We use cookies to help us make our website better. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. To find out more see our cookie information page.
Latest Blogs
Music, Milstein & The Handshake Principle
On Thursday, 1 September, Geoffrey Allan and Benjamin Frith will perform a piano and violin duet at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre. In his latest blog Geoff tells us more about the music... I finished my previous blog with the piano tuner about to arrive at my home in preparation for the rehearsal with pianist Benjamin Frith last week. That job has needed doing for a while, and I was glad that the rehearsal pushed me to finally make the call. I’m not much of a pianist myself to be...
Chris Moyles in Leeds
The Chris Moyles Show on Radio One was broadcast last Friday from Chris’s hometown of Leeds so all of us nice people at Northern Ballet delivered them a hearty welcome with freshly made goodies from our Northern Ballet Café Bar. Chris and the team breakfasted on freshly made scones, Victoria sponge cake, bacon and sausage butties, poached egg and ham sandwiches. It was a veritable crate of goodies! The Chris Moyles team sounded delighted to be back in Leeds and christened the city ‘the home of...
A very musical summer
Ahead of the latest event in our concert series on 1 September Northern Ballet Sinfonia orchestra leader, Geoff Allan, tells us about his summer and more about Benjamin Frith, the extraordinary pianist performing with Geoff on the night. On the last occasion that I was writing on this page, I was hard at work preparing for the previous concert at Quarry Hill along with my colleagues Sue Hall and Sasha Volpov. That was in June, and it seems quite a long time ago now. The Northern Ballet season...
A Northern Ballet Academy Student in Canada
Andrew Tomlinson (16) has been training with Northern Ballet on the CAT programme for 6 years - he recently went on a very exciting trip to Canada and here is his blog to tell you what he got up to. The National Ballet School in Canada is one of the top ballet schools in the world so when the Academy told me that they had arranged for me to go and train there for a month over the summer I was over the moon. I felt very privileged to have such a fantastic opportunity and feel that I have...
Summer of Love
So... The holidays are over and we’ve just started a new season, but before I get into our first week back here’s what happened in the hols! This years holiday however was ace and with an extra week added - who could ask for anything more?! For Darren and I this year's hols were mainly about sorting stuff out; we decorated our house a little and with Darren having his knee operation at the end of last season his rehab program was in full swing from the very start of the hols! We stayed in Leeds...
Bank of England Breakfast
On 27 July Northern Ballet played host to The Bank of England Breakfast with guest speaker Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England. The event allowed us to demonstrate the flexibility of our space, our unique offering as a venue and exceptional catering. Photos Justin Slee.
Meet Sarah Hick - Catering Manager
What were you doing before you came to work here? I worked with faires, magic and Santa Claus! I worked at The Christmas Adventure at Stockheld Park, a private estate with ice-rinks, skiing, an enchanted forest, enormous café and huge shop. It attracts over 110,000 visitors a season. So you're used to serving lots of people? Yes, we once did 1,600 meals in one service! What does the Northern Ballet café offer? We're trying to bring all the cooking and baking in-house. We roast our own...
International Summer School - blog 1
The International Summer School got off to a great start yesterday as over 100 eager faces arrived. Students have come from all across the country as well as further afield - we have students from Canada, Geneva, the US, Brazil, Czech Repuplic, Japan and Finland. The day started off with a placement class to make sure that everyone was in the right group for their age and experience. Students then had classes in jazz, ballet & pointe work and mens work. Their busy schedule continues with...
Poor Yorick, We'll Have Some Fun With Him
Sometimes odd things happen in the day-to-day life of a ballet company, and some of it you just couldn't make up... Read on for Aled's tale from the dark side; not for the faint of heart... “Could I speak to Robert Cordingley, please,” asked the cut, educated voice. “Can I ask who’s … who’s calling, please?” the mechanism of my Receptionist’s response jarred slightly. We don’t get many calls for the Caretaker’s office. “It’s Sarah,” she said, “from the British Museum,” then, to clarify, “...
Tutus, tambourines and action!
Our new Academy Pastoral Assistant, Emma Rodriguez-Saona, has her first experience of Academy end of year performances: What a way to start my time at Northern Ballet. With the Academy’s calendar full to the brim, I was instantly immersed. I’ve found my first few weeks to be a hubbub of activity, hard work and enjoyment (my first challenge was learning lots of names!). Highlights that just cannot go unmentioned include the fantastic end of year Academy shows. The first performance...
