Artistic Director news

The National Ballet of Slovenia has invited NBT’s Artistic Director David Nixon to recreate his version of The Nutcracker on the Company, which will première on 7 November 2008. The Estonian National Ballet has invited David to recreate The Three Musketeers, which will première in April 2009. This spring, David returned to BalletMet, Ohio, to oversee the revival of his Romeo & Juliet for the Company’s 30^th anniversary celebrations. David was identified as one of BalletMet’s 30 Pearls in recognition of his contribution to the Company as Artistic Director. David also formally opened the Latimer Dance Space in London, choreographed Steps to Bach for Ballet Central, and was a regional judge for the Royal Academy of Dance’s ‘Fonteyn Nureyev Young Dancers Competition’ with NBT Leading Soloist Pippa Moore.

New dancers and departures

Joining NBT this summer are dancers Graham Kotowich from the National Ballet School of Canada; James Pickup from the Ballet de l’Opera National de Bordeaux; and Yoshihisa Arai from the Royal Ballet School. Three new apprentices are also joining NBT: Rym Kechacha, a graduate of the Central School of Ballet, and Antoinette Brooks-Daw and Brice Asnar who are graduates of the Royal Ballet School. Dancers Chantelle Gotobed, Sarah Kundi and Kieran Stoneley are leaving the Company.

Promotions

Victoria Sibson, Martin Bell and Tobias Batley have been promoted to Junior Soloists, Ashley Dixon to Coryphée and, following their apprenticeships, Thomas Aragones, Rachael Gillespie, Ben Mitchell and Jessica Morgan enter the Company as 1^st year dancers.

Visit our news pages for the full story: http://www.northernballettheatre.co.uk/news.html

Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) has appointed three new members to its Board of Directors: Alan Harrison, Director of Information Technology at Yorkshire Water; Denise Jagger, a partner at international law firm Eversheds; and Leeds Councillor John Procter.

Mark Skipper, Chief Executive of NBT said of the new appointments: “I would like to welcome Alan, Denise and John to NBT’s Board of Directors. They are experts in their respective professional fields and have a passion for the arts and we are delighted that they have chosen to share this with us…”

Read the full press release

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Read an article about our new building from the Yorkshire Post magazine, published on Saturday 7 June …

Visit the Momentum website

Our campaign for a new building in central Leeds with Phoenix Dance Theatre took an important step forward last week when Leeds City Council announced that it will be working with Wates Construction as the preferred participating contractor.

As the project moves through the design process, Wates will work with the architects to develop the design proposals, solve any potential logistical problems and cost the building construction.

Our fundraising campaign, momentum, the campaign to raise the final £1.5 million required to complete the £12million project, continues to gather pace. For further information and to make your donation visit www.building-momentum.co.uk

Northern Ballet Theatre is delighted that Tim Mitchell has been nominated for a Knights of Illumination Award for his lighting designs for David Nixon’s Hamlet. The awards recognise the outstanding contribution to live performance by Lighting Designers and Tim Mitchell’s work for Hamlet was cited for its taste and restraint when so much was going on in the piece.

Tim has been nominated in the dance category alongside Lucy Carter for Chroma at the Royal Opera House and Katharine Williams for I am Falling at the Gate Theatre.

Peter Mumford, who will be working with Cathy Marston on Northern Ballet Theatre’s forthcoming production of A Tale of Two Cities, was nominated for his lighting designs for the drama production The Hothouse.

Also nominated is Paul Pyant for his work on the Lord of the Rings musical and the opera Minotaur at the ROH. Paul has designed lighting for a number of Northern Ballet Theatre productions including Romeo & Juliet and A Christmas Carol.

The awards, which are supported by Clay Paky, will be awarded in association with the Association of Lighting Designers and the Society of Television Lighting Designers at the annual Association of British Theatre Technicians dinner on June 11^th 2008.

Our annual London season at Sadler’s Wells, sponsored by Manchester Airports Group, kicked off with a high profile opening night event. Guests from the worlds of art, business and media were all in attendance (photographs by Belinda Lawley). As ever the Company’s dancers and orchestra gave their all, delighting audiences throughout the week.

 “Move over Nutcracker, this is big boys ballet – brutal, testosterone-driven and utterly gripping.” Islington Gazette

 “The jarring and jagged routines from the troupe, led by Hinton-Lewis in the lead role, perhaps brought the raw torment of the piece across like no theatrical performance could.” Camden New Journal

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“Nixon is a master of psychological narrative: relationships are characterised by movement values, volumes are uttered in looks, glances and small gestures.” Gross Britannien

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Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) was very sad to hear the news of the death of Laverne Meyer, the Company’s founding Artistic Director, on Friday 25 April 2008 aged 73.

The Company dedicated the final performance of Hamlet at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London to Laverne. Daniel de Andrade, NBT’s Ballet Master, addressed the audience with a speech written by Artistic Director, David Nixon, who is away in America, which said:

“Laverne was instrumental in forming this small company which over its’ nearly 40 years of existence has risen to one of the four largest ballet companies in England with a loyal audience. We are extremely grateful to his pioneering spirit and passion for dance.

In honour of his memory and contribution to NBT we wish to dedicate this final performance of Hamlet to his memory. What better way or place to celebrate his love and passion for our beloved art of dance than here in the dance house of Sadler’s Wells.”

The Company would like to extend its deepest sympathies to the friends and family of Laverne.

Laverne Meyer was a Canadian-born dramatic dancer who trained at the Sadler’s Wells School and whose formative years as a dancer were spent with Bristol based Western Theatre Ballet. Laverne founded Northern Dance Theatre, as the company was then known, in 1969 and it gave its first performance at the University Theatre, Manchester, on the 28 November, accompanied by musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music. The Company was formed of just 11 dancers, compared to today’s 40, with an emphasis on small-scale classical and modern works. Based in Manchester, Northern Dance Theatre set about building itself a strong identity and a loyal audience in the North. Robert de Warren took over as Artistic Director in 1976.

Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) is an award winning, ambitious touring company based in Leeds, which has gained an enviable reputation as the UK’s number one narrative dance company. We are now looking for two exceptional candidates to fill the following newly created positions:

Corporate Fundraising Manager   

The successful candidate will be able to secure support for NBT’s extensive national tour and the creation of new productions. A background in fundraising with strong communication skills is essential. You will be an outgoing individual with experience of successfully securing and managing corporate funding partnerships.

Salary £25,500 – £27,500 pa

Closing Date for applications: Mon 12 May

Interviews will be held in Leeds: Fri 23 May

Audience Development Officer

This post will further Northern Ballet Theatre’s commitment to attracting new and diverse audiences. The successful candidate will have at least one years’ experience of working in marketing and/or audience development within the arts. Must have excellent written and oral communication skills and be able to engage with audiences at all levels.

Salary £17,500 pa

Closing date for applications: Mon 12 May

Interviews will be held in Leeds: Thurs 22 May

For an application pack visit

http://www.northernballettheatre.co.uk/company.html or contact Diane Tabern on 0113 274 5355 or diane.tabern@northernballettheatre.co.uk

Northern Ballet theatre welcomes applications from all sectors of the community

Northern Ballet Theatre and Phoenix Dance Theatre revealed a stunning new vision for a centre of excellence for dance in Leeds last night at the launch of momentum, the campaign to raise the remaining funds required for the new buidling. HRH The Earl of Wessex attended the launch where new designs by the Strategic Design Alliance, a partnership of Jacobs and Leeds City Council’s in-house architects, were unveiled. In addition, Leeds Metropolitan University announced that it is investing in the new dance centre in an exciting partnership with NBT and Phoenix.

Read the full press release.

A new fundraising website was also launched yesterday to help raise funds for the momentum project.

Click here to visit the new site

Photographs of the launch:

All for one and one for all:
Olivier Nomination for Northern Ballet Theatre’s Musketeers 

Leeds-based Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) has been nominated for a prestigious Laurence Olivier Award in the Best New Dance Production category for its highly acclaimed production of The Three Musketeers. Other nominees in the category include The Royal Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group and Fabulous Beast Dance. The winners will be announced at a star-studded ceremony on 9 March at Grosvenor House in London.   

The production has already scooped a top accolade at the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards 2007, winning the Best Dance Award in a category that included some of the worlds leading dance artists: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Carlos Acosta, Henri Oguike Dance Company, and Richard Alston Dance Company.

Read more in our press release

NBT’s new building project gains ‘Momentum’

Good progress is being made on the development of our new home on Quarry Hill in central Leeds with Phoenix Dance Theatre. The internal layouts for the building are taking shape and our Architects, Jacobs, are currently working on the external look of the building. Early discussions with Leeds City Council Planning department have been positive and an informal presentation of the design and layout is scheduled to take place on 30 January with the Chief Planning Officer to gauge further support.

The formal OJEU Notice (basically an advertisement asking for expressions of interest to become the building Contractor) has been posted with a deadline of 13 February for expressions of interest.

At this stage we are reasonably happy that the design is within budget but our Quantity Surveyor will carry out a cost check in mid-February just to be sure.

Building work is currently scheduled to start on site in February 2009 for completion in May 2010.

The building is costing £12million and the good news is that we’ve raised £10.5million of that. We still need to raise £1.5million by the end of 2009 and to make sure we do that we are launching Momentum, our capital fundraising campaign. The fundraising launch will take place on 21 February at an event which will be attended by NBT’s Royal Patron - HRH The Earl of Wessex KG, KCVO. There will be many ways in which our supporters can contribute to the campaign including naming rights to the building, naming of the studio theatre, rehearsal studios or even seats within the theatre.

Watch this space for further updates about the new building and Momentum.

Northern Ballet Theatre and David Nixon feature in The South Bank Show’s forthcoming programme about The Nutcracker … 

Margy Kinmouth’s film examines the creation of Tchaikovsky’s ballet based on Hoffman’s dark fairy tale, and visits the Mariinsky Theatre in Russia where it premiered in 1892 only to remain unperformed for more than half a century. Plus, a preview of Andrei Konchalovsky’s $80million movie version due for release in late 2008.

Kathryn Moore of the Yorkshire Post wrote: “A DELEGATION from the region has jetted off to China today with the Northern Ballet Theatre for a four-week tour designed to raise Yorkshire’s profile in seven Chinese cities. Leeds City Council, Leeds Metropolitan University and Yorkshire Forward are supporting the tour and representatives from each organisation will act as ambassadors for the Yorkshire region.
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Click the link below to read the rest of the article…

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business-news/Delegation-stepping-out-on-a.3590952.jp

Yesterday the China Tour began at Manchester Airport…

Principal Artist Chiaki Nagao at Manchester Airport - Photo: Ian Howarth

The Company at Manchester Airport - Photo: Ian Howarth

From left to right: Principal Artists Chiaki Nagao and Keiko Anemori, Dancers Kenneth Tindall and Hannah Bateman and Principal Artist Hironao Takahashi wait for a flight - Photo: Ian Howarth. 

Northern Ballet Theatre wins Manchester Evening News Theatre Award

Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) has scooped a top accolade at the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards. NBT won the dance award for its production The Three Musketeers, which the company performed at the Opera House in Manchester from 9-12 May 2007.

The awards were announced yesterday at the Midland Hotel, Manchester. NBT’s Artistic Director David Nixon attended the ceremony and said, “it is truly an honour to have received this award. I would like to thank all the members of the panel and our audiences in Manchester for their continued support. I would also like to thank my talented and gifted dancers and all the staff at NBT, without whom The Three Musketeers would not have been possible or enjoyed such success.”

Read more…

M.E.N. Theatre Awards: The winners

Take a bow, our worthy winners

News just in: NBT have won the Manchester Evening News Best Dance Award for The Three Musketeers.
Others nominated in this category were;

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, at The Lowry
Carlos Acosta, at The Lowry
Henri Oguike Dance Company, at The Lowry
Richard Alston Dance Company, at The Lowry

More news to follow as and when we get it…
Read more about the nomination

As part of NBT’s new partnership with the Halifax, pupils from Withinfields Primary School attended a matinee performance of The Nutcracker at Leeds Grand Theatre. NBT Dancers Christopher Hinton-Lewis and Martha Leebolt were on hand to welcome the pupils to the theatre and talk to them about their dance experiences. Also on hand was Alex Barnett, from the Halifax who said, “We are delighted to be embarking on this new partnership with the North’s premier ballet company. We are committed to investing in the local community, and this partnership will help us support the delivery of high quality and accessible arts activities for young people in Yorkshire.” For more information about our new project supported by the Halifax click here.

On Friday 23 November HRH The Earl of Wessex KCVO attended an evening performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Northern Ballet Theatre at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. His wife The Countess of Wessex and a number of family friends accompanied the Earl.  The Earl was welcomed to the theatre by David Nixon, Artistic Director of NBT, Yoko Ichino, NBT Ballet Mistress and David Holder, Theatre Manager. Following the performance, the Earl and His guests went backstage to meet the Company. HRH The Earl of Wessex, KCVO is the Royal Patron of NBT, a position He has held since 2003. His Aunt, HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowden was previously Royal Patron until her death in 2002. 

Leading Soloist Darren Goldsmith who met and photographed the Earl said, “It adds something special to an evening when the Earl is in the audience. He always cracks a joke when He comes backstage to meet us and you feel He has a genuine interest in the Company. This will be the third time I’ve photographed a visit by the Earl and it’s a pleasure because he is so relaxed and happy to pose for photographs.”

 
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Northern Ballet Theatre nominated for Manchester Evening News Theatre Award
We’re delighted to announce that Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) has been nominated in the dance category of the prestigious Manchester Evening News (MEN) Theatre Awards for The Three Musketeers, which we performed at the Opera House in Manchester from 9-12 May 2007.

NBT joins a group of world-class dance artists from the UK and overseas who have also been nominated for performances in Manchester over the past year: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Carlos Acosta, Henri Oguike Dance Company, and Richard Alston Dance Company.

The winners of all the MEN Theatre Awards will be announced on Wednesday 5 December at the Midland Hotel, Manchester in an event hosted by comedian Jason Manford.

Mark Skipper, NBT Chief Executive, says, “We are delighted to have been nominated once again for an MEN Theatre Award. NBT was founded in Manchester almost 40 years ago, and the support we receive from Manchester audiences and the Theatre Awards panel means a lot to us.”

Artistic Director, David Nixon, says The Three Musketeers, “proved a popular production at NBT as our dancers had the chance to exercise their new stage fighting skills through some truly exciting fight scenes and swordplay. The action-orientated plot was beautifully simple and also proved popular with audiences across the country who found it to be an engaging and fun production.”

NBT have just sent out their monthly E-Newsletter.

“We are currently conducting a survey of our audiences to find out about what you think of Northern Ballet Theatre. Everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a prize draw to win 4 tickets to any production next season…”

Click here to read the newsletter.

On Saturday night NBT said an emotional farewell to Principal Artist Chiaki Nagao, who gave her final UK performance in the role of Juliet in NBT’s Romeo & Juliet at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford.

Prior to the performance NBT’s Artistic Director, David Nixon, addressed the audience that included Friends of NBT, Chiaki’s current NBT colleagues as well as many past dancers and collaborators who had returned especially for this very special occassion. Setting the tone for evening he said, “Parting is such sweet sorrow. 20 years ago a young woman arrived in the UK with a dream. She worked hard and followed her dream and today we pay tribute to an extraordinary career that has lasted more than a decade and a half.” He continued, “Tonight we are joined by three very special ladies, Carole Gable (the wife of the late Christopher Gable, NBT Artistc Director from 1987-1998), Ann Stannard (who founded the Central School of Ballet with Christopher Gable in 1982), and Chiaki’s mother who has flown from Japan to be here this evening.” David then spoke directly to Chiaki’s mother in Japanese, thanking her for sharing her daughter with us for so many years. He recognised the sacrifice that Chiaki’s family made in supporting her throughout her career, especially with Chiaki so far away from home.

Romeo & Juliet was performed beautifully by the cast and the orchestra of NBT and as it neared it’s tragic and dramatic climax there was a heightened sense of emtion as everyone knew this would be the last time we would see Chiaki in the limelight. In every sense the death of Juliet on stage was more poignant than ever, the tears of the audience even more so. As the curtain fell the venue errupted into applause, saving the standing ovation for one very special lady.

NBT Chief Executive, Mark Skipper and NBT’s Deputy Stage Manager Chun-Yen Chia, who is also Chiaki’s husband, each presented Chiaki with a bouquet of flowers. Dancers, technicians, and representatives from the Orchestra and each administrative department at NBT then filed on stage to present Chiaki with a rose, to join the flowers that littered the stage thrown on by the audience. David Nixon introduced long-standing Friend and Patron of NBT, Janet McNulty who presented Chiaki with a framed poster of Madame Butterfly on behalf of the Friends. He then paid tribute to Chiaki, “When I first came to Northern Ballet Theatre I recreated Madame Butterfly for the Company. It was a ballet that I had first created for my wife in the role of Butterfly. Chiaki took on that role, she worked so incredibly hard, so many hours in the studio, weekends and evenings, she did all that I asked of her and more. My wife did this for me out of love, Chiaki did this because she is dedicated to her craft, and because she is so generous as a dancer. Every member of the Company and the audience here tonight will have such fond memories of Chiaki, but for me she will always be my Butterfly.” 

Self-effacing and modest as ever, Chiaki was reluctant to step forward to receive the applause of the audience that was so rightly hers for the evening. As the curtain fell on a very special event Chiaki’s colleagues continued the applause and plaudits backstage and afterwards at a party held in her honour. Chiaki said, “It has been an emotional evening and I am very grateful that I was able to celebrate my final performance with friends and family.” Everyone at the Alhambra on Saturday felt equally grateful to have been there to thank Chiaki for sharing her extraordinary gift with us.

Yesterday at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, T&A TV interviewed David Nixon (NBT’s Artistic Director) and filmed Company Class, in the run-up to Saturday night’s Gala performance, where Principal dancer Chiaki Nagao will perform as Juliet for the last time.

See the interview on their website

Read T&A’s review of Romeo & Juliet here

Book Now

The Sunday Times review of The Nutcracker can be found via this link. The article starts with reviews of ENB and BRB but goes on to discuss Nutcracker - you will need to scroll down a bit!

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/dance/article2689772.ece

Click here to read a review of Northern Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker, by Robert Beale of the Manchester Evening News…
Click here to read about The Nutcracker on the FringeReview website… 
Click here to read an article on the production in the The Star newsapaper…

Last night at Palace Theatre, Manchester, Northern Ballet Theatre performed its dazzling new production of The Nutcracker for the first time. Photographs taken by Brian Slater and Mick Schofield.

Northern Ballet Theatre’s Autumn/Winter season starts on Thursday 6 September with A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Tickets are still available at all performances so don’t miss a chance to see this Olivier Award nominated production.

Find out more about David Nixon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Book Tickets / Tour Information

 Last season we announced Chiaki Nagao’s retirement after more than 16 years with the Company. We’re please to say that she is back training with the Company to prepare for her final appearances as Juliet at selected performances of Romeo & Juliet in Nottingham and Bradford. She is also helping to rehearse the children performing with NBT in The Nutcracker. Chiaki’s final performance with NBT will be as Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, on Saturday 27 October 2007 at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, in an evening dedicated to celebrating her career. For booking information click here.

“I have received such great support from NBT’s audiences over the years, it makes it so difficult to stop. I will miss it greatly but I have decided to leave NBT on a high, while I am still enjoying every aspect of life with the Company.”

Chiaki Nagao

New Building Project:

 We were very disappointed that for various reasons it became impossible for us to continue working with Rushbond to develop a new purpose-built home for NBT and Phoenix Dance Theatre in the centre of Leeds.

We are extremely grateful to Leeds City Council who have reviewed the delivery options and agreed to take responsibility for the development. This includes an additional injection of £3M of funding and Project Management provided by the Council. This increases the Council’s contribution to more than £7M.

£3.5M will come from Arts Council England through Lottery funding and the balance of the £11.675M estimated cost will come from NBT and PDT fundraising. A major appeal will be launched shortly.

The City Council’s strategic design alliance has started work on the design of the new building which will be located on Quarry Hill.

Further details will be added to the website as the project develops in the coming months…  Update available here.

The Company returned from Summer holidays on 23 July and they all look fit and rested. We’ve welcomed 5 new Dancers: Dreda Blow, Guiliana Contadini, Isabella Gasparini, Chantelle Gotobed, and Kieran Stoneley, and 6 Apprentices: Tomas Aragones, Daniel Fajardo, Rachel Gillespie, Lewis Landini, Ben Mitchell, Jessica Morgan and Jonathan Trick. Read about them on the dancers’ biographies section of the website.

As we welcome the new Company members we’ve bid a fond farewell to the following dancers: Desiré Samaai and Jonathan Byrne Ollivier have moved to Canada where Jon has joined Alberta Ballet. David Paul Kierce, is pursuing a career in musical theatre. Patrick Howell has returned to the USA to join Milwaukee Ballet. Victoria Lane Green has taken a nine-month sabbatical to join Alberta Ballet and Mark Biocca has joined Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet. We wish Robert Phillips and Apprentices Julia Davies and James Muller the best of luck in their future careers. 

Promotions
Congratulations to the following Company members: Martha Leebolt and Georgina May have been promoted from Junior Soloist to Soloist, while Kenneth Tindall has been promoted from Coryphée to Soloist. Hannah Bateman and Nathalie Léger have been promoted from Coryphée to Junior Soloist.

Last week Patricia Doyle, NBT Associate Artist was working with the Company at our West Park home in Leeds. Patricia was working with David Nixon on the revival of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and with the Dancers on developing their acting skills.

On Sunday, David Nixon auditioned lots of tiny dancers for the parts of the mice in The Nutcracker. We understand there will be 17 children in each performance and they are rehearsing with the Company at West Park this week.

The Autumn/Winter season (2007/0 is almost upon us, with the new tour starting on the 3rd of September. We open with a critically acclaimed dance production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Leeds West Yorkshire Playhouse, following that with two classic ballets, Romeo & Juliet in Nottingham and The Nutcracker in Manchester.

Click here for details of the tour…