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 30th 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 1st year dancers.
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…”
British choreographer Cathy Marston is creating a new full-length production for Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) based on Charles Dickens’ epic novel A Tale of Two Cities. The ballet has its première at the West Yorkshire Playhouse from Saturday 30 August to Saturday 6 September before touring to Nottingham and Sheffield.
Cathy’s interpretation of Dickens’ literary masterpiece focuses on the relationship between the three central characters, Sydney Carton, Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette, whose lives are inextricably caught up in the French revolution. Drawing on Cathy’s background in both classical and contemporary dance, A Tale of Two Cities will explore the central themes of fate, redemption, sacrifice and revenge.
Four of NBT’s dancers took part in a fashion shoot for the Manchester Evening News ahead of performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Palace Theatre last week.
Georgina May, Yi Song, Michela Paolacci and David Ward posed in beautiful 1940s costumes from the production at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, sometimes getting right down to their stylish smalls! (Photos: Sean Wilton)
The pictures accompanied Helen Tither’s article interview with David Nixon who not only choreographed the ballet but also designed the costumes. HERE
Click here to read a review of the first night performance at the Palace
“Graeme Stewart slips on his dancing shoes for an extraordinary night at the Grand Opera House
Northern Ballet Theatre have achieved something extraordinary with A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They have taken one of English literature’s best-loved plays, changing nothing and everything at the same time.
With a creative team including artistic director David Nixon, set designer Duncan Hayler and music director John Pryce-Jones, the production is a stunning display of visual and musical delights, and certainly one of the best contemporary interpretations of Shakespeare’s masterpiece…”
In March, the Government announced that it would be investing a further £5.5 million in dance following the publication of the Dance Review, written by the Royal Opera House Chief Executive Tony Hall.
The funding would be invested in, amongst other schemes, six new Centres of Advanced Training (CATs) between now and 2011. NBT, in partnership with the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, set up the first CAT in the UK and remains the only CAT for classical dance.
David Nixon has responded to the announcement:
“An investment in young people is an investment in the future. As the very first Centre for Advanced Training, Northern Ballet Theatre has seen first hand the effect this kind of funding can have on young people. I feel strongly that we must develop high standards and quality access across the country and this announcement makes huge steps towards achieving these goals.”
NBT have produced a new trailer for their production of Hamlet, in the run-up to taking the ballet to Sadler’s Wells in London. The advert features new pictures of the production and exclusive music by Philip Feeney.
“TWINKLE-toed youngsters were given a lesson in ballet.
The pupils, of Park Lane High School, Halifax, were visited by members of Northern Ballet Theatre’s dance education project, Dancition.
They were given workshops exploring the themes of the theatre group’s latest production Hamlet.
Students learned some of the steps and produced their own dance pieces. They also attended a Northern Ballet Theatre performance.
Dancition is a six-month project involving four Cal-derdale primary schools and Park Lane High School.”
“Northern Ballet Theatre’s inventive and immersive take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet tragedy is set in Nazi-occupied Paris where Hamlet attempts to come to terms with his father’s death. In the dizzying intro scenes of ghostly visions…”
The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in association with the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation and the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation, is proud to announce that the second Fonteyn Nureyev Young Dancers Competition will take place between January and April 2008, with the second regional heat (Northern England, Ireland & Scotland) to be held at The Dancehouse, Manchester, on 26 & 27 January 2008.Launched in 2006, the competition is held biennially, offering hundreds of young dancers (10-13 years) from all over the UK the opportunity to work with dance professionals and perform in front of live audiences.
Regional heats will be held around the country at Woking, Manchester, Birmingham and Weston-super-Mare, with the winners of each heat going on to the Final at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London, on April 13 2008.
The Level 1 winner of the 2006 competition, was spotted by casting agents and went on to play the leading role in Billy Elliott on the West End stage!
Eminent dance professionals will be acting as guest judges across the country, expressing their support and commitment to the Competition.
Pippa Moore, Leading Soloist (Northern Ballet Theatre) and David Nixon, Artistic Director (Northern Ballet Theatre) will be guest judges at the Northern England, Ireland & Scotland heat.
To book your tickets call the Dancehouse Box Office on: 0161 237 9753
Northern England, Ireland & Scotland heat time table:
“Northern Ballet Theatre, one of the best loved and most traveled dance companies in Britain, has brought another theatrical success to China with “Madame Butterfly.” And this unexpectedly moving production wraps up the 5th Beijing International Dance Festival…”
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…
David Nixon took part in a discussion about the darker side of The Nutcracker on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour on Monday 10 December. You can listen again by following this link
David was also interviewed for a feature inspired by the BBC adaptation of the Ballet Shoes published in the Sunday Telegraph on 9 December .
Read the feature by following this link
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.”
The Sugar Plum Fairy aka NBT Soloist Georgina Roberts will be flitting through Leeds tomorrow to open Gateway Yorkshire’s Christmas shop. Georgina will bring festive magic to the first sales of Christmas cards and gifts when the shop, in Leeds City Train Station, opens its doors at 10am.
Each year Gateway Yorkshire, the Tourist Information Centre, sells cards, advent calendars, children’s presents and wrapping to support a wide range of charities. 80p of each pound goes to charity.
NBT’s production of The Nutcracker opens at the Leeds Grand Theatre tonight and will run until 8 December. To find out more about NBT’s production click here.
Charities supported by the sale of cards and gifts include Alzheimer’s Society, A.R.C, Barnardo’s, British Heart Foundation, British Red Cross, Cancer Research UK, CARE, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Diabetes UK, Epilepsy Action, Help the Aged, Leonard Cheshire, Leukaemia Research, Macmillan Cancer Support, Mencap, Mind, Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Autistic Society, NCH, NSPCC, Parkinson’s Disease Society, Perennial Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Society, Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation, Royal National Institute of Blind People, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Save the Children, Shelter, SSAFA Forces Help, The Children’s Society, The Home Farm Trust, The National Deaf Children’s Society, The Stroke Association, The 1959 Group of Charities, Candlelighters (Local Charity).
A magical weekend of fun at Eureka!
We will be visiting Eureka! - The Museum for Children in Halifax on the 24 and 25 November. Join us for a special weekend of dance and events to celebrate Northern Ballet Theatre’s magical Christmas production The Nutcracker.
There will be lots of fun activities throughout the weekend so keep checking our website for further details. For further information about Eureka visit:
“Invicta FM’s Nicola Everett has been invited to dance with the Northern Ballet Theatre during their tour to Canterbury with The Nutcracker. The production is being staged at the Marlowe Theatre until Saturday 10th November and is said to be one of the world favourites.”
Please see the link below for David’s interview with Invicta FM and footage of the presenter taking part in Company Class yesterday at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury.
The Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker kicked-off her Christmas shopping last week at Fenwick department store in York. NBT Dancer Julie Charlet delighted staff, shoppers and a group of aspiring young ballet dancers from Isobel Dunn dance school in York when she made a surprise in-store appearance. Julie was promoting the Leeds performances of The Nutcracker (Leeds Grand Theatre, 27 Nov-8 Dec).
Fenwick is a valued sponsor of NBT and is running an in-store colouring competition to win tickets to see The Nutcracker in Leeds. Nicola Johnson, Managing Director at Fenwick, was delighted to see Julie surprising her customers, “We’ve always tried to support the arts in Yorkshire - I’m a keen ballet fan myself - and to have the Sugar Plum Fairy here at Fenwick York today is the cherry on the cake”. Photo credit: Lisa Stonehouse
To mark the revival of David Nixon’s dance version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, NBT, in conjunction with the National Media Museum (NMM) in Bradford, recreated the famous Cottingley Fairies photograph. Dancers Lori Gilchrist and David Ward posed for the photographs which were edited onto an image of Jenny Layton (from NBT’s Centre for Advanced Training) by NBT’s Graphic Designer, Michael Schofield. On Wednesday 24 October at 2pm, Lori Gilchrist will present an enlarged and mounted version of NBT’s photograph to the NMM. The image will then be included in talks and presentations about the Cottingley Fairies at the NMM. For information on when these will be visit the NMM website
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!
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…
The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in association with the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation and the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation, is proud to announce that the second Fonteyn Nureyev Young Dancers Competition will take place between January and April 2008, with the second regional heat (Northern England, Ireland & Scotland) to be held at The Dancehouse, Manchester, on 26 & 27 January 2008.Launched in 2006, the competition is held biennially, offering hundreds of young dancers (10-13 years) from all over the UK the opportunity to work with dance professionals and perform in front of live audiences.
“Northern Ballet Theatre, one of the best loved and most traveled dance companies in Britain, has brought another theatrical success to China with “Madame Butterfly.” And this unexpectedly moving production wraps up the 5th Beijing International Dance Festival…”
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.
The Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker kicked-off her Christmas shopping last week at Fenwick department store in York. NBT Dancer Julie Charlet delighted staff, shoppers and a group of aspiring young ballet dancers from Isobel Dunn dance school in York when she made a surprise in-store appearance. Julie was promoting the Leeds performances of The Nutcracker (Leeds Grand Theatre, 27 Nov-8 Dec).
