Review of the year 2009/10
a powerhouse for inventive dance
Renowned Founded in Manchester in 1969 and based in Leeds since 1996, Northern Ballet has grown to become one of the UK's best loved companies and an important international cultural ambassador.
We are renowned for creating inventive narrative ballets and for touring these throughout the UK and overseas reaching audiences who might otherwise not have access to world class dance.
Our ground-breaking Learning programme gives access for all people to engage in the highest quality dance activities and our growing Academy provides opportunity and inspiration, as well as unrivalled classical dance training, to the dancers of the future.
Cover image: Georgina May as Cathy in Wuthering Heights. Photo Merlin Hendy Page 2-3: (From L-R) Giuliano Contadini, Josh Barwick, Hironao Takahashi, Ashley Dixon, Ben Mitchell and Tobias Batley in Powerhouse Rhumba. Photo Merlin Hendy Opposite: Darren Goldsmith as Lowry in A Simple Man. Photo Bill Cooper
‘The best dance actors in the world.’ Dance Europe
On the road In 2009-10 we gave • 168 performances • over 26 weeks • to more than 120,000 people • in 15 UK towns and cities Our tour included all the capital cities of the UK: London, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff. We also performed in Barcelona as part of Leeds in Barcelona, a week-long event produced by Marketing Leeds. We performed in a programme with Opera North and Phoenix Dance Theatre.
‘...the Company's able dancers and tidy orchestra are a respected part of the dance scene.’ Evening Standard
Festival Theatre Edinburgh
Grand Opera House Belfast New Theatre Hull
Alhambra Theatre Bradford Opera House Manchester
West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds Grand Theatre
Venue Cymru Llandudno
Lyceum Theatre Sheffield
Theatre Royal Nottingham Theatre Royal Norwich Milton Keynes Theatre New Theatre Cardiff Theatre Royal Bath
Sadler’s Wells London New Victoria Theatre Woking
Life begins at 40 ‘By their fruits shall ye know them. Northern Ballet has laboured long and, under David Nixon, established a continuing identity and garnered affection and support.’ Financial Times
In 2009 Northern Ballet celebrated 40 years of dance making and performance. Artistic Director David Nixon was awarded an OBE for services to dance in the New Year Honours list announced on 31 December 2009. The honour recognised David’s significant artistic contribution to narrative dance in the UK. David’s creative output is prolific; in the past nine years he has choreographed nine new full-length ballets for Northern Ballet. He is committed to taking the highest quality dance to audiences throughout the country, bringing together world-class collaborators to create new ballets with exceptional production values. He has also placed great importance in providing opportunities for young people throughout the North of England to access high quality classical dance training without having to leave home, through the expansion of the Northern Ballet Academy.
“David Nixon has made the most tremendous contribution to Northern Ballet and to classical dance in the UK. His energy and his capabilities are astonishing and he is held in the highest regard within the profession.” Dame Monica Mason, DBE, Director of The Royal Ballet
40th Anniversary Gala In December we were joined by some of the world’s leading dancers at our 40th Anniversary Gala. Artists from the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Rambert Dance Company, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Ballet du Rhin, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo and Zurich Ballet travelled to Leeds for one unique performance in honour of our anniversary. Northern Ballet performed a new short piece by Gillian Lynne, On Such a Night, Wayne McGregor’s Ossein, David Nixon’s Powerhouse Rhumba and a show-stopping finalé also choreographed by David Nixon. “…I challenge you to find me a Company that produces performers better than this.” Yorkshire Evening Post A new Chair Our long-standing Chair Bernard Atha stepped down to be replaced by leading corporate financier David Forbes.
Birthday parties We held birthday parties in a number of our touring venues to celebrate our long-standing relationships with them. Guests at Nottingham Theatre Royal, Milton Keynes Theatre, Sheffield Lyceum Theatre, and Norwich Theatre Royal, enjoyed champagne and cake as well as a performance by the Company.
Mark Skipper and David Nixon. Photo Lisa Stonehouse
Alumni A Christmas Carol We welcomed back dancers from the past for a special alumni performance of A Christmas Carol at Leeds Grand Theatre. Past dancers, many dancing their original roles, joined the current company in a spectacular and emotional performance leaving not a dry eye in the house. Ballet on Briggate We partied with the public when we held a celebration on the main shopping street of Leeds one Saturday in August. Our dancers performed excerpts of Dracula and A Christmas Carol, and were joined by young dancers from our Academy, our education programmes and also the professionals from Phoenix Dance Theatre.
David Forbes, Pippa Moore, David Webb and Bernard Atha. Photo Brian Slater
A large birthday cake, a rendition of Happy Birthday, along with competitions and spot prizes gave shoppers more than they bargained for. We wanted to remind them that they have a major international ballet company in their city and of the number of ways they can engage with our work.
Clockwise from top: Hironao Takahashi and Michela Paolacci performing at Ballet on Briggate. Photo Ryan Hopkinson Northern Ballet dancers from past and present in A Christmas Carol. Photo Brian Slater Martha Leebolt and Tobias Batley in Powerhouse Rhumba. Photo Bill Cooper Arman Grigoryan and Galina Mihaylova from Zurich Ballet in Coppelia. Photo Bill Cooper
Wuthering Heights (David Nixon) ‘the beautifully staged ending – with a lonely Heathcliff surrounded by the memory of the lovers’ younger selves – may well leave you reaching for the tissues’ The Scotsman
Georgina May as Cathy and Tobias Batley as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. Photo Merlin Hendy
Dracula (David Nixon) ‘Costumes and sets are exemplary. Excellent use is made of ground-hugging mist, particularly at the cemetery where Dracula and the doomed Lucy feed on each other’s blood. This production is handsomely staged. It has a believable degree of tension and it drips with fear.’ The Stage
Martha Leebolt as Mina and Christopher HintonLewis as Dracula. Photo Merlin Hendy
Peter Pan (David Nixon) ‘Northern Ballet has a magnificent company of trained classical ballet dancers who bring their sublime talents to the productions, drawing out emotion and nuances of the story to delight and enthral the audience’ Surrey Advertiser
Ashley Dixon as Peter Pan. Photo Alastair Muir
A Christmas Carol (Massimo Moricone) ‘With its final carols and falling snowflakes it was warming as mulled wine. A classic vintage, of course.’ Yorkshire Post ‘...just as it should be.’ Daily Express
Darren Goldsmith as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Photo Bill Cooper
Romeo & Juliet (Massimo Moricone) Nominated for a 2009 Manchester Evening News Theatre award ‘…exultant lifts and cherishing moves…’ Yorkshire Post ‘There isn’t a weak link’ Manchester Evening News
Darren Goldsmith as Tibalt and Victoria Sibson as Lady Capulet in Romeo & Juliet. Photo Merlin Hendy
Mixed Programme A Simple Man (Gillian Lynne), As Time Goes By (David Nixon), Angels in the Architecture (Mark Godden), Don Quixote pas de deux and La Bayadere, the Shades Scene (both by Yoko Ichino after Petipa), Glass Canon (Daniel de Andrade), Powerhouse Rhumba (David Nixon), Ossein (Wayne McGregor)
‘Brushes with ecstasy’ Daily Telegraph ‘…it’s a treat to see the dancers in a variety of choreographic styles’ The Times
Kenneth Tindall and Keiko Amemori in As Time Goes By. Photo Merlin Hendy
Our new home Excellent progress was made on our new home on Quarry Hill in central Leeds. Working with Marketing Leeds we created art work for the hoardings around the building site to show how this would become a world-class centre for dance and to position Leeds as the capital of dance in the North. Northern Ballet’s new home on Quarry Hill, shared with Phoenix Dance Theatre, cost £12 million. Funding came from Leeds City Council (£6.7 million) with a donation from Yorkshire Forward, and the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Yorkshire (£4 million). Donations from trusts and foundations, corporate partners and individuals ensured we met our original £1.5 million target for the momentum capital fundraising campaign. An additional target of £250,000 was set to provide equipment for the building to ensure that it was fit for a range of commercial uses as well as extending the range of our artistic offer. The people of Leeds donated more than £17,000, through collections following performances of A Christmas Carol and Peter Pan, demonstrating excellent goodwill and support for the Company and the new building.
Northern Ballet building in December 2009. Photo Neil Jarman
Join in Northern Ballet Academy, the official training school of Northern Ballet, offers expert training to those who aspire to become a professional dancer or want to dance for fun, regardless of age or previous experience.
The faculty is made up of teachers who have been professional dancers themselves and have first-hand experience of performing at the highest level – teachers who understand what it takes to train dancers ready for a performance career. Our classes are accompanied by a team of accomplished musicians.
Northern Ballet Academy incorporates the Professional, Associate and Open programmes.
All dancers at Northern Ballet, from our youngest student through to our professional dancers, follow the Ichino Method designed by Associate Director, Yoko Ichino. 100% of our Professional Programme students graduated to further training at top vocational schools such as BalletSchule Hamburg, Central School of Ballet, English National Ballet School, The Royal Ballet School, Elmhurst and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in partnership with Scottish Ballet.
Northern Ballet Academy also runs classes that are open to children and adults of all ages in ballet, jazz and contemporary.
The Professional programme (Centre for Advanced Training) is run in partnership with the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and is supported by the Department for Education’s music and dance scheme.
Academy students Andrew Tomlinson and Jessica Clyde. Photo Martin Bell
Learn together Northern Ballet works with education and community groups to encourage interest and enthusiasm for dance and theatre. Our Learning team delivered workshops and projects in Leeds and the wider Yorkshire region, as well as an extensive programme of work at the theatres on our national tour. In 2009/10 we delivered: • 53 workshops as part of our touring activities • 234 sessions at schools, colleges and pupil referral units • 288 sessions for groups outside formal education • 522 education and community sessions • 37 sessions aimed at people with a disability • 12 sessions for visually impaired people
Photos Brian Slater
Projects included a second year of the Start project which provided children in West Yorkshire with the opportunity to experience dance and the theatre for the first time. 494 children, from 15 primary and secondary schools, attended two Northern Ballet performances and participated in two school workshops. This valuable project was supported by The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts.
Financial summary
Summary of Income and Expenditure for the year ending 31 March 2010
Income Touring Arts Council England, Yorkshire Leeds City Council West Yorkshire Grants Fundraising Funds raised for Capital Project Northern Ballet Academy Total income
1,988,616 3,005,183 262,180 149,616 420,776 6,751,936 257,135 12,835,442
Expenses Touring New productions and Revivals Marketing Fundraising Northern Ballet Academy Capital Project Governance Total expenditure
4,540,356 127,235 683,607 347,846 227,060 3,315 35,817 5,965,236
Net movement in funds
6,870,206
Detailed financial information can be found at www.northernballet.com
Northern Ballet Quarry Hill Leeds LS2 7PA Tel +44 (0)113 220 8000 Fax +44 (0)113 220 8001 Email info@northernballet.com www.northernballet.com Charity no 259140 VAT no 146 6307 66 Company registration no 947096 Registered in England and Wales Company limited by guarantee and share capital Northern Ballet Theatre Limited trading as Northern Ballet Design and print: Andrassy Design 01484 434844
Image overleaf: Giuliano Contadini and Yi Song in Glass Canon. Photo Merlin Hendy
Romeo & Juliet. Photo Merlin Hendy