Guest Principal Artist
Omar has had an extensive career spanning almost 30 years.
He trained at the Central School Of Ballet in London and upon graduation joined Northern Ballet under the direction of the late Christopher Gable CBE. He remained with the Company for six years, rising to the position of Principal Artist, dancing and creating roles in many of the Company’s repertoire, notably Massimo Morricone’s acclaimed productions Romeo & Juliet and A Christmas Carol, Michael Pink’s Dracula and The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, and Christopher Gable’s Cinderella.
In 1998 he moved to Italy to pursue a contemporary dance career. He joined Aterballetto under the choreographer and director Mauro Bigonzetti, and performed with the Company touring productions across Europe and South America.
He then transferred to France to join the prestigious Ballet De L’Opera National Lyon where he performed in productions by some of the contemporary dance world’s most revered choreographers, such as William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek and Jiri Kylian.
In 2004 Omar returned to the United Kingdom as an independent artist, with a view to challenge and develop himself within different areas of the arts industry. He worked often with The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for their contemporary dance programs, The Glyndebourne Opera’s A Fairy Queen, touring to France and The Brooklyn Academy, and television and film work, such as the award winning feature film Anna Karenina (Working Title Films) by British director Joe Wright with choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
He was invited to be resident ballet master and dancer with the Stadttheater Berne, Switzerland, (Dir: Cathy Marston), dancing and assisting choreographers such as Hofesh Shechter and Alexander Ekman. It was during this time that he began to expand on his knowledge of designing a teaching system to help assist and support classically trained dancers adapt themselves into contemporary dance.
In 2009 he was invited to return to Northern Ballet by Artistic Director David Nixon OBE to perform in two of his productions, Rhapsody In Blue and Swan Lake.
He worked and assisted Protein Dance’s critically acclaimed production of LOL (lots of love) which toured all over the UK and the Middle East.
He returned to Northern Ballet as guest ballet master for the restaging of Les Ballet De Monte Carlo’s production of Romeo and Juliet by Jean-Christophe Maillot.
Omar recently appeared in two major immersive productions with Punchdrunk Theatre Company, in collaboration with The National Theatre, firstly in London with The Drowned Man; A Hollywood Fable, and SleepNoMore in Shanghai, China.
In 2019 he assisted Artistic Associate, Daniel De Andrade in a full-length production of Chaplin, The Tramp for the Slovakian National Ballet.
Omar has returned to perform with Northern Ballet exclusively for Geisha.