive thought patterns.

“We are quite often our worst enemies,” Ella explained.

“Hypnotherapy is about helping people overcome what may be holding them back from who they want to be.

“I show my clients how they can regain control of their thoughts. They understand their thought pattern and that the way they are thinking is not serving them right.

“When people are bogged down by negative thoughts, the body feels it and that’s why many stressed people feel necks pains, headaches or have stomach problems.

“Hypnotherapy is a natural state of relaxation, a state of trance. It is like drifting into a daydream – you are in control at all times while listening to the therapist’s suggestions.”

Many people associate hypnotherapy with quitting smoking or weight management, but more and more people seek this kind of therapy to alleviate the pain of cancer or treat chronic panic attacks.

“I have had several clients with cancer,” Ella said.

“When you have a serious health problem, the first thing you do is start to think about it.

“You get worried and scared.

“Stress is one of the worst triggers of pain. But stress, anxiety and fear are not physical problems – they are thoughts. They can increase physical pain and make the situation much worse. Once stress is released, a lot of the pain goes away.”

One of her clients came to her in desperation. She had tried every treatment she could think of to get rid of the panic attacks which plagued her existence. The crippling bouts made her physically sick and she became unable to leave her house.

“She had to take time off work,” Ella said. “She tried many things before coming to see me and even had surgery for stomach problems. She was in a lot of pain.

“She was overwhelmed by fear. I started by giving her small goals like going to the pub, then going to the shop.

“She managed to bring control back into her life. Before, the panics were controlling her. She is fantastic now and lives normally again.”

Sonya Hudson lost her brother in a motorbike accident in 2003. A hypnotherapist herself, she focused her attention on helping others, unconsciously avoiding dealing with the sense of loss which would occasionally overwhelm her.

“His death came out of the blue. He was 30 and had just had a baby. The whole family fell apart. It turned my whole world upside down,” the 47-year-old from Wallsend, North Tyneside, said. “After a while, I thought I had managed to deal with his death, but I had only suppressed things.

“I didn’t realise it then but a part of me hadn’t let go. There would be times in the week when I would feel down. I had no idea why I was so low all of a sudden. I had no reason to be unhappy.

“I would burst into tears just walking the dog and didn’t know what I was crying about. I have a brilliant husband and three gorgeous sons. There was no reason for it.”

The mere mention of her late brother was unbearable to Sonya and her unacknowledged emotions seriously affected her relationship with her nephew.

“My brother’s son looks exactly like him. Every time I saw him I couldn’t stop thinking about my dead brother,” she said.

“The mad thing is that I loved my nephew to bits but I couldn’t spend a lot of time with him because it would make me upset. When I thought of my brother, I would see him lying in a coffin. He wouldn’t have wanted me to remember him like that.

“If my family got into a conversation about him, I would try to change the subject or walk out of the room. As a therapist I could spot the same problem in other people but I couldn’t spot it in myself.”

Attending a session as a patient with hypnotherapist Ella, for a completely different purpose, she found herself bursting into tears and beset by grief.

“I realised that the grief was still there. It turned into a letting-go session. I felt such a sense of relief afterwards,” she said.

“I don’t go over the details of his death any more. I think about my brother on a daily basis and I can smile now when I do. I don’t get sad.

“I can talk about him and now I remember him as the lively person he was. I look at my nephew and he keeps my vibrant, happy-go-lucky brother alive.”

Charity ride to say thank you for his sister’s care

Dover Express, 23 June 2011

WHEN Martin Turner received a phone call earlier this year from cancer-support charity Macmillan asking for help, he did not have to think twice about his answer.

It was a heartfelt yes to a charity bike ride. And a definite yes to organising it all by himself.

All this despite undergoing total knee-replacement surgery last November.

Martin, 55, thought this was the least he could do.

Two years ago, his younger sister, who had beaten cancer in her 40s, was diagnosed with leukaemia. Martin donated his bone marrow to save her life and says Macmillan’s support was vital to the family.

It was a trying time,” said Martin. “She was at King’s College Hospital for two months. The Macmillan nurses there did not just offer emotional support, they provided her with a wig since she had lost all her hair because of the chemo.

“When my sister was in remission, I did a bike ride and raised £530 for Macmillan.

“It was just me and a couple of friends. I wanted to do what I could to thank them.”

This time, the bike ride, set to take place on August 21 in Fowlmead Country Park, will be a much bigger affair and Martin, from Buckland, is hoping to raise £10,000 for the charity.

So far, the dad of one has raised £120 in sponsorship and an unexpected donation from his colleagues at the UK Border Agency in Dover has paid for the hire of the track.

“I was brought to tears when they gave me the money,” he explained.

“It came out of the blue. My senior officer took me into an interview room. He looked very serious and I thought, ‘What have I done?’

“But he just handed me an envelope and said, ‘We’ve whipped round and raised £150. That should pay for the track.'”

Martin added: ” Our mum died of cancer when she was 49 and I wish she could have had the same support from Macmillan.

“My sister is a great friend. She has always been the best sister in the world. She is not one for giving up and she is just grateful to be alive. We are not defeatist.”

Martin is certainly not one to give up easily, either. Following his knee replacement, he could barely walk without the help of crutches. Now, he is doing 1,000 revolutions a day on an exercise bike in preparation for the ride.

“It’s going to be a challenge. I am hoping to do 22 miles. That’s what I did for the last charity bike ride.

“Everybody is welcome to come and ride with us. My wife will be joining me and maybe my daughter as well.

“If people want to do 100 miles, they can, but just one is fine. Children, teams, families, we want as many people to come and get sponsored as possible.”

For more information on how to join the fundraiser, contact Martin on macmillanbikeride2011@yahoo.co.uk

To sponsor him, visit http://www.justgiving.com/ martinturnerEKR

Cash-strapped Dover Water Sports club faces closure

 

Dover Express, 23 June 2011

 

DOVER Water Sports faces the threat of imminent closure after failing to pay a year’s worth of rent on its facilities.

Despite attempts to attract more water aficionados, the club has been unable to afford the new lease since its relocation to the Dover Sea Sports Centre a year ago and now owes £14,400 back rent.

The new range of activities on offer, such as kayaking and windsurfing, has not been enough to keep the registered charity afloat after the loss of two major sources of funding, says Dover Water Sports chairman Barry Dodds.

Mr Dodds, who has been volunteering at the centre for 30 years, said: “The place could potentially close tomorrow. We lost £8,500 from the Royal Yachting Association last June. It’s huge.

“When we moved to the new building, our rent more than doubled and we just can’t afford it.

“If it does not improve we will have to run on a summer basis and, with the prospect of closing down any time, it’s not easy.”

District councillor Pam Brivio is appealing for sponsors to come forward and support the club in any way possible.

She says the new location has made Dover Water Sports less visible to the public and thinks this may have played a part in the centre’s financial situation.

Without sponsorship, Mr Dodds also fears the centre will fall into disrepair.

He said: “We desperately need to replace the engine on a rigid inflatable boat. These engines cost about £5,500.

“We need to make our future secure through sponsorships and every pound helps.”

Dover Water Sports has sent several of its pupils on to join the national sailing team.

One of them, Hugh Styles, even competed at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Mr Dodds, who has ploughed a significant amount of his own money into the centre, said: “We teach children a skill for life and give them a passion. We need the community to come together and schools to send more children to the centre and make better use of it.”

To volunteer, book sessions or offer sponsorship, call 01304 212880 or visit http://www.doverwatersports.com

Washington drugs frontman, 78, jailed

The Journal, April 15, 2011

A 78-YEAR-OLD man was jailed after admitting being the frontman for a huge cannabis farm which left a family on the brink of ruin.

Clare and Gary Trotter were left almost £60,000 out of pocket after their seemingly harmless, 78-year-old tenant Robert Parkin turned out to be a frontman for the gang who converted their five-bedroomed farmhouse into a drugs factory.

After police raided the house and seized the illegal haul the Trotters found the gang had destroyed virtually everything inside.

Walls and ceilings were full of holes, a chimney breast had been damaged, there was growing equipment strewn throughout the house along with an overpowering smell and piles of rubbish and take-away cartons.

Even the fridge was packed full of food which had gone mouldy.

Parkin collapsed in the dock yesterday as he was led away to start a 12-month prison sentence and was taken from the court by an ambulance.

Mr and Mrs Trotter now fear they will lose the house at North Farm, Houghton-le-Spring, as well as a second property which was where they lived with their five-year-old daughter after they were forced to meet the cost of repairs themselves because their insurance claim was rejected as they had changed from private to landlord insurance too late.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the couple had rented the farmhouse to the pensioner, who had agreed to lease it on behalf of a Chinese criminal known only as Mr Lee.

Parkin, of Bamburgh Close, Washington, paid the £1,350 monthly rent in cash he received from the criminal gang. In return Mr Lee paid him cash for his involvement in the scam.

Parkin pleaded guilty to permitting premises to be used for the production of cannabis.

Prosecutor Andrew Walker read a statement from Mrs Trotter at the sentencing hearing yesterday.

Mrs Trotter said in the document: “This whole ordeal has had a massive effect on my family and I.

“When we first saw what happened to our house we just could not believe it, it was as if it was happening to another person.

“The walls had holes in, the chimney breast had been hacked into, the smell was terrible.

“This has had a catastrophic effect on my family.

“The cost of putting right the damage was between £36,000 and £38,000 and the rental income lost was £16,000.”

Mr Trotter, a self-employed businessman, told police the family have been left “robbing Peter to pay Paul” after their insurance claim was denied and they may have to go bankrupt.

The court heard Parkin got involved with a gang after he met Mr Lee at a casino while he was on a losing streak. Mr Lee said he could make some ready cash by renting out a property on his behalf.

Parkin admitted his guilt on the basis he did not initially realise the house would be converted and used as a drugs farm.

Judge Esmond Faulks jailed Parkin for 12 months.

The Judge told him: “You must have known the premises were to be used for some illegal purpose otherwise there would be no point in having you as a front man.

“You played an important role in the establishment and continuation of a large cannabis farm.

“The court of appeal has recently stated these cannabis farms are becoming more prolific and deterrent sentences should be handed down.

“Accordingly, despite your age and infirmity, prison is inevitable.”

Bob Spragg, defending, said Parkin, who has a criminal record but has been out of trouble for over 12 years, had refused requests by Mr Lee to rent out more properties on his behalf and to deliver food to the illegal workers inside his existing farms.

The court heard Mr Lee has never been traced.

Bare minimum is not acceptable for Full Monty cast

The Newcastle Journal, April 7 2011

The West End Operatic Society is preparing to unveil its latest production – The Full Monty. MARION SAUVEBOIS finds how the cast are baring up

WE’VE got the new G-strings,” announced a man carrying a plastic whip around the room with what looks like the price tag still attached to it.

His bold declaration would be out of place at any other gathering but, at a Full Monty dress rehearsal, it is fairly standard.

No one bats an eyelid. The leads – Kevin Rhodes, Garry Martin, Brian Jordan, Leon Gill, Robert Younger and Mark Armstrong – are thrilled.

And one of the glittery items of clothing is passed around to demonstrate the efficiency of the Velcro strips on each side.

“The first ones were way too small. Things were going to hang out,” explains Kevin Rhodes, who plays Malcolm, a gauche and lonely security guard still living with his mother, in this musical revisit to the 1997 movie.

It is now set in Buffalo, New York, and is about unemployed steelworkers who bravely put on a strip show to make quick cash.

But there is another reason for the group’s fascination with the shiny undergarments – there is a skill to removing them efficiently and in a timely manner.

“The director had to work out the practicalities of removing the G-strings and moving our hats quickly enough to cover ourselves at the same time. It’s very technical,” he says.

Technical difficulties and wardrobe malfunctions are on everyone’s mind. They have disrupted many rehearsals, to everyone’s amusement, but the idea is to eventually get it right to avoid a premature finale on stage when West End Operatic Society’s production opens at The Journal Tyne Theatre in Newcastle next week.

Kevin’s Chippendale outfit has fallen off more times than he can remember. Every time he unbuckled his belt, his trousers would fall down, revealing too much too soon.

As for Garry Martin, who plays David, a plump, unemployed steelworker desperately embarrassed about his body, the trousers simply would not come off.

“We will have to come up with a plan B if that kind of thing happens on stage. But because we are playing amateurs trying to be Chippendales, malfunctions might actually make the whole thing funny and more realistic,” Garry says.

Unlike some of his partners in crime, he was not so keen on stripping at the start.

Although he still wishes the G-string could stay on, he has learned to look forward to the ‘full monty’.

“I am not very happy about the G-string. I have nightmares about it. Blokes my size aren’t supposed to wear them,” he tells me.

“Stripping is the most alien thing I have ever had to do. I am the closest to my character out of all of us. Dave and I have the same insecurities.

“I was very nervous about having to strip for the audition. I’ve never been so frightened in my life, but they didn’t ask us to take our clothes off. We just had to sing and perform. I don’t even go around the house without a top on.”

Watching the rehearsal, it is obvious that the big finale has become his – and all the leads’ – favourite part of the musical.

As the scene progresses, they enjoy themselves so much, throwing their clothes around with loud rips of Velcro, that the director actually has to remind them to act more body-conscious and inhibited. It is hard to imagine that these actors-come- Chippendales have nine-to-five jobs during the day.

Kevin, 37, is a test analyst at Northern Rock, Garry, 29, works at an Orange call centre, Brian, 37, teaches construction, Leon, 52, is a business co-ordinator, Robert, 44, owns his own hairdressing business, and Mark, 21, is a mechanical engineer.

Ordinary, these men certainly are not. Their lives are as colourful as their characters, if not moreso.

Reality really can be stranger than fiction. Robert, who plays the part of stuck-up unemployed factory manager Harold Nichols, is a case in point.

His life could easily be turned into a musical. In fact, according to him, it already has.

“I was the very first Billy Elliot,” he says. “My father was a physical instructor in the Army. He didn’t want me to dance so I had to lie to him and tell him I was going to judo when I was 11, but I was actually going to ballet lessons.”

Brian, who plays well-meaning but slightly eccentric Jerry, the instigator of the Chippendale operation, also boasts an unusual artistic debut.

A closet singer, literally, he turned his cupboard into an impromptu recording “studio” as a child.

“I would lock myself in the cupboard and record myself singing opera,” he says.

When it comes to research, the group will stop at nothing for the sake of their art. Well, almost. They almost made it to see the Chippendales but preferred to leave it to their imaginations.

“The Chippendales don’t go all the way, but we do,” says proud Leon, who plays Horse, an older man desperate to find a new job after the steel mill’s closure. Leon was never afraid of losing a few layers.

“The women in the cast (wives are played by Carol Emerson, Katy Bowler and Francesca Rose-Troup) are great fun. They start cheering when we take our clothes off.

“The more we started taking off during rehearsal, the more people would actually stop and watch.”

The hard part for him will be stepping into The Journal Tyne Theatre.

“The last time I was there was in 1978. My dad was performing. He was a singer. It’ll be emotional. I wish he could have seen me on stage. He would have cheered me on.”

The Full Monty runs at The Journal Tyne Theatre from Monday until next Friday at 7pm with a 2pm Saturday matinee. For tickets visit www.thejournaltynetheatre.co.uk or call 0844 493 9999.

Monkseaton mum prepares to return to Japan

The Newcastle Journal, 4 April 2011

A MUM is preparing to return to Japan for the first time since her home country was ravaged by a tsunami and a nuclear disaster.

Noriko Enjo’s family still live in Japan and she has friends who have been left homeless by the nuclear fallout in the country.

This week the 40-year-old, who settled in the North East five years ago, will take her three young children with her to Japan to see her devastated homeland.

Mrs Enjo, from Monkseaton, North Tyneside, said: “My family are safe and I really want to see my parents and my family but at the same time I am worried. The apprehension is not going away.

“I feel helpless and down most of the time. It comes and goes.

“The worst part is the guilt. I feel bad about being able to live a normal life and being fine when all these families in Japan have lost so much.

“We learn about Hiroshima in school and I’ve seen many photos of what happened there. This is just like it. It’s like a second Hiroshima.”

When Noriko first found out about the earthquake last month she was not immediately alarmed. It was only when she actually saw the scale of the damage that it really dawned on her.

She said: “My husband was listening to the news at work and heard about the earthquake.

“When he told me, I wasn’t very worried. It happens in Japan. I never thought it would be so big though.

“I couldn’t watch the television after it or look at pictures in the paper. It was too bad. Some of my friends were hit by the tsunami in Tohoku.

“Because of the nuclear power station, they can’t live normally any more. The government has told them they should leave the area but they have nowhere else to go.”

Mrs Enjo met husband Ian Carey while backpacking in Australia.

They moved to Japan and lived in Osaka for 12 years before moving to his native Newcastle five years ago.

Noriko has three children, Sam, 10, Rio, eight and Lui, three, with Ian, 44, who teaches English at Newcastle University.

Their mum tried to protect them as much as possible from the grisly pictures and coverage of the disaster.

“My children are too young to really understand what is happening,” Mrs Enjo explained.

“They get it in their own way. It’s more intuitive.

“When they get to Osaka, I think they should be OK. I hope the trip won’t be too much of a shock to them.” Mrs Enjo has been helping the North East Japanese Women’s Association raise money for the victims through The Japanese Disaster Fund.

To make a donation go to www.japanesedisasterfund.co.uk

North Shields booze tags project expanded

The Evening Chronicle, 5 April 2011

EFFORTS to beat underage street boozing are being stepped up.

Police and town hall officials linked up in November to launch Off Watch, a scheme centred on 24 off-licences where shopkeepers were asked to put warning stickers on drinks popular with teenagers.

Bottles of Lambrini, Diamond White and cheap vodka carried the identity labels which meant when youngsters were found with them, or they were found discarded, police could locate where they had been sold.

The initiative has been so successful in the North Shields area of North Tyneside, it is set now to expand to as many as 40 shops in Chirton, Meadow Well and New York.

Insp Geoff Cross, said: “Off Watch helped us track down where the alcohol came from when we stopped underage drinkers on the street. It has allowed us to find out where and why it was happening.

“Stickers are put on all the cheap alcohol they will usually buy or have adults buy for them.

“Since we know what shops they get it from, community support officers go to these off-licences on Friday and Saturday afternoon around 4pm and fine the adults who purchase drinks for kids.”

The penalties often stop over-18s buying booze for children again.

“We used to have about four shops selling to youths and now it’s down to one or two,” Insp Cross added.

“The message is really getting across and we are going to get funding to expand it across North Shields.”

Off-licence owners tempted to break the law have felt the impact of Off Watch.

Two licences were taken from shops after they were caught selling alcohol to juveniles in the past few months.

And the scheme might even become compulsory for anyone wanting to open an off-licence.

“An off-licence in the area closed two years ago and people decided to reopen it and applied for a licence,” Insp Cross said.

CSO Carolyn Carhart-Harris has noticed a drop in the number of teenage drinkers on her beat.

She said: “Many of the kids I dealt with were regulars drinking in Northumberland Park. Some of them have changed their lifestyle now. They have not been seen drinking on the streets.”

But off-licence owner Abdul Salam is warning even stricter measures need to be taken.

He said: “There is still a lot to be done. The fines are not enough. These people keep coming back, even when they know I know they are buying Lambrini or cheap vodka for children.”

Fishermen and shopkeepers in North Shields blaming ‘supermoon’ for low catches

The Evening Chroniclel, 25 March 2011

Fishermen and shopkeepers have been left baffled by low catches and a ‘Supermoon’ has been blamed. Reporter MARION SAUVEBOIS looked at the phenomenon

IT’S been a bad moon rising for Tyneside fishermen.

As the UK welcomed the biggest full moon in more than 20 years last Saturday, worried trawlermen were asking where all the fish had gone.

Legend has it that the supermoon is a sign of imminent disaster, and for fisheries in North Shields, the myth became reality. As the moon got bigger, their catches got smaller.

Anthony Asiamah, 32, and his family run the Seaview Fisheries on North Shields Fish Quay.

They have had to deal with the situation as best they could.

Mr Asiamah said: “There has not been any fish this week.

“We would normally get about 10 or 12 boxes at this time of year and we only got one or two.

“It has been bad since Sunday. There were only two boats out last week and normally you would get about 24.

“It was not a surprise. We knew it was coming. The moon controls the tide and when there is a full moon the tide is always high.

“But it’s not that bad usually. It’s not something that happens regularly.

“We haven’t had as many sales. People understand. We just try to get them to buy something else – fish we get from other places.”

Newcastle University professor of marine environmental science, Nick Polunin, acknowledged the possibility of the supermoon effect.

“The moon affects many things,” he explained. “It is a very important part of the tidal cycle.

“The moon being closer to Earth could have had a significant impact.”

A spokesman from the Market Office on North Shields Fish Quay certainly was not over the moon.

He said: “It was terrible on Saturday and Sunday. It’s affecting us and we are not sure exactly how long it is going to last.”

William March, owner of W March Fresh Fish Daily in Newcastle’s Grainger Market, is one of many who had to rely, more than ever before, on fish from other parts of the country.

The 80-year-old said: “It is true we have received nothing from the Fish Quay.

“We have had no fish from there this week.”

The North East is not the only area affected by the slump, with fishmongers all the way to Edinburgh struggling.

Eddie Kwok, who owns Eddie’s Seafood Market in the city, said fish had been very scarce for a week.

Mr Kwok, 54, explained: “I didn’t know anything about the supermoon, but all I can say is it has been really bad.

“The boats here didn’t catch any fish and got about 15 boxes last week.

“It’s almost impossible to get fish with a high tide. The nets flatten and it’s difficult to catch anything.”

North Shields Fish Quay manager Jeremy Pritchard is sceptical about the supermoon effect.

He said: “If it has made a difference, it could only have been a marginal one.”

Swan Lake – The Russian State Ballet of Siberia

The Newcastle Journal, 8 March 2011

EXCITEMENT was palpable. This Siberian company had a lot to live up to.

If an amateur like Natalie Portman could turn prima ballerina in less than five months, it was natural to expect the unfortunate dancer cast as Odette and Odile in the midst of Black Swan frenzy to up her game. She surely wouldn’t want to be outshone by an actress?

The pressure was on. I overheard a Russian woman behind me in a heated debate with a Geordie couple about the film.

Even her compatriots were ready to catch her out.

At this stage, I felt that if the ballerina failed to transform into a real swan on stage, everyone would rush to the box office and ask for a refund. The curtain rose. And the minute Odette, the swan queen, appeared on the moon-lit stage surrounded by a flock of swan maidens, we knew our expectations would be met tenfold.

The first encounter between Prince Siegfried and Odette was nothing short of magical.

The ballerina’s delicate yet expressive arms beautifully evoked a swan’s fluttering wings.

Her feet never seemed to touch the ground.

Her body effortlessly conveyed both Odette’s fragile and timid personality and her growing passion for Siegfried, seamlessly moving from one emotion to another.

But the highlight was the dancer’s astounding transformation into the seductive black swan, Odile, who is determined to make the prince fall in love with her.

The temptress’s solo surely would have had any men in the room on their knees and declaring their undying love, if they had not been glued to their seats and unable to take their eyes off her.

I even found myself thinking that while Odette was pretty, she really should have fought a little harder for her prince.

Beautiful, enchanting, mesmerising, dream-like – this more than met expectations raised by the film.

Secret Mind Games

The Journal Culture Magazine, March 2011

Colin McLeod interview

Click on this link to read the interview.