Dancer leaping across the frame while looking directly at the viewer, wearing peach and with fabrics flowing in the wind

Generations:

Three Short Ballets

Northern Ballet’s new era begins with an exclusive triple-bill on their home stage featuring breathtaking ballets by some of the world’s finest choreographers.

The trailblazer of dance: American ballet superstar Tiler Peck makes her first collaboration with a European company in this hotly anticipated world première. 

The rising star: a UK première by up-and-coming choreographer from The Royal Ballet Benjamin Ella. 

The grandmaster of contemporary ballet: Hans van Manen created Adagio Hammerklavier 50 years ago, set to Beethoven’s exquisite piano sonata. Truly one of the greats. 

Female dancer wearing a red dress leap high with an arm stretched above her while two dancers dressed in red look on
Dancers in white, one standing and holding the other by their arms as they are close to the ground, on knee bent and the other leg stretched out front
Female dancer wearing a vibrant orange dress stands on her toes and reaches across to a male dancer in grey tights and shirt who is kneeling on the stage and holding her extended hand
Woman balances en pointe on one foot, leg behind her raised high and another dancer helping her balance by holding her right hand
Male dancer faces away from the camera over whose shoulder we can see a female dancer smiling at him while she wraps her arms around his shoulders.
Male and female dancer in white perform synchronous arabesque

Running Times

  • Joie de Vivre by Benjamin Ella: 30 minutes
  • 20 minute interval
  • Adagio Hammerklavier by Hans van Manen: 25 minutes
  • 15 minute interval
  • Intimate Pages by Tiler Peck: 20 minutes
  • Total: 1 hour 50 minutes

Please note that running times are an estimate only.

Female dancer in a orange skirt smiling as she stands on one foot en point, one leg bent at the knee behind her and an arm raised above her head while the other is held by a male dancer in white and grey

Joie de Vivre

The rising star: a UK première by up-and-coming choreographer from The Royal Ballet Benjamin Ella.
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Three couples, each wearing white, a male holds steady a female who is leaning forward on one foot while the other leg is extended in the air behind her

Adagio Hammerklavier

A timeless classic of twentieth-century dance.
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A male dancer in red is standing with arms by his side as female dancers also in red, stand arabesque around him

Intimate Pages

American ballet superstar Tiler Peck makes her first collaboration with a European company in this hotly anticipated world première.
Read more
'One of the founding fathers of European neoclassical dance'
The Guardian on Hans van Manen
'In Adagio Hammerklavier (1973), often cited as his masterpiece, Van Manen gives us choreography of exquisite refinement to Beethoven's anguished late-life piano sonata'
The Guardian
'The most magical dancer of our time'
Vanity Fair on Tiler Peck

Don’t miss your chance to experience Northern Ballet up close and at their brilliant best, only in Leeds and London this autumn.

A looks thoughtfully at something in the distance whilst standing in a dance studio.

Benjamin Ella interview

Choreographer and Royal Ballet Soloist Benjamin Ella talks about his first week in rehearsals with Northern Ballet ahead of Generations: Three Short Ballets.
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Choreographer wearing pink, sat on the floor leaning back on one arm, while talking with someone out of frame

Inside Tiler Peck’s rehearsals with Northern Ballet

New York City Ballet's Tiler Peck talks about her first two weeks of rehearsals with Northern Ballet.
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Production photos by Emily Nuttall, featuring dancers Alessandra Bramante, George Liang, Joseph Taylor, Dominique Larose, Aerys Merrill, Harris Beattie, Kaho Masumoto, Amber Lewis, Jonathan Hanks, Kirica Takahashi, Jun Ishii and Sarah Chun.

Header image of dancer Aerys Merrill taken by Guy Farrow.