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Latest Blogs
Opening Night in Beijing
A brief spell of company partying last night was succeeded by a busy day of preparations for our opening night of Romeo and Juliet. The Technicians were back on stage at 9am finding ways to adapt the requirements of the production to the availability of local equipment. In the UK we tour our own lighting which is always in perfect working order but the logistics of overseas touring, particularly to the Far East, means that there is insufficient shipping time between the end of the UK tour and...
A little bit of work and a little bit of play
Today is New Year’s Eve but as the dancers have not had class or rehearsal for 2 days it was essential that they got back into routine before our opening performance of Romeo and Juliet tomorrow. The Company assembled in the lobby of the hotel at 9am and were marched through the arctic winds to the theatre – just over 1Km from the hotel. Miraculously with a chain of more than 40 people nobody got left behind. It was not so straightforward at the theatre. We found our way under the lake to the...
Dancers Arrive In Beijing
The BA flight from Manchester to Heathrow was an hour late departing but only reduced the time to wait for the Beijing flight so did not create any problems. We can now stop worrying about the weather for a week until it is time to return home on 6 January! Almost as soon as check in was complete at the hotel, it was time for the Press Conference. This was a little challenging as we had to try and justify why we didn’t do traditional classical ballets and the merits of our Romeo & Juliet...
Off to Beijing
We have set off on our third international tour of the year. This time to Beijing where we will be giving three performances of Romeo and Juliet and two performances of Madame Butterfly in the state of the art National Centre for Performing Arts. As always the Technical Department has gone one day in advance to start the fit up. All went well with the flights and despite the recent bad weather the flights from Manchester to Amsterdam and then onwards to Beijing were close to the scheduled times...
When Hawksworth Wood Primary came to Northern Ballet
Hawksworth Wood Primary were the first school to come and visit us for a creative workshop in our new building. The workshop consisted of different elements such as a warm up, learning dance steps, creating their own sequences and performing the pieces. 20 students from Year 6 took part and judging by their feedback they thoroughly enjoyed it. Here’s what they had to say: "When we arrived we were met by Sophie and Mischa. First we travelled up the floors and on the way we also got the privilege...
Merry Christmas from Northern Ballet Academy
Well what a term it has been! I can’t believe that tomorrow we are breaking up for Christmas. So much seems to have happened in 4 months - starting with the move to the new building. The students have settled in really well and definitely seem to be feeling at home now. The most amazing thing about the new building has been seeing all the new faces here. We have started a whole new range of open classes which has meant that every evening the building is buzzing with people coming in and...
Swans and Nutcrackers
'Everything about Northern Ballet's Swan Lake makes this a stunning production the perfect first event for this landmark theatre. The drama, the breathtaking beauty and the live orchestra all create a sense of occasion that will captivate hearts and minds - and show off Aylesbury's new jewel.' No pressure then! This was the opening page of the brochure for the sparkling new Aylesbury Waterside Theatre. It was a fantastic new theatre to end a three week leg of Swan Lake and as you will have...
The Flex
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been traveling up to Durham on a Wednesday to work with The Flex Dance Company. Run by TIN Arts, The Flex is a company of 9 artists with learning disabilities who come together to create, devise and perform new contemporary dance work. TIN Arts is quite an inspirational organisation who deliver arts programmes for people of all ages and abilities over the North east so for me it’s a brilliant opportunity to work other experienced artists who are experts in...
The Nutcracker at The Rock
Rachael Gillespie, Michaela Griffin, Josh Barwick and Matthew Broadbent made a flying visit to The Rock shopping centre in Bury, near Manchester, to take part in the unveiling of their Christmas lights before travelling to Manchester to perform in The Nutcracker at the Palace Theatre. The dancers took part in a lantern parade with children from local schools and enchanted the crowd when they appeared alongside Santa in a giant snow globe wearing costumes from The Nutcracker. The...
Wates Construction Roadshow
Quarry Hill exploded into colour last night with a stunning display of fireworks, courtesy of Wates Construction. The construction company hosted a celebratory cocktail party at the new home of Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre, their most recently completed development. Around 200 colleagues and friends from the world of building and architecture came to hear about the building project, watch performances by students of both the Northern Ballet Academy and Phoenix's Youth...
