Blogs

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 home of Mr Uberoi for a lavish party.

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 dancers arrived last night after a good flight. Some ventured out while some had an early night after their long journey. Today they have a free day to explore the sites and relax by the pool or in the Spa.

The fit up started at the Thailand Cultural Centre this morning and all is going to schedule. The Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestra have further rehearsals with Nigel Gaynor today.

The Company is giving two performances of A Christmas Carol at the Bangkok International Festival of Music and Dance on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 September. This is a very prestigious festival and we are delighted to be back having performed Peter Pan here in 2005.

The dancers gathered outside West Park ready to start their journey to Bangkok where they'll be performing A Christmas Carol.

Internationally acclaimed Cuban dancer Javier Torres has joined Leeds-based Northern Ballet as a Premier Dancer. Javier previously spent nine years dancing with Ballet National de Cuba. His debut performance with the Company will be as Anthony in David Nixon’s Swan Lake at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford from 29 September – 2 October, before going on tour with the Company to Woking, Aylesbury, Nottingham, Norwich, Sheffield, Manchester and completing the Autumn/Winter 2010 tour in Leeds.

To accompany our production of David Nixon’s Swan Lake we are offering several Step Closer events offering you a unique chance to find out ‘behind the scenes’ information about the Company and how the ballet was created, as well as the opportunity to meet other people who are interested in Northern Ballet.

Already into September and we have completed four weeks of the most jam packed rehearsal period ever! The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Dangerous Liaisons, A Christmas Carol and a pinch of Cleopatra. It's all go, go, go and pack, pack, pack!

Northern Ballet Theatre is launching a subtle change of name. The Company will now be known as Northern Ballet, dropping “theatre” from its title.

The new name is part of a complete rebrand which comes after months of consultation and deliberation and coincides with the Company’s move to its new home in Quarry Hill, Leeds.