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Latest Blogs
A Cuban Tale - Javier Torres' Premiere with Northern Ballet
Premier dancer Javier Torres joined Northern Ballet this season straight from the prestigious Ballet Nacional de Cuba. He left there after 10 years and has embarked on a season with Northern Ballet which we are all truly excited about, and as you'll see in the following photo blog, I'm sure the crowds will flock from all over the UK to see him. Javier's premiere performance with us was in the very difficult role of Anthony in Swan Lake at the Bradford Alhambra. His fellow artists in...
A day off in Bangkok
This is my first photographic blog for Northern Ballet and I thought I'd start with a little insight into Bangkok. As we had very little time during our 4 days over there, I was only able to catch us on our day off, but we packed a lot in. I'll definitely be putting more dance photography on in my later blogs but for now here's 'A day off in Bangkok'. I hope you liked my photo blog of Bangkok, and please look out for my following blogs; "A...
The dancers have arrived...
Since the dancers have been on tour for the past month yesterday was their first time in our new home. All day long they were popping through offices, trying out the studios and telling us what they thought. Here's just a few of their thoughts on the new building... Watch this video on YouTube. View all Jonathan Taylor's images of our new home...
Waitrose has students dancing in the aisles
Northern Ballet Academy students Jenny Layton and Paul Smith were dancing in the aisles at the new Waitrose store in Meanwood this week, in celebration of the supermarket’s support of training for our budding ballet dancers. Waitrose's generous sponsorship of the Northern Ballet Academy will be used to help establish a dance library of books and DVDs, as well as to fund bursaries and uniforms for our students. “The Partnership has a long standing commitment to supporting education in...
A New Era for Northern Ballet Academy
It has been a very strange week for Northern Ballet Academy. With the Company only moving into the building last Monday we made the decision to move the Academy across a week later so that staff could fully get to grips with the building before more than 200 academy students came through the doors. I have spent my week going back and forth from Quarry Hill in the daytime to West Park in the evenings and it really has made me realise quite how lucky the Academy is. We had all become...
Bangkok and Farewell West Park
Since my last blog I am a year older, I had to pull out of the first night of Dangerous Liasions, we revised and performed A Christmas Carol, said our good byes to West Park and returned from Bangkok. And yes I am jet lagged !!! Bangkok was a sucessful trip. We performed at the same festival we performed at five years ago, we were at the same hotel and theatre, and had the same wonderful team looking after us once we got to the crazy city that is Bangkok, or if you are my gran Bank-kok!!!! I'll...
West Park Final Thoughts (updated)
We said ‛goodbye’ to West Park Centre on Friday, a day of packing boxes and the last chance to walk the corridors and offices that have been home to Northern Ballet for fourteen years. Here are a few final thoughts from staff who have helped make this move possible and have made the Company what it is today... Yesterday was my last day at West Park Centre. Always a strange feeling to consciously come face to face with the end of an era, but - will I really miss the draughty corridors, peeling...
Last Bangkok performance
The company were back to the theatre this morning for class and then our second and final performance of A Christmas Carol. Some of the Technicians also came in early to tidy up one or two of the lighting states. The matinee was once again very well attended and it was interesting to observe that in both performances the audience was made up of 90% Thais which was quite unexpected. The performance was received very well by the audience who were very appreciative at the end with cheers and...
Reception with the promoter
Friday evening I attended a dinner last night with our Promoter, Mr Uberoi. The dinner was in honour of the departing Taiwanese Ambassador & his wife and was attended by four further Ambassadors from South Africa, Slovakia, Korea and the EU. It was quite a memorable occasion and I have never been in the company of five Ambassadors at the same time before!! Last night the Technical Staff continued the fit up in the humid conditions of the Cultural Centre while the dancers were taken to the...
Photos: Preparations in Bangkok
It is always a challenge working in venues overseas with language barriers and unfamiliar equipment. Though staff here are very willing tasks take longer than usual and the crew continued well into the night, focusing the lights.The stage of the Cultural Centre is very large and Christmas Carol, designed for all our touring venues in the UK, will look a little small but the energy from the dancers will make it look huge! The Technical Rehearsal was a little challenging and as always there was...
